First minister promises new child protection and mental health laws in Scotland

Protecting children, promoting mental health services and
tackling homelessness will be at the forefront of the Scottish
parliament’s legislative programme in the coming 12 months,
first minister Jack McConnell announced.

Highlighting 11 pieces of new legislation which will be
introduced in 2002/03, McConnell indicated that the Protection of
Children Bill will be one of the top priorities. The bill will have
two main functions in setting up an index of adults who are
unsuitable to work with children and disqualifying those on that
index from working with children.

In addition, new bills will be introduced addressing mental
health issues and homelessness. McConnell acknowledged the scale of
mental health issues in Scotland, accounting for over 30 per cent
of all GP consultations. The executive proposes to modernise mental
health legislation.

McConnell said: “The bill we propose will create fairer and
safer mental health law. It will bring new rights and new
protection to many of the most vulnerable and isolated in our
communities and it will enable our professionals to do their job
flexibly and effectively.”

The bill addressing homelessness will take into account the
views of the homelessness taskforce, a multi-disciplinary advisory
group established by the executive. The bill will endeavour to
break down the obstacles to homeless people obtaining a secure
home, and introduce greater support to help people sustain their
tenancies.

www.scotland.gov.uk