Subordinate Legislation Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Official Report 369KB pdf

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Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

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Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/88)

The drafting of schedule 1 appears to be defective, in that the list of contracting authorities in the schedule omits health boards that are constituted under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. Does the committee agree to draw the instrument to the attention of the Parliament on reporting ground (i), as the drafting appears to be defective?

Members indicated agreement.

How on earth can one miss out national health service boards from the list of contracting authorities, when they are the largest spenders of public money?

I hope that that is a rhetorical question, because I am sure that I do not have a good answer for you.

It is a rhetorical question. That defies belief.

I am sure that it will be noted elsewhere.

Schedule 1 also includes within the list of contracting authorities the National Archives, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Scottish Record Office. The Scottish Government has acknowledged that the listing requires to be amended to take into account the merger of the National Archives of Scotland with the General Register Office to form the National Records of Scotland.

There is a further drafting error in schedule 1. The reference to the Crofters Commission should be to the Crofting Commission, which is the correct designation of the commission when the regulations come into force on 1 May 2012.

Does the committee agree to draw the instrument to the attention of the Parliament on the general reporting ground in those two respects?

Members indicated agreement.

Finally, does the committee welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has brought forward an amending instrument to correct those errors in time for the coming into force of the regulations on 1 May 2012? We will deal with that shortly.

Members indicated agreement.

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Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/89)

The committee may wish to draw the attention of the Parliament to the instrument on the general reporting ground in three respects. First, there is a drafting error in schedule 5. The revocation of the Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Postal Services and Common Procurement Vocabulary Codes) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (SSI 2008/376) extends to the whole regulation so far as extending to the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, but it should refer to the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Secondly, there is a further error in schedule 5. The substitutions made in regulations 4(d) and 6(4) to (6) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1848) should replace the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, but the reference omits “2006”.

Thirdly, there is a failure to follow proper drafting practice in the second paragraph of the preamble. That paragraph should have added reference to Commission regulation (EC) No 1564/2005, in addition to the existing references to directives 2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC.

Does the committee agree to draw the instrument to the attention of the Parliament on the general reporting ground in those respects?

Members indicated agreement.

As before, does the committee welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has brought forward an amending instrument to correct those errors in time for the coming into force of the regulations on 1 May 2012?

Members indicated agreement.

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Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/108)

The amendment regulations have been introduced to correct drafting errors in the two previous instruments. Does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the Parliament’s attention under reporting ground (j), as there has been a failure to lay the instrument at least 28 days before it comes into force as required by section 28(2) of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010?

Members indicated agreement.

However, as urgent action was required to correct the errors that the committee identified in SSI 2012/88 and SSI 2012/89 timeously for the coming into force of those instruments on 1 May 2012, does the committee agree to find the explanation provided by the Scottish Government for the failure to lay the instrument as required to be acceptable?

Members indicated agreement.

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Scottish Secure Tenancies (Proceedings for Possession) (Confirmation of Compliance with Pre-Action Requirements) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/93)

The form or meaning of the regulations could be clearer, in that the terminology that is used in regulation 2 is insufficiently precise, risks confusion between different types of court procedure and does not appear adequately to make reference either to ordinary cause or to summary cause procedure. Does the committee therefore agree to draw the regulations to the attention of the Parliament on reporting ground (h), as the meaning could be clearer?

Members indicated agreement.

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Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Commencement No 4, Transitional and Savings Provisions) Amendment Order 2012 (SSI 2012/99)

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Act of Sederunt (Fees of Shorthand Writers in the Sheriff Court) (Amendment) 2012 (SSI 2012/101)

The committee agreed that no points arose on the instruments.