Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Official Report 596KB pdf

Subordinate Legislation

Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Consumer Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2020 [Draft]

Agenda item 2 is subordinate legislation. We have with us Jamie Hepburn, who is the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills; and Laura Barrie, Norman Munro, Laura McGlynn and Erin McCreadie, who are from various Scottish Government teams.

I invite the minister to make an opening statement on the order.

Thank you, convener. I thank the committee for considering the order, which was laid on 24 January—the day after the stage 1 debate on the Consumer Scotland Bill.

The purpose of the draft order is to enable the appointment of the chair and members of consumer Scotland to be regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland prior to the new body coming into effect in April 2021—presuming, of course, that Parliament passes the Consumer Scotland Bill. That will be a vital step towards ensuring that members of consumer Scotland have the right skills and expertise, and that they are in place for day 1 of consumer Scotland. Appointing the right people with the right skills is crucial for any organisation, and it is particularly the case for consumer Scotland, which will be a small body with a wide remit whose success will depend on the credibility of its investigations and relationships management.

We want to ensure that there will be a diverse and strong field of suitable candidates. Equality is, of course, an integral part of the Scottish Government’s business. As the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 is now in force, we will be working towards equal gender representation on the consumer Scotland board.

We also want to ensure that the appointments are made on merit, following an open, fair and impartial process that will be publicly advertised. The full participation of the commissioner’s office will help to ensure that. The commissioner’s office has been fully engaged to date: it will assist with interviews and will be involved in a widely publicised advertising campaign that is designed to attract a strong and diverse field of candidates.

The draft order will allow the appointment process to be progressed with immediate effect and, we hope, will enable the chair of consumer Scotland being in place by September 2020. The chair will then be involved in recruitment of the chief executive and other members, which will all be done with the full involvement of the commissioner’s office.

I hope that the order will receive the committee’s support. My officials and I are happy to take questions.

Thank you, minister. It appears that there are no questions for you, so we will move to agenda item 3—the formal debate on the motion to approve the instrument, which is subject to affirmative procedure. I invite the minister to move the motion.

Motion moved,

That the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee recommends that the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (Treatment of Consumer Scotland as Specified Authority) Order 2020 [draft] be approved.—[Jamie Hepburn]

Motion agreed to.

Does the committee agree that I, as the convener of the committee, and the clerk should produce a short factual report on the committee’s decision and arrange to have it published?

Members indicated agreement.