§ Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration he has given to the comments by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, in its 18th report, on the Community Charges (Registration) (Scotland) Regulations 1988; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangThe Joint Committee commented on Regulation 12(2)(b) and on the related supplementary inquiry form, contained in schedule 4 to the regulations, by means of which community charge registration officers may make follow-up inquiries of responsible persons in respect of premises in his area as part of the procedures for setting up the community charges register.
The first point made by the Joint Committee relates to whether the supplementary inquiry form is intended to seek information which is supplementary to the information already provided in response to the inquiry form, or which is supplementary to the matters mentioned in the inquiry form. My right hon. and learned Friend's view, as expressed in the memorandum submitted by the Scottish Office to the Joint Committee, was that what was being requested was supplementary information about the matters specified in the form, while the Joint Committee takes the view that, as drafted, the supplementary information relates to information already provided by the responsible person. That criticism of the drafting of the regulations is a question of interpretation, but in my right hon. and learned Friend's view there is no practical difference in the result.
The Joint Committee's second criticism relates to the nature of what may be requested as supplementary information. The instructions to registration officers contained in square brackets in the supplementary inquiry form suggest that documents or evidence might be requested. The Joint Committee says that it does not consider that documents or evidence can constitute information. My right hon. and learned Friend disagrees with that view. In any case, it is important to note that where the information requested does not involve documents or evidence, the point will not arise.
The Joint Committee also questions whether, if documents or information are to be provided, there is provision for them to be returned : and it says that, if documents are information and information is to be "given" to the registration officer its ownership must change. My right hon. and learned Friend does not accept that the word "given" necessarily carries that implication. The intention is simply that the information, whether or not embodied in documents, should be provided to the registration officer in response to his inquiry. Where documents are involved, the registration officer may be expected to return them to the responsible person in due course.
The comments made by the Joint Committee deal with matters of drafting and interpretation and relate only to certain specific uses to which the supplementary inquiry form might be put. They do not otherwise question the regulations, which have been made and are fully in force, and have been debated by Parliament. In particular, the Joint Committee made no comment upon, and has cast no doubt upon, the soundness of the registration process as a whole and the Committee's comments in no way prevent that process from going ahead as planned.