Chamber and committees

Convener, with regard to agenda items 2 and 3, I should put on the record that I am in receipt of personal independence payment.

Will that monitoring be published?

If it is not Parliament or the Government that intervenes—again, you outlined some of this in your opening answer—who should have that power?

I think that Oliver Mundell has picked up most of what I was going to ask, but there is still something that I am trying to grasp. Quite a number of years ago, my father was a prosecutor for the Law Society; when he was instructed by the Law Society to prosecute a case, he just got on and did it, completely independently and without any interference. How is that different from the whole bureaucracy of having an independent person do this? Is it purely, as you have said, a perception issue? If so, it seems like a lot of money to spend on what is purely a matter of perception. I found it interesting that in your opening statement you talked about lawyers looking after lawyers. Did you get any evidence of such incidents, or is that just a perception?

Before Morag Ross comes in, I note the caveat that the Lord President would have to give consent. Does that not give you any comfort?

I turn to section 41(2) and (6). The latter, for example, gives the Scottish ministers regulation-making powers to allow category 1 regulators to extend the scope of the authorising and regulating legal businesses rules. What are your reflections on the scope of the powers in those subsections, including whether they should be necessary in practice?

Ms Wood, will you clarify something that you said? I think that you said that, if the provision in section 41(6) is to be included, any changes should be subject to primary legislation. I might have missed what you said with regard to section 41(2). I appreciate that you do not want that provision at all, but, if it is included, should any changes be made through primary legislation or should that be done through regulations? Is there no way that we can make section 41(2) acceptable to the Law Society?

Good morning, and thank you for coming, Esther. You dealt with some of this in your opening answer, but what is your view on the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, which the Government has introduced? Perhaps you could concentrate on the delegated powers aspect.

That is helpful. Just to push you slightly, do you think that there should be any delegated powers?

Okay—thanks.