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Firemen’s Pension Scheme (Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2015 (SSI 2015/140)
Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme and Pension Scheme (Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2015 (SSI 2015/143)
Both orders were laid on 26 March 2015 and came into force on 1 April 2015. The very short period of time between their laying and their coming into force meant that there was no opportunity for them to be scrutinised prior to their coming into force.
Does the committee therefore agree to draw both orders to the attention of the Parliament under reporting ground (j), as they fail to comply with the requirements of section 28(2) of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010?
Members indicated agreement.
The committee may consider that, in this case, the breach of the 28-day rule raises a broader issue about the timetabling of instruments that are prepared and laid in parallel with United Kingdom instruments that make similar provision. The committee may consider that there is a clear need for projects of this nature to be planned in a way that allows for the procedural requirements of both Parliaments to be met, and the committee may further consider it to be unsatisfactory that that has not been achieved in the present case.
The committee may wish to welcome the fact that, in recent correspondence with us, the Minister for Parliamentary Business has undertaken to review the processes for laying instruments in such circumstances and to take steps to improve awareness within the UK Government of the challenges involved. The committee may consider that that work should be progressed in early course, in order to avoid similar issues arising in the future.
Two further points have been raised by our legal advisers on SSI 2015/143. Article 11(2)(b)(iii) inserts a reference to regulation 166 of the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (SSI 2015/19) into rule 3(2)(c) of part 10 of the schedule to the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme (Scotland) Order 2006 (SSI 2006/338). The correct reference should be to regulation 156 of the 2015 regulations.
Does the committee therefore agree to draw the order to the attention of the Parliament under the general reporting ground?
Members indicated agreement.
Article 18, in inserting new paragraph (11) into rule 1 of part 2 of the schedule to the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (Scotland) Order 2007 (SSI 2007/199), is defectively drafted. The new paragraph provides that a person is a provisionally enrolled member of the scheme if the person is
“not eligible to become a provisionally enrolled member pursuant to rule 6C(3) of Part 11”
when it should say “not ineligible”. The effect of the error is that the provision does not achieve its policy objective.
Does the committee therefore agree to draw the order to the attention of the Parliament under reporting ground (i), as the drafting appears to be defective?
Members indicated agreement.
I think that the errors in the order are significant and might affect individuals, so I would certainly expect them to be remedied. More to the point, I think that the situation that has arisen illustrates the real danger that is presented when officials of the Scottish Government and the Parliament do not have adequate opportunity to look at such instruments in the run-up to their being laid and implemented. I am given to understand that the error of using the term “not eligible” instead of “not ineligible” comes straight from the UK legislation, which appears to be defective in the same way.
It is not unreasonable that officials in Scotland rely on the professional standards that apply elsewhere, but the compression of the timetable here appears to have led to what can only be described as a boorach. The issue of properly meeting our timetable is not simply a technical issue; it is one that has real-life implications.
We are very much indebted to the legal advice that we as a committee have for bringing the defect to our attention, and I hope that, equally, the UK Government is aware that that defect has been found and looks again at its own legislation. That is of no consequence to us directly, but it would be good practice if it did that. It is also a reason why the UK Government should work with us more robustly to give adequate time for everybody who can check the legislation to do so. Everybody will benefit if that happens, as this case perfectly illustrates.
I support Stewart Stevenson in everything that he has said, and I caution against accepting the work of others when they have made mistakes, notwithstanding their best endeavours. We should therefore have the time to check for ourselves instruments that have been examined elsewhere, but not properly examined, as it turns out in this circumstance.
Thank you for those comments. The committee may wish to note that the Scottish Government has undertaken to bring forward a further instrument to correct both errors with retrospective effect.
Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Repayment Charge and Discharge) Amendment Order 2015 (SSI 2015/144)
No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the order. Is the committee content with it?
Members indicated agreement.
National Health Service (Free Prescriptions and Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2015 (SSI 2015/160)
No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the regulations. Is the committee content with them?
Members indicated agreement.
Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2015 (SSI 2015/161)
No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the regulations. Is the committee content with them?
Members indicated agreement.