Subordinate Legislation Committee
Meeting date: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Official Report
320KB pdf
Long Leases (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Agenda item 5 is consideration of the delegated powers in the Long Leases (Scotland) Bill. In considering the bill, the committee is invited to agree the questions that it wishes to raise with the Scottish Government. It is suggested that the questions be raised in written correspondence. On the basis of the responses, the committee expects to consider a draft report at its meeting on 21 February.
It is recommended that the committee might wish to ask the Scottish Government questions in relation to the power under section 78(5), which enables the Scottish ministers to prescribe a date or period after which notices and agreements that are determined to be registrable by the courts or the Lands Tribunal for Scotland cannot be registered, and to provide that applications to the courts or the tribunal must be made within a specified period for the notices and agreements to be registrable.
The Government states that it considers that the powers relate to “straightforward matters” and that therefore the negative procedure provides “an appropriate balance”. It appears that the operation of the power is straightforward, but that the time limits that it imposes on exercising rights under the bill are an important issue. The committee might therefore wish to ask the Scottish Government to give further justification for the negative procedure being an appropriate level of scrutiny, given that the effect of the power is to specify deadlines for the exercise of rights under the bill; and to clarify how it would propose consulting on any order that is to be made under the power, and in particular whether it would consider providing that consultation must be undertaken before such an order is made. Do members agree to ask those questions?
Members indicated agreement.
It is further recommended that the committee might wish to ask the Scottish Government about the power under section 81(1) to make supplementary, incidental, consequential, transitional, transitory or saving provision. Exercise of that power is subject to the negative procedure, except where it is used to amend any part of the text of an act, which may include the new act, in which case, the affirmative procedure applies.
The committee might wish to ask the Scottish Government to explain what further incidental or supplemental provision might be required; why, given that such provision is likely to affect substantive property rights and so involve important questions of social policy, the negative procedure is considered to be a sufficient level of parliamentary scrutiny of the exercise of such powers; and whether the examples that are provided of transitional, transitory and saving provision given in the delegated powers memorandum could also fall within the scope of the power in section 83(3) and, if so, why the further power in section 83(3) is required. Do members agree to ask those questions?
Members indicated agreement.
The committee might also wish to ask about the power in section 82 to make ancillary provision in relation to the exercise of all powers to make regulations and the power under section 78(5). That provision is not treated separately in the delegated powers memorandum and no commentary is provided on the need for the power in relation to the individual powers to which the bolt-on provision applies.
The committee might therefore wish to seek an explanation from the Scottish Government as to why the power in section 82(1)(a) is required in addition to the separate stand-alone power to make ancillary provision that is provided in section 81 and the further power to make transitional, transitory or saving provision in connection with commencement that is provided in section 83(3). Do members agree to ask for an explanation?
Members indicated agreement.
Do members agree that we should raise those questions in writing in the normal way?
Members indicated agreement.
That brings us to agenda item 6, which is to be taken in private. I therefore ask our visitors—although they are welcome and I thank them for coming—to leave us.
14:38
Meeting continued in private until 14:43.