Read about: Chamber business | Holyrood's committees | Members of Parliament | Temporary relocation I Influence at home and abroad | Scotland's Futures Forum | Education and information The Festival of Politics | History and heritage

Chamber business

Twenty bills were passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2006 and by December, 15 Acts had received Royal Assent.

Key pieces of legislation passed during the year were the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act which controls the spread of animal disease and for the first time places a duty on owners to care for and protect animals; and the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act which grants legal powers to re-establish the Borders railway.

Other acts passed included the Scottish Commission for Human Rights Act, the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act and the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act.

View a factsheet (pdf) listing legislation passed and still in progress.

Photo gallery: view images from 2006 | View a list of reports on events in 2006

Holyrood's committees

2006 was another busy year for committees, with meetings and events at Holyrood and around Scotland. The Environment and Rural Development Committee visited Stornoway, Oban and Inverness as part of its scrutiny of the Crofting Reform etc Bill.

A report published in June by the Education Committee called for more investment in early years education.

In the same month a report by the European and External Relations Committee called for greater priority to be given to introducing a programme of co-operation between Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the Health Committee published its report into free personal care.

Bills scrutinised by the Health Committee in 2006 included the Health Board Elections (Scotland) Bill and the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill.

In July the Local Government and Transport Committee published recommendations for freight transport policy in Scotland. The committee is currently lead committee on the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Bill.

In September the Enterprise and Culture Committee endorsed the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Bill, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 29 November.

During October the Audit Committee visited Kilmarnock as part of a community planning review, and Dumfries was the location for a meeting of the Finance Committee, which published a report on the Scottish Executive’s Draft Budget for 2007-08 in December.

As part of its scrutiny of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Bill, the Communities Committee visited schools in Drumchapel and East Ayrshire and held a committee meeting in Airdrie.

The Procedures Committee published a report calling for a new procedure for parliamentary scrutiny, including the introduction of "interpellation proceedings" - a system of 30 minute question and answer sessions and hour-long debates which would see MSPs able to raise topical issues of parliamentary importance and Ministers to respond.

1000th petition to the Parliament

School pupils from Glasgow presented the 1000th petition to the Public Petitions Committee on 4 October. The petition called on the Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to investigate the public health impact of cheaply available alcohol, and a committee meeting was held at the school later that month.

In November the Equal Opportunities Committee published its report "Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities" - the result of a two-year inquiry into the barriers to participation faced by disabled people.

Also in November, the Justice 2 Committee endorsed the Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Bill. In December the Justice 2 Sub-Committee published a report recommending that high-risk sex offenders who fail to co-operate with the relevant authorities on matters of significance should have their details provided to local communities and made more widely available on the web.

The Justice 1 Committee's inquiry into the Scottish Criminal Record Office and Scottish Fingerprint Service, and scrutiny of the Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) Bill will continue in 2007.

Transport and the marine environment

This year the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Bill Committee backed the Roseburn Corridor route for the tramline and secured a binding commitment from the City of Edinburgh Council to provide an integrated feeder bus service to transfer passengers between the Western General and the tram stop at Crewe Toll.

The Edinburgh Airport Rail Link Bill Committee recommended that plans to build a new railway station at Edinburgh Airport and to construct new rail links to connect it with the national rail network should proceed, while the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill Committee called for a commitment to provide four football pitches in Paisley before work can commence on the new rail link. The Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill Committee published its report in November recommending that Parliament support the bill.

The Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill is currently at stage 2 in its progress through Parliament. The bill seeks to establish a new system for authorising major rail, tram, inland waterway and guided bus system projects.

In December the future of Scotland’s seas and coastline was debated at a maritime conference organised by the European and External Relations Committee, in partnership with Scotland Europa. MSPs, MEPs and stakeholders attended the event to examine the impact on Scotland of the European Commission’s Green Paper on a future Maritime Policy for the EU.

Members of Parliament

Following the untimely death of Margaret Ewing and the subsequent resignations of regional members Richard Lochhead and Mary Scanlon to contest the vacant constituency seat, we were joined in April by two new members: Maureen Watt (SNP) and Dave Petrie (Conservative). Mr Lochhead returned after securing the Moray seat at a by election on 27 April.

The Parliament took another step forward in its commitment to even greater disclosure of MSPs allowances expenditure. Since June, members of the public have been able to view online expenses that their elected representatives have claimed in order to carry out their parliamentary duties. The move prompted Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion to comment that the Parliament has "the most comprehensive and transparent expenses system of any parliament in the world - you can even look at the original receipts online if you want to."

Temporary relocation

Plenary meetings of the Parliament were temporarily relocated during the period 2 March to 4 May 2006, while structural repairs were carried out on the debating chamber roof after a strut came loose. The main hall at The Hub, a venue already familiar to Members and staff, was transformed into a temporary chamber for the first two weeks, with committee rooms 2 and 6 within the parliamentary complex used for the remainder of the relocation.

Extensive work on layout design and equipping and testing the alternative venues was undertaken to ensure that both locations were ready to operate as a fully functioning and accessible Parliament. Chamber business was only lost on the afternoon of 2 March, and proceedings continued as scheduled the following week. Meanwhile, initial repairs on the chamber roof were completed a week early, allowing parliamentary business to return to its natural home on 10 May.

Influence at home and abroad

Presiding Officer George Reid led a delegation of MSPs on a visit to the United States for Tartan Week, culminating with the massing of pipe bands in New York on Saturday 8 April. Events included the launch of the Friends of Scotland Caucus in Washington DC and George Reid addressing the National Conference of State Legislatures Spring Forum.

Governance was the focus of a visit to Malawi by a cross party delegation of MSPs, organised by the Scotland Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). The programme built on a successful visit in the previous year.

In May the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay came to the Parliament for an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Prince's Trust-Scotland.

Also in May, leading figures from the world of journalism and the media visited Holyrood for the opening ceremony of the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress.

Other visitors to Holyrood this year included the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński; the President of Estonia, Arnold Rüütel; and former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson who spoke at a discussion on “Civil Society and Participative Democracy”, as part of the 6th Civicus World Assembly.

In October MSPs including the Presiding Officer took part in a week-long visit to Ireland to examine cultural links and parliamentary ties. George Reid gave a keynote address on Scottish-Irish links and 21st century democracy at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.

The third Business in the Parliament conference took place in November, bringing together business leaders from across Scotland to discuss the challenges the sector will face over the next four year parliamentary session, following the 2007 Scottish election.

The event began with an informal interview with Sir Tom Farmer in the debating chamber, and speakers included First Minister Jack McConnell MSP; Convener of the Enterprise and Culture Committee Alex Neil MSP; Mary Dickson, Managing Director, First Scotrail and Gerry Rice, Deputy Director of Communications at the International Monetary Fund.

The Presiding Officer marked St Andrew's Day with a speech to members of the Scottish-Canadian community in Vancouver, during a week-long visit to Canada.

Scotland's Futures Forum

The Forum was asked by MSPs to develop a high quality lecture series, to bring to Holyrood international experts known for their big ideas.

The past year has included speakers such as Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation and former Head of Policy and Strategy at 10 Downing Street, Professor Bjorn Lomborg the controversial Danish academic and author of 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' and former US Senator George Mitchell, the United Nations prize winning peacemaker who spoke on 'A Future for International Peace?'. Futures Forum news index.

Education and information

More than 6800 young people from around the country took part in school visits and events at the Parliament during 2006, and 348 teachers and student teachers took the opportunity to attend one-day seminars held at Holyrood. Read more about the Parliament's Education Service.

MSPs went back to the classroom as well, continuing school visits as part of the MSPs in Schools programme. The scheme covered every region of Scotland, reaching more than 4000 pupils, and included sessions on the Isles of Muck, Barra, Skye and Lewis.

To mark Europe Day in May the Parliament hosted a Youth Forum where sixth-formers from eight schools across Scotland took part in a series of debates on the subject of “What Europe means to me”. The themes taken up by the youngsters provided the basis for the Scottish Parliament’s submission to the European Commission’s Plan D (for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate), which aims to stimulate debate among citizens about the future direction of the European Union.

The Annual Report was published in September, and the Parliament's broadcasting service began producing a regular Holyrood Highlights video, reporting on parliamentary business and events. See the December edition.

New leaflets produced by the Public Information Service included "The work of committees in the Scottish Parliament" and "The Scottish Parliament debating chamber". They are also available in Braille, audio and large print.

A BSL film, "Your guide to the Scottish Parliament in British Sign Language", was produced, and is available on the website.

Festival of Politics

The Festival of Politics returned to Holyrood following its successful debut in 2005.

More than 8000 people visited the Parliament during the four-day event, to join MSPs and guests from the worlds of politics, journalism, music and theatre in debate.

Photographs from around the globe also featured in the World Press Photo Exhibition.

Festival guests included Sir Menzies Campbell, Tam Dalyell, Armando Iannucci, Karine Polwart, George Alagiah and Rachel Elnaugh.

The Festival also included sessions aimed at young people, ranging from a Parliament treasure hunt to a special debate on how to Spend Scotland's Money.

Visit the Festival of Politics website to find out more.

History and heritage

Burns night was marked at Holyrood with a number of events and new artwork by Calum Colvin, which included a portrait of Robert Burns, was given on loan to the Parliament.

The Presiding Officer welcomed the announcement by Bòrd na Gàidhlig in October that the Scottish Parliament is one of the six public bodies required to develop a formal Gaelic language plan, under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.

The launch of the Scottish Poppy Appeal 2006 was marked at the Scottish Parliament in November and Presiding Officer George Reid represented the Parliament at the Remembrance Day ceremony held at the Stone of Remembrance in Edinburgh.

Scottish war veterans came to Holyrood in December, where they received an emblem of honour to highlight their unique contribution to the Second World War. Presiding Officer George Reid MSP presented the Arctic Emblem to veterans of the Scottish Branch of the Russian Convoy Club.

Following a period of ill health, poet Edwin Morgan visited Holyrood in November, two years after writing a poem that marked the opening of the building. The poet was welcomed to the Scottish Parliament by the Presiding Officer, and viewed the poem on public display in the main hall.

In December a free exhibition on the history of the women's suffrage movement opened in the main hall, where it can be seen until March 2007. Visitors can also view a new permanent artwork, Travelling the Distance, celebrating women's contribution to furthering democracy.

Find out more about the art and exhibition.

It was announced that the Parliament will host the 2007 Microsoft Government Leaders’ Forum for Europe - the first time that the conference has been hosted in the UK or in a parliamentary institution. The event will take place at the end of January. See the news release for further details.

View Scottish Parliament photos from 2006

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