Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Amendment (Coronavirus) Order 2021 [draft] was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 17 February 2021 and referred to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee (SPPA Committee).
The purpose of the Order is to amend the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2015 (“the 2015 Order”) to provide for an elector, who has already appointed a proxy to vote for them, to change their proxy if the original proxy would not now be able to vote in person because they are following Scottish Government or medical advice by shielding or self-isolating due to coronavirus.
The Order also widens the interpretation of “disability” in relation to emergency proxies and it corrects a minor cross-referencing error in the 2015 Order.
At its meeting on 23 February 2021, the DPLRC considered this instrument and had no comments to make.
Motion S5M-24190 was lodged by Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans, and supported by Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations.
At the SPPA Committee's meeting on 4 March 2021, it took evidence on the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Amendment (Coronavirus) Order 2021 [draft] from—
Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans;
Iain Hockenhull, Elections Policy Adviser, Roddy Angus, Elections Policy Advisor, and Colin Brown, Senior Principal Legal Officer, Scottish Government.
Following the evidence session, Graeme Dey moved Motion S5M-24190 that the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Amendment (Coronavirus) Order 2021 [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 4 March 2021.
The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Amendment (Coronavirus) Order 2021 [draft] be approved.
6th Meeting 2021 (Session 5), Thursday 4 March 2021
Subordinate legislation: The Committee took evidence on the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Amendment (Coronavirus) Order 2021 [draft] and the Scottish Parliament General Election from—
Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans;
Iain Hockenhull, Elections Policy Adviser, Roddy Angus, Elections Policy Advisor, and Colin Brown, Senior Principal Legal Officer, Scottish Government.
3Subordinate legislation: Graeme Dey (Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans) moved—S5M-24190—That the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Amendment (Coronavirus) Order 2021 [draft] be approved.
The motion was agreed to.