Official Report

Good afternoon. I welcome everyone to the 25th meeting in 2020 of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. We have apologies from two of our members—Mary Fee and Gil Paterson.

Our first item of business is a declaration of interests. In accordance with section 3 of the “Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament”, I invite Michelle Ballantyne to declare any interests that are relevant to the committee’s remit.

Thank you, convener. I declare that I have a large shareholding in a private company. I am also the managing trustee of a private estate that was left for the benefit of the people. I refer everyone to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

Thank you. I welcome you to the committee and hope that you get as much out of your membership of the committee as I know that other members have done during their time on it.

I know that some people might consider delegated powers to be niche, but the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee is central to the work of the Parliament and to ensuring that the legislation that is passed here is fit for purpose.

On that note, I thank Gordon Lindhurst for his time with the committee, and I wish him well in his new role. In particular, Gordon was a great help as the committee worked through the primary and secondary legislation that was introduced in response to the pandemic. Indeed, I thank all members of the committee for seeking to ensure that, despite the urgency of some of the coronavirus legislation, the Parliament’s scrutiny has not been diminished. That is hugely appreciated.

Under agenda item 2, it is proposed that the committee takes items 6 to 10 in private, as those items involve consideration of reports that will be published when they have been agreed. Does the committee agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.