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Chamber and committees

Subordinate Legislation Committee, 21 Jun 2005

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 21, 2005


Contents


Instruments Subject to Annulment


Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment


Edinburgh College of Art (Scotland) Order of Council 1995 (Amendment) Order of Council 2005 (SSI 2005/313)

No substantive points arise on this order of council, but we might want to raise a couple of minor drafting points with the Executive in an informal letter. Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.


Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/323)

The Convener:

The regulations provide for the administration and enforcement of Council regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, which lays down health rules concerning animal by-products that are not intended for human consumption. Do members agree to seek an explanation for the delay between the European regulation becoming applicable and these regulations coming into force?

Christine May:

Oh yes. Technically, cruise ships could beetle up to Scotland to dispose of their unused supplies in a way that might not comply with the regulations. After all, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs introduced regulations to implement this European legislation in England in 2004.

The question is a good one.


Cereal Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/328)

The Convener:

The regulations consolidate for Scotland, with amendments, a series of Great Britain regulations that implement European legislation on the marketing of cereal seeds. First, do members agree to ask the Executive to explain why section 17 of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964 has not been cited as an enabling power?

Members indicated agreement.

Do members agree to ask the Executive whether the reference to regulation 21(5) in paragraph 12 of part VI of schedule 6 to the regulations is correct?

Members indicated agreement.

The Convener:

Should the committee also ask the executive to clarify why paragraph 16 of part VI of schedule 6 imposes both an objective test at subparagraph (a) and a subjective test at subparagraph (b) in relation to the same subject matter?

Members indicated agreement.


Fodder Plant Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/329)

The Convener:

These regulations consolidate for Scotland, with amendments, a large series of regulations that implement European Communities legislation relating to the marketing of fodder plant seed. There are five questions to ask the Executive.

The first is to ask the Executive why section 17 of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964 has not been cited as an enabling power. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Secondly, we should ask for clarification on whether the reference to regulation 21(5) in paragraph 12 of part VI of schedule 6 to the regulations is correct.

I think that you must mean paragraph 13.

There might be an error on my brief. You could well be right. Well spotted; take a gold star.

Are we agreed on that?

Members indicated agreement.

The Convener:

We should also ask the Executive to clarify why paragraph 17 of part VI of schedule 6 imposes an objective test at subparagraph (a) and a subjective test at subparagraph (b) in relation to the same subject matter. The issues are similar to those raised on the previous regulations.

In the definition of "basic seed" in regulation 3, the drafting of the reference in paragraph (c)(i) needs clarification, given that the requirements in paragraphs (a) and (b) appear to be cumulative, not alternatives.

Do we agree to ask the Executive for clarification?

Members indicated agreement.

The Convener:

Finally, we will ask the Executive for an explanation of the reference in regulation 9(1)(b)(ii) to articles 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(b) of the fodder plant seed directive, given that no such articles appear to exist in that directive. That was well spotted by our legal advisers. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.


National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreements) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/336)<br />National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/337)

No substantive points arise on the regulations but we will raise minor drafting points by informal letter if that is agreeable to members.

Members indicated agreement.


Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/338)

The Convener:

Regulation 16 of the principal regulations—the Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/614)—requires local authorities to make a traffic order within two years of the date of publication of the proposal to make the order. The regulations permit a local authority to apply to ministers for extensions of that period.

It is suggested that we ask the Executive for clarification of regulation 2(3), particularly whether there is any limit on extensions following the six-month period allowed for the first extension of the two-year time limit.

Members indicated agreement.

It is also suggested that we should ask the Executive to clarify whether an application for an extension must be made before the expiry of the two-year limit or whether it could be made after that date.

Members indicated agreement.


Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment (No 3) Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/339)

No substantive points arise on the regulations, but there are some minor drafting points that we could raise in an informal letter.

Convener, you did not mention that there were also some minor points on the previous regulations. I assume that they will be included in an informal letter. Is that implicit?

It is implicit.

I apologise, but that is what happens. Someone thinks that something is implicit and someone else does not.

Stewart cannot read my mind at the moment; that is the problem.

Just as well.


Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/340)

The Convener:

The amendment regulations make several miscellaneous amendments to the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations (SSI 2000/323). There are two questions to ask the Executive. First, we should ask the Executive to explain why regulation 5 states that new paragraph (1) is

"subject to paragraph (4) and (5)"

as paragraph (5) appears to be a separate condition in its own right. Secondly, it is suggested that we ask the Executive to clarify why several amendments add the words "mobile plant" after the word "installation" but that a similar amendment has not been made to regulation 17(8). Is that agreed?

I had a vision of "The Day of the Triffids".

What, attached to your ear?

Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.


Education (Graduate Endowment, Student Fees and Support) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/341)

The Convener:

The regulations amend several sets of principal regulations to create a new category of student eligibility in relation to certain maintenance or graduate support and the graduate endowment. The definition of

"national of a member state of the European Community"

in regulation 2(2)(c) is used only once. Additionally, the definition includes the United Kingdom within its scope, but when it is used in new paragraph 9(a) of schedule 1 to the principal regulations, it excludes the UK from its scope. We will seek clarification from the Executive, if that is agreed.

Members indicated agreement.

Some of my colleagues will be very pleased to hear that definition.

The Convener:

The second question will be about the purpose of the amendment intended in regulation 2(2)(c) because it appears to have already been achieved by regulation 2(2)(b) of the Education (Student Fees and Support) Temporary Protection (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/217). We will ask the Executive for clarification.

Members indicated agreement.

The Convener:

It is also suggested that we seek clarification of the wording inserted by regulations 4(2) and 4(3) into schedules 1 and 2 to the Education (Fees and Awards) (Scotland) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/93), given that, unlike other paragraphs of those schedules, the words "excepted student" and "excepted candidate" are not specified. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.


Fire (Additional Function) (Scotland) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/342)

Regulation 8 consists of one numbered paragraph and it is not clear whether there should be further paragraphs.

That has come up before.

Yes, it has. Do we want to seek clarification from the Executive?

Members indicated agreement.


Fire (Charging) (Scotland) Order 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/343)<br />Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Modifications and Amendments) (No 2) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/344)

No substantive points arise on the orders, but we can raise minor drafting points by informal letter. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.


Education (Student Loans) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/345)<br />Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/346)


Scottish Administration (Offices) Order 2005 (SI 2005/1467)

No points arise on the instruments.