Subordinate Legislation
I welcome Margaret Curran, Deputy Minister for Social Justice, and the officials who accompany her: John Ritchie and Helen Jones.
As we do not often consider subordinate legislation, it may help everyone if I outline briefly the procedure for dealing with the four statutory instruments that are before us. The minister will be with us for consideration of the first two instruments, which are affirmative instruments. As I am sure she is aware, the minister is required under rule 10.6.2 of the standing orders to propose by motion that the draft instruments be approved.
The second two statutory instruments are negative instruments and so are subject to annulment under rule 10.4 of the standing orders. Any member who is unhappy with such an order is required to lodge a motion that proposes that nothing further be done under the instrument. No motions to annul have been lodged with the chamber desk. We will deal with those instruments later on.
Housing Support Grant (Scotland)<br />Order 2002 (Draft)
We will deal first with the draft Housing Support Grant (Scotland) Order 2002, which is an affirmative instrument. Committee members have received copies of the draft order and the accompanying documentation. The committee should note that the Subordinate Legislation Committee has drawn the attention of the committee and the Parliament to the instrument on the ground of failure to comply with proper drafting practice, although that does not affect the substance of the instrument.
I ask the minister to speak briefly to the instrument but not to move it yet.
I had cause to look back at last year's Official Report. You were very clear with me about what I had to do when the committee considered the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2001. I assure you that I will keep within your instruction.
The draft Housing Support Grant (Scotland) Order 2002 sets out the amount of housing support grant that is payable to local authorities in 2002-03. As has been the case for a number of years, only the two councils with the highest debt per house—Shetland Council and Western Isles Council—will qualify for grant in respect of their housing costs. The total grant payable to those councils in 2002-03 is around £5.8 million. Housing support grant remains a substantial proportion of the total housing revenue account income for the two councils. Without the subsidy, rent levels in those areas would have to increase substantially.
As I am sure the committee is aware, the other element of housing support grant is hostel grant, which is payable to authorities on the basis of the estimated deficit between hostels' income and expenditure. In 2002-03, 19 councils will be in receipt of grants totalling £3 million.
The Subordinate Legislation Committee flagged up to us the fact that the Executive had not observed best practice when drafting the order. Will the minister comment on that?
Lawyers take different views on such matters. The Executive's draftspersons feel that some of the comments may not have been appropriate. We will consider the matter, which is part of a continuing discussion between our officials and the Subordinate Legislation Committee. They are working closely together towards an agreed standard that will satisfy the parliamentary authorities.
I move,
That the Social Justice Committee, in consideration of the draft Housing Support Grant (Scotland) Order, recommends that the order be approved.
Motion agreed to.
Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Amendment Order 2002 (Draft)
The officials who accompany the minister for consideration of the draft Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Amendment Order 2002 are Ailsa Richardson, Murray Sinclair and Roger Harris. Committee members have received copies of the draft order and the accompanying documentation.
I ask the minister to speak briefly to the instrument. I remind committee members that any questions that they ask should relate to the instrument. I also remind the committee that the Executive's response to the committee's interim report on houses in multiple occupation will be considered at our next meeting. We will not discuss the broader issues now; we will focus entirely on the instrument.
The committee has the draft order and the Executive note. I am well aware of the committee's interest in HMOs, which we will discuss in future. There has been correspondence on the matter and I look forward to continuing our discussions. Today, I am required to stick to the order that is before the committee.
The committee will be aware of the background to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000. Because of other regulation, we need to introduce technical amendments to that order. The amendments are needed principally because of the effects of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.
The 2000 order exempted nursing homes, social work residential establishments, private hospitals and boarding schools, because those types of accommodation were already subject to a comparable form of regulation. From 1 April, the standard of accommodation and management in such establishments will be regulated under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. Additionally, the 2001 act repeals some of the legislation to which the 2000 order applied. There is a need to amend the exemptions in the 2000 order to reflect the change and to avoid double regulation.
The exemption categories are houses that are provided as part of: care home services, which would be residential homes, nursing homes and children's homes; independent health care services, which would be any relevant housing that is owned by independent hospitals, private psychiatric hospitals or suchlike; school care accommodation services—that will replace the current exemption for residential schools; and secure accommodation services, which would be accommodation for unruly children, as I think they are termed.
Local authority premises in those categories are now exempted, as they will be regulated by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, which was established under the 2001 act. The same applies to secure accommodation for children. We are also using the opportunity to prevent foster parents from being caught up in the HMO licensing scheme. We never intended that they would be, but there was a bit of uncertainty, so we are taking the opportunity to make it absolutely clear that foster parents are not caught by the scheme.
The amendments are necessary technical amendments. They do not pre-empt any wider consideration of the matter or affect any other issues that may be of concern to the committee.
I move,
That the Social Justice Committee recommends that the draft Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Amendment Order 2002 be approved.
Motion agreed to.
I thank the minister for her attendance.
Housing Revenue Account General Fund Contribution Limits (Scotland) Order 2002 (SSI 2002/45)
Item 4 is consideration of the Housing Revenue Account General Fund Contribution Limits (Scotland) Order 2002 (SSI 2002/45). Members of the committee have a copy of the order and the accompanying documentation. The Subordinate Legislation Committee draws the order to the attention of the lead committee and the Parliament on the ground that the form or meaning of article 4 could be clearer, as acknowledged by the Executive. The Executive undertakes to address the matter in amending regulations. We have an opportunity to discuss the order. Do members have any comments? Is the committee content with SSI 2002/45?
Members indicated agreement.
In that case, we conclude that the committee does not wish to make any recommendation in its report to the Parliament.
Building Standards (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2001 Amendment Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002/40)
Item 5 is consideration of the Building Standards (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2001 Amendment Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002/40). Members have received a copy of the regulations and the accompanying documentation. Members have no comments. Is the committee content with SSI 2002/40?
Members indicated agreement.
We conclude that the committee does not wish to make any recommendation in its report to the Parliament.
Do members agree that we report to the Parliament with our recommendations on all four orders?
Members indicated agreement.