Recommendation 4

Insofar as scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament is concerned, the Committee:
notes the Scottish Government’s previous view that the joint procedure would not be appropriate for the powers in this Bill;
notes the Scottish Government’s previous view that SI Protocol 2 will not apply to the exercise of these powers;
notes that as matters currently stand, there is no formal process for scrutiny of the Scottish Ministers’ decisions to consent to the making of UK regulations under the powers;
notes the Scottish Government’s previous commitment to keeping the lead committee informed of consultations and decisions regarding future regulations under these powers which contain devolved provision, and to engage with the Committee should it have any questions on those regulations; and
calls on the Scottish Government to restate that commitment to keeping the lead committee informed as these discussions within the UK nations on the need for regulations evolve, with follow-up notification once any regulations are made.