Regulation of Health and Social Care Professionals Consultation

(2) if any provision of the draft amends or repeals any enactment that
applies in Scotland, the Secretary of State must also consult the Scottish
Ministers;
(3) after the end of the period of three months beginning with the publication
of the draft, the Secretary of State may lay the draft (including any
revisions as he or she sees fit) together with a report about the
consultation before Parliament;
(4) if any provision of the draft falls within the legislative competence of the
Scottish Parliament then step (1) above must also be performed by the
Scottish Ministers;
(5) the draft must be approved by an affirmative resolution of each House of
Parliament. Any Order in Council is subject to annulment through a
resolution of either House of Parliament; and
(6) if any provision lies within the legislative competence of the Scottish
Parliament, it must additionally have been laid before, and approved by,
a resolution of the Scottish Parliament prior to any recommendation to
Her Majesty being made. 48
2.83 A section 60 order takes about two years between Ministerial commitment and
full implementation. 49
Provisional view
2.84 The need for section 60 orders has arisen due to the current inadequate legal
framework which gives most of the regulators limited and inflexible legal powers.
The main advantage of section 60 orders is that they can be initiated at any time
without waiting for an Act of Parliament, and so they are more flexible.
2.85 Under our proposed legal framework the need for a section 60 order making
power is reduced. The aim of our reforms is to provide the regulators with a broad
range of powers to introduce rules, which would give the regulators greater
freedom to reform their legal framework in the light of their circumstances and
resources. In effect, a more flexible legal framework should replace the need for
section 60 orders.
2.86 However, section 60 orders are also the mechanism through which the Secretary
of State can introduce reforms which require a political policy decision and the
allocation of resources. Examples of such reforms include establishing a new
regulatory body and extending statutory regulation to new professional groups.
These types of reforms are in our view properly matters for Government, rather
than individual regulators. Therefore, the section 60 power could usefully be
retained in our scheme for these limited purposes.
48 Health Act 1999, sch 3, para 9.
49 Enabling Excellence: Autonomy and Accountability for Healthcare Workers, Social
Workers and Social Care Workers (2011) Cm 8008, para 3.5.
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