Subordinate Legislation Committee, 22 Mar 2000

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 22, 2000

Official Report 121KB pdf

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Police Grant (Scotland) Order 2000 (SSI 2000/73)

No matters have arisen in relation to the Police Grant (Scotland) Order 2000.

It is worth making a point about the volume of instruments that have been produced. During one week recently, only one instrument was produced, but this week an enormous volume of instruments have been produced, which the Executive must have produced for the year-end in March.

Now that the parliamentary process is in place, the Executive should be encouraged to plan better, so that the volume of documentation that comes before this committee, which is not generated by the parliamentary process, but by the Executive, is more evenly spread, so that proper consideration can be given to it. Our support staff, who are to be commended on the work that they have done, given the volume of documentation that has been produced in such a short period, should have a proper opportunity to play their part.

I think that all members will concur heartily with that, not for themselves—although we are not happy to plough through the documentation when timetables are set by others—but because it is not fair on the staff in the clerking service and the legal advisers who have to examine it at short notice. The Executive should endeavour not to repeat the situation next year, and should try to ensure a smoother flow of instruments.