Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Revenue Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2014 [Draft]
Our next item of business is to take evidence from the cabinet secretary on the draft Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Revenue Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2014. Mr Swinney is joined for this item by Colin Miller and Greig Walker of the Scottish Government, both of whom are familiar to committee members. Agenda item 4 is to approve the motion on the order, but before that we will hear evidence on it. I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement explaining the order, and I remind him not to move the motion at this point.
The purpose of the draft order is to facilitate the appointment of the chair and members of revenue Scotland in good time for the new body to take up its full powers before the devolved taxes come into being on 1 April 2015. The order does so by providing that the appointments can be regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. The legal mechanism for achieving that is an order under section 3(3) of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003, which is what I have laid before Parliament.
The effect of the order, if it is approved, would be to allow revenue Scotland to be treated, for the purposes of any public appointment, as if it was already a “specified authority” for the purposes of the 2003 act. That, in turn, will mean that the appointments would fall within the jurisdiction of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life. In this case, the relevant appointments would be the chair and members of revenue Scotland. This is a well-established and—I hope—entirely uncontroversial way of facilitating the making and regulation of appointments to a new public body.
Thank you, cabinet secretary. I have no questions and nor do committee members, so we will move to agenda item 4 and the debate on the motion. I invite the cabinet secretary to move motion S4M-010325.
Motion moved,
That the Finance Committee recommends that the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Revenue Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2014 [draft] be approved.—[John Swinney.]
Motion agreed to.
The committee will publish a short report to Parliament setting out our decision on the order. I thank the cabinet secretary.
10:30 Meeting suspended.