Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Official Report 644KB pdf

Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010: Post-legislative Scrutiny

Our final item is post-legislative scrutiny of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010. I invite the committee to consider a letter that we received from the Public Audit Committee and I refer members to paper 6.

The Public Audit Committee’s predecessor committee carried out post-legislative scrutiny of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 and made a series of recommendations for the Scottish Government. It appeared to be frustrated with the pace of the Scottish Government’s response. The session 6 Public Audit Committee has brought the issue to the attention of a number of parliamentary committees, including us. We might want to consider whether there is any merit in repeating the post-legislative scrutiny exercise that was carried out by the session 5 Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee.

Does anybody want to raise any queries?

The letter from the Public Audit Committee notes that enforcement of the 2010 act falls under civil law but that the review of the wider dog control legislation falls under criminal law, so it seems appropriate that this committee has a watching brief over progress in that area. Given the predecessor committee’s legacy paper, which was clear that the committee was frustrated by the pace of the response to the issue, it is fitting that we raise the issue with the relevant minister, who is probably the Minister for Community Safety, although I am not sure. It would be interesting to ask the minister, in writing or face to face, for an update on progress on the consultations that have been launched and legislative plans in the area.

I am happy with that. Does anybody want to raise any other points?

I suggest that we ask for an update from the Scottish Government on its plans and whether it intends to take forward any of the Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations that fall within the criminal justice remit. Are members happy with that?

Members indicated agreement.

As no further members have indicated that they have comments on the specific content of the letter, we will write to the Public Audit Committee and invite further correspondence from the relevant minister.

That concludes the public part of the meeting. Our next meeting will be on 6 October, when we will begin our budget scrutiny.