Subordinate Legislation Committee, 09 Nov 1999

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 9, 1999

Official Report 66KB pdf

---

Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Bill

The second item on our agenda is the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Bill. We will deal with this item in two parts.

A letter has been received from Tom McCabe, copies of which I have been able to circulate only this morning. Does the committee agree to my moving the amendment to the bill at this afternoon's meeting of the Audit Committee? Views on that have been canvassed. We agreed that it would allow matters to progress—depending, of course, on the view that the Audit Committee takes—and that it would ensure that this committee's perspective was represented. Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Secondly, as we have discussed, there is a procedural problem that we must try to work round. We can level no criticism at the direction in which Tom McCabe is heading. Are members agreed that we should prepare and send a letter to the Procedures Committee, which it will then be able to consider next week?

I think that every member of the committee agrees with the point that Tom McCabe makes in his letter about statutory instruments not being laid and about the need to ensure that we have the broader power to scrutinise instruments. I agree, therefore, that a letter should be sent that reflects those sentiments.

If both this committee and Tom McCabe write letters, some pressure should be brought to bear on the Procedures Committee.

That concludes today's business, if not in record time, then not far from it.

Meeting closed at 11:20.