Hansard

The Convener SNP Committee

09 Feb 2016

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The regulations contain some drafting errors. First, regulation 2(5) inserts new subparagraphs 1(v) and 1(w) in part IA of schedule 2 to the National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (SSI 2010/208)—the principal regulations. As subparagraph ...

The Convener SNP Committee

21 Jun 2011

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

As members will note from the legal brief, it has been drawn to the committee’s attention that there has been a failure to follow proper drafting practice, in that article 2(2) of the order duplicates a more general provision in article 2(3), contrary to the presumption that l...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Sep 2011

Instruments not subject to Parliamentary Procedure

It is recommended that the order be drawn to the attention of the Parliament on the general reporting ground. The basis for that recommendation is that there has been a failure to follow proper drafting practice. While the repeal provision in section 138(2) of the 2009 act has...

The Convener SNP Committee

17 Apr 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The committee may wish to draw the attention of the Parliament to the instrument on the general reporting ground in three respects. First, there is a drafting error in schedule 5. The revocation of the Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Postal Services and Common Procur...

The Convener SNP Committee

18 Mar 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

Our legal advisers have suggested that the committee may wish to draw the following matter to the attention of the lead committee considering the regulations. The regulations come into force on 29 March 2014. Article 31 of directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major accident ...

The Convener SNP Committee

12 Jun 2012

Instruments not subject to Parliamentary Procedure

Secondly, the committee may wish to comment on the procedure used for the order. We are going back over familiar ground.In relation to the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 (Commencement No 6, Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order 2010 (SSI 2010/413), the...

The Convener SNP Committee

17 Apr 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

I am sure that it will be noted elsewhere.Schedule 1 also includes within the list of contracting authorities the National Archives, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Scottish Record Office. The Scottish Government has acknowledged that the listing requires to b...

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP) SNP Chamber

24 Jun 2010

Deaf Awareness Week 2010

I, too, thank Bill Kidd for bringing before us this timely motion. I also acknowledge the example of Julie McElroy. It takes individuals to get us to consider things in this world, and Julie McElroy is an inspiration to us all.I also commiserate with the minister because what ...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Sep 2011

Instruments subject to Affirmative Procedure

The legal brief notes that there have been failures to follow proper drafting practice. The following specific points are drawn to the committee’s attention: words have been omitted in error from the headnote; the regulations contain an unnecessary extent provision; a word has...

The Convener SNP Committee

08 Dec 2015

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

Right. We are required to report to Parliament this week, so we need to make that decision this week. We need to encourage the Government to find a way of ensuring that the instrument is not on the statute book. There are routes open to the Government and, on reflection, to us...

The Convener SNP Committee

05 Nov 2013

Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Section 7(1) contains a general power for ministers to make provision by regulations about dynamic purchasing systems. The only justification given in the delegated powers memorandum for that general power to make provision about dynamic purchasing systems and to modify the ap...

The Convener SNP Committee

22 Sep 2015

Succession (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I am grateful for those general comments. We will, of course, get into the details of the bill but I will pursue one more general question. Do any of you have any general comments on things that we might have missed or anything in the bill that causes you a general concern? I ...

The Convener SNP Committee

20 Mar 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The next item is consideration of instruments subject to negative procedure. The regulations appear to be defectively drafted, in that they appear not to deliver the intended policy of transferring certain moneys from a general account held by the Scottish Legal Aid Board to t...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Mar 2012

Instruments Subject to Affirmative Procedure

In regulation 1(2), reference should have been made to the definition of “ophthalmic medical practitioner” in the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/135). Instead, reference is made to the definition of “medical practiti...

The Convener SNP Committee

04 Sep 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

We have had the Government’s response to the questions, which is all history now. Clearly, however, we can now make the point that we were not as reassured as we might have been. Quite simply, I have read nothing that suggests that the Government tried to do things to fit in w...

The Convener SNP Committee

21 Jan 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

Regulations 3(b) and (e) substitute new definitions of “primary eye examination” and “supplementary eye examination” in regulation 2(1) of the principal regulations, the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/135). The meani...

The Convener SNP Committee

17 Mar 2015

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

A number of points have been raised on the amendment regulations by our legal advisers. First, the drafting appears to be defective in that there are two errors that the Scottish Government has acknowledged to be errors and that the committee may consider impede the intended...

The Convener SNP Committee

17 Mar 2015

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

A number of points have been raised on the regulations by our legal advisers. First, the drafting of the regulations appears to be defective in that there are seven errors that the Scottish Government has acknowledged to be errors and that the committee may consider impede t...

The Convener SNP Committee

28 Apr 2015

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

There also three matters that the committee may wish to report under the general reporting ground. First, regulation 9 amends regulation 65 of the principal regulations by substituting paragraph (3). Substituted subparagraph (3)(a) refers to entitlement to payment of a lower t...

The Convener (Nigel Don) SNP Committee

08 Mar 2016

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

I welcome members to the 10th meeting in 2016 of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. As always, I ask members to turn off mobile phones, please. The order contains a drafting error. Article 3(2) substitutes class 6H of part 1A of schedule 1 to the Town and Country ...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Sep 2011

Instruments not subject to Parliamentary Procedure

The order was laid to correct the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 (Commencement No 1) Order 2011 (SSI 2011/279). It was not laid before coming into force, as required by section 30(2) of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, and as...

The Convener SNP Committee

27 Sep 2011

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

It is suggested in the legal brief that the regulations be drawn to the Parliament’s attention on reporting ground (h) in respect of the erroneous reference to “operator” in regulation 6, where it inserts new regulation 10(3) into the Marketing of Horticultural Produce (Scotla...

The Convener SNP Committee

20 Mar 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The regulations raise the following devolution issue, which the committee might agree to draw to the Parliament’s attention on reporting ground (f).National measures on the specification of the special health mark for meat from animals that have been subject to emergency slaug...

The Convener SNP Committee

20 Mar 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

So the answer, as always, is that we do not know and that the only place we will find out is in court, which is the last place we want to find ourselves. We certainly need to bring this discussion to the attention of the appropriate policy committee so that it, too, is aware o...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Mar 2012

Instruments Subject to Negative Procedure

I do not think that you are dancing on the head of a pin, but we have to remember where we are with the legislation. I suggest that we draw it to the attention of both the policy committee, which is the lead committee, and the Parliament.Does the committee agree that we should...

The Convener SNP Committee

13 Mar 2012

Instruments subject to Affirmative Procedure

There are five matters in respect of which the committee may wish to draw the order to the attention of the Parliament on reporting ground (h), because its meaning could be clearer in five respects. Clarity is important, as the order is intended to set out steps that landlords...

The Convener SNP Committee

05 Feb 2013

Public Body Consent Memorandum

The next item of business is consideration of the draft Public Bodies (Abolition of Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council) Order 2013, which is a United Kingdom Government order under section 1 of the UK Public Bodies Act 2011.As members will recall, the consent of the ...

Nigel Don (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP) SNP Chamber

28 Feb 2013

Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I cannot recall approaching a bill on a subject about which I knew so little, so I start by thanking the committee clerks, the staff of the Scottish Parliament information centre and others who have educated us. I am sure that every other member of the committee started in a b...

The Convener SNP Committee

18 Mar 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

We now come to that amendment order. It has been drawn to the attention of the committee because the requirements of section 28(2) of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 have not been complied with.However, in the circumstances, the committee may wish...

The Convener SNP Committee

24 Jun 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

Our legal advisers have raised another matter. Regulation 3(2) provides that a person in police custody must be provided“as soon as reasonably practicable with such information ... as is necessary to satisfy the requirements of Articles 3 and 4 of the Directive.”In its respons...

The Convener SNP Committee

25 Mar 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The order was not laid at least 28 days before it came into force, as required by section 28(2) of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The committee may wish to draw to the attention of the lead committee the Scottish Government’s explanation for the...

The Convener SNP Committee

11 Mar 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

We come to agenda item 3. Our legal advisers have raised the same points in relation to both Scottish statutory instrument 2014/43 and SSI 2014/44. The committee may consider that there has been unjustifiable delay in the laying of the regulations before the Parliament, as the...

The Convener SNP Committee

09 Dec 2014

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/295) were considered by the committee at its meeting on 25 November 2014, when it was agreed to draw the attention of the Parliament to certain minor inaccuracies in respect of the names and dates of public...

The Convener SNP Committee

10 Mar 2015

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the instrument. However, the committee may wish to draw a matter to the attention of the lead committee for the instrument. The requirements that the regulations transpose for Scotland should have been transposed by 25 Octob...

The Convener SNP Committee

17 Mar 2015

Instrument subject to Affirmative Procedure

No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the draft order. There is, however, an issue that, while it is not a matter for this committee, we might wish to draw to the attention of the lead committee. The boundary between Scottish and English waters within the territ...

The Convener SNP Committee

19 May 2015

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

Our legal advisers have suggested two matters for consideration in these regulations, the first of which concerns an apparently unusual or unexpected use of the powers in the parent statute. In schedule 1 of the instrument, rule 5(3)(a) confers power on the first-tier tax tr...

Nigel Don (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP) SNP Chamber

23 Sep 2015

Agriculture (Challenges and Opportunities)

I will carry on the discussion about farm payments, which several speakers mentioned. I echo Tavish Scott’s kind comments about what happened at the Public Audit Committee this morning and commend the officials who came to the committee for their frank and helpful comments. We...

The Convener (Nigel Don) SNP Committee

10 Mar 2016

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: After Stage 2

I welcome members to the 11th meeting in 2016 of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. As always, I ask members to switch off mobile phones, please. Agenda item 1 is consideration of the delegated powers provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill as amended at sta...

Nigel Don: SNP Committee

13 Nov 2007

Subordinate Legislation

I endorse everything that has been said so far. To Cathie Craigie, I say that I do not see a problem at all in people being put out a little. Maybe we need to put them out quite a bit, as we simply have to change the culture.Given that we are making general comments on the iss...

Nigel Don: SNP Committee

06 Nov 2007

Current Petitions

The issue seems both very specific and general. I am hesitant to get drawn into the specific part of it. However, we should ensure that the relevant local authorities are doing what they should be doing. I suggest that, if we are comfortable with doing so, we stop dealing with...

Nigel Don: SNP Committee

17 Nov 2009

Current Petitions

The silence in the committee represents the fact that we face a little bit of a structural problem. Clearly, this is one of those petitions that came from an individual case but which recognised that that individual case was only one of many around the country and that there w...

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

27 Mar 2008

Fatal Accident Inquiries

I will address my remarks—as usual, very late in the debate—to one particular issue that is expected to be considered during the review: the status of recommendations made by a sheriff. I looked at the Government website and was interested to find statistics for 2005 that sugg...

The Convener SNP Committee

18 Dec 2012

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

No points have been raised under any of the reporting grounds, but the regulations raise general issues about the choice of delegated powers and the proper programming of subordinate legislation. When a choice of enabling powers is available to make provisions in subordinate l...

Nigel Don SNP Committee

05 Jun 2013

Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Part 2 largely covers SEPA and talks about control activities one way or another. In her written evidence, Dr Sarah Hendry made a point about the four sorts of control that appear to be in it: permit, registration, notification and general binding rules. I understand her point...

The Convener SNP Committee

11 Mar 2014

Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Section 96 provides powers for the Court of Session to make rules of court by act of sederunt to regulate practice and procedure in the Court of Session. It replaces sections 5 and 5A of the Court of Session Act 1988 with a new section 5.New section 5(1) contains a broad, gene...

Nigel Don (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP) SNP Chamber

02 Dec 2014

Fuel Poverty (Pre-1919 Residential Properties)

I bring the motion to the Parliament because although fuel poverty occurs across all regions, housing tenures and ages of property, it is significantly higher in pre-1919 buildings and in those constructed from traditional materials. Those pre-1919 buildings are not just the b...

Nigel Don SNP Committee

29 Apr 2015

Section 23 Report

Good morning, Auditor General. I take you to paragraphs 79 to 81 of the report, on pensions. Clearly, there is a general issue around public sector pensions, and there is the imponderability of future returns. Therefore, actuaries will keep going on a cyclical basis, giving us...

The Convener SNP Committee

12 May 2015

Instruments subject to Affirmative Procedure

If members are comfortable with that general approach, I suggest that we should probably report the draft order on the general reporting ground, because it would be rather strange for us to do what I have suggested but not to report the order. I therefore suggest that we repo...

Nigel Don: SNP Chamber

26 Nov 2009

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

No.Let me look first at the sentencing council. The issue of consistency, or the perception of consistency, has been raised in that regard. The sentencing council is a good idea because it could lead on sentencing policy as things develop. For example, I am conscious, as other...

Nigel Don SNP Committee

01 Feb 2011

Long Leases (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Professor Rennie, I draw your attention to the written submission from Peterhead Port Authority, which I hope you have seen and which makes the point that part of the south breakwater at the port is leased on a very long term for a nominal—and probably not collected—rent. The ...

The Convener SNP Committee

21 Jun 2011

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

As members will note from the legal brief, our legal advisers consider that the reference in the preamble to the regulations to the exercise of powers under section 18(4) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 is not appropriate. However, members should also note that th...

The Convener SNP Committee

21 Jun 2011

Instrument not laid before the Parliament

As members will note from the legal brief, our legal advisers have highlighted the following drafting errors in the act of adjournal.First, certain forms indicate that applications for orders can be made to courts that do not have jurisdiction in relation to such proceedings.S...

The Convener (Nigel Don) SNP Committee

06 Sep 2011

Instruments subject to Affirmative Procedure

I welcome members to the third meeting of the Subordinate Legislation Committee in session 4. We have apologies from John Scott. I ask members to turn off their mobile phones and I will start by complying myself. As members will note from the legal brief, there has been a fail...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Sep 2011

Instruments not subject to Parliamentary Procedure

As members will have noted from the legal brief, the order does not follow the convention that the provisions that it brings into force should be brought into force at least 10 days after the laying of the order. The main reason for the convention is that a sufficient minimum ...

The Convener SNP Committee

06 Sep 2011

Instruments not subject to Parliamentary Procedure

Members should note the following failures to follow proper drafting practice with regard to the order. While the repeal provisions in sections 139(1) and 143(2) of the 2009 act have been brought into force, the corresponding provisions in part 5 of schedule 7 to the 2009 act ...

The Convener SNP Committee

27 Sep 2011

Instruments subject to Affirmative Procedure

Thank you for that question. It is not the immediate question that I had asked, but we might well pick up the point later.Members will note from the aforementioned legal brief that two further points arise on the draft order. First, in article 5(3)(a), the reference to paragra...

The Convener SNP Committee

15 Nov 2011

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The legal brief identifies that there has been a failure to follow proper drafting practice, as section 28 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 has not been cited as an enabling power in the preamble. However, that does not appear to af...

The Convener SNP Committee

20 Sep 2011

Instrument subject to Affirmative Procedure

We turn to item 1 on our agenda. Members will note from the legal brief that there has been a failure to follow proper drafting practice, as the title of the regulations does not indicate that it amends the Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 ...

The Convener SNP Committee

25 Oct 2011

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

The legal brief notes that there has been a failure to follow the proper drafting practice in regulation 39(b), where gender-neutral drafting should have been used instead of referring to “he”. With that in mind, does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the attentio...

The Convener (Nigel Don) SNP Committee

08 Nov 2011

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

I welcome members to the 10th meeting in session 4 of the Subordinate Legislation Committee and, as usual, ask members to turn off any mobile phones. The legal brief notes that the instrument contains drafting errors at regulations 17(b), 41(e) and 104(n). The nature of the er...