Chamber and committees

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I have been fully briefed bythe society on its views on statutory regulation of the profession. I am also awareof the thrust of the Society’s recent discussion with Mr Andy Burnham in his capacityas Minister for Delivery and Quality at the Department of Health (DH). I am in continuousdialogue with UK ministers as we take forward the regulation of healthcareprofessions together across the country. In these circumstances I do not intendto arrange a meeting in Scotland at this point in time. Any eventual order undersection 60 of the Health Act 1999 to regulate psychologists will have to be approvedby resolution of the Scottish Parliament as well as Westminster.Such an order must await the policy decisions on future regulation which will resultfrom current discussions with the other UK countries following the consultationon the regulation reviews.

The group which took forwardthe review of the regulation of the non-medical health care professions, led byAndrew Foster at the Department of Health (DH) in England, includedrepresentatives from DH and the other UK health departments, including Paul Martin, Chief NursingOfficer and Interim Director of Workforce at the Scottish Executive Health Department.Other bodies represented were the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence,the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health Professions Council, the General DentalCouncil, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and NHS employers. Thegroup also benefited from a reference group of around 100 members, which met intwo conferences. It received wide input from over 100 responses to a “call for ideas”from significant groups representing patients, professionals, employers and regulators.It took oral evidence from regulatory bodies and from Which? magazine. Itcommissioned research into public understanding and expectations of professionalregulation, and information about the regulation of staff in other sectors withsafety-critical work, including in social care and education. DH also commissionedresearch about the regulation of health professionals in other countries, whichthe group used in its work.

Mr Paul Martin, Chief NursingOfficer and Interim Director of Workforce, was a member of the Foster Group and,in that capacity, commented on the draft report before it was finalised.

Four stakeholder events wereheld across Scotland - regional events in Aberdeen, Glasgow and theBorders, and a national event in Edinburgh. These events discussed the consultation paper issuedby the Department of Health (DH) in England on the recommendations from Andrew Foster’sreview of the regulation of non-medical health care professions, and from Sir LiamDonaldson’s review of medical regulation. The events informed the Scottish Executiveresponse to the DH consultation.

The Presiding Officer’sstatement on legislative competence is required under the Scotland Act. TheSPCB makes provision for the Presiding Officer to have appropriate advice andassistance in discharging this legislative duty. Although the Parliament’sStanding Orders make provision about the statement of competence by a member incharge of an Executive Bill (a requirement under the Scotland Act), they placeno requirement on a member in charge of a non-Executive Bill to make astatement on legislative competence. There is no duty on such a member to makesuch an assessment. However, the SPCB ensures that members of the Parliament havethe support of clerks and lawyers in the development of committee and members’ billsthrough the Non-Executive Bills Unit, and that committees have access toclerkly and legal advice in their consideration of issues as they arise whetherin connection with legislation or procedural matters.  In short, while notbeing complacent, the SPCB considers that it makes available considerablein-house resources to assist members address their legislative responsibilities.

The member is referred to myanswers to the related questions S2W-30290, S2W-30291 and S2W-30292.

As members of the GLSS,staff in the Parliament’s Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) and in the Officeof the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive (OSSE) have access to common GLSSsupport services including training, library facilities (the Solicitors’ LegalInformation Centre) which include a legal update service, an intranet andarrangements for the allocation and interchange of staff. DLS staff do not haveaccess to the OSSE Intranet or to legal advice provided by OSSE for its clientsor to correspondence between OSSE and the Scottish Law Officers. Similarly,staff in OSSE do not have access to the Parliament’s intranet or to legaladvice provided by DLS to Committees, the SPCB or the Presiding Officer.

In relation to ExecutiveBills, one of the papers sent on a confidential basis to certain Parliamentstaff is a note of the Executive’s view on legislative competence, which ismade available to DLS. There is no reciprocal arrangement for DLS advice to be sharedwith OSSE. Information on this pre-introduction process is available in the Parliament’s guidance on public bills on the Parliament website.

I refer to my answer toquestion S2W-30291.

There are 13 legallyqualified staff in the Parliament’s Directorate of Legal Services. As with all other Parliamentarystaff, staff in the Directorate of Legal Services are responsible through theClerk/Chief Executive to the SPCB.

The legally qualified staffin the directorate are all members of the Government Legal Service for Scotland(GLSS). The GLSS exists in order to raise awareness of the roles of lawyers ingovernment, to promote contacts, share information and develop skills andknowledge among lawyers in its member offices, and to provide shared servicesto member offices and their legal staff. In addition to the Parliament’sDirectorate of Legal Services, the GLSS has a number of other member officesincluding the Scottish Law Commission, the Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive and the Office of the Solicitor to the Advocate General.

Legal staff employed by one GLSSmember office may be seconded or loaned to another member office. This allowsstaff employed by the Scottish Executive to be seconded or loaned to forexample the Parliament. All legally qualified staff in the Directorateare currently seconded from the Scottish Executive to the Parliament under anagreement between the SPCB and the Scottish Law Officers. While seconded orloaned, legal staff are managed and professional supervision is exercised bythe office in which they are posted and they owe their professional duties tothat office. The arrangements ensure good use of public funds withoutjeopardising independence of view.

From time to time the directoratehas staff on secondment from other organisations but there are none currently.

The information requested isnot held centrally.