This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Public Appointments & Public Bodies Bill
18/06/2002
The Public Appointments and Public Bodies Bill is
introduced in the Scottish Parliament today.
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services Peter
Peaconck described the Bill as an important step forward in
the Executive drive to guarantee greater openness,
accountability and transparency in the public appointment
process.
The Bill aims to establish a Commissioner for Public
Appointments in Scotland to oversee the public appointment
system and promote diversity in public appointments. It
will also abolish six quangos, continuing the ongoing
Executive review of public bodies.
The Bill reinforces measures taken by the Executive
to make government more open and accountable, through the
Freedom of Information Act and the public sector Ombudsman
service.
Speaking as the Bill was introduced, Mr Peacock said:
"We are determined to ensure greater independence in
the public appointment process. Transparency, openness and
accountability will be our watchwords.
"Establishing the Commissioner for Public
Appointments in Scotland represents another decisive step
in our commitment to developing a public appointments
system based on the very highest standards. The people of
Scotland can be confident that those who serve on Scottish
public bodies have all been selected on merit.
"There is no doubt we need to make those people more
representative of the modern Scotland we live in. The
Commissioner will be given specific responsibility to
promote diversity to ensure that a wider cross-section of
the Scottish people come forward and are appointed to
public bodies.
"And, underlining the commitment to the independence
of the Commissioner, the appointment will be by the Queen
on the recommendation of the Parliament. The Commissioner
will have the power to investigate any allegations - acting
as a 'whistle-blower' to ensure the very highest standards
are adhered to.
"We are also continuing with our review of public
bodies, which is taken forward by the Bill. Since last
year's review, more than 40 bodies have been merged,
declassified or abolished.
"The bodies highlighted in the Bill require primary
legislation in order to be abolished. The total number of
public bodies will continue to reduce over the coming weeks
and months - leaving fewer, fitter and fairer quangos."
The Public Appointment and Public Bodies Bill has
four objectives:
To establish a Commissioner for Public Appointments
in Scotland;
To abolish five Non-Departmental Public Bodies,
namely the Scottish Conveyancing and Executry Services
Board, the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, the
Historic Buildings Council for Scotland, the Scottish
Hospital Trust, and the Scottish Medical Practices
Committee;
To establish notarial powers for independent
qualified conveyancers; and,
To recreate the Royal Commission on the Ancient and
Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) as a national
statutory body.
The establishment of a Commissioner for Public
Appointments in Scotland was first raised and considered in
the consultation paper Appointments to Public Bodies in
Scotland: Modernising the System issued in February 2000.
Responses to that paper provided strong support for such a
Commissioner and these were set out in Public Bodies:
Proposals for Change. Key functions of the Commissioner
will be to:
Regulate the appointments process, by prescribing and
publishing a Code of Practice for Public Appointments;
Oversee compliance with a Code of Practice by the
Scottish Ministers, including power to inform Parliament if
the Code is breached;
Monitor the appointments process by appointing,
training and evaluating the performance of Independent
Assessors;
Conduct ad hoc inquiries into appointing policies and
practices;
Investigate complaints; and
Promote diversity.
To promote diversity in public appointments, the
Executive envisages that the SCPA will:
Draw up a diversity strategy for public appointments
in consultation with the;
Contribute to public appointments training for
Scottish Executive staff;
Participate in public events/speaking engagements
aimed at increasing awareness of public appointments; and
Review targets for under-represented groups in
consultation with the Executive.
The Executive delivered a fundamental review of public
bodies in Scotland in June 2001. As a direct result of the
review, recommendations were made for the abolition, reform
or further review of 113 public bodies. The
recommendations were published in the report of the review
Public Bodies:
Proposals for Change on 21 June 2001. Most of the
changes detailed in the report could be, or are being
effected without the need for primary legislation. However,
the five public bodies cited for abolition in this Bill,
and the proposed changes to the status of Royal Commission
on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
(RCAHMS), were identified as requiring primary legislation
to effect the report's recommendations. It is for this
reason that these bodies alone are included in this
Bill.
It was announced in Review of Public Bodies that RCAHMS
was one of the public bodies which Ministers believed
continued to have an important role to play in recording
the archaeological and historical man-made environment of
Scotland and should be retained but that its status should
be reviewed. Having explored alternative models, Scottish
Ministers have concluded that an alternative to NDPB status
for RCAHMS would be unacceptably expensive and run counter
to the intention of the review which was to enhance rather
than reduce accountability. It is proposed however that
RCAHMS be recreated as a statutory national body with its
duties set down in statute, and be given a new name, and as
a consequence it should cease to operate under a Royal
Warrant. This should result in the body having a clearer
identity, and foster a greater understanding of its
activities and of the facilities it provides.
Public Bodies: Proposals for Change included the
proposal to abolish the SCESB and transfer regulatory
responsibility for qualified conveyancers and executry
practitioners registered by the Board to the Law Society of
Scotland. The Scottish Ministers have, however, agreed that
both the professions of executry practitioner and qualified
conveyancer should be retained, but that with effect from
the date of transfer of responsibility no new independent
qualified conveyancers should be registered. Ministers
have agreed that independent qualified conveyancers be
provided with notarial powers with direct relevance to
their conveyancing duties. The proposed notarial powers
will ensure a level playing field for solicitors and
independent qualified conveyancers when the latter are
transferred to Law Society supervision.