RESTRICTED - LEGISLATION

Conrtitutional Aspects

8. The provision for a number of the executively devolved functions on the face 0

Railways Bill is a departure from what would normally occur in these circumstances. enormal route for the transfer of executive functions is through the ·use of Scotland Act Or ersapplied to GB legislation, and had been the preferrea path for ·the devolution of rail aysfunctions. Employing this method is seen as upholding the general principal that devolu ionmeasures should only be enacted with the consent of both Parliaments. However, in the

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aseof railways devolution, after due consideration and extensive discussions between official ofthe Scottish Office and the DETR, it was agreed that, in this particular instance, it woul bemore satisfactory to implement the measures concerned on the face of the Bill. :

9. Since this approach represents a departure from normal practice it has been necessto seek the agreement of Scottish Ministers. Their agreement has been sought on heunderstanding that they will make a statement to the Scottish Parliament to this effect. Itshould be emphasised that this should not be seen as a precedent. Scottish Ministers .ewthis as an exceptional case and would normally employ the machinery of the Scotland Ac totransfer functions.

From: John Ewing /Constitutional PolicylES

. 22 June 1999

PS/Secretary of State .~

,)

Copy to: PS/Lord SewelPS/Lord MacDonaldPSIMr MacDonaldPSlPerm SecPSIESMr I GordonMr Kelly, ESMr Ferguson, LDMrs Brannan, HDMr Rogers, ESMr Olszewski

/ /!Vv ~ Ctv0...-.-:z ~ 1-.

QSss/ST3

LEGISLATION AT WESTMINSTER ABOUT DEVOLVED MATTERS

Purpose

1. To let the Secretary of State see the motion which is to be debated tomorrow in eScottish Parliament seeking its consent to 3 Bills with impacts in devolved areas, and ememorandum which has been supplied to MSPs describing the content of the Bills.

Timing

2. Urgent. The Secretary of State will wish to see this material in advance of the deb tetimetabled for 4.30 pm tomorrow in the Scottish Parliament.

Background•

3. As Ministers are aware, both the UK. Government and the Scottish Executive h vestated their expectation that a convention will be established that the Westminster parliam

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ntwill not normally legislat~ about devolved matters without the consent of the Scott shParliament. The First Minister's statement in the Scottish Parliament on 9 June alerted it t anumber of Bills already unde~ consideration in the UK. Parliament, and to the intention iliatthe Scottish Parliament would have the opportunity to debate the Food Standards Bill. n),atdebate is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Immediately afterwards, there is to bel ahalf-hour debate on 3 further Bills which have either recently been introduced in the 'QKParliament or may be introduced before the Westminster recess. The Bills are the Electro$cCommunication Bill, the Limited Liability Partnerships Bill and the Financial Services ahdMarkets Bill. A copy of the motion is attache,d at Annex A. Annex B is a memorandJrndescribing the Bills ..

4. The impacts of each of these Bills in devolved areas are much smaller than that of tpeFood Standards Bill. .The first 2 will, however, confer powers for subordinate legislation ~tobe made by the Scottish Ministers) to alter Scots law in devolved areas. The third will haJean impact upon the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in that it creates a n /w

IIMRK3590 1

rule of Scots private law which is special to a reserved matter. Such rules are protected ommodification by the Scottish Parliament in exercising its across-the-board COmpetenr tomodify general rule of Scots private law.

5. While these are essentially "technicalmeasures which the Parliament should not eedto trouble itself with, the political· sensitivities within the Parliament means that ther hasbeen no choice on this occasion but to allow a short debate. However we e ecMr Andrew Mackay to make it clear tomorrow that the Scottish Executive's view is at·WII not in future be necessary to ave a e ate in the Scottish Parliament about Westmi terBills with relatively minor impacts upon devolved matters. What we envisage is aStreamlined procedure whereby the Scottish Ministers will lodge motionS seeking co sentwhic WI usually be passed WI ou e ate.

6. As for what the Scottish Parliament is asked to consent to, while it can be argued thatthe Parliament should always have in front of it the draft legislation containing the devo vedprovisions, in practice it is unrealistic to expect the UK Government always to publish illswith minor impacts in devolved areas before they are introduced at Westminster. Instead weenvisage the Scottish Parliament being provided with short memoranda describing thedevolved provisions along the lines of those which have been supplied for these 3 Bills.

Future Arrangements

7. In the light of this experience we will be liaising with Cabinet Office on arrangem ntsfor handling such Bills in the future both in the Scottish Parliament and at Westminster.

Recommendation

8. I invite the Secretary of State to note the terms of the motion which the Sco .shParliament will debate tomorrow about 3 UK Bills with minor impacts in devolved areas, dof the memorandum which has been supplied to notify the Parliament of those Bills.

JOHN EWINGExecutive SecretariatRm 047SAHIf 4 0357

22 June 1999

MRK3590 2

Introduction

LEGISLATION IN THE UK PARLIAMENT:FINANCIAL SERVICES & MARKETS BILLELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS BILLLIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIPS BILL

MEMORANDUM TO BE PLACED IN SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT DOCUMENTCENTRE I

I

I

I

1. As indicated by the First Minister on 9 June, it is expected that a convention willibeestablished whereby the UK Parliament will not normally legislate about devolved ma~erswithout the consent of the Scottish Parliament. . I

2. This memorandum describes the above 3 Bills, which have been or may be introdjedbefore the Westminster summer recess 1999. The Financial Services and Markets Bill asintroduced on 17 June. The Electronic Communications Bill and the Limited Liab' ityPartnerships Bill may be introduced later in June. I

3. These Bills are substantially concerned with reserved matters but either have so I eimpact on devolved matters or to a limited extent deal with matters which would be wi~the devolved competence of the Scottish Parliament. A motion to the effect that the sco

~

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'~"7",~7tl~en~~~~~~ :~~~ ~ ~~~:t~:~~es~2~eJ~~ a~4.30pm for 30 minutes.

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4. The ~i~cial Services and Markets B~lldoes .notmake ~y provision w~ch w04dhave been Within the competence of the Scottish ParlIament but It does have an Impact ,nScots bankruptcy law. The basic purpose of the Bill is to set up a single regulator tprFinancial Services and Markets, the Financial ServicesAuthority (FSA). The FSA would ,egiven power to petition for the bankruptcy of a sole trader where he appears to be unable topay a regulated activity debt (ie relating to the provision of financial services), or appears 0have no reasonable prospect of being able to pay such a debt. This would enable the FSA 0bring a 'trader's activities to an early end, so as to minimise the loss, which might otherwise esustained by consumers doing business with him. In Scots law normally only a creditor or acreditor under a trust deed or the debtor himself can petition for sequestration ofindividual. The Bill would therefore create a precedent in Scots bankruptcy law, since 1eFSA would not itself be a creditor, but would, as it were, be acting on behalf of consume s .who might have sustained a loss through the activitiesof an individual trader.

I

5. A Bill on Electronic Communications is planned for introduction shortly. This do~snot in itself contain any devolved provisions. However it provides that existing legislati~emay be modified by order, so as to make provision for electronic signatures and thIconclusion of contracts by electronic means. The Bill provides that in Scotland, an ord rintroducing a complete package of measures in respect of reserved matters can be put in placby a Scottish Minister with the consent of a UK Minister. This would not be possible witho~tUK legislation to make the necessary provision.

HOMEDOCS\WESTLEG03.DOC 1.

6. Thirdly, UK Ministers are hopeful of introducing before the end of the Westmin tersession a Bill on Limited Liability Partnerships but this has to fmd time against compet~gpriorities. This Bill WOUl

.

d CI

.

eate a new form of business as

.

sociation, a "limited liabilitypartnership" which would be a body corporate in which the liability of the partners would belimited to the extent of their··stake in the business. It does not directly contain provision ondevolved matters: However'it contains a power for a Scottish Minister to make regulati I nsfor the process of winding up of limited liability partnerships in Scotland. This is because elaw on the process of the winding up of business associations is devolved.

7. These Bills represent desirable measures to secure a level playing field for busin ss'and adequate consumer protection throughout Great Britain. The impact they have ondevolved matters is consequential on these primary purposes which are reserved matters. or2 of the Bills, i!1lplementation will require statutory instruments to be made by ScottIshMinisters, in one case with the. consent of the appropriate UK Minister. The consent isnecessary because the exercise of the power would relate to reserved matters. It is cle lysensible for the UK Parliament to establish a single regime from which Scottish busin ssinterests and consumers can also benefit.

8. More detail on the purposes of the Bills is given in the Appendices .

../

HOMEDOCS\WESTLEG03.DOC 2.

.•.....),;j

FINANCIAL SERVICES & MARKETS BILL

Description of Bill ..,,;,• I

1. This Bill will set up a single regulatory framework for the UK financial servicesindustry and a single statutory regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The ~SAalready exists but it only regulates investment business and banking. The reconstituted SAwill regulate all kinds of fmanciaI services including insurance and will have eOO edpowers. The Bill was the subject of consultation in July 1998 and a progress report aspublished in March 1999by HM Treasury. The proposals were generally well received.

Impact on devolved matters

2. At present the FSA is able to petition for the winding up of companies (inclu g.partnerships) which are authorised to carry out financial services business. However, it d esnot have an equivalent power to petition for the bankruptcy of a sole trader carrying 0 t afinancial services business. These sole traders usually trade as Independent Finan

~

1ialAdvisers. Many such sole traders are not incorporated under the Companies Act and eeffectively doing bUsiness as private ,individuals. A recent case in Northern Irel dhighlighted this gap in the law. Consequently,it is proposed that the FSA should be given apower to petition for bankruptcy of an individual. I

" ~- ::.k~.rt"":"'~·~;;L,,;;;,~··~:;;.::":;;~:::•..·,~~.~~,-:',;:,;;,;,,~;.:.;c;",:};::L,·:.~",,;:~.~;-;,~,~,.:;;~~;:;.~~':;:T;.L~;~::~:-:·"'···''''~'''~·'_""',--,~".".. , '.'.,.....~..t, '..","":'::·:·'~"'3.:::""';'1'hi~_WQ.t1!d~~ea~e~~a.Pl'~~e~~IlJ:"~~~~o!!~4;:7cT!n.de:r.:.S~otsbankruptcy law onI

c/i .• ct:editor, a J:ruste~under). f!USt ~~e~.():r.}~njIlsolvent:.ip.~iyjdualhimself,may petition'··'"""""'·"sequestration.sThe-reasonfor'sequestration is:.to·ensure'1fuitallcreditors are treated fairly

receive a share of the debts owed to them. The FSA would be given a power to petition orsequestration even although it is not a creditor of the individual in question. The underly greasoning is that in the case of an investment adviser who appears unlikely to be able tosatisfy his obligations to his,clients, there may be many creditors who have invested mo eywith the individual in good faith, but they may not have the means or knowledge to peti .onfor that person's sequestration. Therefore the FSA as it were stands proxy for all

~

eindividual creditors and safeguards their position by petitioning for sequestration on th irbehalf. The Scottish Parliament could not itself pass legislation to give the FSA this power topetition for seq~estration, as regulation of financial services is a reserved matter. I

4. The Bill would also remove the need for the self-regulating legal professions lin'Scotland to make provision for regulating the provision of financial services by th~irmembers. Self-regulation of the legal professions is a devolved matter, but regulation of eprovision of financial services is a reservedmatter. Consideration is currently taking place nwhether the Bill requires any consequentialchanges to the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 dif so, what the appropriate procedures would be.

HOMEDOCS\WESTLEG03.DOC 3.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS BILL

. Descriptio~of Bill

1. Electronic Commerce is a new way of marketing goods and services, using elec onicmeans. This involves buying and selling goods and services, money transfers, andadvertising, and also includes transactions With Government. The Ele onic.Communications Bill would include powers to create a statutory voluntary approvals re imefor bodies offering electronic signature and confidentiality services. These services e ablepeople to check who has signed an electronic message, that it has not been tampered .th,and that it J;1asbeen kept confidential.

2. The Bill would also ensure, as far as possible, that the law is technology neutral· itsapplication. It will clarify the position regarding legal recognition of electronic signatures andbegin the process of updating the statute book so that electronic means can be used as we I asthe traditional pen and paper.

Impact on devolved matters

3. The Bill is largely concerned with reserved matters, such as electronic cryptogra hyand telecommunications. To give it effect generally may require amendments to the la on

.._,',,",---..;i.i.2:::':;,i~~~hafconstitutes-';ii'legaIl)EV'aIid.document~and-:legal1y..:.v&id.e¥idence..()f,.say,:~acontract..Tt is:_'_.;.","~.";:;;;;:;;;;;~~"~n6ri.b.teIidedthat all such amendments ,shouldbe made-in primary legislation. Rather . ere

'~';'::');~S~;0i;;';;:1Wm:Btf:'~~prbvi~iot('Wv4tgMi11is~rs':pO\\Ters'(by.statutory,;·instrument) t9 mOdify.exis· ....'g ..'-;;~-~-:~;;;;';:i~;;i~1egisi~tion-forthi' purpose-~o:f'ciutliorism~l,faci1ltafuig:';or~.encoumgirlg]he~:uSe,.of.decti'; mc·:-":~-":··".,~.

commerce or electronic storage. The Bill will provide that for Scotland, a Scottish Mini$termay make an order putting in place a comp ete package 0 es mc uding rules in re ctof reserve e rules WI cover reserved matters this will re uire theconsent of the aI2PI2I2r:iaieUK Minister. The Scottish Parliament could have made sotechanges to devolved matters, for example, to the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) ct1995, which provides for the execution of documents with signatures, but not for epurposes of authorising or facilitating electronic commerce as such. Nor could the SCO

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~ShParliament legislate on matters relating to communication systems. The proposal tha aScottish Minister should be able to introduce a complete package 9f such changes coven greserved matters, albeit with consent, will give the Scottish Parliament much more controlover the implementation of the Bill in Scotland than it would otherwise have had. I

• I

4. To omit Scotland ftom the Bill would be to disadvantage Scottish businesses abdconsumers and delay the development of electronic commerce in Scotland. It makes seJ;efor there to be a single GB regime on these matters.. !I

I

HOMEDOCS\ WESTLEG03.DOC 4.

LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIPS BILL•

I

2. The main purpose of the Bill is the creation of a new form of business associatiqn.That would be a reserved matter under the terms of Head C, Section C 1 of schedule 5 to tpe

...~ Scotland Act 1998. However, Section C2 (Insolvency) provides an exception from the.~~ . reservation in relation to the process of winding up business associations. I

I

3. An LLP will be a legal entity distinct from its members with the capacity of a le~alperson, including the capacity to enter into contracts. It is. anticipated that business wplnormally be transacted with the firm as principal, not the members. The proposals wo1Ijld

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Companies Act 1985 and a duty to apply certain parts of the Insolvency Act 1986.

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Impact on devolved matters

5. The Bill contains power to apply the Insolvency Act 1986 to LLPs. This means thatlaMinister can by statutory instrument apply the relevant provisions of the Insolvency Act JO

the procedures for winding up a LLP. For LLPs in England and Wales, this will be done iYthe Secre~ of State for Trade and Industry.· I

I

6. Because the law on the process of winding up business associations is devolved, itwill be for the Scottish Ministers to make regulations on that in respect of Scottish LLP's.

HOMEDOCS\WESTLEG03.DOC 5.

I

MOTION FOR DEBATE IN SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, 4.30~MON 23 JUNE 1999 :

i ~ I

. SlM-61" Angus Mackay: That the Parliament agrees that the FinanqialServices and Markets Bill, the Electronic Communications Bill and the

I

Limited Liability Partnerships Bill should be considered by the UKParliament

•PAGE

St. Andrew's HouseRegent RoadEdinburgh EHI 3DG

Telephon@ 0.131.2.44F..,c,OI3.1-244 0370

THE SCOTTISH OFFICEExecutive Secretariat

. J: I~ 1~t. .Andrew K. on EsqCabinet0 ce70 Whitchal1LONDONSWIA 2AS

..

,0June 1999

LEGISLATION AT WESTMINSTER ABOUT DEVOLVED MAnERS

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61tf"I

I am grateful to Graham Davies for commenting upon the draft material attached to my letterof 4 June. I now attach a copy of the official record of Mr Dewar's. statement and. of thepaper which has been made available to MSPs describing current Bills at Wcstminstcr.

I BD1 copying this letter to David Brew and Graham Davies (Cabinet Office) and Ian Gordon(Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland) ..

() TCR01706.069--~JII_

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LEGISLATION AT WESTMINSTER ABOUT MATTERS WITHIN THELEGISLATIVE COMPETENCE OF THE SComSH PARLIAMENT

This paper supplements the statement to be made by the First Minister on 9 June 1999 aboutlegislation of the United Kingdom Parliament which makes provision about matters which:6:om 1 July 1999 will be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. Itdoscribes Bills presently under consideration at Westminster which make provision aboutsuch matters or about matters closely linked to them. As well as Government Bills it lists anumber of Private Members' Bills which may be enacted It does not, however, include Billswhich are unlikely to be enacted, for example those under the Ten Minute Rule.

Government Bills

Aecess to Justice BilL This Bill deals primarily with matters relating to England and Wales,but includes 3 provisions about the legal aid system in Scotland. The first will enable theScottish Ministers to make regulations to disapply the financial eligibility and contributiontest$ (or assistance by way of representation in respect of certain proceedings (cg mentalhealth proceedings). The secorid allows recipients of Disability Working AllowUJC8 to beexempt from the financial eligi'bility and contributions tests for advice and assistance. Thet1rltd removes the merits test for granting legill aid in cases referred to the appeal court by t:iwScottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Health Bill. This Bj1l includes Scottish provisions which provide for aboHshing generalpractitioner iimdholding, changing the financial ammgemcnts for NHS Trusts; .imposing aduty of quality on the NHS in Scotland; a power for Ministers to direct NHS Trusts in thesame way as they can Wrect Health Boards; a requirement for all primary care practitioners tohave indemnity cover; measure$ to tf\,Ckle fraud in the NHS; and measures to protect theinterests of staff wbo transfer between health bodies as a result of organisational change. Thepowers to commence the Scottish provisions will devolve to Scottish Ministers.

Immi:ration and Asylum BiD~ This Bill makes provision for a comprehensive refonn ofthe law relating to asylum. It will introduce a new UK. system of support for asylum seekerswhich transfers rcsponstoility from local authorities to the Home Office. Its provisions have

, some impact on devolved matters. For example. functions of local authorities under the/ Social Work (So:>tland) Act 1968 will be altered.

Pollution Prevention and Control Bill. The Bill covers devolved matters - the control ofdischarges to air, land and water. It transposes into GB legislation the requirements ofEuropean. Council Directive 96/61/EC on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control. Itsprovisions app1y to Scotland because of the need to meet the deadline for implementation ofthe Directive. The functions conferred on Ministers by the Bill will be ~ercisab)e by theScottish Ministers. Detailed implementation of the directive will be through Scottishregulations laid before the Scottish Parliament.

Water Industry Bill. This Bill includes provision about the regulation of the Scottish waterand sewerage industry. It winds up the present Customers Coun~i1 and establishes the WaterIndustry Commissioner for Scotland.

legis.doc

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Welfare Reform and PensioJls BW. This Bill is largely concerned. with reserved matterssuch as pensions and social security benefits but it includes provision jn relation to devolvedmatters in the area of Scottish family law in order to allow the sharing atpensions on divorce.

, .Youth Justice and CrimlDal Evidence BilL ,This Bill includes provision in relation to 'devolved matters in the area ot criminal eviderice, for example to restrict the use byprosecutors of answers and statements given under compulsion. In doing so it makes a minoramendment to insolvency legislation to bring it into line with the Bumpean Convention onHuman Rights by limiting the use of statements made to receivers as evidence in criminalcaSes. The Bill also provide$ new powers for the courts in England and Wales to imposereporting restrictions in relation to the identification of juveniles and certain adult witnessesinvolved in criminal proceedings. These powers do not themselves extend to Scotland.However, the Bill also creates a new offence of contravening reporting restrictions imposedby the court in England and Wales and this offence will extend to .Scotland and NorthernIreland. '

Private Membent BiDs

AdopdoD (lDter-eollntry Aspects) BiD. This makes provision for a legal funnework forinter-country adoption.

Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Bill. This BiU is intended to improve the welfare ofdogs by imposing tighter coIrtrols on large dog breeding establishments.

Melltal Health (ADI".dment) (SeotlaJld) BilL This is a short Bill to amend the MentalHealth (Scotland) Act 1984 to allow incapable patients who leave hospital to reside in theco:rmnunity to continue to benefit from funds held on their behalf in the hospital.

Protection of Children BUL This Bill will extend the provisions of Part V of the Police Act199.7, which is of GB-wide application. For people seeking positions which give them accessto chiI.dren, the employer or voluntary organisation Win be able to access infonnanon :from anumber of sources through '"a one stop shop". The check will Include detai~ of any criminalrecords and will also contain information held on the Department of Health Consu1tancy'Index and the Department for Education and Employment List 99. These lists containinformation which might indicate that the person is ,unsuitable to work with children.

Road Trame Regulation (Cycle Parking) Bill. This Bill includes provision to permit the I

local authorities to provide stands and racks for motor cycles as wen as for pedal cycles and I,'to provide devices for securing motor cycles or pedal cycles.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARIATTIlE SCOTTISH OFFICE·9 JUNE 1999

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Scottish parliament· Official Report

Seotthlb ParUaJllentOfficial Report

:.. ',' .;': .:". "" : ' ••• : .:' .• ;.;, .• " ••.••~ . ~ • '0 •.. ,-- -' ....•- :. ,- , •...

Scottish parBament

Wednesday 9 June 1999

(Morning)

[THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at 10:30]

I""A\::i1=. ~ b / 111Page I ot ~

VollNoB

9 June 1999

Co13,7 The Deputy PresidiDg QtTlter (M$ Patricia Ferpaon): Good morning.Before we begin, members should check that their ID cards have beencorrectly placed in the microphone system.. They can do so by lookinS at thered light immediately below the card and above the small mow. lfthe cardhas been plaCed correctly, the light should be off.

The first item of business is a statement by the First Minister on legislationin the UK Parliament relating to devolved matters. The First Minister wiJl.take questions at th~ end of his statement and there should therefore be nointerventions. The statement will be followed, no 1ater than 11 am, by adebate on the consultative steering group report and the draft infonnationstrategy.

Col358 UK Parliament Legislation

10:31

The First Minister (Donald Dewar): With my light properly o~ I wouldlike to make a statement on :future legislation by the Westminster Parliamentabout matters that are within the legislative competence of this Parliament

FoUowingdevolution, the Westminster Parliament will retain its competence. to legislate about all matters. That will include matters that are within the

legislative competence of the Scottish Parl.iaroent In a devolved system. itcould not be otherwise. ' .

However, tho United Kingdom Government has made it cJear that it expectsa convention to be established whereby Westminstcr would not usuallylegislate on devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the ScottishParliament Lord Sewel made that clear on 21 July last year duringconsideration of the Scotland Bill by the H()usc of Lords. In a memorandumof evidence to the House of Commons Procedure Committee last November,the President of the Council indicated that the.Government expected theconvention to be adopted for all public bills.

In addition, the Scottish Executive expects that the UK Gov.emment willoppose any private member's bill that seeks to alter the law on devolved

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• Scottish Parliament - Official R.eportJ-'AIX. t:Ibl ~I

rage 'I. ot \)

Co1359

subjects unless it is clear that the proposal has the support of the relevantdevolved body. That is also the position oIllie UK Govermnent. In its report

. on the procedural consequenc~s of devolution, published on 24 May, theProcedure Committee stated that it supported the principles behind MrsBeckett's statement and agreed that the House shouJd not legislate withoutthe consent of the dc~olved legislature concerned.

Members may find it helpful if I explain how we envisage that the process ofseeking consent will work in practice. Where the Scottish Executive and theUnited Kingdom Government agree that a policy in a devolved area shouldbe given effect by an act of the Westminster Parliament. it would be for theScottish ministers to put the proposal to the Scottish Parliament, and for theUK Government to manage its business at Westminster in a way that isconsistent with the convention.

The usual role will be that legislation about (ievolvcd subjects in Scotlandwill be enacted by the Scottish Parliament. From time to time, bowever, itmay be appropriate for a Westminster act to include provisions about suchmatters.. That might be the case. for example, where the two Administrationsagree that there should be one regime of regulation with application on aUK-wide or GB-wide basis ..

.Anexample ofwhcn we expect to introduce such a measure is that of thepropo$ed bill to establish a food standards agency to operate on a UK-widebasis. Earlier tbis year, the UK Government published a draft bill that madeit clear that the Scottish Parliament's consent would be sought for thatpropo.u1. I do not want to be taken on to the specifics of that case today, butlet me make it clear that the Parliament will have the opportunity to debatefully that and other relevant issuC$ at tho appropriate time. Indeed) I· expectthat the issue will be debatc(i before the summer break.

A smaI1 number of additional·measures may also be introduced atWestminster during this session. dealing essentially with reserved areas butwith some impact in devolved areas. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Billis a UK measure designed to equaJise the age of consent" for homosexualsand heterosexuals,. and to introduce a new offence of abuse of trust. It wasintroduced to the Westminster Parliament in December last year and defeated.in the House of Lords in April this year. The UK Government is likely toreintroduce the bill, making use of the Parliament acts to cmsurc its passage.That means that the bill that is reintroduced would have to be identical to theone that was defeated. Therefore; even if it were thought desirable, it will notbe possible to remove Scotland ftom the bill's scope if the Parliament actsare invoked.

Until the UK. Government and Parliament have concluded the existinglegislative process. it is logical to regard it as unfinished Westminsterbusiness. However, these are devolved matters of some sensitivity. It isessential that this Parliament should have the opportunity to debate theScottish provisions of the bill. We shall therefore provide for a debate inExecutive time. I and my colleagues in the Executive will argue in thatdebate that the powers under the Parliament acts should be used if that isthought appropriate by the United Kingdom Government.

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.• Scottish Parliament - Official Report

We have reached that conclusion in the knowledge that this Parliament willhave the power, if it so wishes, to amend or repeal any Scottish provisionenacted by the passage of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bm.

As members are aware, there arc a number ofbi11s cunently before theUnited Kingdom Parliament which make proviSion about matters that are tobe within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. Theproceedings of some of these bills will still be in train on 1 July. A paperdescribing the bills that are expected. to be enacted in this way is available to:members from the docmnent supply centre. When I finish, that documentwill also be:available .atthe back of the chamber, as will a copy of mystatement.

Co1360 The bills include, for example, the Health Bill. the Water Industry Bill andthe Pollution Prevention and Control Bill. The Health Bill will enable the .completion of the refonns set out in the wbite paper "Designed to Care". Inparticular, it provides for the abolition of general practice fimdholding. forcbanges in the financial arrangemCllt$ for national bealth service trusts andfo"{"the imposition of a duty of quality on the NIlS in Scotland. In addition. itincludes measures to tackle naud in the NHS and to require an primary carepractitioners to :have indemnity cover.

The Water Industry Bill will establish the water industry commissioner forScotland and wind up the present Customers C01l11cil. The Pollution'Prevention and Control BiU makes provision to ensure that the BC Directiveon IntcgrUed Pollution Prevention and Control is implemented on time.

There are also several bills with limited. specific provision about matters thatwill be within the competence of this Parliament. For example, the WelfareR.efonn and Pensions Bill is largely concemC'd with reserved matters, butincludes provisions in the area of family law to allow the sharing ofpe:nsionsbetween divorced couples.

It is the view of the Scottish Executive that it is right for the remaining stagesof these bills to be completed at Westminster. They are, in the view of theExecutive, necessary bills. Not to let them proceed at Westminster wouldIDean halting consideration ofthmn now, only to start again after the ScottishParliament takes up its full powers on 1 July. In practice, that would mean noprogress until the autUmn at the earliest.

I .,

I stress that Scottish ministers are being consulted fully by the UKGovc;mmcnt about the progress and handling of this legislation, and it will befor the Scottish ministers to exercise any ministerial powers and dutieswithin devolved competence that are conferred by the bills. In doing so, theywin, of course, be accountable to this Parliament.

Importantly in this context, I remind members that the Scottish Parliamentwill be able to amend or repeallcg;slation made at Westminster in so far asits provisions fall within this Parliament's c01tlpetence. That is the case forexisting legislation. for this session's bills at WestJ:nirl$ter that affect Scotlandand for futun: acts of the UK Parliament.

http://www.seottish.parliament.uklofficiaCreport/session99-00/0r0l0802.hnn

10-JUH-99 THU 11:16 559910/06/19991