Official Report 121KB pdf
Substantial matters have arisen from these regulations. Do members want to comment?
The list is so long that we should just refer the Executive to the comments that were made in the legal briefing, and to the defects in the drafting, some of which lie in the choice of words, in the use of capital letters and in typographical errors. Some of the defects are bizarre, such as the unnecessary inclusion in the bill of the fact that there are no port health authorities in Scotland. Perhaps the Executive knows better, but the whole thing seems to be unnecessarily complicated and long-winded.
That point is well made. Any ordinary person who attempted to make any sense of this document would be at a complete loss. In the immediate future we will be considering the specific issues, but we must also consider how we can make legislation more accessible to members of the public who will be affected by it. A document such as this is almost incomprehensible, other than to the experts in such matters.
One of the issues that arose on our visit to Wales was the care that must be taken in Wales over the use of plain language. At one stage, plain English was mentioned, but it became clear that plain Welsh was meant as well—one was not translated from the other. The whole area of linguistic clarity became a highlight in their deliberations.
The point was well made that there are numerous errors, including some of fact, which require amendment. We ask the clerks to respond along the lines of the brief that we have been given.