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EDUCATION, LIFELONG LEARNING AND CULTURE COMMITTEE Wednesday 13 January 2010 Session 3 £5.00 Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body 2010. Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to the Information Policy Team, Office of the Queen‟s Printer for Scotland, Admail ADM4058, Edinburgh, EH1 1NG, or by email to: [email protected]. OQPS administers the copyright on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Printed and published in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by RR Donnelley. CONTENTS Wednesday 13 January 2010 Col. DECISION ON TAKING BUSINESS IN PRIVATE .................................................................................................... 3003 SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION ........................................................................................................................... 3004 Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Modification of Enactments) Order 2010 (Draft) ................. 3004 Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Modification of Subordinate Legislation) Order 2009 (SSI 2009/429) ....................................................................................................................................... 3004 SCOTTISH LOCAL NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY ........................................................................................................ 3007 EDUCATION, LIFELONG LEARNING AND CULTURE COMMITTEE 1st Meeting 2010, Session 3 CONVENER *Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab) DEPUTY CONVENER *Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP) COMMITTEE MEMBERS *Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) *Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP) *Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab) *Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP) *Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD) COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTES Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Hugh O‟Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD) Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab) Dave Thompson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) *attended THE FOLLOWING ALSO ATTENDED: Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) THE FOLLOWING GAVE EVIDENCE: Martin Boyle (Cardonald College) Paul Holleran (National Union of Journalists) Adam Ingram (Minister for Children and Early Years) Michael Johnston (Johnston Press plc) Jim Raeburn (Scottish Daily Newspaper Society) Bill Steven (Scottish and Universal Newspapers Ltd) CLERK TO THE COMMITTEE Eugene Windsor SENIOR ASSISTANT CLERK Nick Hawthorne ASSISTANT CLERK Emma Berry LOCATION Committee Room 1 3003 13 JANUARY 2010 3004 Scottish Parliament Subordinate Legislation Education, Lifelong Learning and Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 Culture Committee (Modification of Enactments) Order 2010 (Draft) Wednesday 13 January 2010 Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 [THE CONVENER opened the meeting at 10:00] (Modification of Subordinate Legislation) Order 2009 (SSI 2009/429) Decision on Taking Business in Private 10:01 The Convener: Agenda item 2 is evidence The Convener (Karen Whitefield): I open the taking on two items of related secondary Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture legislation, of which one is an affirmative Committee‟s first meeting in 2010. I wish everyone instrument and one is a negative instrument. present a happy new year and hope that they all I am pleased to welcome to the committee the had a good Christmas and new year recess. Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Before we begin, I should mention that Margaret Ingram. He is joined by Paul Wilson, who is policy Smith has given her apologies, as she is unable to manager in the getting it right for looked-after attend today‟s committee meeting. I also children team. I understand that the minister will understand that Ted Brocklebank will join us later make an opening statement. for our session on local newspapers. In addition, I Adam Ingram MSP (Minister for Children and understand that we will be joined later by Claire Early Years): Good morning, everyone. I add my Baker, who has been unavoidably delayed. best wishes to committee members for the year Agenda item 1 is a decision on whether to take ahead. in private agenda item 6, which relates to our I am grateful for the opportunity to outline why continued consideration of the committee‟s the Government seeks the committee‟s support for forward work programme. Is that agreed? the orders, which make a number of necessary Members indicated agreement. consequential amendments to primary and secondary legislation. The majority of those amendments simply replace references to the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 with similar references to the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007. The orders also make amendments due to the introduction of permanence orders. Let me take this opportunity to explain some of those changes. I will not cover them all, but I am happy to answer any questions on other amendments. Along with changes to references in primary legislation to the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, the draft Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Modification of Enactments) Order 2010 will make four changes to that act that we have identified as being required. The majority of those modifications are cosmetic changes to deal with supplementary words or subparagraphs that remained during the drafting of the act. However, the draft order also includes one material change to the 2007 act. In discussions with stakeholders, we identified a potential omission in the drafting of section 109 of the 2007 act, which prescribes applications to the courts that must be heard in private. We are taking this opportunity to correct that omission. Persons who are affected by a permanence order, such as 3005 13 JANUARY 2010 3006 those who have had or currently have parental The Convener: Item 4 on our agenda is rights and responsibilities for the child, can be consideration of the Adoption and Children given leave of the court to apply for a revocation of (Scotland) Act 2007 (Modification of Subordinate the order. Such applications would not currently be Legislation) Order 2009 (SSI 2009/429). There subject to the same provisions of privacy as all have been no motions to annul the order and the other proceedings. Therefore, the order will amend Subordinate Legislation Committee had no section 109 to include reference to proceedings recommendation to make on it. If there are no relating to an application under section 98 of the comments, does the committee agree that we 2007 act. That will ensure that all proceedings for have no recommendation to make on the order? permanence orders will be heard in private. Members indicated agreement. The draft order will also make some changes due to the introduction of permanence orders, The Convener: I thank the minister for his including an amendment to the Foster Children attendance. I suspend the meeting briefly to allow (Scotland) Act 1984 to ensure that persons who the minister and his official to leave, and the next have had all their parental responsibilities and witness panel to join us. parental rights extinguished by a permanence order are not to be considered as suitable foster 10:08 carers. Meeting suspended. An amendment to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is also required due to the introduction of permanence orders; the amendment ensures that the conditions under which referral to a children‟s hearing is made include circumstances in which a child is the subject of a permanence order and their behaviour is such that special measures are necessary for their adequate supervision. All the amendments made by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Modification of Subordinate Legislation) Order 2009 are straightforward technical amendments, such as ensuring that legal aid is available in emergency situations when a court is considering a permanence order, or ensuring that information on spent convictions can still be gathered when assessing somebody for the purposes of adoption under the 2007 act. The amendments that I have highlighted, along with the other minor changes to legislation that are made in the orders, are both important and necessary to allow the process of planning for permanence to operate in the existing legislative environment. I am happy to answer any questions that the committee has on the orders. The Convener: Thank you for that explanation of the Scottish statutory instruments that are before the committee today. I am sure that this is a rare occurrence in the committee, but it seems that we have no questions to ask you on changes to the legislation. That is possibly because the committee previously considered the policy impacts of the legislation in great detail. Under the next item on the agenda, I invite the minister to move motion S3M-5466. Motion moved, That the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee recommends that the draft Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Modification of Enactments) Order 2010 be approved.—[Adam Ingram.] Motion agreed to. 3007 13 JANUARY 2010 3008 10:10 year on year. Local display or retail advertising—in On resuming— other words, advertising by local business in all our areas—is 15 per cent behind year on year. Scottish Local Newspaper Other classified ads, including entertainment listings, births, marriages and deaths and services, Industry have fallen about 14 per cent year on year. Overall, year on year, advertising in our The Convener: The fifth item on our agenda is newspapers has fallen by about 28 per cent. We the committee‟s consideration of the