Seòmar agus comataidhean

I apologise, Deputy First Minister, as I think that we are scrutinising the hinterland of this order rather than its core, but it is important that the committee understands how it fits in.

My understanding is that the order deals with environmental considerations in the consenting of electricity generation and infrastructure and the requirements around that. You said that the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 allowed the Scottish Government to adapt and change that as appropriate. What happened before that?

I do, convener.

Good morning, everyone. I promise that there are questions for the other witnesses, too, but I will stick with Robert Black for the moment. I should say that I am conscious that we are not running an interview process here, Mr Black. This is an opportunity for you to put some stuff on the public record in the Parliament, as part of our role in this area.

What do you consider to be the key objectives and priorities for the post that you are possibly about to take on, and what will the key challenges be? I know that that sounds very much like an interview question.

Yes.

That is helpful.

Are there any particular complexities? You mentioned land reform and the potential for a new tenancy, but we are currently scrutinising the first part of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, which does not include that. We consider it to be a much more complex area that we will be coming on to soon. Do you want to say more about it at this stage?

Thank you.

I am not trying to catch anyone out, but I am asking whether they sat at a European level or a Scottish level.

Thank you. That is helpful.

We know that the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 meant that the 2017 powers failed to exist any more. What is the current situation? If a large wind farm developer was seeking consent right now and wanted to do all the right things in relation to environmental considerations, what regime would they be operating under?

Sorry, convener—I have one final, final question.

Prior to the 2017 regulations.

Thank you, convener. There will be a degree of duplication and overlap between my comments and the minister’s, given that we worked quite closely on the amendments in this group, so I ask for the committee’s indulgence.

In speaking to my amendments 4 to 7, I commend the committee for its stage 1 recommendation on automatic voter registration pilots and acknowledge the Electoral Commission’s support for such pilots. I also thank Councillor Alex Kerr from Glasgow City Council. Together, we met the minister to make the case for automatic voter registration pilots and to seek an assurance that there was a robust legislative framework that would enable such pilots to happen.

Amendments 4 to 7, which were drafted with Government support following our discussions, demonstrate strong partnership working, and I am grateful for those efforts.

Amendment 4 will enable the Scottish ministers to make regulations for temporary provision about the registration of electors in the registers that are used for local government and Scottish Parliament elections. The registration pilots are expected to be run by public bodies or bodies with public functions, by agreement with the relevant bodies. The amendment also clarifies that the regulations cannot affect someone’s right to be registered to vote in itself.

As pilots or temporary regulations that are made under the power for which amendment 4 provides must include a date by which they expire, ministers will be able to make regulations under the proposed new section only when a proposal for a pilot has been made and approved in accordance with amendment 5, to which I now turn.

Amendment 5 makes it clear that pilots can be proposed by ministers, the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, a local authority or an electoral registration officer, either on their own or jointly, by submitting such proposals to the Scottish ministers. It also makes clear the necessary consultation requirements to approve or modify those proposals, and states that a registration of electors pilot may be put in place only if the provision is considered likely to facilitate registration or encourage more persons to register.

Regulations that are made under this provision must specify a date before which the Electoral Commission must send a report to evaluate the pilot, and the procedure for that subsection is subject to the negative procedure.

Amendment 6 deals with the evaluation report. It sets out that the Electoral Commission must prepare a report on the operation of the pilot, send a copy of the report to the Scottish ministers, any local authority to which the pilot relates, the Electoral Management Board and any electoral registration officer who proposed the pilot in the first place, and publish the report.

The amendment also sets out aspects that the report must cover, such as the assessment of the success or otherwise of the pilot provisions. Importantly, the report must also include an assessment of

“whether provision similar to that made by the regulations should apply generally, and on a permanent basis”,

with a move from a temporary pilot to permanency.

That move is the subject of amendment 7, which provides Scottish ministers with the power to permanently modify electoral law if, following the Electoral Commission’s report, they decide that the piloted provisions or similar provisions should apply generally and on a permanent basis, contingent on the recommendation of the Electoral Commission’s report. It also sets out the consultation requirements.

Together, the amendments provide a clear pathway for public bodies such as Glasgow City Council and others to work in partnership and to progress an automatic voter registration pilot.

In closing, I note that the Electoral Commission estimated that, in 2023, 19 per cent of voters—up to 1 million people—were either not on an electoral register or were registered inaccurately, which put at risk their right to vote. Addressing that is the real policy intent of the amendments.