Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working closely with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG) who have responsibility for registering powers of attorney in Scotland to highlight the concerns about recognition of these with UK financial institutions.

OPG have engaged directly with UK financial organisations when they have been made aware of common or recurring issues that require attention and on a case by case basis when needed.

OPG are planning a series of information based events later in 2023, aimed specifically at staff in UK financial organisations, with the aim of raising awareness of OPG’s role and of the financial provisions of the Adults with Incapacity legislation. The feedback will be raised at a meeting OPG is attending with Scottish banking representatives in August 2023.

OPG is also currently working in collaboration with colleagues from OPG England and similar departments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the intention of delivering or preparing cross border training to highlight key differences in process and terminology across the jurisdictions as well as raising awareness of recognition issues. The aim of these efforts is to lead to a more cohesive and collaborative approach with the banks.

Scottish Government has not had any recent direct engagement with the UK Government regarding cross-border recognition of powers of attorney granted in Scotland.

However, in previous meetings both parties have agreed the existing legislation allows for automatic recognition of powers of attorney in both jurisdictions. Difficulty in recognition is an issue of the training and knowledge of those being presented with a power of attorney from a different jurisdiction.

In Scotland the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) Scotland is responsible for registering all power of attorney documents. If an individual has experienced any issues involving the recognition of a Scottish power of attorney in other parts of the UK they can contact the OPG for assistance.

There is already legislation in place that provides recognition of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales. This is about ensuring that the institutions and organisations have awareness and are educated on the legal status of Scottish powers of attorney.

The Scottish Government will be working with third party organisations to raise awareness and publicity about the validity of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales.

Scottish Government has contacted NHS Lothian, which has confirmed the Youth Hospital Navigator pilot at both hospitals was funded only for a fixed term of two years which ends this month. The pilot was included in an external evaluation of all youth work provision commissioned by NHS Lothian.

NHS Lothian is considering this evaluation and its next steps over the next 6 months which includes designing a youth work model, based on learning and key findings from the evaluation and developing a business case to support this. Health Inequalities and Children’s Rights Impact Assessments will be commissioned as part of this process.

The Scottish Government is committed, in conjunction with bus operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of improving services to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport. We have increased the tools available to local authorities to revitalise bus networks, through Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, in addition to their existing powers to subsidise services that are not provided on a commercial basis. Transport Scotland discuss bus matters with COSLA on a monthly basis at regular bus stakeholder meetings. In addition, COSLA are members of the Bus Taskforce.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on the 20 April 2023. Information about the Bill can be found on the Scottish Parliament website here .

The powers of the Law Society of Scotland are already well established in legislation, within the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 and the provisions of the Bill are intended to improve and modernise their regulatory function.

The Bill will provide for a modern regulatory framework designed to promote competition and innovation while also improving the transparency and accountability of legal services regulation and the legal complaints system in Scotland.

The Bill introduces a modern set of regulatory objectives and professional principles, while incorporating key aspects of the Better Regulation, the Consumer Principles and the Human Rights (PANEL) Principles, that legal services regulators will require to adhere to. The Bill contains provisions setting out how the independent regulatory committee of the Law Society of Scotland should operate, intended to increase transparency and accountability of legal services regulation. The Bill also introduces provisions about how certain businesses that provide legal services should be regulated, introducing entity regulation and with it stronger protections for consumers, intended to complement existing regulation rather than introduce duplication.

The Bill is designed to take a proportionate approach that seeks to balance and deliver the key priorities of all stakeholders. The Scottish Government has committed to continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders in respect of this reform, and throughout the parliamentary passage of the Bill.

Transport Scotland provides an annual subsidy through the Network Support Grant (NSG) to the bus industry, the aim of which is to keep fares more affordable and support bus operators to run services that might not otherwise be commercially viable.

Transport Scotland are supporting more services to be commercially viable with extra funding for a marketing campaign from Scottish Government, to encourage people back to bus. Scotland also encourages bus use with the most generous concessionary scheme in the UK, with over 2.3 million people, including everyone under 22 and over 60, and disabled people and companions, eligible for free bus travel. This complements our broad package of long-term investment in bus, including addressing congestion through bus priority infrastructure.

The Scottish Government response to the recommendations of the Report of the Independent Review of Mediation in the Civil Justice System in Scotland was published in December 2019. As set out in that response, we confirmed our intention to work with key stakeholders on a collaborative basis to fully understand the implications of those proposals in order to assist help shape any potential future legislative reform.

The Scottish Government established a Dispute Resolution Group consisting of key organisations and agencies representing a wide range of interests including dispute resolution organisations, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and consumer bodies to develop and shape an evidence-based package of reform aimed at mainstreaming the use of mediation in the civil justice system in Scotland. The Group met in 2020 but the work of the Group ceased due to the combined pressures of responding to Brexit and COVID 19.

The Scottish Government is using its existing powers to provide funding to key Mediation and Arbitration delivery organisations to give our citizens access to flexible, affordable and less stressful means of settling disputes benefitting them and saving time in courts.

We are also working with key stakeholders to continue the expansion of the availability of mediation services across Scotland to ensure access to justice for all our citizens.

The majority of divorce actions are undefended and therefore do not require the non-applicant party to incur the expenses involving in entering the proceedings.

Where a divorce action is defended, either party may be eligible for civil legal aid.

The courts may make orders on how legal expenses incurred in a case should be met. The Scottish Government’s understanding is that in doing so the court can take account of a party’s behaviour in making or defending their case.

If the member wishes to write to me with additional information, I may be able to offer further comment.