Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 March 2021
Amendment 6 does two things. First, it refines the wording of section 6A(6), which is one of two subsections to section 6A that were added by Scottish Government amendments at stage 2. The amendment will ensure consistency of language between subsections (5) and (6) and will mean that both refer to compliance and/or non-compliance, rather than the current situation in which subsection (5) refers to
“Failure to comply with the requirement”
and subsection (6) refers to “breach of the requirement”.
The second change relates to the mechanism that was added by a Scottish Government amendment at stage 2 to enable the Scottish ministers to dispense with the additional 60-day pre-laying period that will normally be required for regulations that are made under section 6(1). New subsection (6) will enable ministers to do that so long as they provide an explanation to the Presiding Officer. The new subsection appears to have been modelled on section 31(3) of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. My amendment 6 requires that the explanation that is provided
“must be given in writing as soon as practicable after the instrument is laid”.
In doing so, it replicates the next subsection in the 2010 act—section 31(4)—and is a worthwhile addition to the mechanism that was added by the Government at stage 2.
I move amendment 6.