In May, ministers approved the Scottish Executive's programme for government for the next year.
These are 10 of the bills to be implemented at-a-glance: A reform of Scotland's High Court system will be implemented in a bid to quicken the judicial process and cut down on the amount of time wasted by police and witnesses. Electronic tagging and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders will be introduced for children under the age of 16. Courts will also be given powers to make parents take more responsibility for the behaviour of their children. The sale of spray paint to under-16s is also to be banned. Headteachers are to have an increased role in the running of their schools and parents and pupils will be given more information and choice over education. A new mediation and tribunal service will also be introduced for pupils along with extra measures to ensure children with special needs get the best education. Ministers will be given extra powers to intervene in failing schools and will help ensure local authorities implement recommendations set down by HMI inspectors. Environmental improvements are also to be brought in with a new nature conservation bill. The system which designates SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) is to be reformed and more focus will be given to combating wildlife crime. Measures to safeguard public health are to be improved with a set of regulations for public water and sewerage systems being drawn up. Local authorities are to become more responsible for the environment and will soon be required to ensure that the full environmental impacts of all new strategies, programmes and plans developed by the public sector are properly considered. Measures will be introduced to make getting involved in local government and democratic decision making easier. A new fire services bill is planned, subject to the outcome of the current dispute. It will increase local decision making and give the Fire Authority statutory responsibility for fire prevention and community fire service work. A further bill is planned to give statutory authority to the Scottish Executive to spend out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund in the financial year 2004-05.
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