My Lords, the main purpose of this order is to provide for two new statutory appeals regimes. The first is in connection with decisions regarding electricity generating stations to be situated in the Scottish offshore region and the second is in connection with Section 36 consent decisions made under the Electricity Act 1989. These new regimes aim to establish a uniform statutory appeal regime to challenge certain marine licensing decisions made by Scottish Ministers across inshore and offshore regions.
The order is made under Section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998, which allows for necessary or expedient legislative changes to be made in consequence of an Act of the Scottish Parliament. This particular order is made in consequence of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which I shall refer to as the 2014 Act.
The 2014 Act is primarily intended to improve the way regulation is developed and applied in Scotland. It is the intention of the Scottish Government to strike a balance between the need to licence offshore renewable energy projects and a right to challenge those decisions. Therefore, the 2014 Act aims to amend the procedure for challenging decisions to enable any challenges to proceed quickly to the Inner House of the Court of Session. Currently, applicants for marine licences seeking authority under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to carry out all types of licensable activity in the Scottish inshore region who wish to appeal Scottish Ministers’ decisions may appeal to the sheriff court. Third parties with title and interest may raise judicial review proceedings in the Outer House of the Court of Session.
Section 54 of the 2014 Act amends the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to provide for statutory appeals in connection with certain decisions made by Scottish Ministers. Those decisions relate to applications for marine licences in the Scottish inshore region in connection with electricity generating stations as well as to whether to hold a public inquiry in relation to the determination of such applications. The 2014 Act allows such appeals to be made by aggrieved persons to the Inner House of the Court of Session, provided that the court has granted permission for the appeal to proceed. To ensure consistency across inshore and offshore regions, this order amends the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to provide for the same fast-tracked appeal regime in relation to such decisions for electricity generating stations to be situated in the Scottish offshore region.
Similarly, this order amends the Electricity Act 1989 to provide for that same appeal regime in respect of decisions made concerning applications for consent to construct, extend or operate generating stations, which is also referred to as Section 36 consent, as well as decisions on whether to hold a public inquiry in respect of such applications under that Act. This provision is required as there is currently no statutory right of appeal against Section 36 consent decisions.
Although the main purpose of the order is to provide for the two new statutory appeals regimes which I have just outlined, the order also makes minor or consequential changes to give the 2014 Act full effect. These include the following: first, the repeal of Sections 1(1)(d) and 5 of the Health and Safety at
Work etc. Act 1974—the 1974 Act, which were repealed previously in England and Wales, but not Scotland, due to a number of extant regulations made in part under Section 1(1)(d) of the 1974 Act, but which now appear to be spent and suitable for repeal. Secondly, they include minor amendments to the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 and the Corporation Taxes Act 2009 to ensure that the definition of a “waste disposal licence” in those Acts includes an authorisation under the integrated authorisation framework established by Sections 16 to 19 of the 2014 Act.
Finally, they include the extension of Sections 47 and 50 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988—the 1988 Act—to Part 3 of the 2014 Act. The sections of the 1988 Act provide, inter alia, that copyright is not breached by copying material that is open to public inspection in pursuance of a statutory requirement, or which is on a statutory register, or by acts done that are specifically authorised by Acts of Parliament. This amendment is necessary as the move from environmental regulation under various UK enactments to the new powers in Part 3 of the 2014 Act has the unintended consequence that the provisions of Sections 47 and 50 of the 1988 Act would no longer apply. The order applies those sections of the 1988 Act to the relevant sections of the 2014 Act to ensure copyright is not breached. Similar provision is also made in respect of the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997.
I consider this order to be a sensible use of the powers under the Scotland Act 1998. It again demonstrates that this Government continue in their commitment to working with the Scottish Government to ensure that the devolution settlement works. I commend the order to the Committee. I beg to move.
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