Finance and Public Administration Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Official Report 732KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Scottish Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Amendment Order 2022 (SSI 2022/233)

Good afternoon and welcome to the 23rd meeting in 2022 of the Finance and Public Administration Committee. The first item on our agenda is to take evidence from the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth on the Scottish Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Amendment Order 2022. Mr Arthur is joined by Robert Souter, who is a senior tax policy adviser at the Scottish Government. I welcome them both to the meeting, and I invite Mr Arthur to make a short opening statement.

Thank you, convener, and good afternoon to the committee.

The Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014 provides for the Scottish ministers to prescribe specific landfill site activities, with the effect that those will be treated as taxable disposals regardless of whether they meet the three conditions that are set out in section 3 of the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014. Those powers are exercised through the Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Order 2014.

The Scottish Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Amendment Order 2022 provides additional confirmation about whether a taxable disposal has been made and ensures that there is clarity for taxpayers and their customers. It amends the existing prescription of cell bunds to specify that the use of material to construct or maintain a cell wall is a taxable activity. It also provides that, in addition to the current list of prescribed activities, any other use of material in a landfill cell will be taxable, with certain listed exceptions.

Although additional landfill site activities are prescribed, the effect of the amendment order is to confirm what the Scottish Government considers to be the existing scope of the tax. It is intended to provide additional certainty for taxpayers and their customers.

In order to minimise any potential period of uncertainty, and as provided for in the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014, the amendment order was introduced using the provisional affirmative procedure, and took effect from 1 July 2022.

The Scottish Government’s view is that the amendment order also ensures that the scope of landfill tax in Scotland continues to be consistent with that in the rest of the United Kingdom.

I am happy to take questions.

Thank you very much. I take it that that last point is about avoiding what we might call waste tourism. Is that correct?

A number of considerations have played into having consistency with the rest of the UK, but yes: when it comes to the way in which the landfill tax operates—the committee will be familiar with the setting of landfill tax rates—avoiding waste tourism has been a key concern in taking the decisions.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee said:

“it would be helpful for the Scottish Government to provide a fuller explanation of the reasons for the timing of the instrument”.—[Official Report, Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, 6 September 2022; c 1.]

Can you help us with that?

Certainly. I note that, in its report, the DPLR Committee accepted the reasons that we provided.

Fundamentally, in November and December of last year, we consulted on a proposal for the amendment order. As the committee will appreciate, we took some time to consider the responses that we received via that consultation, and to engage in further discussions with stakeholders. There was then a decision from the Upper Tribunal for Scotland, which was publicised in May and which, naturally, we wanted to take further time to consider. In effect, therefore, the first practicable date on which to make and lay the order was 1 July. Given that we need to provide certainty and clarity to taxpayers and their customers, it would not have been appropriate to wait until after the summer recess had concluded.

On that point, I think that we have accepted that there was a slight issue about scrutiny and, rightly, you have given the reasons for that. However, it raises a slightly wider point, which the DPLR Committee has raised with regard to other issues: namely, that if there is a problem about the timescale, because of recess or other factors, it is important that there is effective scrutiny. Can you assure us that that general issue of scrutiny of such technical matters will be dealt with by the Scottish ministers?

Absolutely. I very much appreciate that point. It was only because of the unique circumstances pertaining to the amendment order that we found ourselves laying it on 1 July. We are absolutely committed to ensuring, where possible, that we can provide the maximum opportunity for Parliament to scrutinise all legislation.

On the same point, I know that the DPLR Committee has not been happy in the past about the number of uses of the made affirmative procedure. I understand that there is an argument for that in this case.

There has also been a suggestion that Parliament could have used an expedited procedure, which would have meant that the amendment order would not have been subject to made affirmative procedure. It would still have been subject to scrutiny by Parliament, but Parliament could have agreed to look at the issue more quickly than is normal. Was there no option to do so in this case?

The options that were available to us were those that are set out in section 6 of the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act. What we did was consistent with the order-making power within those provisions.

Any question about the more general use by ministers of the provisional affirmative procedure would more appropriately be addressed to the Minister for Parliamentary Business.

I reiterate my point to the convener: it tends to be the case that we are required to use the affirmative procedure only in very specific circumstances. We use it only when that is absolutely required.

Thank you for that answer, but I want to make the point that the COVID 19 Recovery Committee looked at the matter in quite a lot of depth, as did the DPLR Committee. I think that there is scope for an expedited procedure, in which committees would agree to take a bit less time and to look at something more urgently if it is urgent. I accept that that is not always possible.

That has exhausted our questions.

Item 2 is formal consideration of the motion on the instrument.

Motion moved,

That the Finance and Public Administration Committee recommends that the Scottish Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Amendment Order 2022 (SSI 2022/233) be approved.—[Tom Arthur]

Motion agreed to.

Thank you for your time today, minister.

I suspend the meeting to allow for a brief changeover of witnesses.

14:22 Meeting suspended.  

14:37 On resuming—