Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Modifications) Order 2006

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 6 December 2005 be approved [13th Report from the Joint Committee]. The noble Lord said: My Lords, with the permission of the House, I shall consider the final two instruments together. The draft Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Modifications) Order 2006 is made under Section 104 of the Scotland Act, which I have no need to explain to your Lordships. The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 21 April 2005 and received Royal Assent on 1 June 2005. The Act establishes a body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, which I will now call the new bòrd, to promote the use and understanding of the Gaelic language. The 2005 Act requires the bòrd to submit to the Scottish Ministers for approval, at least every five years, a national Gaelic language plan. That plan must include strategies for promoting the use and understanding of the Gaelic language, and for developing Gaelic education and Gaelic culture. The 2005 Act enables the bòrd to request Scottish public authorities, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body and cross-border public authorities to produce local Gaelic language plans. The bòrd will produce guidance for those plans. In addition, the Act confers duties on the bòrd to advise Scottish Ministers, public bodies and other persons on matters relating to the Gaelic language, culture and education. Noble Lords may like to note that the Scotland Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Scottish Executive, the BBC, the Gaelic Media Service and Ofcom are engaged in discussions about establishing a Gaelic digital TV service. Detailed negotiations between the GMS and the BBC regarding the details of running the channel are on-going. It is hoped that they will be concluded by early February. We are not privy to the details of these negotiations, but all parties want the channel to begin broadcasting as soon as possible. The new bòrd’s functions are similar to the existing body, the Bòrd Gàidhlig na h-Alba, which will be wound up following the establishment of the new bòrd. One of the powers vested in the old bòrd was to nominate a member to be appointed to the Gaelic Media Service. The purpose of the order is to amend the Broadcasting Act 1990 to ensure that the nomination can be made by the new bòrd. The Scottish Parliament does not have the legislative competence to make this necessary, consequential amendment. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is aware of the order and has agreed the need for this technical change to take place. With permission, I shall move on to the draft Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2006. This order is again made under the powers of Section 104 of the Scotland Act. The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 9 June 2005 and received Royal Assent on 14 July last year. It creates an office to be known as the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. It also establishes a body corporate to be the holder of that office, which will be known by the acronym OSCR. The 2005 Act consolidates all charity legislation in Scotland. It defines charities in a new way, and provides for a new regulatory framework. The new way of defining charities means that bodies wishing to be on the list of charities maintained by OSCR must meet the requirements of a charity test. The test consists of two parts: the purposes of the body must be exclusively charitable; and it must provide public benefit, either in Scotland or elsewhere. Unlike in the previous charity definition, none of the charitable purposes is assumed to provide public benefit. In addition, the body must not be able to distribute or apply any of its property for a non-charitable purpose, it must be free from the control of Scottish Ministers or Ministers of the Crown, and it must be non-political. OSCR will have the power to keep a register of all charities passing this test with a presence in Scotland. Furthermore, it will have the power to supervise their operations, to monitor their accounts and to suspend their operation as a charity, if necessary. If the organisation does not meet the new definition of a charity, it will not be permitted to call itself a charity or imply that it holds charitable status. The order establishes the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator as what is known as a non-ministerial office in the Scottish Administration. The purpose of giving OSCR this status is to ensure its independence from Scottish Ministers. That is in line with the recommendations of the Better Regulation Task Force following its report into independent regulators. It is appropriate to use Section 104 powers to achieve this because OSCR is a body corporate. Similar powers exist in Section 126(8) of the Scotland Act, which specifically allow for the creation of non-ministerial offices, but these are designed to deal with appointments held by individuals rather than bodies corporate, as is the case here. Noble Lords will wish to note that OSCR will be accountable to the Scottish Parliament, to which it must submit an annual report. Its staff, although not the body corporate itself, will be civil servants for pay and administrative purposes. The order also confers on the commissioners of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs the ability to share tax information with OSCR. The purpose is to ensure that it can properly regulate charities on its register. The order does not compel the commissioners to act, but gives them the ability to do so. It establishes sanctions for those who release any information supplied by the commissioners unlawfully. Additionally, it requires the Registrar of Companies and the Financial Services Authority to amend their records and cancel the registration of a company or friendly society which is a charity in Scotland that becomes a Scottish incorporated charitable organisation. This is a new legal form that a charity can adopt in Scotland under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. Finally, the order amends certain Acts of Parliament and secondary legislation to insert references to the new definition of a charity in Scotland and to repeal old references. I commend these orders to the House. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 6 December 2005 be approved [13th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Evans of Temple Guiting.)