Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Meeting date: Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Official Report 312KB pdf
Contents
- Attendance
- Instruments Subject to Negative Procedure
- Instruments not subject to Parliamentary Procedure
Instruments Subject to Negative Procedure
Caseins and Caseinates (Scotland) (No 2) Regulations 2016 (SSI 2016/422)
I welcome members to the 15th meeting in session 5 of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. Apologies have been received from Stuart McMillan and we welcome George Adam, who is attending as a substitute for Stuart.
Agenda item 1 is consideration of instruments that are subject to the negative procedure. SSI 2016/422 implements an undertaking that the Scottish Government provided to the committee that it would urgently revoke the Caseins and Caseinates (Scotland) Regulations 2016 (SSI 2016/383) and lay a corrective instrument. The committee reported a number of errors in SSI 2016/383 that appeared to be points of defective drafting. Perhaps the most important unintended consequence of those regulations was to make it an offence not to enforce the regulations. The errors were due to an issue with version control.
The corrective instrument was laid before the Parliament on 15 December 2016 and its provisions come into force on 21 and 22 December 2016. It does not respect the requirement that at least 28 days should elapse between the laying of an instrument that is subject to the negative procedure and the coming into force of that instrument.
As regards its interest in the Scottish Government’s decision to proceed in that manner, the committee could find the failure to comply with section 28 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 to be acceptable in the circumstances. The reasons for it are outlined by the chief executive of Food Standards Scotland in his letter to the Presiding Officer of 14 December 2016.
Does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the Parliament’s attention under reporting ground (j), as they fail to comply with the requirements of section 28(2) of the 2010 act?
Members indicated agreement.
Does the committee agree to find the reasons for failing to comply with those requirements to be acceptable in the circumstances?
Members indicated agreement.
No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the following six instruments.
Valuation for Rating (Decapitalisation Rate) (Scotland) Regulations 2016 (SSI 2016/402)
Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area and Special Parking Area) (East Lothian Council) Designation Order 2016 (SSI 2016/407)
Parking Attendants (Wearing of Uniforms) (East Lothian Council Parking Area) Regulations 2016 (SSI 2016/408)
Road Traffic (Parking Adjudicators) (East Lothian Council) Regulations 2016 (SSI 2016/409)
Community Empowerment (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2016 (SSI 2016/411)
Regulation of Care (Prescribed Registers) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2016 (SSI 2016/413)
Is the committee content with the instruments?
Members indicated agreement.
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