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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee


UK subordinate legislation - consideration of consent notifications at meetings on 19 January and 2 February 2022

Letter from the Convener to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater, 16 February 2022


Dear Cabinet Secretary and Minister,

CONSENT NOTIFICATIONS FOR UK SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION

The Committee considered consent notifications for the following UK SIs at its meeting on 2 February—

  • the Phytosanitary Conditions (Amendment) Regulations 2022; and
  • the Milk and Milk Products (Pupils in Educational Establishments) Aid Applications (England and Scotland) Regulations 2022.

Members agreed they were content for the devolved provisions set out in the notifications to be included in UK SIs.

The Committee considered the consent notification for the Official Controls (Temporary Measures) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2021 at its meeting on 19 January 2022.

Again, members agreed they were content for the devolved provisions set out in the notification to be included in this UK SI. Apologies for the delay in confirming this in writing.

In considering the Official Controls UK SI notification, members noted the temporary measures expire on 1 July 2022 and agreed to ask for further information about when this policy is next intended to be reviewed.

In addition, and as you highlighted in your notification letter sent on 23 December 2022, members noted that the UK SI came into force on 1 January 2022 which did not accommodate the 28-day period for parliamentary scrutiny set out in the SI protocol. The Committee recognises the complex process within which Scottish Ministers consider whether devolved provisions should be included in UK subordinate legislation and the difficulty in some circumstances, especially around subordinate legislation responding to urgent issues including the current pandemic, to accommodate the 28-day scrutiny period. We ask the Scottish Government to continue to make strong representations within this process to ensure and protect this 28-day scrutiny period for future notifications.

Yours sincerely

Finlay Carson

Convener of the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee