Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
The Representation of the People (Data Matching) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] were laid before the Scottish Parliament on 14 January 2020 and referred to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee (SPPA Committee).
The draft Regulations were made in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 53(1) and (3) and 201(3) and paragraphs 1A and 13(1ZB) of schedule 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1983(a).
Regulation 3 of these Regulations amends regulation 20 of the Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) (Amendment) Regulations 2019. The purpose of these Regulations is to enable Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to test the process of matching the names and addresses of those registered in the register of local government electors in Scotland with other data such as that held by the UK Government Department for Work and Pensions.
The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the draft Regulations on 28 January 2020 and indicated in its 6th Report, 2020 that it did not need to draw the Parliament's attention to the instrument.
At the SPPA Committee’s third meeting on 30 January 2020, it took evidence on the Representation of the People (Data Matching) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] from—
Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans;
Ewan McCaig, Solicitor, Legal Directorate, Maria McCann, Head of Elections Team, and Kenneth Pentland, Senior Policy Officer, Scottish Government.
Motion S5M-20563 was lodged by Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans, and supported by Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations.
Following the evidence session, Graeme Dey moved S5M-20563—That the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Representation of the People (Data Matching) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] be approved.
The motion was agreed to without division.
The evidence taken and the debate can be found in the Official Report for the SPPA Committee meeting of 30 January 2020.
The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Representation of the People (Data Matching) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] be approved.
3rd Meeting 2020 (Session 5), Thursday 30 January 2020
Subordinate legislation: The Committee took evidence on the Representation of the People (Data Matching) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] and the Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) Amendment (Scotland) Order 2020 [draft] from—
Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans;
Ewan McCaig, Solicitor, Legal Directorate, Maria McCann, Head of Elections Team, and Kenneth Pentland, Senior Policy Officer, Scottish Government.
Subordinate legislation: Graeme Dey moved—S5M-20563—That the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Representation of the People (Data Matching) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] be approved.
The motion was agreed to.