Agenda item 4 is consideration of a further proposal by the Scottish Government to consent to the UK Government legislating using powers under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act in relation to five UK statutory instruments.
A number of points require clarification. In light of the timescale, I took an executive decision to ask officials to seek clarification in advance of the meeting. That letter has been sent and is available to colleagues.
The UK Government indicated that it proposes to lay the instruments between 31 October and 5 November 2018. In this instance, the UK Government did not take into account the fact that the Scottish Parliament was in recess for two weeks in October. Due to the timing by the UK Government, the committee has not been provided with 28 days for consideration, which was an agreed provision for regulations of this type, and we have only 10 days to consider them.
The committee’s first decision is on whether we agree that, in the circumstances, 10 days’ notice is acceptable and adequate. There is no obvious explanation for the UK Government’s timetable, other than the fact that it is operating to a Westminster parliamentary schedule. There would be no legal consequence of its having followed the 28-day period, rather than the 10-day period.
We might wish to consider seeking further information, and possibly also asking the appropriate Scottish Government minister to attend on 30 October—in order to meet the UK Government’s timetable—or at a later date in the 28-day period that it ought to have provided, according to the protocol.
Those are the questions on the regulations.