The First Minister's Official Spokesman (FMOS) welcomed journalists to the briefing and highlighted Tuesday's events:
Housing boost: Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil announces plans for a record-breaking 8,100 homes - for rent or low cost ownership - to be built across Scotland this year; backed by £644 million from the Scottish Government's Affordable Housing Investment Programme. The housing boost is expected to inject renewed confidence in Scotland's building industry as it copes with the economic recession. The Minister said: "As part of the Scottish Government's economic recovery plan we are doing all we can to build more affordable homes, and breathe new life into our economy."
SMART awards scheme funding: Enterprise Minister Jim Mather announces funding from the SMART: SCOTLAND programme for innovation projects. Hi-tech businesses, including a firm which is developing testing equipment for prostate cancer, are to receive almost £3 million from the Scottish Government's SMART awards scheme. In the last six months, 29 projects had been offered support from the scheme.
Moves to end the detention of children in Dungavel: Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop welcomes the creation of a new pilot project, which will allow failed asylum seeking families in Glasgow to stay in designated flats while they await their return home, as a step towards ending the detention of children at Dungavel. The initiative aims to encourage these families to return home voluntarily and help to end the regime of dawn raids, the detention of innocent children and the forced return of families.
Ms Hyslop said: "The Scottish Government remains fundamentally opposed to the detention of children and dawn raids and consider that one child detained is one child too many. We are therefore hopeful that this project will help end the detention of children in Dungavel or elsewhere and will pave the way for similar schemes which recognise that asylum seeking children deserve the same welfare and children's rights as every other child in Scotland."
Launch of childbirth guidelines: Public Health Minister Shona Robison launches the Keeping Childbirth Natural and Dynamic (KCND) guidance when she opens Perth Royal Infirmary's Women's Clinic and Midwife Unit. The guidance for doctors and midwives will ensure midwives are the lead carers for women who have safe, low-risk pregnancies and births - the majority of women giving birth in Scotland.
Review of Scotland's water rescue capability: Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing announces a comprehensive review of the emergency services' ability to deal with all forms of water rescue. Led by Paddy Tomkins QPM, former HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland, the review will work with a range of stakeholders to report to Ministers with recommendations on whether Scotland's water rescue response may be improved. The review will examine: the resources and capabilities of all agencies currently involved in water rescue emergencies, including flooding; whether there is a need for changes in both the current operational arrangements between responders, and in the law covering the responders who cover water rescue; and the level of public awareness and education of the risks associated with open water.
Asked if the review had been triggered by one particular incident, the FMOS said it was not a direct response to a single event. The terrible events at Loch Awe had, however, emphasised that it is vital that Scotland has the right water rescue capability, supported by the right legal framework. The Chair of the Chief Fire Officers Association Scotland was quoted in the SG news release as saying that while current arrangements were robust, there was scope for greater clarity on roles and responsibilities.
Publication of Firearm Certificate Statistics 2008, Scotland: Includes statistics on the number of firearm and shot gun certificates on issue in Scotland at the end of 2008, along with the number of weapons held on certificate.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "We know that some people have a legitimate reason for owning a firearm, for example those who belong to shooting clubs or farmers who need them for pest control. But we also know that in the wrong hands these weapons can injure or kill. The current law on firearms is not fit for purpose. It is too complicated and that makes it hard for legitimate owners to understand what the law requires of them and it makes it easier for others to slip through the net. That's why I'll keep pushing the Home Office to review and update the law. Meanwhile our Public Information Campaign will educate and raise awareness of the dangers of airguns and the campaign website has information on the different strands of the campaign, including advice on safe shooting."
When pressed on the issue of a rise in the number of registered gun dealers, the First Minister's Special Adviser (FMSA) said the Scottish Government supported addressing all of these issues through a consolidated approach, leading to robust, modern firearms legislation.
Presentation by the STUC at Bute House
There would be a pre-Cabinet presentation by the STUC at Bute House in the afternoon. The focus would be on how the Scottish Government can work with partners to address current economic challenges. It will be the first in a series of meetings with key public bodies, to be followed, in subsequent weeks, by meetings with local government, the third sector, religious groups and business organisations. The FMOS said that, following today's meeting, the media would be briefed on the issues discussed.
EU Council of Ministers meeting
The First Minister's Special Adviser (FMSA) said that Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution Michael Russell would attend the EU Council of Ministers meeting of the Education, Youth and Culture Council in Brussels this afternoon. UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham had initially refused Mr Russell's request to attend the meeting - the first time such a request by a Scottish Minister, or indeed any Minister from a devolved administration, had been refused since the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. However, an email from Mr Burnham's private office to Mr Russell's private office yesterday had said that Barbara Follett (the Culture Minister, who had been due to attend) "will be required to vote in the House on Tuesday", and asked "whether Mr Russell would now wish to attend as the UK rep". Consequently, Mr Russell would lead the UK delegation at the meeting, which was an opportunity to maximise the role of the creative sector in supporting economic recovery. It was important for Scotland to be part of today's discussion - particularly at a time when a new agency, Creative Scotland, was in the process of being established.
The FMSA added that the original refusal of the UK Government to agree to a request for a Scottish Minister to attend - followed by the last minute change of arrangements in London - underlined why Scotland should be represented in Europe in its own right, as an independent nation. He also cited polling evidence suggesting strong support for this argument.
The FMOS outlined the day's other events:
- Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney to open a new lab at BigDNA, Roslin Biocentre, Roslin, Midlothian
- Enterprise Minister Jim Mather to speak at DEVEX 6th annual production and development conference, at Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre
- Minister for Schools and Skills Keith Brown to speak at Edinburgh Napier University's International Project Week for students from across Europe, at Craiglockhart Campus.
- Minister for Children and Young People Adam Ingram to visit Inverclyde to congratulate them on an excellent child protection report, at the Rainbow Family Centre.
- Minister for Parliamentary Business Bruce Crawford to speak at the Ten Years of the Scottish Parliament conference.
- Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead to host Scottish Fisheries Council in Edinburgh. Mr Lochhead also to launch the Asda Bag for Life at the Newhaven Asda Store.
- Minister for Environment Roseanna Cunningham to speak at 'The Scottish LEADER Experience' at the AGM of the Solway, Border and Eden Local Action Group, in Cumbria.