Justice 2 Committee,
Meeting date: Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Official Report
201KB pdf
Subordinate Legislation
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005<br />(Relevant Premises) Regulations 2005 (draft)
I welcome everyone to the 15th meeting in 2005 of the Justice 2 Committee. As usual, papers have been circulated to members. We have received no apologies and we are all here—physically at least.
It is my pleasure to welcome the Minister for Justice along with Jill Clark, her adviser, for agenda item 1, which concerns a statutory instrument that is subject to the affirmative procedure. The minister is here to move the motion to approve the regulations.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to move and speak to the motion. I will outline to the committee the background to the proposed regulations to be made under section 78 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. Members will wish to consider that the purpose of the regulations is to modify the definition of "relevant premises" in section 78 of the 2005 act so that construction sites and premises as specified in part 1 of schedule 1 to the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 1976 will be included as relevant premises for the purposes of part 3 of the 2005 act.
Members will recall that on 18 January, the committee agreed to recommend the approval of an order made under section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998 to amend the reservation in section H2 of schedule 5 to the 2005 act in respect of health and safety. The intention was to reflect the split in policy responsibility for fire safety matters between the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Executive. The order was subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament and the Westminster Parliament and came into force on 23 March.
As a result, the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament has been extended to cover fire safety on construction sites and premises as specified in part 1 of schedule 1 to the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 1976. Accordingly, the regulations to which I speak today will amend section 78 of the 2005 act to bring special premises and construction sites within the new fire safety regime.
Once the regulations and the act commence, fire and rescue authorities and joint fire and rescue boards in Scotland will become responsible for enforcing the new legislation in respect of the majority of special premises. We are currently discussing with Whitehall colleagues the means by which the existing arrangements for enforcement in respect of the other premises will continue.
Fire and rescue authorities will already be familiar with the premises for firefighting purposes. When preparing their integrated risk management plans, they will take into account their enforcement duties, including duties related to special premises. The proposed regulations, together with the 2005 act and other fire safety regulations, will help to ensure that we have a consistent approach throughout the United Kingdom, subject to differences between Scottish, English and Welsh legislation, as well as a level playing field with regard to the impact of fire safety requirements on industry and commerce. I hope that the committee will be able to support the motion.
I move,
That the Justice 2 Committee recommends that the draft Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Relevant Premises) Regulations 2005 be approved.
Motion agreed to.