Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Official Report 320KB pdf

Working Practices

We move to agenda item 4, which is for the committee to consider its approach to developing the work programme. I refer members to the paper received from the clerks. Do members have any comments on the paper? They do not.

One thing that we want to do is hold a business planning meeting—known in the Parliament parlance as an away day—towards the end of the summer recess. Euan Donald, the clerk, will probably bring a paper on the subject to the next meeting. If we can agree in principle that we are happy to have such a meeting, we would hope to hold it towards the end of August so that it does not clash with anything that people might be doing in July and the first three quarters of August. Is everyone happy in principle with such an arrangement?

Members indicated agreement.

We will get further details at the next meeting.

I also want to ask for the committee’s permission to delegate to its legal advisers authority to ask questions of the Scottish Government in relation to Scottish statutory instruments. That is a way of the legal advisers considering the work as soon as it lands on their desks, rather than their having to wait on every occasion for our authority to be given for them to ask such questions. If we can delegate that power to them, they can get started with the work as soon as it hits their desks. Would everyone be happy with that?

I certainly think that that is something that we should be doing. As you will be aware, convener, I was a member of this committee for a period of time in the previous session. I know that giving the legal team the flexibility to pose questions, when required, was advantageous to the members of the committee. Therefore it is something that I would whole-heartedly agree with.

Thank you, Stuart. You are absolutely right. The approach is very helpful, and it is very important that we take it. If members have no other comments, we are agreed that we will delegate that authority to our legal team.