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Scottish Government’s legislative programme announced |
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Wednesday, 05 September 2007 |
First Minister Alex Salmond today outlined his Government’s legislative programme for the next year.
The programme contains a strong emphasis on bills likely to garner the cross-party support needed to pass in a Parliament where the Government does not have a working majority, a fact recognised by Salmond who made clear that Parliament would make the legislation, rather than the Government.
“As First Minister, I therefore respond to that democratic desire for shared political leadership by introducing a programme which persuades, rather than one which asserts the domination of one party or coalition or one world view,” he said.
Some of the 11 Bills have already been announced and anticipated – such as the Abolition of Tolled Bridges (Scotland) Bill – while others refer to manifesto commitments made by the SNP, such as the Graduate Endowment (Abolition) (Scotland) Bill.
Noticeable by their absence are specific legislative attempts to bring in some key Nationalist policies like the introduction of a local income tax to replace council tax, although Salmond did say consultations on the issue would begin this year.
Other key pieces of legislation include a reform of Scotland’s rape law, the creation of new Creative Scotland body and a measure to clamp down on unfair or illegal interest charges.
The full list of Bills is as follows: Abolition of Tolled Bridges (Scotland) Bill; Abolition of Tolled Bridges (Scotland) Bill; Public Health (Scotland) Bill; Graduate Endowment (Abolition)(Scotland) Bill; Interest on Debt and Damages (Scotland) Bill; Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Bill; Budget (Scotland) Bill; Judiciary (Scotland) Bill; Local Healthcare (Scotland) Bill; Creative Scotland Bill; Rape and Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill; Flooding Prevention (Scotland Bill).
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 September 2007 )
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