Subordinate Legislation Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Official Report 265KB pdf

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Property Factors (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I had to pay some attention to the legal brief on this item. The Property Factors (Scotland) Bill is a member’s bill and there is no requirement for the member in charge of the bill to produce a delegated powers memorandum. That is the rule with such bills, but we are still required to consider and report on all proposed delegated powers. There are a number of such powers in the bill and our advisers have provided a briefing on them, which I have been reading in some detail. Our advisers have suggested that we seek further information from Patricia Ferguson, who is the member in charge of the bill, as follows.

Section 3(4) is on fees for applications. Do we agree to ask Patricia Ferguson, in relation to sections 3(4), 3(5) and 7(4), to explain how the Scottish ministers, at the date of exercising the delegated powers to prescribe the fee levels, would be in a position to comply with the duty in section 3(5) to ensure that fee income under sections 3 and 7,

“taking one financial year with another”,

does not exceed the cost of exercising the functions under part 1, given that it appears that future fee income and perhaps the cost of exercising the bill functions for any future financial year might be only estimated amounts at the date of making any regulations and that the fee income that is received might depend on the number of applications?

Do we also agree to ask on what dates it is to be established that the Scottish ministers have complied with the requirement in section 3(5) by prescribing the fee levels in regulations and, in the absence of provision in that section, what the consequences would be if there was a failure to comply?

Members indicated agreement.

Section 13 is on the code of conduct for property factors. Do we agree to ask Patricia Ferguson to explain why it is considered an appropriate level of scrutiny of the code of conduct for it to be laid in the Parliament before it is published but without a stated period of time for the Parliament to consider it in its laid form before publication or any requirement for approval by resolution?

Members indicated agreement.

Section 26 is on the delegation of functions. Do we agree to ask Patricia Ferguson to explain why the negative resolution procedure is considered the appropriate level of scrutiny for the delegated power in section 26, given the apparent significance of that power to delegate functions under the bill?

Members indicated agreement.

We will consider the responses and a draft report when we meet again on 26 October, after the short break.

I thank the official report. We will now move into private session.

14:24 Meeting continued in private until 14:27.