SCPO PARLIAMENTARY UPDATE FEBRUARY 2011

This month the Holyrood Parliament has been dominated by discussion about the Scottish Budget. The Budget Bill goes through the same 3 stage process as any other Bill. This month saw the Budget Bill pass Stage 1 with the SNP, Conservatives and Independent MSPs voting for the Bill; the Greens voting against and Labour and Liberal Democrats abstaining. If the Budget is to be passed by the Scottish Parliament then at least one other major party must support the Bill.


A particularly contentious aspect of the Budget discussions has been about a Government-proposed levy on large retailers. This levy has been opposed by all opposition parties except the Greens. Patrick Harvie MSP, Leader of the Green Party, has written to the Presiding Officer to enquire whether parties are required to disclose party donations, in addition to individual MSPs declaring donations as registrable interests, because all of the opposition parties who opposed the levy have received donations from at least one major supermarket retailer operating in Scotland.


The Scottish Parliament Finance Committee has published a report into preventative spending which emphasises the value of preventative spending over reactive spending. This comprehensive report provides an alternative dialogue around how spending decisions can be made taking account of social justice concerns.


There has been a financial focus of a different type at Westminster with debates about legal loan sharks and separately about access to basic bank accounts. Church Action on Poverty campaigned in support of a motion to cap the overall cost of borrowing and that the Government should assist in increasing access to affordable credit. An amended, and weaker, motion received cross party support.


Meanwhile in the House of Lords, consideration of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill (which includes provisions for the Alternative Vote Referendum) has caused the spectre of a constitutional crisis with the Government threatening to “guillotine” the Lords' scrutiny of the Bill, the first time that consideration of legislation by the Lords would have been cut short. The 15-day "deadlock" in the House of Lords was broken by what Lord Strathclyde describes as a "package of concessions" which will be considered at the report stage of the Bill, and are expected to include measures to allow public consultation prior to significant boundary changes.


This month, we look ahead to MPs debating voting rights for prisoners. We pray for compassion in our criminal justice system and hope that our political leaders will focus on the needs of the marginalized members of society who are in prison, recognizing that "people are sent to prison to lose their liberty not their identity." (Prison Reform Trust)