Committee
Health Committee, 17 Jan 2006
17 Jan 2006 · S2 · Health Committee
Item of business
Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Amendment 74 has been lodged because of the Subordinate Legislation Committee's comments at an earlier stage. That committee noted that section 47(a) will give ministers powers to prescribe the form in which authorisation for certain activities under parts 2 and 3 of the bill can be given. It asked the reasonable question whether such forms would be mandatory. I confirm that our intention is that although the forms for part 3 authorisations will not be mandatory, the new authorisation forms for part 2 that cover hospital postmortems will be mandatory. That will address directly the specific concern, in the context of hospital postmortems, about lack of consistency in past practice.The amendments will clarify that at section 30(3) of the bill in the case of authorisation that is given by, respectively, an adult's nominee or nearest relative, the nominee of a child aged 12 or over, or a person who had parental rights and responsibilities in relation to a deceased child.On the other hand, in relation to tissue samples or organs that have been required for procurator fiscal purposes but which are no longer required, such forms will not be mandatory. The reason for the difference is that in such cases the forms will be used mainly for research purposes. Each research project will probably need to devise its own form. Also, a form has already been devised for a specific research project that is working well; we do not wish to prevent the use of that form.Along with forensic pathologists and representatives of the Procurator Fiscal Service, we shall develop standards for post-mortem examinations that are instructed by fiscals. If that work concludes that a standard form is required under part 3, the bill allows for that; the amendments in group 3 reflect those different approaches and will require the form for part 2 authorisation to be given in regulations, but also provide that the form for part 3 authorisations "may be given" in regulations. That distinction is the basis for the amendments. I move amendment 74.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
SNP
Item 3 on the agenda is our continued consideration of the Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill at stage 2. This is day 2 of our stage 2 consideration. We have set a...
Sections 19 to 25 agreed to.
Section 26—Authorisation of post-mortem examination etc: child 12 years of age or over
Amendments 67 to 69 moved—Lewis Macdonald—and agreed to.
Section 26, as amended, agreed to.
Section 27—Authorisation of post-mortem examination etc as respects child 12 years of age or over by nominee or person with parental rights and parental resp...
Amendment 70 moved—Lewis Macdonald—and agreed to.
Section 27, as amended, agreed to.
Section 28—Authorisation of post-mortem examination etc as respects child under 12 years of age
Amendment 71 moved—Lewis Macdonald—and agreed to.
Section 28, as amended, agreed to.
Section 29—Nomination of person under section 25(1) or 27(1): additional provision
The Convener:
SNP
Group 1 is on the nomination of persons. Amendment 72, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendment 109.
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
Amendment 72 provides additional safeguards to ensure that an adult or a child aged 12 or over understands the implications of nominating an adult to authori...
Amendment 72 agreed to.
Section 29, as amended, agreed to.
Section 30—Post-mortem examination and removal and retention of organs: further requirements
The Convener:
SNP
Group 2 is miscellaneous amendments. Amendment 73, in the name of the deputy minister, is grouped with amendment 109.
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
Amendment 73 is a technical amendment that makes further provision in relation to authorisation by an adult for a post-mortem examination under section 24(1)...
Amendment 73 agreed to.
The Convener:
SNP
Group 3 is on prescribed forms of authorisation. Amendment 74, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 79, 81, 106 and 107.
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
Amendment 74 has been lodged because of the Subordinate Legislation Committee's comments at an earlier stage. That committee noted that section 47(a) will gi...
Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind):
Ind
Is the research form mandatory?
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
No. The form that exists has been worked up as part of a research undertaking. The amendments in group 3 allow that we may prescribe the form for such resear...
Dr Turner:
Ind
Could the form become mandatory?
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
It could become a standard form under regulations, but not under the primary legislation.
Amendment 74 agreed to.
Amendments 75 to 81 moved—Lewis Macdonald—and agreed to.
Section 30, as amended, agreed to.
Section 31 agreed to.