Chamber and committees

Thank you, convener. There will be a degree of duplication and overlap between my comments and the minister’s, given that we worked quite closely on the amendments in this group, so I ask for the committee’s indulgence.

In speaking to my amendments 4 to 7, I commend the committee for its stage 1 recommendation on automatic voter registration pilots and acknowledge the Electoral Commission’s support for such pilots. I also thank Councillor Alex Kerr from Glasgow City Council. Together, we met the minister to make the case for automatic voter registration pilots and to seek an assurance that there was a robust legislative framework that would enable such pilots to happen.

Amendments 4 to 7, which were drafted with Government support following our discussions, demonstrate strong partnership working, and I am grateful for those efforts.

Amendment 4 will enable the Scottish ministers to make regulations for temporary provision about the registration of electors in the registers that are used for local government and Scottish Parliament elections. The registration pilots are expected to be run by public bodies or bodies with public functions, by agreement with the relevant bodies. The amendment also clarifies that the regulations cannot affect someone’s right to be registered to vote in itself.

As pilots or temporary regulations that are made under the power for which amendment 4 provides must include a date by which they expire, ministers will be able to make regulations under the proposed new section only when a proposal for a pilot has been made and approved in accordance with amendment 5, to which I now turn.

Amendment 5 makes it clear that pilots can be proposed by ministers, the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, a local authority or an electoral registration officer, either on their own or jointly, by submitting such proposals to the Scottish ministers. It also makes clear the necessary consultation requirements to approve or modify those proposals, and states that a registration of electors pilot may be put in place only if the provision is considered likely to facilitate registration or encourage more persons to register.

Regulations that are made under this provision must specify a date before which the Electoral Commission must send a report to evaluate the pilot, and the procedure for that subsection is subject to the negative procedure.

Amendment 6 deals with the evaluation report. It sets out that the Electoral Commission must prepare a report on the operation of the pilot, send a copy of the report to the Scottish ministers, any local authority to which the pilot relates, the Electoral Management Board and any electoral registration officer who proposed the pilot in the first place, and publish the report.

The amendment also sets out aspects that the report must cover, such as the assessment of the success or otherwise of the pilot provisions. Importantly, the report must also include an assessment of

“whether provision similar to that made by the regulations should apply generally, and on a permanent basis”,

with a move from a temporary pilot to permanency.

That move is the subject of amendment 7, which provides Scottish ministers with the power to permanently modify electoral law if, following the Electoral Commission’s report, they decide that the piloted provisions or similar provisions should apply generally and on a permanent basis, contingent on the recommendation of the Electoral Commission’s report. It also sets out the consultation requirements.

Together, the amendments provide a clear pathway for public bodies such as Glasgow City Council and others to work in partnership and to progress an automatic voter registration pilot.

In closing, I note that the Electoral Commission estimated that, in 2023, 19 per cent of voters—up to 1 million people—were either not on an electoral register or were registered inaccurately, which put at risk their right to vote. Addressing that is the real policy intent of the amendments.

Our next agenda item is consideration of a United Kingdom statutory instrument, the Scotland Act 1998 (Agency Arrangements) (Specification) Order 2024, which is subject to the negative procedure.

The main purpose of the instrument is to specify certain functions as exercisable in connection with winter heating assistance under section 30 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Those functions relate to winter heating assistance for pensioners and do not relate to other forms of winter heating assistance that the Scottish ministers have previously introduced. The detailed arrangements for those functions will be set out in an agency agreement between the United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government and the instrument allows for such arrangements to be agreed.

As no member has any comments to make on the instrument, do members agree that the committee does not wish to make any further recommendations in relation to the instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you, cabinet secretary. We will move to the committee’s questions.

First, will the regulations and the changes that we are looking at this morning make it more likely that people will apply for support with funeral costs outwith their local area? If so, has that been factored into the costs?

Did you want to follow up on that, Mr O’Kane?

Our fifth agenda item is consideration of a Scottish statutory instrument, the Funeral Expense Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024. The instrument is laid under the affirmative procedure, which means that the Parliament must approve it before it comes into force.

I welcome Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, and her officials from the Scottish Government: Posy Musgrave, team leader for early years and funeral support; and Barbara Hughes, a lawyer. I thank them for attending.

Following this evidence session, the committee will be invited to consider a motion to approve the instrument. I remind members that Scottish Government officials can speak during this part of the meeting, but not during any debate that follows. I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement.

That was helpful. Roz McCall, did you want to come in?

Thank you, cabinet secretary—plug noted.

As there are no other questions, we move to agenda item 6, which is formal consideration of motion S6M-14591. I invite the cabinet secretary to speak to and move the motion.

Motion moved,

That the Social Justice and Social Security Committee recommends that the Funeral Expense Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024 [draft] be approved.—[Shirley-Anne Somerville]

The committee will report on the outcome of the instrument in due course. I invite the committee to delegate authority to our convener, if she returns in time, or otherwise to me, to approve the draft of any report for publication. Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you very much.

I thank the cabinet secretary and her officials for attending. As that concludes the public part of our meeting, we will move into private session to consider the remaining agenda items.

Thank you, cabinet secretary.

Before we move to agenda item 6, it is worth putting it on the record that the committee did a very brief inquiry into the Scottish child payment, and although we very much welcomed the positive impact that it was having, we identified the need for additional data, including on approaches to tackling child poverty being taken not only in Scotland but in England, and the need for a longitudinal study that would provide additional evidence on the benefits of the payment. I thought that this was an appropriate time to put that on the record, Ms Smith.

You do not have to give us your reflections on that, cabinet secretary, but you are welcome to respond if you wish.