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Good morning and welcome to the 27th meeting in 2015 of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. As always, I ask members to switch off their mobile phones, please.
Agenda item 1 is to make a decision on taking business in private. Does the committee agree to take in private item 7, which is further consideration of the delegated powers in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill; item 8, which is our further consideration of the delegated powers provisions in the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill; item 9, which is consideration of a draft report on the Community Justice (Scotland) Bill to the Justice Committee; item 10, which is consideration of a draft report on the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc and Care) (Scotland) Bill to the Health and Sport Committee; item 11, which is consideration of a report on the work that the committee has considered during the parliamentary year 2014-15; and item 12, which is consideration of the evidence received on the Succession (Scotland) Bill today and in previous weeks?
Members indicated agreement.
Although I certainly agree that we should take the items in private, I should also, in relation to item 7 on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, put on record my concern that it is perhaps one of the most incomplete bills that our Parliament has ever considered. Many of the policy areas—five, I think—are still under development. This committee exists to scrutinise, but we cannot do so when so much is not available for scrutiny. For example, in several areas, there is the potential to breach the European convention on human rights. I am extraordinarily concerned about the bill and its fundamental weaknesses.
Thank you for those observations, which we will consider when we get to item 7.
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