UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 7 March 2018.

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Photo of Michael Russell Michael Russell Scottish National Party

I have indicated that I wish to publish further information; I have just given that commitment for the third time and I am happy to give it again. Last week, I also gave a commitment to Patrick Harvie that, if we were likely to reach an agreement, we would come to the chamber and ask members for their views on the matter, particularly on whether we should proceed with the bill, which we do not think we would want to do if we reach an agreement. I made that commitment last week and I repeat it today.

Let me try to make some progress. Turning to the powers to fix deficiencies of retained EU law following withdrawal, the Government acknowledges that criticism has been made of the scope of the equivalent parts of the withdrawal bill. However, despite that criticism, the Government shares the view of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee on the withdrawal bill. It said:

The Committee reluctantly accepts that the unprecedented task of modifying domestic legislation to preserve the statute book on leaving the European Union, and the short timeframe in which it is to be done, necessitates broad powers. In any other circumstances the conferral of such wide powers would be inconceivable, but the Committee accepts that in these circumstances the taking of wide powers is unavoidable.”

However, to address some of the points raised by the committee, important changes have been made to what is in the withdrawal bill, as I indicated to Mr Rumbles. Most significantly, the power will only be able to be used when it is necessary to address a deficiency. Once the threshold that has been defined in the bill has been reached, it will be for ministers to decide the appropriate fix for that deficiency, but there is a higher initial test for the power to be applicable. Additional limits are built into the powers. For example, it will not be possible to be use them to modify the Equality Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010, or the Scotland Act 1998.

In addition to the normal negative and affirmative procedures, the bill includes an enhanced version of the affirmative procedure in which the powers are used to create a new public body, transfer functions to a new public body or abolish an existing function. The Scottish Parliament is given 60 days rather than 40 days to consider the order. Scottish ministers must also consult on the proposals and report on that consultation to the Parliament.