Plenary, 05 Sep 2001
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Official Report
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Presiding Officer's Ruling
Before we move to the next item of business, I want to refer to the point of order raised by Fiona Hyslop at the end of our last day's sitting on 28 June, which concerned the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 and the use of a written question.
As members know, a minor technical problem with the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Bill was rectified by the Secretary of State for Scotland by an order made under section 107 of the Scotland Act 1998. As I said on 28 June, I do not regard the matter as creating any kind of precedent.
I have since discussed the matter with the business managers. It has been agreed that should that situation arise again—I hope that it does not—each case will be treated on its merits. On the occasion of a minor change, which the change on 28 June was, a minister would make a brief statement to the Parliament on how the Executive proposed to address the situation. Where the matter was more significant, the Executive would make a more substantial statement to the Parliament and time would be allowed for members to question the appropriate minister.
I hope that that satisfies Ms Hyslop and everybody who was interested in that.