Seòmar agus comataidhean

I invite the minister to wind up, please.

Amendment 541, in the name of Tess White, is grouped with amendments 542, 546 to 548, 561, 566 to 570, 574 to 577, 579 to 581, 583 to 589, 591 to 604 and 607 to 636. I draw members’ attention to the pre-emptions set out in the groupings of amendments.

If amendment 542 is agreed to, I cannot call amendment 77, which was debated with amendment 51 in group 4, because of pre-emption.

Amendment 542 not moved.

Amendments 77 to 83 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Section 16, as amended, agreed to.

Section 17—Register of regulated legal services providers

Amendments 84 to 90 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Section 17, as amended, agreed to.

Section 18—Professional indemnity insurance

Amendments 91 and 92 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Section 18, as amended, agreed to.

Section 19—Review of regulatory performance by the Scottish Ministers

Amendments 93 to 101, 105, 104, 102, 103 and 106 to 111 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Section 19, as amended, agreed to.

Section 20—Measures open to the Scottish Ministers

Amendments 112 to 121, 310, 311, 122 and 123 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Section 20, as amended, agreed to.

Schedule 2—Further provision about measures open to the Scottish Ministers

Amendments 124 to 178 moved—[Siobhian Brown]—and agreed to.

Schedule 2, as amended, agreed to.

That concludes today’s meeting. Next week, we will continue our stage 2 consideration of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill. I remind members that the deadline for amendments to the parts of the bill that we have not yet reached is noon tomorrow. Next week’s meeting will start at 9.30.

Would you like to wind up, minister?

Amendment 47, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 5 to 26, 28 to 38, 412, 413, 461 to 466, 507 and 522.

Amendment 271, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 272, 549 to 552, 273, 553, 554, 642, 274, 555, 275 to 278, 556, 279 to 309 and 641. I call the minister to move amendment 271 and to speak to all the amendments in the group.

At this point, you need to move or not move amendment 549; you should not be responding to the debate.

Good morning, and welcome to the second meeting in 2025 of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. We have received no apologies. Our first and only agenda item is consideration of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill at stage 2.

I will briefly explain the procedure that we will follow for the benefit of anyone who is watching. Members should have with them a copy of the bill, the marshalled list and the groupings of amendments. The documents are available on the bill page on the Scottish Parliament’s website. I will call each amendment individually in the order on the marshalled list. The member who lodged the amendment should either move it or say “not moved” when the amendment is called. If that member does not move the amendment, any other member present may do so.

The groupings of amendments set out the amendments in the order in which they will be debated. There will be one debate on each group of amendments. In each debate, I will call the member who lodged the first amendment in the group to speak to and move that amendment and to speak to all the other amendments in the group. It would be helpful if members could be clear about which amendment they are speaking to, given that there are so many amendments.

I will then call other members who have amendments in the group to speak to, but not to move, their amendments and to speak to other amendments in the group, if they wish. I will then call any other member who wishes to speak in the debate. Members wishing to speak should indicate that by catching my or the clerk’s attention. I will then call the minister, if she has not already spoken in the debate.

Finally, I will call the member who moved the first amendment in the group to wind up and to indicate whether he or she wishes to press the amendment or to withdraw it. If the amendment is pressed, I will put the question on the amendment. If a member wishes to withdraw an amendment after it has been moved and debated, I will ask whether any member present objects. If there is an objection, I will immediately put the question on the amendment.

The other amendments in a group are not debated again when they are reached. If they are moved, I will put the question on them straight away. If there is a division, only committee members are entitled to vote. Voting is done by a show of hands and it is important that members keep their hands raised clearly until the clerk has recorded their names. If there is a tie, I must exercise a casting vote.

The committee is also required to consider and decide on each section and schedule of the bill and the long title. I will put the question on each of those provisions at the appropriate point. We will not go beyond the end of section 50 today.

Before we begin proceedings, I welcome the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Siobhian Brown.

Section 1—Overview of the regulatory framework

Amendment 1, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 2 to 4 and 38 to 46. I call the minister to move amendment 1 and to speak to all the amendments in the group.