Subordinate Legislation Committee, 06 Mar 2001

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 6, 2001

Official Report 80KB pdf

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Highlands and Islands Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants etc (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (SSI 2001/40)

Good morning and welcome to the eighth meeting in 2001 of the Subordinate Legislation Committee.

The committee wrote to the Executive on several matters concerning the regulations, in particular about the lack of an appeal provision. We have received a response and there are comments on that response. Does any member wish to make any points on whether he or she is satisfied with that response to the absence of an appeal provision?

Perhaps the committee should simply draw the issue of the absence of an appeal procedure to the lead committee's attention. We should also draw to its attention the differences between the 2001 regulations and the 1995 regulations. That would allow the lead committee to take a view on whether it believes the recommendations to be appropriate.

The possibility of a lack of compatibility with the European convention on human rights should also be drawn to the lead committee's attention.

The judge and jury are the same as those who administer the scheme in the first place.

I might have picked this up wrongly but I thought that the Executive maintained that its proposals were compatible with the ECHR. If that is the case, we will need to change the ECHR because there appears to be less justice and balance all round in the new as opposed to the old regulations. Why should we follow a standard that is lower than that in previous legislation? That should be challenged. Perhaps a challenge is not up to us, but we should certainly point out to the lead committee that the regulations are not as good a deal as previously.

I think that members are agreed. We will draw the matter to the lead committee's attention. Like Bristow Muldoon, I do not know how important the matter is, however, if we draw the problems to the attention of the lead committee, it can decide whether it wishes to make an issue of those problems or whether it can live with them.