Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Official Report 468KB pdf

---

Instruments subject to Negative Procedure

Under agenda item 6, we are considering five negative instruments. Issues have been raised on the following instrument.

---

Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc) (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/354)

The instrument amends definitions, references and expressions related to European Union law in the Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 that require updating or correction following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU. The amendments are minor and technical in nature.

The committee wrote to the Scottish Government to ask whether regulation 8 of the instrument contained an error in respect of references to certain EU law applying, as they had effect immediately before the implementation period completion day. The Scottish Government, in its response, said that it was grateful to the committee for highlighting the error and that SSI 2021/383, which the committee is also considering under this agenda item, has since been laid to correct that. The correcting instrument will come into force on Tuesday 30 November, which is a day before the provision containing the error will come into force.

Full details of the error in regulation 8 can be found in the correspondence between the committee and the Scottish Government. The correspondence is included in paper 4 for the meeting, which can be found in the agenda on the committee’s website.

Does the committee wish to draw the instrument to the attention of the Parliament on reporting ground (h), on the basis that the meaning of regulation 8, as outlined in correspondence with the Scottish Government, could be clearer?

Members indicated agreement.

Does the committee also wish to welcome that the Scottish Government has acknowledged that this was a drafting error and that a correcting instrument has been laid that will correct the error before it would have come into force?

Members indicated agreement.

Also under this agenda item, no points have been raised on the following instruments.

---

National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/367)

---

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (Applications for Removal from List and Late Representations) Amendment Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/379)

---

Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No 1 and Transitory Provision) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/380 (C 28))

---

Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc) (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Amendment Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/383)

With regard to SSI 2021/383, we have just welcomed that it corrects the error in SSI 2021/354.

Is the committee content with the instruments?

Members indicated agreement.