The Scottish Government has to pass a budget bill every year to allocate spending to individual departments. Nothing new can be achieved until the Budget Bill is passed.
This could prove to be one of the most difficult pieces of legislation for t
he Scottish Government to steer through the parliament.
Last year, SNP ministers offered key concessions to the Scottish Conservatives and the Greens to build enough support to ensure the budget was passed; they will have to do something similar to manoeuvre their budget through this year.
It has to be passed by March next year.
SCOTTISH CLIMATE CHANGE BILL
Contentious rating: 3/5This will introduce a target of reducing emissions in Scotland by 80 per cent by 2050 and provide the statutory framework to make sure it is delivered.
This target is substantially higher than the UK government's target of 60 per cent.
Meeting it would mean extensive investment in renewable energy, a change that Alex Salmond, the First Minister, believes will see Scotland become a world leader in the field of climate change.
However, the plans have already come in for criticism from the Greens for failing to set annual targets and for leaving out aviation emissions from the targets that have been set.
COUNCIL TAX ABOLITION BILL
Contentious rating: 5/5This is the most high-profile and contentious of the Scottish Government's bills for the coming year. It would scrap the council tax and replace it with a local income tax, to be set centrally at a rate of 3p in the pound.
The proposal relies on the UK Treasury giving Scotland £400 million a year in council tax benefit which UK ministers have warned will cease to be paid if council tax is abolished.
It also relies on the support of the Liberal Democrats and others in the parliament. As yet, there is not enough support in the chamber for this to be passed.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LICENSING BILL
Contentious rating: 4/5This package represents another controversial bill. It seeks to raise the age limit for purchasing alcohol in off-licences to 21 and set minimum prices for alcohol. But critics have condemned the plans, which they say would allow over-18s to drink in a pub but not buy a bottle of wine on the way home to share with friends.
This bill would also build on the work of the Prisons Commission, reforming community sentences, making them tougher and a more worthwhile alternative to prison.
It would reform criminal law and criminal court procedures, creating a controversial Sentencing Council that would set tighter parameters for judges on sentencing.
HEALTH BILL
Contentious rating: 1/5The main aim of this bill is to control the availability and promotion of tobacco and tobacco products, building on the smoking ban in public places.
The bill will introduce a tobacco sales registration scheme, recording the details of all those selling tobacco, but it would also restrict the display of tobacco products, removing the well-lit displays from behind newsagents' counters.
It will also include £9 million of funding over three years for anti-smoking measures.
The bill will not go down well with the smoking lobby and some industry groups. However, their influence is negligible in parliamentary terms.
LEGAL PROFESSION BILL
Contentious rating: 3/5This bill is designed make the legal profession more open and competitive.
The profession in England has already been deregulated, in an attempt to give consumers more choice and reduce prices. The bill is expected to introduce a similar, if slightly more restricted, regime in Scotland, freeing up a wider range of legal services but also offering some protection for solicitors.
This whole concept has aroused controversy in Scotland's legal profession, with some solicitors worried about their future.
Ministers have stressed that they want to ensure a balance is achieved between greater competition and protection for existing firms.
MARINE BILL
Contentious rating: 1/5This significant and complicated bill is designed to protect Scotland's marine environment, bringing together a raft of different regulations and pieces of legislation into a comprehensive package. It would introduce a new statutory marine planning system to ensure sustainable economic growth in the seas around Scotland, from aquaculture to renewable energy; create a national marine plan, with the aim of giving Scotland control of conservation to the 200-mile boundary with international waters, and create a Marine Scotland body to act as the champion for Scotland's seas.
There is still a dispute, however, with the Westminster government over Scotland having control of the seas out to 200 miles.
RURAL SCHOOLS BILL
Contentious rating: 3/5This legislation is designed to end the trend of rural school closures, introducing a presumption against closure if a school is under threat.
The bill would improve the consultation process for all proposed closures and ensure that there would have to be overriding reasons for the closure to go ahead.
However, it is unlikely to find favour with councils as it would prevent local authorities from closing schools they believe should be closed.
Labour is also likely to question this bill, believing there should not be special cases made just for rural schools when some urban schools face the same problems.
It will, however, find support in Scotland's villages.
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS BILL
Contentious rating: 1/5This bill will carry through some of the reforms recommended by Ron Gould in his report into last year's Scottish Parliament voting fiasco.
Mr Gould led an inquiry into the confusion which caused 140,000 spoiled ballot papers. He called for various changes, including the creation of one, central returning officer for Scotland and the de-coupling of local and national polls.
This legislation will change the timing of local government elections, putting them on a different four-year cycle so they no longer clash with Scottish Parliament elections.
The local elections will be a year later than Holyrood elections. Alex Salmond said he was still considering the idea of a single returning officer.
PUBLIC SERVICES REFORM BILL:
Contentious rating: 1/5The bill is designed to formalise a so-called bonfire of the quangos, cutting them by 25 per cent. The intention is also to reduce the number of scrutiny bodies by a quarter, simplifying the way complaints are handled by public services.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR LEARNING BILL
Contentious rating: 2/5 Designed to clarify and improve the process of school-placing requests, enabling parents to make out-of-area placing requests.
The bill would allow unsuccessful parents and carers access to mediation and dispute resolution services.
ARBITRATION BILL
Contentious rating: 1/5This legislation is aimed at businesses and individuals who have disputes but who do not want to resort to the courts to settle them.
This bill will reform Scotland's arbitration law, a move which has been under consideration for 20 years. It aims to make the laws more user-friendly and accessible.
CHILDREN'S HEARINGS BILL
Contentious rating: 1/5This is designed to "modernise and strengthen" the Children's Hearings System, bringing 33 separate organisations under one new national body.
Ministers have insisted children's rights will continue to be protected and that their plans have the support of local government.
FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT BILL
Contentious rating: 1/5This is to create a single enforcement authority for the safe operation of Scotland's reservoirs. It will also implement European regulations on flood prevention and strengthen the way various bodies and authorities work together.
LEGISLATIVE REFORM BILL
Contentious rating: 0/5This is a short, technical bill, bringing the scrutiny of secondary legislation under the power of the Scottish Parliament itself.
At the moment, that is handled by transitional orders made under the Scotland Act.
Key policies conspicuous by their absence ALEX Salmond unveiled his legislative programme of 15 bills yesterday, insisting the Scottish Government would legislate on everything from binge drinking to council elections.
But he immediately ran into criticism from his opponents, as much over what he left out as what was included in his "programme for government".
Cathy Jamieson, Scottish Labour's acting leader, described the First Minister's speech as a "missed opportunity", claiming the SNP government could have achieved a lot more had it taken a more robust approach.
The Scottish Government is committed to reducing class sizes in P1-3 to 18, but there was nothing in the programme to put that target on a statutory basis. Ministers do not need to pass legislation on class sizes but, without it, schools and councils work only to guidelines, rather than laws.
That has helped create confusion in the system, with councils being challenged in two recent legal cases to accept more pupils for their schools as there is no statutory class-size limit. Labour and the Tories questioned why there was nothing in the legislative programme to set down a limit.
Also on education, there was nothing in the programme about abolishing student debt, which the SNP came to power pledging to write off.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives ridiculed the omission, saying: "They claim they are working on this policy. If so, where is it?"
On health, there was a bill to restrict tobacco sales and displays, but nothing on tackling hospital-acquired infections.
Elsewhere, there was surprise on opposition benches that there was nothing in the programme to end automatic early release from prison.
However, there were suggestions from government officials that this might be included in the proposed Criminal Justice Bill, the details of which will be announced later.
There was also nothing on transport. While the Scottish Government may not need to legislate for its transport projects, Mr Salmond's speech was supposed to set out the Scottish Government's agenda for the next year.
Ms Jamieson said: "This was supposed to be a programme for government, not just a set of bills. Where are his transport plans?"
One of the reasons for a lack of clarity on the issues of transport, schools and hospitals is that ministers have been trying to put together an alternative way of financing big projects – the Scottish Futures Trust. There was nothing in yesterday's package of measures on that either. However, government officials insisted there would be a statement "very soon".
BACKGROUNDALEX Salmond unveiled plans for 15 bills yesterday for the 2008-9 session, four more than last year. Some will become law this session but others will not make it to Holyrood until next year.
The full article contains 1757 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
