Annual Report 2001 - 2002
Our place in the world
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Did you know? There have been over 140 visits by VIPs to the Scottish Parliament in the period from May 2001 to May 2002. |
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| International Women's Conference |
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| Tartan Day |
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Did you know? Holyrood has been described by the European Union as the most accessible building in Europe for the disabled. |
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Did you know? 2,500 tonnes of granite from Aberdeenshire will be used both inside and out at Holyrood. |
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Ties with our closest neighbours developed strongly this year. Visits to and from the Westminster Parliament, the Welsh National Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Irish Parliament helped promote understanding among politicians throughout the British Isles and in Ireland. Our membership of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, which brings together all these parliaments, has allowed us to discuss a range of issues such as the effect on the environment of nuclear installations. It also helped us build support for the joint Scottish and Irish bid to host Euro 2008.
The debate on the Future of Europe is a central issue for all Europeans. We are contributing to that discussion. Peter Hain MP, Minister for Europe, exchanged views with the European Committee in November 2001 and we have taken opportunities to feed our ideas into the Convention on the Future of Europe. We approved nominations for Scotland's members of the Committee of the Regions in April 2002 and four MSPs and four councillors now make Scotland's case in this key EU institution. We marked Europe Day in May 2002 with a keynote debate and a full day of activities on a European theme for children from schools across Scotland.
"We should look to you for leadership and inspiration."
Hillary Rodham Clinton, paying tribute to the leading role of women MSPs have played in shaping Scotland's policy agenda.
We continued to develop links with the parliaments of Catalonia and Flanders. We have so much to gain by sharing ideas and promoting democracy. We also see real benefits in forging ties with the European Union's prospective new members. And already we enjoy a good relationship with Estonia and the Czech Republic.
We have built on the successful Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (British Islands and Mediterranean region) conference hosted here in June 2001. Our members learned a great deal by discussing common problems such as drug abuse and poverty and looking for shared solutions in areas such as tourism. We welcomed Scotland's continuing contribution to the work of the Commonwealth in a debate in March 2002.
Our involvement in Tartan Day on 6 April has strengthened our ties with influential decision-makers in America. We welcomed parliamentarians from the United States and across Britain and Ireland in September 2001 for a conference on women and democracy. This was supported by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
We marked the events of 11 September in a special session and the Presiding Officer paid our respects when he visited Ground Zero in November 2001.
We received a great number of distinguished visitors and high-level delegations from other countries. These included the speakers of a number of parliaments, government ministers and European Commissioners.
In particular, MSPs were honoured to be addressed by Her Majesty The Queen in Aberdeen as part of the Jubilee celebrations.
Members were also addressed between May 2001 and May 2002 by: Thabo Mbeki, His Excellency the President of the Republic of South Africa; Bertie Ahern TD, Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister); Stjepan Mesic, His Excellency the President of Croatia; and Jorge Sampaio, His Excellency the President of Portugal.
Holyrood
In the year before the new Parliament building at Holyrood is due to be finished, extraordinary progress has been made on site. This year 38,000 people have been to the visitor centre and many more have watched the building rise over the hoardings.
Enric Miralles' stunning design for the parliamentary complex is taking shape.
At the start of the year, the foundations had just been laid for the Chamber and the main towers that will house parliamentary committees. A year on and those towers are ready to be clad and fitted out. The steelwork for the floor of the chamber itself is almost complete, as are the frameworks of the media tower and the striking cantilever building on the Canongate.
Refitting and renovating Queensberry House has been a major challenge, but here too we are seeing good progress.
Just before the end of the year the first slabs of Aberdeenshire granite were fixed to the outside of the MSPs' office block. On the inside, mock-ups of an MSP's office have given members and others a clear idea of what the accommodation will look like. A similar exercise has been carried out with rooms inside Queensberry House and a full-size mock-up Chamber in a warehouse near Edinburgh.
Overall, considerable effort has gone into making sure that Holyrood will not only provide a stunning new home for us, but will also be a high-quality working environment and one of the most accessible parliament buildings in the world. Like Ruth Wishart, writer and broadcaster, we are confident that - when this extraordinary building is complete, all manner of people will become suddenly enthused in response to the public excitement'. (The Herald)
In 2001 the Holyrood Progress Group, the group of MSPs and external advisers overseeing the project, saw some changes in its membership. They work closely with the Design Team and report to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, MSPs and local residents through newsletters and 'question-and-answer'; sessions.
The Project Team continued to promote the project through organised visits to the visitor centre, tours of the site and taking presentations out to local interest groups across the country.
Despite some setbacks, construction has largely continued according to programme. More than 120 contracts have been awarded for about 90% of the work on site. We reflected on what will be involved in transferring all our staff and services from our temporary home on the Mound to Holyrood and decided to move during the 2003 summer recess. We will also use this period to test that the building is working properly before the start of the new parliamentary session in September 2003.
