Chamber and committees

As you suggested, there is a difficult situation, and it is constantly moving. I do not like to submit last-minute SSIs to the committee unless doing so is completely necessary. I believe that in this case it is. Whenever possible, we will try to ensure that the committee is sighted on issues well in advance.

As you have already said, convener, it is important to have clarity in legislation. I know that there have, during the past year, been difficulties with definitions of various things. Sometimes, that is unavoidable, both in political debate and in the legal realms. At all times, we have tried to ensure that legislation is clear and understandable. It is extremely important that I do that on every occasion and that we try to introduce legislation that is as clear as possible.

As I mentioned, a couple of issues have arisen in relation to the definition of concepts, which has caused some confusion. I have no simple solution—there is no simple solution—to the problem, but as the responsible minister I will strive to make everything as clear as possible. The simpler we make everything, the easier we will all get on. I am a great believer in that point of view.

I know about this issue, because the committee brought it up with my officials at its recent business planning session. I am happy to give an undertaking that, as part of our profile for future legislation, we will seek to identify significant packages of SSIs for implementation on particular legislation. I can also provide some information today. A package of seven SSIs to implement the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 will be lodged between September and November. In addition, the implementation of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020 will see three SSIs in October and three in November; the implementation of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 will see two SSIs in November, with more to follow; and the implementation of the Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Act 2021 will begin in January 2022.

As I said, I was aware that the committee had an issue in that regard, but my officials were able to come to me and give me that detail so that I could bring the information to the committee. That goes back to what I said earlier, in that the more that we can have an open and frank discussion, the more that there will be matters that I can deal with in order to give the committee the information that it needs.

I am quite happy to do that and to try to give you the detail.

All the bills that we announced in the programme for government will be interesting in their own ways. At the moment, none of the bills is in the category of what is sometimes called a framework bill. I am happy to keep that under review and come back to the committee should the position change. I want to ensure that we have open dialogue and, basically, that there are no surprises. It is too early to discuss specific powers under individual bills, but I will keep that under review and get back to the committee on it.

I do, convener.

Thank you very much for asking me to come to the meeting. I, too, hope that we will have a good working relationship, because it is important that I, as the Minister for Parliamentary Business, have a good relationship with this committee, in particular. I am aware of the work that you do, as I used to be a member of the committee, and I know how important it is to make the cogs of this place work.

I congratulate you on being chosen as convener of the committee. Although we support rival teams in Renfrewshire—we can leave that argument for another day—we have known each other and have been friends for a very long time, so it is good to see you as the convener.

I welcome everyone who is new to the committee and those who are continuing past roles.

The committee has an important role in scrutinising all the secondary legislation that goes through Parliament. That has been particularly challenging for the committee in the past year, which has been a difficult year because of all the legislation that has gone through. There has been a full legislative programme and we are still addressing many of the challenges from Covid.

From the feedback from the committee, I recognise that the Government has improved its processes. Policy notes are more accessible now, and outstanding commitments have been met. There has been huge improvement, which will continue. There has been improvement in management of volumes of Scottish statutory instruments and improvement in the number of SSIs that are reported. That number was 13 per cent of the 396 SSIs that were laid in 2020-21—the majority were in the last quarter. I am not complacent; obviously, we want to see further improvement on that, as we continue.

I provide the clerks with forward looks of the SSIs that are to be laid in the following two weeks. That has been on-going.

There is a need to avoid breaches of the 28-day laying period, where possible. I know that such breaches vex the committee particularly. Unfortunately and regrettably, recent breaches have been unavoidable. However, I am aware of the issue, and I want to try to make things better. What has happened recently has not been systemic. Of the 143 negative SSIs that were laid in the past year, 25—or 17 per cent—were unavoidable breaches. That is not good enough, so we will try to do better.

I would like to ensure that the committee regularly receives information on the volumes of legislation that come to Parliament and that it can expect to receive from the Government.

I welcome the views that the predecessor committee expressed in its legacy report in relation to consideration of Scottish Law Commission bills. I am pleased to note that, as was announced in the programme for government, we will introduce a moveable transactions bill, which will be a Scottish Law Commission bill. We committed in the programme to introducing other Scottish Law Commission bills. I know that that is another major issue for the committee.

I look forward to hearing the committee’s views and to working with you. I hope to have a relationship with you that is similar to the one that you had with my predecessor. Having known Mr Dey for years, I find it difficult to believe that people find him charming, but you obviously all had a good working relationship with him. I am quite happy to try to keep that going. If you did not have such a relationship, I am quite happy to make it better. Back to you, convener.

It is inevitable that, in any legislation connected to Covid, there will be a need to progress things quickly. However, I do not expect the bill on compensation for self-isolation to require an emergency timetable. I expect the committee to have sufficient time to scrutinise any delegated powers in the bill.

I would assume that it would comply with the GDPR.

I will do my utmost to make sure that you get the information. Because of the sheer volume of work that is done, it is inevitable that mistakes are made. People are human and things go wrong, but we will try to make sure that we have a process that means that the information that you get about SSIs is as accurate as possible.

I cannot guarantee what will happen one way or the other. There is a good chance that the procedure will be used for some regulations.

As I said, I will try where possible to work with the committee in a way that will be acceptable to members.

Last week, we had a debate and a vote in the Parliament about Covid vaccination certification, so the proposals have already had one level of scrutiny in Parliament.