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We do not have time to create the ideal model, which would use a bill to create both a new public sector ombudsman and a model code for public administration for Scotland.
I will answer the second of your three questions, on the code of practice, first. Had the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 made provision for a statutory code of practice, that would be an option; however, as no such provision was built into the act, that option is not available to us.
As members know, the first phase expansion of priority need that the bill provides for, which is based on the homelessness task force's recommendations, is to move into legislation those groups that are currently considered vulnerable under the code of guidance.Executive amendments 6, 7 and 8 alter the current wording of the bill to ensure that in moving from the code of guidance to legislation, we use clear and up-to-date descriptors.
CoalPro members have their own charter, and CoalPro has its own environmental code. CoalPro has negotiated a code of practice with the English Planning Officers Society, which goes through the whole range of issues.
He said:"In the first phase of the main expansion of priority need, most of the people who should be housed in that way should have been housed because they were identified as priorities in the code of guidance. We do not expect a massive new need for accommodation in the first phase."
Such legislation will create a whole panoply of laws, regulations, codes, guidelines, rights, duties, exemptions, exceptions, provisos, conditions and qualifications that will turn our countryside into a legal battleground.
However, because of the expense and time that it takes to code open questions, it was necessary to publish results that were based on a sample of the response—in other words, a sample of the 96 per cent return.