The BLCC
Dunfermline

Tackling Serious and Anti-Social Crime - Speech by the Rt Hon Menzies Campbell QC MP - Scotland’s Towns, Burghs and Communities - Speech by Nicol Stephen MSP - Final Report of the Steel Commission - Bright Future – a Vision for Scotland - Darfur

Tackling Serious and Anti-Social Crime

This Conference recognises that a free and fair society can only be built on the basis of the rule of law, strongly founded on the basis of active citizenship, respect for individual liberties and strong communities, where all citizens, particularly young people, are enabled to fulfil their full potential.

Conference condemns the simplistic and authoritarian responses of the UK Labour Government to crime and justice issues, which have eroded liberty and the traditional basic tenets of law through their proposals for a wasteful national ID card scheme, retention of DNA samples for life from anyone arrested in England and Wales and their failure to uphold basic standards of justice in the face of terrorism.

Conference welcomes the achievements of Liberal Democrats in Government in Scotland, driven by our 2003 manifesto, including delivering record police numbers and a record crime clear-up rate, reforming court and bail procedures, improving the effectiveness of the sentencing regime (including ending automatic early release) and increasing effective and workable alternatives to custody.

Conference recognises that too many individuals and communities still suffer from crime and anti-social behaviour, and calls for effective strategies to both protect the public and tackle the root causes of serious and anti-social crime in Scotland, including –

1. Action to stamp out the growing culture of knife crime in Scotland by linking tougher sentences for possession and use of knives and other offensive weapons with new Custody and Behaviour Orders to protect the public and address offending behaviour.
   
2. A programme to tackle the gang culture and its associated territorialism, involving both young men and young women, including the establishment of an advisory Scottish Youth Justice Board, comprised of young people and professionals to consider justice, rights and crime issues affecting young people
   
3. Continued reform of the laws and practices on crimes of rape to ensure the effective protection of victims and an increase in conviction rates
   
4. Piloting Youth Panels based on the New York model, where young people themselves are involved in considering some cases of offending,
   
5. An overall drugs and alcohol addiction strategy to turn round the culture of binge drinking, to provide alternative routes for young people, including more youth cafes, better enforcement of existing laws on alcohol, an emphasis on positive life choices and career opportunities for young people, and early intervention with young people at serious risk of addiction
   
6. Funding for bottle marking schemes to allow the police the resources to clamp down on underage selling of alcohol, alongside increased use of test purchasing.
   
7. Funding for more referrals to alcohol diversion schemes in each local authority area including long term and sustainable funding of counselling support.
   
8. Greater provision for community mediation, for neighbour, housing and antisocial disputes, including greater use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and increased support for diversionary activities
   
9. Greater focus on support for community officers and school liaison officers
   
10. The introduction of expensive, ineffective prison sentences under 6 months (which contribute to more crime rather than less) to be replaced by more effective and better resourced community disposals, unless the court considers that no other method of dealing with the offender, except a short prison sentence, is appropriate.

Speech by the Rt Hon Menzies Campbell QC MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Scotland’s Towns, Burghs and Communities

This Conference –

1. welcomes the opportunity offered by the reform of the Council voting system to revitalise local democracy in Scotland;
   
2. looks forward to the election of many new Liberal Democrat Councillors across Scotland committed to returning effective power and opportunity to local people.
   
3. notes the vitality of many heritage groups and community trusts, Housing Associations and other bodies run by local people
   
4. believes that the revitalisation of Scotland’s towns, burghs and suburban centres is vital to the strength of local community life and the vital role of civic bodies in this process;

Conference calls for –

1. the creation of a right of local communities to require the establishment of a Burgh Council, Community Trust or similar body in their local area;
   
2. Such Community bodies to have specific responsibilities by agreement with the Local Authority for the management of appropriate parts of the public realm, such as town centres, conservation areas, parks, halls, and for local galas, local history promotion, and similar events and facilities
   
3. Such Community bodies to have a proactive statutory role in developing Local Plans
   
4. Mechanisms to be developed to co-operate with and support the involvement of Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce and similar bodies
   
5. All assets held by such Community bodies to be regarded as “common good” assets
   
6. New legislation to regulate, protect and modernise the management of all common good assets across Scotland
   
7. Greater statutory protection to sporting and community assets such as Bowling Clubs or sports clubs build up over generations
   
8. Enhance the urban landscape with an improved emphasis on good design in the building and renovation of public buildings, and of buildings in town and suburban centres, and on supporting the preservation of historic facades, and streetscapes.
   
9. The establishment of a Community Power Development Fund to support the revitalisation of towns, burghs and communities

Speech by Nicol Stephen MSP
Deputy First Minister and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

Final Report of the Steel Commission

Conference welcomes the final report of the Steel Commission “Moving to Federalism – a New Settlement for Scotland” which builds on the financial and fiscal principles agreed by Scottish Conference in February 2005.

Conference reiterates its commitment to a more federal United Kingdom that best accommodates the diversity of individual identity of our citizens, the cultural, political and national identity of Scotland and the continuing value of the United Kingdom and Scotland to each other.

Conference calls for the establishment of a new Constitutional Convention, to be called together during the term of the next Scottish Parliament, which should be inclusive of civic and political Scotland, with the following aims -

1. to redefine and modernise the relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK through a new federal settlement for Scotland,
   
2. to deliver new powers for the Scottish Parliament in the light of the experience and needs demonstrated during the first two terms
   
3. to establish an equitable system of funding of the United Kingdom and its federal units, based on the democratic and accountable principle that each level of government should raise as much as practical of its own spending

Conference particularly welcomes and endorses the key recommendations of the Steel Commission for the future constitutional status, legislative and fiscal powers of the Scottish Parliament, including:

1. A new written constitution for the UK which entrenches the rights of Scotland within a new constitutional framework rather than through an Act of the Westminster Parliament;
   
2. The new constitution must: clearly set out the limits of power of the various partners in the Union; set out the specific powers that are the exclusive domain of the UK Parliament; introduce a category of formal partnership working in other specific areas; confirm that all others areas are within the competence of the Scottish Parliament;
   
3. Under the new settlement, the term “Scottish Executive” should be replaced by “Scottish Government”;
   
4. The principle of proportional representation for elections in Scotland, including STV for Scottish Parliament elections, should be enshrined in the constitution;
   
5. The constitution should be based on the principle of subsidiarity and should also therefore recognise the status, democratic legitimacy and role of local government;
   
6. There should be an Annual Review of the Constitutional Steering Group (CSG) principles with the weight and status of a ‘State of the Nation’ address;
   
7. The Scotland Office should be abolished and replaced by a UK Department of the Nations and Regions;
   
8. A Joint Committee of the Scottish and UK Parliaments should be established and the Scottish Select Committee should be abolished;
   
9. Consider the options for extending the legislative and policy powers of the Scottish Parliament in line with recommendations 13-16 of the Steel Commission Final Report;
   
10. Any reform of the UK economic and fiscal union must recognise that the financial and economic relations between Scotland and the UK as a whole are extremely complex and cannot be reduced to a simple issue of whether Scotland has a fiscal deficit or a fiscal surplus;
    
11. A new system of fiscal federalism to significantly increase the taxation powers of the Scottish Parliament in order to improve accountability; increase transparency; encourage more efficient allocation of resources; and allow the Scottish Parliament to have its hands on the fiscal levers necessary to influence the direction of the Scottish economy;
    
12. The Scottish Government should raise as much as practical of its own spending under the new system of fiscal federalism detailed in Recommendation 20 of the Final Report of the Steel Commission;
    
13. The second Constitutional Convention to undertake detailed work and produce recommendations on the matter of how the existing UK tax basket is divided up under the new system of fiscal federalism;
    
14. Any move to increase the taxation powers of the Scottish Parliament should be coupled with a new needs-based equalisation system for the UK as a replacement of the Barnett formula over the long term.

Bright Future – a Vision for Scotland
Scottish Liberal Democrat Pre-Manifesto

Conference welcomes the publication of Bright Future, as an ambitious and vibrant vision for the future of Scotland.

Conference believes that Bright Future builds on the success of Scottish Liberal Democrats in government and offers positive solutions to the issues that people in Scotland care about most.

Conference particularly welcomes the radical, reforming and responsible approach of Bright Future in bringing forward new and innovative ideas to make the green switch, deliver new opportunities for young people, create a dynamic Scotland, improve health and wellbeing, and give real power to communities.

Conference calls on Scottish Liberal Democrats to campaign across Scotland to deliver the vision of Bright Future and to ensure that the Scottish Liberal Democrats become the single largest party after the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections

Conference further calls for the vision and proposals of Bright Future to form the basis for a fully costed Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto for the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections.

Darfur

Conference is appalled at the deteriorating situation in the ongoing conflict in Darfur which has killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced over 2 million people.

Conference condemns the Sudanese Government’s rejection of UN Security Council Resolution 1706, calling for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

Conference calls for:

1. urgent and united international action to tackle this humanitarian crisis,
   
2. the Sudanese Government to adhere to the terms of the Darfur Peace Agreement and to allow UN peacekeeping forces on the ground once the African Union’s AMIS force mandate has expired, and
   
3. the European Union to consider targeted sanctions against the Khartoum regime if it continues to reject a UN peacekeeping force.