Subordinate Legislation
Transfer of Functions, Property, Rights and Liabilities from the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority Order 2007 (Draft)
Let us commence today's meeting of the Local Government and Transport Committee. This additional meeting is to consider a draft Scottish statutory instrument that was carried over from our meeting yesterday, which the Minister for Transport unfortunately was unable to attend due to a bereavement. We were sorry to hear about that, but we were happy to arrange today's meeting so that he could move the motion on the order.
I have received apologies from Fergus Ewing, Tommy Sheridan and Sylvia Jackson.
The only item on today's agenda is motion S2M-5527, in the name of Tavish Scott, which seeks the committee's approval for the draft Transfer of Functions, Property, Rights and Liabilities from the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority Order 2007.
The minister will move the motion in due course, but we will first have an opportunity to ask questions. The minister is supported by Bill Brash, who is a policy officer from the Scottish Executive's transport group, and Graham McGlashan, who is a solicitor for the Scottish Executive. I will allow the minister to make some introductory remarks on the order before giving members the opportunity to ask questions.
Convener, thank you for arranging today's meeting. I apologise that I was unable to be present yesterday. I appreciate that that was an inconvenience to the committee and probably a darn pest, but I had to be in Shetland for the funeral of the neighbouring farmer on the island on which I live.
I am pleased to be able to speak to the draft order that the committee is considering today, which is pretty technical and pretty much a tidying-up exercise. Its purpose is to merge the two shell bodies of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive.
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 fulfilled commitments given in the white paper "Scotland's transport future" to bring a new approach to the delivery of transport infrastructure and services in Scotland. The act placed a duty on ministers to establish regional transport partnerships throughout Scotland. The committee recommended for approval the order that established the seven RTPs on 1 December 2005.
The Transfer of Functions from the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive to the West of Scotland Transport Partnership Order 2006 transferred the majority of functions of SPTA and SPTE to the new transport partnership on 1 April 2006. The only functions that currently remain with the shell SPTA and SPTE are functions for drawing up accounts.
The draft order will transfer the remaining functions, property, rights and liabilities of SPTE to SPTA and dissolve SPTE on 1 June 2007. A related order that is subject to the negative procedure, which committee members considered yesterday, will reduce the SPTA's councillor membership from 34 to 20 to bring it into line with that of Strathclyde partnership for transport. The intention is that councillor members of SPT will also be able to carry out any necessary duties relating to the residual body if that proves to be necessary.
The transfer of functions, property, rights and liabilities that are provided for in the draft order will come into effect on 1 June 2007 if the order is approved by the committee and by Parliament. I am happy to answer any questions.
Do members have any questions for the minister?
As there are no questions, I invite the minister to move motion S2M-5527.
Motion moved,
That the Local Government and Transport Committee recommends that the Draft Transfer of Functions, Property, Rights and Liabilities from the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority Order 2007 be approved.—[Tavish Scott.]
Motion agreed to.
That brings us to the end of the meeting. I thank committee members and the minister and his team for their attendance.
Meeting closed at 12:08.