Health and Sport Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Official Report 682KB pdf

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

Cross-border Health Care (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 [Draft]

Food and Feed (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SSI 2020/372)

Good morning, and welcome to the 34th meeting in 2020 of the Health and Sport Committee. We have received apologies from Donald Cameron and Alex Cole-Hamilton. I ask all members and witnesses to ensure that mobile phones are in silent mode and that all other notifications are turned off during the meeting, please.

Agenda item 1 relates to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. We have two EU-exit related instruments for policy consideration under later agenda items, but we must first consider whether the instruments have been laid under the appropriate procedure and categorisation. If an instrument corrects certain deficiencies in retained EU law, the lead committee has the opportunity, in advance of its policy consideration, to recommend to the Scottish Government that the parliamentary procedure that has been allocated to the instrument be changed. That process is known as the sift.

The first instrument that we will consider in relation to the sift is the draft Cross-border Health Care (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. The instrument has been laid under the affirmative procedure and categorised by the Scottish Government as being of medium significance. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instrument on 24 November. The committee agreed that it was content that the instrument had been laid under the affirmative procedure and that it should be categorised as being of medium significance under the Scottish statutory instrument protocol.

As there are no comments from members, we agree that the instrument has been laid under the correct procedure and categorisation.

The second instrument that is to be considered in the sift is the Food and Feed (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. The instrument has been laid under the negative procedure and categorised by the Scottish Government as being of low significance. The DPLR Committee also considered the instrument on 24 November. It agreed that use of the negative procedure was appropriate, because of the instrument’s technical nature, and that it should be categorised as being of low significance, for the same reason.

As there are no comments from members, we agree that the instrument has been laid under the correct procedure and categorisation.

That concludes the committee’s consideration of the sift of those instruments.