Subordinate Legislation
Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (Transfer of Functions to the Accountant in Bankruptcy) Order 2004 (SSI 2004/448)
Good morning everyone and welcome to the 28th meeting in 2004 of the Communities Committee. Apologies have been received from Linda Fabiani, who I understand is in Tanzania, where she is taking part in a British Council visit.
A jaunt.
I could not possibly comment on that, John.
The first item on our agenda concerns two items of subordinate legislation, both of which are to be considered under the negative procedure. Members have been provided with copies of the instruments and the accompanying documentation.
The first instrument allows the Accountant in Bankruptcy to exercise functions of the Scottish ministers under part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002. In addition to the functions of Scottish ministers, which are prescribed by secondary legislation under section 7 of the 2002 act, the order gives the AIB the power to approve debt payment programmes, payment distributors, variations of debt payment programmes and money advisers.
Members should note that the Subordinate Legislation Committee is not convinced that article 4 of the order, which allows the functions of the AIB to be carried out by authorised members of AIB staff, is necessary. The committee considers that section 1B of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 contains a similar provision. Nevertheless, the Subordinate Legislation Committee reports that the provision appears to have no harmful effect. Does any member have comments on the instrument?
No.
In that case, I am required to ask the committee whether it is content with the order.
Members indicated agreement.
Therefore, the committee will not comment on the order in its report to the Parliament. Do members agree that we report to the Parliament on our decision on the order?
Members indicated agreement.
Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2004<br />(SSI 2004/470)
The purpose of the second instrument is to amend the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2004, which provide a scheme for repayment of multiple debts. We took evidence and reported on those regulations in 2003. The order amends the regulations in a number of ways, including making a change to the commencement date and increasing the administration fees that can be charged by the payment distributor. The order also proposes a number of changes to the regulations in response to the Subordinate Legislation Committee's concerns.
The Executive has written to the Presiding Officer to explain why it was unable to comply with the 21-day rule in the case of the instrument. As members know, the rule stipulates a period of 21 days between the laying and coming into force of an instrument. The Executive's explanation is that it wanted to ensure that all applications under the debt arrangement scheme were dealt with under the same regulations.
Does any member have comments on the instrument?
No.
Is the committee content with the regulations?
Members indicated agreement.
In that case, the committee will not make a recommendation on the regulations in its report to the Parliament. Do members agree that we report to the Parliament on our decision on the regulations?
Members indicated agreement.