Official Report 538KB pdf
Bankruptcy (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/225)
The regulations contain a couple of minor drafting errors. Regulation 19 refers to section 54D(4)(b) or (6)(b) without specifying that those are provisions of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985. Page 27 also contains notes for the completion of form 4, the statement of assets and liabilities, which is contained in schedule 1, but the page is duplicated with page 26.
The Scottish Government has undertaken to correct those errors by means of amending regulations, which would be laid before the Parliament before the regulations come into force on 1 April 2015.
There has also been a failure to follow normal drafting practice, as various provisions in the notes within the forms in schedule 1 are not drafted in gender-neutral terms. That applies at pages 34, 37, 39, 41, 124 at paragraph 3 and 127 at paragraph 3.
The Scottish Government has undertaken to correct those provisions if and when other amendments to the relevant forms in schedule 1 are to be made or if, in future, the regulations were to be revoked and the relevant provisions re-enacted. However, the committee may consider that the various non-gender-neutral references should be amended at the same time as the minor drafting errors to which I previously referred and, so, before the regulations come into force on 1 April 2015.
Does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the attention of the Parliament under the general reporting ground?
Members indicated agreement.
Does the committee also agree to recommend that the provisions that are drafted in non-gender-neutral terms should be corrected prior to the regulations coming into force?
Members indicated agreement.
Furthermore, the meaning of the saving provision in paragraph (a) of regulation 24(1) could be clearer. There could be a consistent use of tense in subparagraphs (i) and (ii). Accordingly, it could have been made clearer that paragraph (a) applies to sequestrations proceeding either on a petition for sequestration presented or on a debtor application made before 1 April 2015, regardless of whether the date of presentation of the petition or the date of making the debtor application was before, on or after the date of making the regulations.
Does the committee therefore agree to draw the regulations to the attention of the Parliament on reporting ground (h), as the meaning of the saving provision in paragraph (a) of regulation 24(1) could be clearer?
Members indicated agreement.
Is it likely that the different tenses will be amended? I am unclear.
We are asking the Government to consider that they should be. We are telling it that they should be.
We are seeking that the Government amend them.
I am sure that the committee would like me to reiterate that it would prefer that subordinate legislation says what it means and means what it says every time.
Absolutely. Thank you.
The Scottish Government has said that it might have been more consistent to use “is” instead of “was” in regulation 24(1)(a)(ii), but it has not indicated that the provision will be amended. However, the previous comment stands. Does the committee agree to recommend that regulation 24(1) should be amended at the same time as the minor errors that I previously referred to are corrected, to provide better clarity and consistency of provision?
Members indicated agreement.
Bankruptcy Fees (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/227)
There could have been a consistent use of tense in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of regulation 13(1). Accordingly, the regulation could have made it clearer that it applies to sequestrations proceeding either on a petition for sequestration presented or on a debtor application made before 1 April 2015, regardless of whether the date of presentation of the petition or the date of making the debtor application was before, on or after the date when the regulations were made. Does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the Parliament’s attention on reporting ground (h), as the meaning of the saving provision in regulation 13(1) could be clearer?
Members indicated agreement.
Local Government Pension Scheme (Transitional Provisions and Savings) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/233)
Regulation 17(13)(a)(i) specifies a condition when, for the purposes of the calculation of a survivor pension that is payable in accordance with the requirements of regulations 17(10) to 17(12), membership of the local government pension scheme shall include additional membership under certain provisions of the 1998 or 2009 scheme. The specified condition is that a surviving spouse or civil partner was married or in a civil partnership at any time while the deceased was in active membership of the scheme after 31 March 1972, but the instrument should also provide—although it does not—that the spouse or civil partner was married to or in a civil partnership with the deceased member of the scheme. Does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the Parliament’s attention on reporting ground (i), as the drafting of regulation 17(13)(a)(i) appears to be defective?
Members indicated agreement.
Our legal advisers have raised two minor drafting errors in the regulations. First, regulation 1(4) contains an error in the definition of “the 1998 Transitional Regulations”, as the citation of those regulations is incorrect. The words “(Scotland)” and “(Transitional Provisions)” are inverted. Secondly, in regulation 17(13)(a), the reference to
“regulation 41(a) to (d) of the 1998 Regulations”
should be to regulations 41(4)(a) to 41(4)(d) of those regulations.
The committee may wish to note that the Scottish Government has undertaken to lay an amending instrument to correct those errors timeously before the regulations come into force. While noting that undertaking, does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the Parliament’s attention on the general reporting ground, as they contain minor drafting errors?
Members indicated agreement.
Bankruptcy (Applications and Decisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (SSI 2014/226)
No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the regulations. Is the committee content with them?
Members indicated agreement.
Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2014 (SSI 2014/243)
No points have been raised by our legal advisers on the order. Is the committee content with it?
Members indicated agreement.