Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee 28 January 2025
I do not intend to say too much more, other than that I think that this amendment is about ensuring that there is a provision in the bill to ensure natural justice—to ensure that people are informed about the reasons why decisions are taken. Given what we have just reflected on, there seems to again be a consensus that that is the right thing to do and that it is how we would want the system to continue to operate.
I am confused about what the difference is between ensuring that this is in statute and has a legal footing and simply putting it into the rules of the SLCC. The minister spoke about the importance of flexibility for the SLCC, but again I am not clear whether the intention would be that the SLCC would continue to provide the reasoning for decisions and that any changes to that would be subject to consultation. I am not entirely sure how removing it from statute would provide more flexibility.
As with the previous amendment, I am keen that we ensure that there is a statement of intent in the bill and that we ensure that those rules are followed because they are in statute rather than in a flexible process that would then be subject to the consultation that the minister has outlined.
On that basis, convener, I press amendment 572.