Clause 3
Statistics and Registration Service Bill
12:45 pm
Stewart Hosie (Spokesperson (Economy; Home Affairs; Treasury; Women); Dundee East, Scottish National Party)
I can agree with the Financial Secretary that the board should represent the widest possible range of people and that it should fully represent the public interest. I have no quibble with that, but I am disappointed that he suggested that the people appointed under clause 3(4) will not effectively be appointed by the devolved Administrations. My concern is that it appears that the Treasury intends to keep the control mechanism firmly in its grip by controlling all the appointments and the size of the board. He referred to agreement by Scottish Ministers. It would be surprising if Labour-Liberal Ministers did not agree with this Administration at this time.
The purpose of my amendment is to try to release and remove the Treasury grip on the board, to free it up and ensure that there is a perception of impartiality, but there may be other ways in which to achieve that, so I shall not press my amendment to a vote.