Justice and Home Affairs Committee, 07 Dec 1999

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 7, 1999

Official Report 112KB pdf

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Act of Sederunt (Fees of Solicitors in the Sheriff Court) (Amendment) 1999 (SSI 1999/149) Act of Sederunt (Fees of Sheriff Officers) 1999 (SSI 1999/150)

The next item on our agenda is subordinate legislation. We have two negative instruments to consider. I suspect that committee members have not read through those carefully. They consist mainly of columns of figures. SSI 1999/149 details an increase in fees payable to solicitors of around 3 per cent. I suspect that that is only an annual increase in line with inflation, although that is not made clear. There is also a new provision for a fee for attendance at a child welfare hearing and at a diet fixed in relation to the withdrawal of a solicitor or at certain miscellaneous interim hearings.

SSI 1999/150 increases the fees payable to sheriff officers by around 3 per cent.

These are negative instruments, which will come into force unless we call specifically for their annulment. Anybody who called for that would have to answer to the legal profession and to the sheriff officers. [Laughter.] We are well conversant with the procedure for dealing with a negative instrument with which we have a problem, as we have done that already. However, in my view, there is nothing substantive that need concern us about these two statutory instruments. I believe that we should simply note them and move on.

I want to make a correction on behalf of my former profession. The increase is not 3 per cent a year, but 3 per cent over two years, as the previous increase was in 1998. The increase is therefore only 1.5 per cent per annum.

I can hear the violins as you speak, Christine. Something tells me that there will not be a huge amount of sympathy out there.

I was not too familiar with these statutory instruments. I was interested in the mention of scaled payments for different values of poindings, which set in mind a train of thought that that could relate to Tommy Sheridan's Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Bill at a later date.

That is interesting to note, but it does not mean that we need to do anything about these statutory instruments.

I accept that. I just want to record it as a point of interest.

It is a point of information that you will need to think about for future discussions.

Is everybody happy that we simply note the SSIs and allow them to come into force?

I would not say that happy is the word.

Scott, if you want to argue against increases in fees for solicitors and sheriff officers, you are on your own.

Is everybody agreed that we simply note the SSIs?

Members indicated agreement.