Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2015
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will try to be briefer than that.
Back in 2013, when the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Bill, as it was then, was being scrutinised, my colleague Alison Johnstone was a member of the lead committee, the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. She consistently advanced the argument that it is inappropriate to make central to the role of regulators, including environmental regulators, what I have come to regard as the Government’s central contradiction, which is sustainable economic growth. A regulator’s duty is to consider what it has been charged with regulating and not to advance the Government’s economic policy for it.
Alison Johnstone advanced that argument in relation to the bill. Given that the Government has proceeded with that course of action, we have advanced the argument again in relation to the strategic code of practice. The first version of the code was presented to the committee on 3 December last year. Having resumed my seat on the committee by that point, I actually welcomed that first version. I was all set—I was ready, geared and primed—to congratulate Fergus Ewing on having understood some of the arguments that had been advanced.
Paragraph 9 of the first version of the code made it clear that
“The duties to have regard to the Code in determining and applying general policies or principles do not apply to the exercise by a regulator or its staff of any specified regulatory function in individual cases.”
I was looking forward to the opportunity to congratulate the minister on understanding some of the arguments that had been advanced, so I was disappointed that he immediately withdrew it and promised to bring back a worse version.
Mr Ewing has now done that, and the new version makes it clear that the code applies in exercising regulatory functions. Under questioning at the committee, it seemed clear that the intention was a complete reversal from the first version of the code as presented back in December, which I would have welcomed.
I will not rehearse the whole argument on the bill but, for those reasons, the Greens will not support the code of practice. I urge the Government to recognise that its economic policy, whether or not I agree with it, should not be the central function of regulators. They have their own job to do, and advancing the Government’s economic policy is not it.
16:58