Official Report 242KB pdf
Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment
Antisocial Behaviour (Amount of Fixed Penalty) (Scotland) Order 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/110)
No points arise. Is that agreed?
Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/111)
No substantial points arise, but we will raise by informal letter a number of smaller points about typos and so on. Is that okay?
Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/112)
Our legal advice suggests that we should ask the Executive for reassurance that section 26 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004 will be brought into force on 4 April. Is that agreed?
Criminal Legal Aid (Scotland) (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/113)
It is suggested that we ask the Executive what progress, if any, has been made towards the consolidation of this legislation. Is that agreed?
Community Care (Direct Payments) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/114)
The preamble to the regulations cites as an enabling power section 93 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, as amended. However, that section confers a power to revoke or amend orders, so it would therefore not be relevant to regulations. It is suggested that we ask the Executive for an explanation of that. Our legal advice points out that, conversely, it would seem that subsection (6) of section 12B(1)(b) of the 1968 act is a relevant enabling power, but it has not been cited in the preamble. We can ask about that. Is that agreed?
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (Amendment) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/115)
No points arise on the order. Is that agreed?
Feeding Stuffs (Establishments and Intermediaries) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/116)
The Executive has employed section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 as a sole enabling power. However, there is an argument that the proper power in relation to the charging of fees is not section 2(2) of the 1972 act but section 56 of the Finance Act 1973. It is suggested that we ask the Executive for its comments on the applicability of section 56 of the 1973 act. Is that agreed?
Where is "Sandquhar Academy"?
It is Sanquhar Academy.
I know that, but "Sandquhar Academy" appears regularly on the list of consultees.
That point can go in our informal letter.
Agricultural Subsidies (Appeals) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/117)
No points arise on the regulations. Is that agreed?
National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/118)
Our legal advisers consider both the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/118) and the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/119) to be very difficult to make any sense of. The first set of regulations has been amended more than 10 times. We should ask the Executive what progress, if any, it has made towards the consolidation of the regulations. Is that agreed?
National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/119)
I have already mentioned these regulations. The Executive has said that it has no plans to consolidate them, so perhaps they are even more significant for us than are the previous set of regulations. It is also suggested that we should report directly to the lead committee and the Parliament on the serious issue of consolidation. Is that agreed?
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (Establishment of the Scottish Health Council) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/120)
The reference to "paragraph 2(b)" in regulation 3 on page 2 ought to be a reference to "regulation 2(b)". An amending instrument might be required, as the issue may not be as minor as it appears. Is it agreed that we will raise that issue by formal letter?
National Health Service (Dental Charges) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/121)<br />Dissolution of Local Health Councils (Scotland) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/122)
Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/123)<br />National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005<br />(SSI 2005/124)
Gender Recognition (Disclosure of Information) (Scotland) Order 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/125)
No points arise on the instruments.
National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/128)
The regulations are another instrument in the package of instruments amending NHS fees and charges and financial limits of eligibility for free NHS services. We need to raise informally a drafting point on regulation 1(2). We can also raise the issue of consolidation. Is that agreed?
Intensive Support and Monitoring (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/129)
Now we come to a more serious instrument. There are a number of issues on the regulations. One is the general quality of the drafting. More important are the vires issues. First, and most important, our legal advisers have been unable to find any power in the enabling act to authorise regulation 4, at least in the way that it has been drafted. We should write to the Executive about that major concern.
There are also vires questions in relation to regulation 6(e), and regulation 5(1)(c) on page 2, which authorises a children's hearing to designate certain persons
There is a concern with part of regulation 6(f), as well as 6(e), which we should raise.
Okay. Is that agreed?
In addition, regulation 2 defines a number of terms, all of which are defined in the act, therefore it is unnecessary. Also, the definitions of "crisis response service" and "movement restriction care plan" contain material that clearly goes beyond providing a definition. Those are the major points to be raised, and there are others to be included in an informal letter. Is that agreed?
Antisocial Behaviour (Fixed Penalty Notice) (Additional Information) (Scotland) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/130)
The order must specify the required information on the enabling power. It is questionable whether article 2(e) is sufficiently specific for the purpose. We seek clarification from the Executive on that point. Is that agreed?
There is a second point, which we might as well include in the same letter, and that is to ask whether the definition in article 1(2) is necessary. Is that agreed?
Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing for Cockles) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2005 (SSI 2005/140)
No points arise on the order. Members will see that it breached the 21-day rule, but the matter was urgent.
Bail Conditions (Specification of Devices) and Restriction of Liberty Order (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/142)
No points arise on the regulations.
Common Agricultural Policy Single Farm Payment and Support Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/143)
We could raise with the Executive the reason for there being two definitions of "farmer". Regulation 2(1) has one definition and regulation 2(3) contains a different definition. Which is correct, or are there two types of farmer that the Executive knows about but that nobody else does?
We can also raise points on the interpretation of community instruments and definitions of individual community instruments. Is that agreed?