Chamber and committees

I have a very quick question on the frameworks. You said quite confidently that they have been developed and are being delivered, but that we will not really understand how they are working until we are further down the line. Does it concern you that what we are hearing that other areas such as the economy and civic Scotland do not feel that they have been included in their development, and they do not feel that there has been transparency in how the frameworks have come about? Whose responsibility is it to inform wider civic society in the UK about the frameworks and the impact that they will have?

I thank both our witnesses for your attendance at the committee this morning. I close the public part of today’s proceedings.

Our previous panel represented Alcohol Focus Scotland, the Food and Drink Federation and Scottish Environment LINK. One of the concerns that they raised in their submissions involved dispute resolution. In the context of the frameworks, is it clear to businesses how dispute resolution will take place in the future, and is it clear where the challenges are likely to be? Will they be against the common frameworks or against the legislation itself? Are you able to comment on that?

My apologies, Mr Clancy—you wanted to come in on a previous question that Mr Cameron asked. Do you want to do that now, please?

Mr Cameron has some more questions, so maybe it has not.

There is a Government relationship there, but there is also the relationship of the Parliaments. I may have picked this up wrong, but I thought you said that the parliamentary partnership assembly structure had been confirmed in the UK. Is it still possible that the PPA delegates could include people from the devolved legislatures?

I thank everyone for observing our remembrance day two-minute silence.

We return to Mr Clancy.

My final question is a bit hypothetical, although much of what we have talked about has been hypothetical. In an ideal world, the frameworks will work perfectly and there will never be a need for the Westminster Government to exercise executive power. My understanding is that, under the Scotland Act 1998, committees of the Scottish Parliament are empowered to scrutinise the Scottish Government, but how can such scrutiny take place if an executive power is used in a devolved area at Westminster? How would the Parliament and its committees consider that? Might it mean a change to the devolution guidance notes?

Thank you. I will bring in Ms Sargeant to comment on those points.

Good morning, and welcome to the ninth meeting of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. We have received apologies from Maurice Golden MSP and Mark Ruskell MSP.

At 11 am today, we will pause for a short act of remembrance, which will take place throughout the Scottish Parliament. At that time, we will observe a two-minute silence.

Our first agenda item is an evidence-taking session for our inquiry into the United Kingdom internal market. The aim of the inquiry is to consider the UK internal market’s implications for Scotland, including how devolution will work, going forward.

In our first panel of witnesses on the topic, we will hear from: Alison Douglas, who is the chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland; David Thomson, who is the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation Scotland; and Vhairi Tollan, who is the advocacy manager for Scottish Environment LINK. I welcome you all and thank you for your submissions.

I remind committee members that, if they wish to direct a question to a particular member of the panel, they should say so at the start of the question. We are constrained by time, so I ask witnesses and my fellow committee members to be succinct, where possible.

All the submissions highlight the risks of the UK internal market and the risk that Governments might be more hesitant to consider innovative policies for tackling particular issues—a deposit return scheme, for example—in order to avoid competitive disadvantage to Scottish businesses. The risk is that there might be lower regulatory standards in order to retain a competitive internal market in the UK. How could we prevent that from happening?