Official Report 279KB pdf
There are three negative instruments to consider.
Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area and Special Parking Area) (Perth and Kinross Council) Designation Order 2002<br />(SSI 2002/398)
No members have raised points on the order and no motions for annulment have been lodged. Do members agree that the committee has nothing to report on the order?
I am extremely unhappy that two of the three instruments that we are considering today are defectively drafted, which is a continuing problem. Given that much of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Bill, which we have just been considering, will depend on Scottish statutory instruments for its implementation, we must up our game, in parliamentary terms. There is no nice way in which to put it. I am sure that people do not intend to draft bills defectively; nonetheless, there is a repeating pattern of defectively drafted SSIs being brought before us. That should not be the case.
I served for a while on the Subordinate Legislation Committee. It is important to recognise that, although some instances of defective drafting that are identified are not so serious, others are very serious and usually result in the Executive redrafting the legislation quickly. I am not trying to play down the problem, as there is a need to improve the drafting of instruments. However, the fact that the Subordinate Legislation Committee has stated that there is defective drafting does not necessarily mean that there will be a legal problem with the implementation of an instrument. I mention that to put the matter in context.
However, this order appears to raise devolution issues that should have been foreseen.
There can often be disagreement about whether an instrument raises a devolution issue. When disagreement exists, the matter will ultimately be resolved in the courts. The Subordinate Legislation Committee and the Scottish Executive have legal advisers, and sometimes they do not agree. Ultimately, any such disagreement will be resolved in court, if it comes to that. I note your dissatisfaction at the defective drafting, but the only action that a member can take if they wish to annul an order is to submit a motion of annulment. No motion of annulment has been moved, so we can only note that we are concerned about the continuing issue of defective drafting and state that we have nothing more to report with regard to the instrument. Is that agreed?
Parking Attendants (Wearing of Uniforms) (Perth and Kinross Council Parking Area) Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002/399)<br />Road Traffic (Parking Adjudicators) (Perth and Kinross Council) Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002/400)
No members have raised points on the regulations and no motion of annulment has been lodged. Do we agree that we have nothing to report?
That brings to a conclusion the public part of the meeting. Before we go into private session, I note that we have received apologies from Adam Ingram and Nora Radcliffe. I omitted to mention that at the start of the meeting.
Meeting continued in private until 13:44.