Justice 1 Committee, 15 Mar 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Official Report 161KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Advice and Assistance<br />(Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (draft)

Welcome to the eighth meeting of the Justice 1 Committee in 2006. I do not know about other members, but I feel as if we have had more than eight meetings. However, the records show that this is the eighth meeting. All members are in attendance, so there are no apologies.

Item 1 is subordinate legislation. I welcome Hugh Henry, the Deputy Minister for Justice, along again. He will take part in proceedings on the two affirmative instruments.

I ask Hugh Henry to make opening remarks—on all four instruments if he wishes.

The four sets of regulations will enable the annual uprating of financial limits for eligibility for legal aid. The overall package consists of two regulations that are subject to the negative procedure and two regulations that are subject to the affirmative procedure.

The draft Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 will uprate the financial eligibility limits for advice and assistance. The limits will be increased annually in line with contributory benefits. The United Kingdom Minister of State for Pensions Reform announced on 6 December that the benefits would rise by the retail prices index, which this year stood at 2.7 per cent. We therefore propose to increase accordingly the income limits and contributory bands for advice and assistance. We also propose to increase the capital limits for advice and assistance on the same basis.

The draft Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions (Scotland) Regulations 2006 deal with uprating of the limits for civil legal aid, which is linked to increases in the level of income-related benefits. As announced by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, those benefits have been uprated by the Rossi index, which is based on the retail prices index less housing costs. The Rossi index this year stood at 2.2 per cent; we propose to increase the income limits for civil legal aid accordingly. We also propose to increase the lower and upper disposable capital limits for civil legal aid.

The changes that we are proposing will ensure that the eligibility criteria are kept up to date and that no one falls through the legal aid net because of the effects of inflation.

I move,

That the Justice 1 Committee recommends that the draft Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 be approved.

Does any member wish to speak?

No.

In that case, the question is, that motion S2M-4071 be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

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Civil Legal Aid<br />(Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (draft)

On consideration of the draft Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2006, I refer members to the note that the clerks have prepared.

Motion moved,

That the Justice 1 Committee recommends that the draft Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 be approved.—[Hugh Henry.]

Does any member wish to speak?

No.

In that case, the question is, that motion S2M-4070 be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

There is nothing much for us to report, other than that we are fully satisfied that there are no questions to be asked on the regulations, so there is no need for members to see a draft report.

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Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006<br />(SSI 2006/60)<br />Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/61)

Next is consideration of the remaining two items of subordinate legislation—the Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/60) and the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/61). I refer members to the note that the clerks have prepared. The minister does not usually comment on regulations that are subject to the negative procedure, but he sometimes hangs around in case we have any outstanding questions.

I am perfectly happy to do so.

I welcome Gillian Mawdsley from the Justice Department, who is also available to answer questions. Do members have any comments on the regulations?

Members indicated disagreement.

The regulations are quite straightforward, so I thank the minister and Gillian Mawdsley for appearing before the committee.