Subordinate Legislation Committee, 05 Nov 2002

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Official Report 95KB pdf

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Instruments Subject to Annulment

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Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

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Discontinuance of Legalised Police Cells (Ayr) Rules 2002 (SSI 2002/472)

No relevant points have been identified. The rules just mean that you can no longer be banged up in Ayr. You are sent to Kilmarnock instead, where I am told that they have a good class of place; it was provided by private finance initiative or something.

Very good value for money.

Unfortunately that is about policy.

We could always go on a visit. It used to be a women's prison, did it not?

No, that was Greenock.

No, I think it was Ayr.

There is no prison in Ayr.

There are just police cells, or used to be.

You obviously have not read your papers, convener. It says that in 1927 the Secretary of State did

"hereby direct that the twenty-six cells and one hospital room, constituting the female block of the buildings situated in the County of Ayr and Burgh of Ayr, discontinued as a Prison".

I have to be honest. I did not read that bit, as I was just glad to hear that they were all going to Kilmarnock, because I hear that it is such a nice place.

All the men are honest and all the women bonny.

Now that that is sorted out, we can move on.

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Water Customer Consultation Panels (Scotland) Order 2002 (SSI 2002/473)

No points arise on the order.

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Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (Scotland) (No 2) Order 2002 (SSI 2002/483)

This order is one for the lawyers.

Aren't they all?

This one is in particular. There are no points of substance on the order. It replaces an emergency order that was made earlier in the year to control imports of plants susceptible to an infection of the fungus that attacks, amongst other plants, rhododendrons and viburnum. The order breached the 21-day rule, but we can understand why.

There is a technical legal point that does not matter at the moment because we have already decided that there is no point of substance on the order to which we could take exception. However, the technical point harks back to the Interpretation Act of 1889, which probably should have been revoked or amended in 1978 but was not. The Interpretation Act 1978 did not contain a provision regarding an implied power to revoke orders. It conferred such a power only on rules, regulations and byelaws. Accordingly, when an act passed before 1978 confers power to make an order, unless that act contains a specific power to revoke such an order, there is no power to do so. The Plant Health Act 1967, under which the order is made, does not contain such a power.

We only mention this problem in passing, because although it is not important for the rhododendron or viburnum, it might have implications for the transition orders for this Parliament, which could well come before the committee.

In order to avoid that confusion, it might have been possible for the Executive to make regulations under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. It might be worth asking why it did not.

We should ask that, but if the Executive had done that, it would have been because this piece of legislation had not been picked up first. The normal rule of thumb is to use domestic legislation.

Are you wilting, Mr Jackson?

No, I am fascinated.

I thought you might be.

I thank everyone for their attendance and remind them that any questions on the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill should be passed to the clerk.

Meeting closed at 11:48