Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006
Item 2 relates to proposed amendments to the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006, which will result from the implementation of the Companies Act 2006. The proposed amendments are set out in a letter to the Minister for Parliamentary Business from Ian Pearson MP, Economic and Business Minister at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Section 19(1) of the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 contains references to the Companies Act 1985, which will become out of date when the Companies Act 2006 is implemented. The amendments would be made by United Kingdom statutory instrument and it is intended that the order would come into effect on 1 October 2009. BERR, through the Minister for Parliamentary Business, is seeking to ensure that the committee is content with the proposed changes, which the Economic and Business Minister has said are "entirely mechanical".
The committee will want to be satisfied that updating the statutory references in the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 will not result in changes to registration requirements for members.
In light of the proposed amendments, the committee might want to consider updating a number of documents, including the code of conduct for members of the Scottish Parliament and the written statement form. Those matters are set out in paper SPPA/S3/09/7/1 from the clerks.
Do members agree with the proposed amendments to the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006?
Members indicated agreement.
Are members happy for me to write to the Minister for Parliamentary Business to confirm that?
Members indicated agreement.
Finally, do we agree to consider a note on consequential changes to other parliamentary documents at a future meeting?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you. That concludes the public part of the meeting.
Meeting continued in private until 14:48.