Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 (Specification of Persons) Amendment Order 2015 (SSI 2015/431)
Agenda item 4 is consideration of an instrument that is subject to negative procedure. The amendment order will extend the multi-agency public protection arrangements beyond registered sex offenders and restricted patients to other categories of high-risk offenders. It does so in tandem with the Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 (Commencement No 8) Order 2015. The commencement order is not subject to parliamentary procedure and was not drawn to Parliament’s attention by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, so we are not looking at it.
Members who were at our first meeting this year might recall that the DPLR Committee made trenchant comments—I love the word “trenchant”; I do not see it very often—on the instrument that preceded this one, principally on the grounds that it was ultra vires. The Scottish Government accepted that view and went on to lay the instrument that we are considering today as a replacement. The DPLR Committee agreed that there was no need to draw the new instrument to the attention of Parliament on any grounds within its remit.
Do members have any comments on the instrument?
I welcome the provision. Some individuals who were previously outwith the categories that were covered by MAPPA pose a far greater risk than those who were covered. For instance, I strongly welcome the extension to people who have a propensity to extreme violence.
Yes, indeed. We might also praise the DPLR Committee, because it did its job properly, and it could do with a bit of publicity.
Are members content to make no recommendation on the instrument?
Members indicated agreement.
12:04 Meeting continued in private until 12:43.Previous
Scottish Human Rights Commission