Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Historic Environment Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2014 [Draft]
Item 2 is evidence on the draft order. I welcome Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, and her supporting officials from the Scottish Government. After we have taken evidence on the order, we will debate the motion under item 3. Officials will not be permitted to contribute to that formal debate.
I invite the cabinet secretary to make opening remarks.
The order will ensure that appointments to historic environment Scotland are regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. The order provides that, for the purpose of, or in connection with, appointments to the body, historic environment Scotland is to be treated as if it were a specified body that is listed in schedule 2 to the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003.
As I said when I wrote to the committee in May, our policy position from the start has been that the new body should be a regulated body. In the accompanying documents to the Historic Environment Scotland Bill, on which stage 2 proceedings will follow, I set out my intention that the new body will be established in April 2015 and take up its full powers in October 2015.
To have the board in place and in a position to carry out the work to meet that timetable, and to meet Audit Scotland’s recommendations on establishing and merging public bodies, I wish to appoint a board as soon as possible after the bill receives royal assent, if Parliament agrees to pass it. That is particularly important if the board is to have sufficient time to recruit the chief executive before the organisation takes up its full powers in October 2015.
It is important that the appointment process for the first board of what will be our new lead body for the historic environment is fully transparent and subject to the high-quality external scrutiny that the commissioner can provide. The order’s adding of historic environment Scotland to schedule 2 to the 2003 act follows recent precedent in setting up new public bodies. The commissioner cannot formally regulate the appointments until the new body is added to the list of regulated bodies under the 2003 act. I propose to achieve that through the order, which I invite the committee to support.
Do members have questions?
I thank the cabinet secretary for her clear introduction. I am looking at paragraph 6 of the policy note. Are you on course to have the new body’s leadership in place by six months before 1 October?
That is the intention and is why we want to move forward as swiftly as possible. We recognise Parliament’s role, which is why we waited until stage 1 was completed. We are about to discuss a number of amendments on the board. We have waited for the process, but we are ready to move and to advertise. However, the appointments will be subject to the bill’s being passed at stage 3.
For absolute clarity, will you confirm that none of the appointments will be confirmed until after stage 3 has been completed?
When appointments have been made to other bodies, they have been subject to parliamentary proceedings. We can go through the process, but if something happened at stage 3—I am sure that that will not happen—the appointments would not commence.
No other members wish to comment or ask a question.
As previously indicated, we move to the formal debate, which is item 3.
Motion moved,
That the Education and Culture Committee recommends that the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Historic Environment Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2014 [draft] be approved.—[Fiona Hyslop.]
Does any member wish to make a contribution?
Members: No.
Motion agreed to.
I think that most of the officials will stay for the stage 2 debate on the Historic Environment Scotland Bill.