 I highlighted at stage 2 that this is not a straightforward area of the law, and there may be need for some further technical reframing of this stage at stage 3, once detailed feedback from charities, legal professionals and Oscar had been received. Those amendments are brought forward following those discussions and primarily refine and clarify the provisions added to the bill on the reorganisation of endowments at stage 2. They do so in two specific ways. First, amendment 6 removes charities established by Royal Charter or Royal Warrant from the scope of what will be new section 426b of the 2005 act. This will mean that those charities can reorganise their endowments but not the entire charity. This is being done in order to target the provisions more accurately at the charities most likely to hold only endowment property. No Royal Charter or Royal Warrant charity has ever tried to seek a reorganisation scheme, so this is most likely a theoretical change only but we think it is appropriate that the provisions do not go wider than is necessary or appropriate. Secondly, amendments 7 and 8 ensure that the income derived from an endowment is treated as part of the capital sum and may be included in a reorganisation scheme proposed by a charity under the new provisions. Otherwise, charities might have to apply for a secondary organisation scheme to reorganise the restricted funds which compromise the income or they might have to spend the income prematurely to dispose of it. Those are not consequences that we would want. Finally, amendment 12 seeks to clarify that where a charity of any type has varied its constitution by way of a reorganisation or by other means, references in the 2005 act to the charity's constitution means the constitution has varied. That reflects what we understand already happens in practice but we believe was intended by the 2005 act and simply ensures that there is no room for ambiguity. I call amendment 8 in the name of Cabinet Secretary. Already debated with amendment 6. Cabinet Secretary to move or not move? Move. The question is that amendment 8 be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. Parliament is agreed. We move to group 4, Oscars Communication and Charities. I call amendment 1 in the name of Jeremy Balfour in a group on its own. Jeremy Balfour to move and speak to amendment 1. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I brought forward an amendment at stage 2 and I'm grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for helping me in regard to bringing forward a perhaps better amendment at this stage, which I hope will get the support of the whole chamber. That amendment enhances Oscar's existing reporting duty, adding a new requirement that the annual report must contain information about what action Oscar has taken to raise awareness and understanding in charities about the steps that we need to take and comply with charity law. We did take quite a lot of evidence at stage 1 that many charities, whether large ones or small ones, often just didn't know what was being asked of them. I think that there is a duty on Oscar to provide more information. Oscar will be required to produce a general annual report to be laid before Parliament, and this amendment adds to the existing duty, allowing for on-going scrutiny by Parliament of Oscar's communication with charities, which I think allows committees and others to be involved in that. The report will cover communications with charities about all the relevant legislation, not just the changes that are made by this bill, and that should help to address the concerns that we have at stage 1 about the lack of awareness among the sector on existing requirements, as well as concerns about new requirements introduced by this bill. Oscar will be able to incorporate this communications report into his existing annual report process, ensuring the efficient use of Oscar's resources. I think that that will give more clarity to the third sector, and I hope that the chamber can support it this afternoon. As Jeremy Balfour has outlined, communication and understanding the obligations that are placed upon charities was a key part of the evidence that was heard in committee. Very often, the anxiety of charity trustees is not knowing whether they are being fully compliant with what is expected of them. I think that it is important that Oscar outlines clearly how he intends to do that and to review, indeed, his communication strategies to ensure that no charities are left in the dark when we reflect on the changes that will come about thanks to this bill. We, on the side of the chamber, will certainly support this amendment, and we would encourage colleagues to do likewise. I am grateful to Jeremy Balfour for raising this issue at stage 2, and we have worked with him on this amendment, which enhances Oscar's existing reporting duties. Having a new requirement that the annual report must contain information about what actions Oscar has taken to raise awareness and understanding by charities about the steps that they need to take to comply with the 2005 act, the Parliament and the public will be able to scrutinise Oscar's communications with charities. The report will cover communications with charities about the 2005 act as a whole, as well as the changes made by this bill. This will address the concerns about a lack of awareness amongst the sector with regard to some existing requirements, as well as the concerns about the new requirements introduced by this bill. Oscar will be able to incorporate this communications reporting into its existing annual reporting process, ensuring an efficient use of Oscar's resources, and I would therefore encourage members to support Jeremy Balfour's amendment. Thank you, Jeremy Balfour, to wind up press or withdraw amendment 1. Should we move the amendment? Thank you very much. The question is that amendment 1 be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. Parliament is agreed. I call amendment 9 in the name of the cabinet secretary. Already debated with amendment 4, cabinet secretary, to move or not move? Moved. The question is that amendment 9 be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. Parliament is agreed. We move to group 5, data protection. I call amendment 10 in the name of the cabinet secretary. Group with amendment 11, cabinet secretary, to remove amendment 10 and speak to the other amendments. The 2005 act already makes provision about information sharing between Oscar and others, and a slight expansion to that existing provision was made by amendment at stage 2. The changes that were made at stage 2 tie into existing language in the 2005 act, which refers to being able to share information despite any restriction on disclosure. The type of restriction meant by that is, for example, the rule in section 29.4 of the 2005 act, which restricts how Oscar can use information provided to it for the purpose of an inquiry. Those amendments make clear for the avoidance of doubt that the provision in section 25.1 of the 2005 act as amended at stage 2 relating to information sharing is not intended to override data protection legislation. Although the amendment does not make a change of substance, we consider it appropriate and helpful for the avoidance of doubt in the case of this specific reference. This aims to ensure clarity drawing on the approach taken in some other UK statutes. I move amendment 10. Thank you. The question is that amendment 10 be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. Parliament is agreed. I call amendment 11 in the name of the cabinet secretary. Already debated with amendment 10, cabinet secretary, to move or not move. Moved. Thank you. The question is that amendment 12 be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. I call amendment 12 in the name of the cabinet secretary. Already debated with amendment 6. Cabinet secretary, to move or not move. Moved. Thank you. The question is that amendment 12 be agreed to. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed, and that ends consideration of amendments. There will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business. As members will be aware, at this point in the proceedings, the Presiding Officer is required understanding orders to decide whether or not in her view any provision of the Bill relates to a protected subject matter. That is, whether it modifies the electoral system and franchise for Scottish parliamentary elections. In the case of this Bill, in the Presiding Officer's view, no provision of the Charities Regulation Administration Scotland Bill relates to a protected subject matter. The Bill does not require a supermajority to be passed at stage 3. The next item of business is a stage 3 debate on motion 9725, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on Charities Regulation Administration Scotland Bill. I invite members wishing to participate to press the request to speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I invite the cabinet secretary to speak to and move the motion around seven minutes, cabinet secretary. I am pleased to open this stage 3 debate on the Charities Regulation Administration Scotland Bill. Let me start by thanking all the members, past and present, of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee during stages 1 and 2 for their diligence, scrutiny of the Bill and for their support for its measures and the amendments made. I would also like to thank the clerks and staff of the Parliament who, as always, have provided support to MSPs throughout the passage of the Bill. Of course, I would like to thank my Bill team for all their hard work, both for my predecessor Shona Robison and myself. I also want to highlight my gratitude to all the stakeholders who have taken the time to express their views on the Bill through oral and written evidence to committee and through discussions with the Scottish Government. This evidence provided us with a clear understanding of the day-to-day experiences faced by charities across the country, as this is a technical Bill, the contributions of legal professionals, have also been invaluable to the refinement of the provisions. I am, of course, grateful to Oscar, the Scottish Charity Regulator, for its work over a number of years with the Scottish Government to get the Bill to this point. Oscar has been key to identifying the changes needed to modernise charity regulation, ensuring that public trust and confidence in charities remains high. I would specifically like to thank Oscar's legal and policy advisers for their expertise and input through this process. It is not often that we get a Bill with so few amendments, as this Bill has had at stage 2 and stage 3. On behalf of the Government, I wish all stage 3s were as quick as this one has been. On reflection, that is partly because of the cross-party support of this Bill, as well as the technical nature of it. I would like to thank the members' contributions and how we have approached the areas in which we have all attempted to make this legislation more improved as we have moved through the parliamentary process. I think that that is based on the fact that we recognise that the charity sector is a vital partner to all of us in society, and certainly it is a vital partner to Government in supporting our communities. Many of us, right across the chamber and across the country today, are involved with charities in our personal capacity, either as a trustee or as a volunteer, and are very aware of their work in our constituencies and just how much they contribute day in, day out. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers and staff that give their valuable time and energy to this essential sector. You are all critical to the health and wellbeing of our people, places and communities. I would also like to thank all the people who support charities through donations in whatever form they may be. The latest sector overview report from Oscar sets out that Scottish charities have a combined income of over £14 billion each year. That clearly demonstrates how widely they are supported by the public, which in turn can only happen if the public trust charities. Research shows that trust in charities and what they deliver is high, and we all want to keep it that way. On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the Scottish charity awards organised by SCVO and was genuinely humbled by the passion and innovation in that room. That was exemplified by the winners of the charity of the year, Diversified. Established in Livingston, Diversified is Scotland's first autistic and neurodivergent youth-led charity, they use their own lived experience to help design and lead services for neurodivergent young people. It was a real pleasure to meet them at the awards on Friday, and it was a real pleasure indeed to see all the finalists receive their awards. We did not talk much about charity regulation and charity law on that night, but I hope that it forms the basis of the trust that people can have in charities to allow all those individuals to carry out the good work that they do. I am sure that members will all agree when I say that the talent and the breadth of experience in Scotland's charity sector is truly exemplary and something that we can all be proud of. This Government's focus is to ensure the best possible conditions for the charity sector to thrive and support our communities, and that is the aim of this bill. Members will be aware that there is a significant support for this reform and modernisation of Scottish charity law. There is also a desire from many who work in and with charities for a broader review of the future of charity regulation, and I recognise that. That is why I have agreed that, following the passage of this bill, the Scottish Government will initiate a wider review of charity regulation. I want to repeat that commitment here today and make clear that we will start conversations with the sector, including the SCVO, this year on the scope of that review. On to the details of the bill, it provides practical improvements and updates to existing charity regulation, namely the Charities and Trusty Investment Act 2005. The bill is built around proposals that were put forward by Oscar, based on its operational experience since that act came into force. In addition, following engagement with Oscar and the Law Society of Scotland, the record of charity mergers at section 12 of the bill was added, as was a list of minor or technical amendments, including in the schedule. The bill has a range of different provisions designed to enhance the existing framework. Each of the provisions falls under one of three primary aims. The first aim is to increase transparency and accountability in charities by improving public access to information about a charity's operations. The second aim is to provide stronger powers for Oscar, including the power to issue positive directions to help charities to address regulatory issues. The third that the bill brings Scottish charity law up to date with some key aspects of charity regulation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, enhancing public trust in charities and further protecting charitable assets. I have valued very much the committee's positive conclusions and constructive recommendations in its stage 1 report, in particular the recommendation to include a review and an appeals process for any disputes in relation to Oscar's ability to appoint interim trustees, which resulted in the Government amendments at stage 2. I have also listened to members and the committee's views and recommendations around communicating those legislative changes. I wrote to the committee to set out the Government's plans for commencement of the bill, as has Oscar, which has confirmed that it will share its draft communications plan with the committee for its consideration in advance of engaging with the sector. In addition, of course, amendment 1, with Jeremy Balfour's assistance, will enhance Oscar's reporting duties, ensuring that it sets out its annual report to Parliament that the work carried out that year to promote awareness and understanding amongst the sector of the requirements of charity law. I was also pleased that at stage 2 we were able to bring forward some clarifications to the rules around the organisations of endowments held by statutory charities, while only impacting on a small number of charities and costs involved in such re-organisations can be substantial for the organisations involved. In conclusion, the bill makes practical improvements and updates to existing charity regulation and the role of Oscar. It is intended to sustain the effective and supportive regulation of charities during what we know are challenging times for the sector. There is broad agreement for members and stakeholders on the general principles of this bill, and it is important in helping us to deliver continued support to Scotland's charities. I therefore move that the Parliament agrees that the Charities, Regulation and Administration's Scotland Bill be passed. I now call on Jeremy Balfour up to six minutes, Mr Balfour, and we do have time in hand this afternoon. I welcome the debate and look forward to the bill becoming an act. I add my thanks to that of the cabinet secretary for the bill's team, for the clerks and staff here in the Parliament and for all those who gave evidence to the committee at stage 1. One of the things that became quite clear as we took evidence was that it would be fair to say that this is an Oscar bill rather than a third sector bill. It is very technical in many ways, and it has clearly been driven by Oscar in regard to it coming forward this afternoon. I think that there is agreement amongst everyone within the chamber of the importance of a third sector and the role that we play within Scotland, whether that is in regard to volunteering, whether that is in regard to giving, whether that is being a trustee of a charity. However, we have to be aware that society is changing. I say this as one of the communities of a volunteering cross-party group. Volunteering post-pandemic is becoming harder for people to do, and many organisations are struggling to find volunteers to come on board. That is perhaps more true in regard to whether they are being asked to be a trustee with all that legal responsibility that comes with that appointment. Over the next number of months and years, as the Scottish Government consults, we have to have a wider conversation as to what role the third sector has to play within our society, how we encourage more people to volunteer and how we make sure that charities are able to do what they want to do locally and nationally. That will pose some really interesting questions. The other overwhelming remark that came back as we took evidence was that there is a desire within charities, within the third sector, to see reform and to see greater reform than this bill brings forward. I hope that that consultation that the cabinet secretary referred to in her opening speech will not be over time consuming. Yes, we need to speak, yes, we need to consult, but we also need to be able to bring forward legislation in the next session. I think that the bill, as we have it today, is a good bill. It could have been better if my amendment had been accepted, but we still have a bill that will give transparency and openness, but it will also give a bit more clarity in regard to the role of trustees and what they can do and what they should do. I am pleased that the chamber did accept my amendment, because there was again some criticism that Oscar perhaps had not been communicated in such a way that the information that they want to get to charities is actually getting through. Presiding Officer, we welcome this bill on the side that we look forward to being implemented and we look forward to seeing, most importantly, the third sector grow and flourish over the next number of years. I now call on Paul O'Kane up to five minutes, please. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this stage 3 debate this afternoon. I have previously referred to my register of interests as a charity trustee, and it is of course a great joy and an honour to be a charity trustee, as I am sure many other members in the chamber and many people across Scotland feel that sense of pride in the charities that they work for. It is important that we bear that in mind as we discuss the issues that will directly impact them and the charities that they do so much good work for. I would also put on record my thanks to everyone involved in bringing this bill to its conclusion. Of course, in the classic style of this place, I came late to the day, joined the committee just to approve the stage 1 report and then to take part in the stage 2 proceedings. All the hard work that was done by my colleague Pam Duncan Glancy, who worked with her committee colleagues to take the bill through its various evidence sessions. It gave a lot of robust challenge to Government at various points to ensure that we have the best bill possible today, so I should thank Pam Duncan Glancy for that. Indeed, I thank everyone involved from the clerking team and the bill team and all those who have worked to improve the bill. As I said in my outset, we should take an opportunity to thank all those who are involved in charities across Scotland. We heard from the cabinet secretary some of the impressive statistics of the work that is done by charities in Scotland and the money that they raise for a whole range of charitable causes. It is important that we put on record our thanks to them. Scottish Labour will support the passage of the bill this afternoon. We will leave the bill to be a welcome and overdue step to reform charity legislation. We believe that it will increase the transparency and accountability of charities, which we think is important in progressing and bringing the key aspects of charity law into line with other regulatory frameworks across the UK, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. I will take some time, if I can, to focus on where I think we can go further. I am heartened again to hear the cabinet secretary's commitment to that wider review of charity regulation and law and that engagement with CVO. It cannot just be about the structures. We have to take a fundamental look at how we can better support charities and the work that they do. I highlighted in my contribution at stage 1 the importance of ensuring that we look at issues such as the funding cycle for charities. Many charities live year to year in terms of the funding that they receive, either from Government or local authorities. That can often prove challenging in terms of trying to plan for the future, trying to plan to make projects go beyond just that one-year phase. Something like three-year funding cycles has been talked about for a long, long time in this chamber, but we never seem to have got to a place where we are offering charities that three-year deal. It would be really important in the conversations that the cabinet secretary has with SCVO to listen to their asks on behalf of the wider sector and to try to bring that in very much to the scope of the work that she is keen to do more broadly on charity regulation and the advancement of charities here in Scotland. I will say something briefly on the amendments that did not make it today. The amendment brought in the name of Jeremy Balfour. I outlined my concerns in terms of the burdens that were placed on churches by the registering, controlling interests and land. I do think that we have to look at that again. I will not re-reherse the arguments that I made in the statutory amendments debate, but I would ask the cabinet secretary to reflect on what she has heard here today, what she has heard across the course of this discussion and debate from churches and other religious organisations. I will tell the chamber essentially what further she feels can be done to engage properly with the churches to give them that comfort and support that they need in order to be compliant with the law, because I think that the last thing that we would want to see is anyone who is involved in those organisations in good faith, facing any kind of challenges because they have not complied. I will bring my remarks to a close simply by once again reiterating our support for the bill. We will support it at a decision time. We feel that we can go further to support our charities in Scotland, and we are willing and open to work with anyone in that vein, and particularly to work with the cabinet secretary to ensure that the review covers all of the issues that I have mentioned and supports a good, thriving third and voluntary sector here in Scotland. I am very grateful. I will now call on Maggie Chapman. A point of order, Murdo Fraser. Grateful, Presiding Officer. A point of order when I made a contribution earlier in the debate on Mr Balfour's amendment, I referred to my register of interests, and it occurs to me that I should probably have clarified that I am the trustee of two Scottish registered charities and omitted to do at that point, so I just want to correct the record. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Thank you, Mr Fraser. While it is not a point of order, your comments are now on the record. Thank you, and I call Maggie Chapman. Thank you, Presiding Officer. On behalf of the Scottish Greens, I welcome the charities, regulations and administration Scotland Bill, and I'm pleased to be able to say a few words in this debate today. I refer members to my register of interests. As someone who was not directly involved in the committee's scrutiny of this legislation, I would like to begin by thanking the Social Security and Social Justice Committee for their detailed work on what is a somewhat technical bill. I would also like to thank the bill's team and all those organisations, charities and legal organisations who have contributed in various ways to the work of the committee and for providing information and briefings to us as MSPs. Charities, the third sector, play a vital role in our communities and our lives. As I said at stage 1, they often support us at some of the most difficult or challenging times in our lives, providing life-saving services, advocacy, constructive critique, resilience, fundraising and so much more. The hard work of staff and volunteers often goes unseen and, sadly, undervalued. But our society would not function without these services and supports and the often selfless and unrecognised work that so many contribute to our collective wellbeing. So I would like to take this opportunity to place on record my thanks for all those charities, particularly those in the north-east, who seek to do this work every day in circumstances that are often becoming increasingly challenging. We have a responsibility, I think, to ensure that the regulatory framework within which these charities operate is up to date and fit for purpose. Scotland's charity law has not been significantly amended since 2005 and the legislation before us today aims to update the current system of charity regulation as we've heard already by improving transparency and accountability, enhancing public trust and improving the efficiency of Oscars operations. The bill does not represent a full review of charity law in Scotland, however, and I'm not alone, as Paula Kenan and others have said, that we wish it went further. I welcome the cabinet secretary's comments earlier about plans for a review that takes the whole of the regulation and charity legislation into account. I look forward to that. We must collectively ensure that that review is wide-ranging and considers how to support the sector in a future that will be very different to the world that we inhabited in 2005. I've spoken before about the need for charitable concessions for a wider range of activities that are goods in and of themselves, a wider range than the current definition of charitable purposes contains. Greens would also want to see explicit inclusion in each of the protected characteristics as described in our current equality legislation, but that is for that review that is to come. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I'd like to highlight that we all share responsibility for the provision of clear information to ensure the sector as a whole is aware of the provisions in this legislation that we will pass later today. There must be a shared understanding of the implications of the Bill for charities and regulators alike, but given the nature of the discussions and debates on the Bill to date, I have no doubt that we will all work together to make this a reality, and I look forward to doing that with colleagues across the chamber. Thank you, and I call Collette Stevenson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to speak today and want to reflect on some points drawing on my role as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. I want to thank my colleagues on the committee for their support and effort in scrutinising the Bill, as well as the organisations who have engaged with us and provided evidence to inform the committee's scrutiny of the Bill. The Charities Regulation and Administration Scotland Bill is long awaited. There have been calls from charities for reform, as well as from Oscar. Indeed, the plans for legislation are centred on practical proposals put forward by Oscar based on their experience as a regulator. The Bill has also been shaped by input from other stakeholders who have provided a lot of valuable input. The Bill represents a significant step forward in enhancing transparency, accountability and good governance within charitable organisations. Charities have said that they want these changes to help strengthen and update existing charity law. Charities are now almost 20 years old, and the charity landscape has changed significantly in the intervening years. It is right that the Bill has been brought forward to update the current system of charity regulation in Scotland. The Scottish Government's focus is to ensure the best possible conditions for the charity sector to thrive and support communities. I appreciate that the Scottish Government intends to bring forward reform for charities. That is definitely a very positive step within the third sector. Meanwhile, the Bill will improve Oscar's powers, allowing them to publish annual accounts for every charity, including the names of all charity trustees in the Scottish Charity Register. Remove charities that fail to provide accounts and don't respond to Oscar's communications. And create a publicly researchable record of removed charity trustees. The legislation will also give Oscar new powers to issue positive directions to a charity to take action, such as managing a conflict of interest, where our risk has been identified by the regulator. As I said in my stage 1 debate, Chaz put it well saying that charities are in a privileged position with regard to funding donations from the public. Those are things in relation to which public accountability is important. Therefore, the Scottish Government's proposed changes are important in order to maintain public trust and confidence in this important sector and in its regulator in the years ahead. If the bill is approved today, there must be an awareness raising campaign in due course to ensure that forthcoming changes are widely communicated to charities and that there is no onus on charities in terms of the additional administration changes. In conclusion, for charities to continue to add value we must ensure that they are properly regulated and supported. The Charities Regulation and Administration Scotland Bill is generally regulatory in nature as opposed to anything more fundamental about charities. It is right that we update the elements of current legislation. I support this bill and hope other members will back it tonight. Thank you. We move to winding up. I call on Paul O'Keehn. I am very grateful to rise on the Scottish Labour to wind up in this bill. There is now a huge degree of consensus around the bill. As I said in my opening this bill can go forward. I think it can go further as well which is vitally important. I will not rehash those points because I think the minister has heard them quite clearly. I do not know if there is heckling from the back until I have gone with it slightly. I was just going to add that it really is a privilege as a parliamentarian and for all of us to have the interaction that we do with charities in our work. I think that we all get to experience in our constituencies and in our regions a huge breadth and depth of wonderful charities who are doing really amazing work. I was reflecting that in this place we host charities probably more often than many places in Scotland on a daily basis. Every lunchtime or every evening the place is usually brimming with different organisations coming to talk to their parliamentarians and very often those are charitable organisations to do a range of important work whether that be providing food parcels for older people whether it be health charities who raise money for our children's hospices and hospitals, whether it be charities who support our armed forces and veterans community. It really is a great honour to be able to engage with as many of them and indeed this evening I will host a number of HIV charities from across Scotland as we talk about how we progress the route towards elimination of HIV in Scotland. Yes, that was a plug for my event this evening so I do hope that colleagues in the chamber will join me. Presiding Officer I am very happy on behalf of Scottish Labour to reiterate once again our support for this bill, to reiterate the points that I have made previously about ensuring that we go further in the future. Also I think in terms of the point about how we deal with religious charities more broadly, I am keen to have further dialogue and discussion with the cabinet secretary and I know that she has made that offer previously and I'm sure she will in summing up as well. So I don't intend to detain the chamber for much longer than I need to other than to say this is a bill which I think has command now support from across the chamber. I think it commands the support certainly of the regulator. I think the crucial test will be will it command the support in terms of its provisions, the support of charities across Scotland and those charities that we all know from our community. So that will be the next test of this and that's why I think it's vitally important that we get the monitoring and the post-legislative scrutiny right before we move on to the next phase of that review. So I'm very grateful that I will support the bill. Thank you and I call on Miles Briggs. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and can I declare an interest as chair of research UK's Heart of Scotland appeal board in Scotland as well. And as others have done at the start of this debate, can I also thank our clerks on the social justice and social security committee who have helped us with the passage of the bill but also those who have given evidence to the committee and I think it is quite often humbling actually to meet with charities and the third sector across Scotland to see that the work they are undertaking in our communities and just how vital that is and how we as a country wouldn't be who we are without them and when you look at where our charities are having a combined income of over £15 billion employing over 200,000 people in our country that is why this bill was so important and parts of it concerning and especially these points have been put with regards to our churches and faith groups and the potential unintended consequences of this bill and I do hope as other members have said the cabinet secretary will really be mindful of that and although we have welcomed that one year delay the concerns about bureaucracy and additional costs are still very much there and I hope that we will see that taken on board and potentially any amendments which need to be brought through Parliament in the future to prevent that costing our charities any money because that money needs to go to the front line during difficult times and the arguments which have been put forward at stage 1, 2 and 3 still stand. The charities law which operates in Scotland has been in place for some 18 years now and so it has been necessary to modernise those laws to make how our charities operate more transparent so we welcome that and also the fact that this bill does now bring our charity law in Scotland in line with reforms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but as has been said by my colleague Jeremy Balfour I think that this has felt like it's an Oscar inspired bill and so there is an opportunity now with what potential reforms can come forward to do something radically different and I welcome the fact that the cabinet secretary will now work to put together a proposed review during the rest of this Parliament and what that can mean because I think it is really important and Paul Cain the potential reforms the Labour Party would like to see around regulation of charities I also think we also need to look at the over-regulation of charities in Scotland as well and during the stage 1 debate John Mason who I don't think is in the chamber made some important points which I think can actually be taken forward for the fully volunteer charities we have in Scotland potentially those charities who have an income of less than £2 who are facing the same bureaucracy and regulation in Scotland of charities with thousands of employees and millions of pounds of income and I don't think that's fair and I hope that we in future Parliament have that opportunity to look at actually the deregulation of how charities in Scotland operate and the opportunities that can present for resources to go to the issues they want to campaign on they want to actually make a difference in because in many cases and this is why I think the consultation did not attract as much engagement from these charities these are looking after town halls or church halls across our country they are small charities and they just don't have the individuals to take on some of these roles and so that is something I hope in the future any potential consultation around this or the review which is proposed and really look at because I think that could actually realise the potential of many small charities across our country in terms of decision times night we will be supporting the bill as we have outlined I think at this stage we are content with what the bill will do but this has to present an opportunity for us to all look at how we support our charities the third sector in Scotland especially during the pandemic that is the learning which we can take forward from this bill to actually as a Parliament look to how we can do more to help our third sector in the future thank you and I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville to wind up up to five minutes cabinet secretary thank you very much I'd like to thank all the members who have contributed to this small but perfectly formed debate that we've had this afternoon I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Oscar once again of course by undertaking the work to ensure this bill is implemented successfully and for their close and helpful co-operation with officials in the Scottish Government in the development and passage of the bill this bill aims to enhance transparency and accountability in charities improve Oscars powers and maintain public trust in charities although it is a small and technical bill it is nevertheless vital to the sector many colleagues I think quite rightly have began to turn their attention to the wider review promised once this bill has passed and I think the discussions that we have had as this bill has progressed will assist the Government as it looks to scope that wider review out so I would like to again thank colleagues for their remarks about this wider review and I share with them the real importance of this particularly as I accept that this bill is technical in nature that we're discussing today I think we are all aware that the nature of the charity sector is changing and it's changing rapidly just as the changes in society that they are having to deal with are rapidly changing around them today's landscape with the growth of enterprising charities makes for a real different context than what we had in 2005 when the original act was passed so while it is right to ensure that the rules surrounding regulations and administrations of charities remain fit for purpose which this bill does that there's more to do whether that's around the role of charities as Jeremy Balfour has mentioned or around the importance to recognise the needs of smaller charities that Miles Briggs has mentioned although I would point out that charities under 25,000 already have for example simpler accounts that they have to produce so we do take that into account but I recognise there's more that we need to do we will initiate a wider conversation on the longer term future of charity regulation and that is very, very important that as a part of that we address the concept of what a charity is in modern Scotland so we will require extensive consultation and stakeholder engagement with the charity sector so we can define what the sector feels are the problems within the existing regime before we decide how to design the solutions and I would always welcome the contribution of members from across the chamber as we scope this review out it is very clear to us that we also have to be very conscious of the challenges that charities are facing right now whether it's coming out of Covid or the cost of living impacting on charities operations and funding streams at the same time as many are seeing an increase in demand for services and witnesses at the committee also spoke about the current lack of capacity within the sector to engage with and respond to consultations and we need to be mindful of that and how we approach the review Members have also quite rightly highlighted the concerns many charities have around funding and I do absolutely recognise that the third sector needs stability and the opportunity for longer term planning and development and I would once again reiterate that the government is committed to progressing their funding approach to the third sector unfortunately the volatile economic circumstances that we have at the moment have presented real additional challenges that have made it difficult to move forward with multi-year funding to the extent that we would have wished for in the coming financial year but we are keen to move forward with this and the wider fairer funding approach including prompt notification of funding outcome based flexible funding and proportionate administration around applications and reporting In conclusion this bill has been improved and strengthened as a result of the parliamentary process and I am very grateful to the members of the committee and other members in the chamber for their contributions to the debate I believe that we now have a bill that will help to strengthen the existing legislation enhance transparency and accountability in charities, improve Oscars powers and maintain public trust in the charity sector I want to again stress the importance of the charity sector in Scotland people up and down the country who volunteer, give their time their energy and their money to truly commit and contribute to society usually in an ultristic way as they want to make a real and genuine difference to the community and the world that we live in and I think it is important that the last word is for my thanks to them and to all of us Thank you That concludes the stage 3 debate on charities regulation and administration Scotland bill, it is now time to move on to the next item of business which is consideration of motion 9723 in the name of Tom Arthur on economic crime and corporate transparency bill UK legislation and I call on Tom Arthur to move the motion Moved Minister the question on this motion was put at decision time The next item of business is consideration of motion 9727 in the name of Martin Whitfield on the appointment of a new Scottish information commissioner and I call on Martin Whitfield to speak to and move the motion on behalf of the selection panel I am very grateful Presiding Officer and as a member of the cross party selection panel established by the Presiding Officer under our standing orders I am delighted to be speaking to this motion in my name and to invite members of this Parliament to agree to nominate David Hamilton to his Majesty the King for appointment as the new Scottish information commissioner Mr Hamilton would take up his appointment on 16 October 2023 The Presiding Officer chaired the selection panel and the other members were Jim Fairlie, Myrdo Fraser, Gillian Mackay and Evelyn Tweed This is an important appointment The Scottish information commissioner is an independent office holder who is responsible for the promoting and enforcing of Scotland's freedom of information regime The freedom of information gives everyone the right to access information held by Scottish public authorities Freedom of information supports openness, transparency and accountability in the bodies that provide us with the public services Freedom of information has been in place for 20 years and there are currently two consultations being undertaken to reform the current regime so the new commissioner will therefore be starting at an exciting but important time for FOI in Scotland Turning to the nominee who joins us with his family in the chamber today David is a retired police officer laterally serving as the chair of the Scottish Police Federation a number of non-executive roles and is currently the chair of his local community council David has also an experienced aid worker who has just recently returned from Ukraine where he was volunteering for the Edinburgh Direct Aid The panel believes that David's skills and experience will make him an excellent commissioner Finally, I would also like to mention the outgoing commissioner, Darren FitzHenry who will admit office later this year On a personal note, I would like to thank him for the work he has done but I am sure those across this chamber would also like to join me in thanking him and wishing him all the very best for the future Presiding Officer, I move the motion Thank you Mr Whitfield The question on this motion will be put at decision time The next item of business is consideration of business motion 9753 in the name of George Adam of the Parliamentary Bureau setting out a business programme and I call on George Adam to move the motion Thank you Presiding Officer and moved Thank you Mr Adam No member has asked to speak on the motion and the question is that motion 9753 be agreed Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed The next item of business is consideration of business motions 9754 and 9755 on stage 1 timetables for bills and I ask any member who wishes to speak against the motions to press their request to speak buttons and I call on George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau to move the motions Both move Presiding Officer Thank you Minister No member has asked to speak against the motions therefore the question is the motions 9754 and 9755 be agreed Are we all agreed? The motions are therefore agreed The next item of business is consideration of business motions 9756 on stage 1 timetables for bills and I ask George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau to move the motion Moved Thank you Minister I call on Sarah Boyack Thank you very much Presiding Officer I do want to confirm that Scottish Labour will support this SSI out of necessity today but I do want to speak to it given the unusual circumstances we are in The minister admitted to the net zero committee that further regulations will need to be laid after the summer recess to again delay the date in which DRS goes live in Scotland so we don't need to have a re-debate on this how we got here we had plenty of discussion on that but what I would like to raise is at this moment in time as MSPs in the Parliament are more important producers, companies of the industry they are still waiting to find out what the next steps are going to be despite hundreds of millions of pounds of investment that have been made so I was told that the minister was due to meet MSPs from all parties to discuss the DRS but the minister cancelled that meeting so very keen that we hear what happens next what on-going discussions are because we don't know what action the Scottish Government is now taking what policy position the Scottish Government has or indeed what the Scottish Government wants to see the UK Government doing in terms of the rolling out of a UK wide scheme which we understand is some time off and there's always been a policy position of finding alignment where it's possible but we need to make sure that we know what the position is so that there's an opportunity for the Parliament to help shape that alignment so as I said at the beginning we will support this SSI out of necessity but it would be helpful to get an assurance from the Government today that the minister in charge of the deposit return scheme will set out next steps to inform the Parliament what's going to happen next in terms of the Scottish Government's view on UK wide implementation and what opportunities the minister Lorna Slater is taking to work with other devolved Governments and the UK Government to design a UK wide deposit return scheme that works for us in Scotland and the other parts of the UK and I would also suggest that it be helpful for the minister to meet with us on a cross-party basis when it is helpful with Opposition spokespeople and that would be a way that we keep involved with the next steps in this scheme Thank you very much, Presiding Officer Thank you and I call on Minister Lorna Slater Presiding Officer, the regulations that we are discussing today were laid on 17 May before the UK Government's last minute decision on the Internal Market Act after almost two years of talks which imposed unworkable conditions on our deposit return scheme leaving it fatally undermined Without the approval of the changes and regulations, the Goli date would remain as the 16 August this year which nobody in this chamber wants to see happen The regulations changed the Goli date to March next year as I have previously explained the UK Government intervention means that this date in turn is no longer possible and I have committed to bring before Parliament further amendment regulations in line with parliamentary procedures and timelines to change that to 1 October 2025 the decision that the Government was forced to take on 7 June to delay the start of DRS and align with England While the process is imperfect it should be noted that options were extremely limited given the last minute and unexpected nature of the UK Government's intervention that meant that the regulations previously passed by this Parliament were no longer deliverable If the Scottish Government had withdrawn the regulations and laid a new set this would have meant seeking the agreement of Parliament to an expedited scrutiny process before summer recess removing all of the normal committee in parliamentary scrutiny time or the alternative would have been to suggest that Parliament should be recalled Neither of these options was felt to be appropriate As well as changing the start date the regulations simplify the scheme for small businesses in particular The changes came out of constructive dialogue with businesses The UK Government have indicated that similar provisions are likely to be made in the English scheme and while we still eventually may need to adjust the regulations again to align with them once they have designed their scheme I believe that it is important not to lose the progress that we made in Scotland through positive constructive engagement with business Continuing with the draft certainly It was really just to clarify that we totally accept that we need to pass these regulations today but in the spirit of trying to get us to a better place where we get regulations that we can all live with Will the minister meet with opposition spokespeople and those of us who are really interested in getting it right to make sure that we can come together and get the right scheme? We are absolutely committed to getting the right schemes Last week I have met with minister Rebecca Powell to discuss how we want to move forward collaboratively and collectively The matter is currently with DEFRA to develop their scheme The officials from DEFRA have come up to Scotland this week to look at what we have been doing here to understand what we are going forward but we are really in the situation of waiting for the UK government to define the English scheme before we even have anything to discuss Our scheme is now through these regulations completely defined with only that draft amendment regulation with only the further amendment to come to bring us to the October 2025 date, which I will be bringing to Parliament shortly We are absolutely committed to working forward and as soon as we have something from DEFRA to discuss, I would be delighted to discuss that with opposition members so we can move forward with that We are committed to working to deliver this deposit return scheme in Scotland giving the many positive environmental and economic benefits that it will bring The detail of this now depends on the scheme being developed by DEFRA We are providing businesses with absolute clarity that the deposit return regulations will not apply from this August and that the measures that the Scottish Government developed and agreed with business in recent months will help to form the basis of the development of our new scheme Thank you and the question on this motion will be put at decision time The next item of business is consideration of nine parliamentary bureau motions and I asked George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move motions 9720 on committee duration 9756 and 9757 on approval of an SSI 9758 to 9760 on designation of a lead committee 9787 on approval of an SSI 9761 and 9790 on committee membership and 9791 on committee substitutes All moves Minister, the question on these motions will be put at decision time and I am mindate to accept a motion without notice under rule 11.2.4 of standing orders that decision time be brought forward to now and I invite the Minister for Parliamentary Business to move the motion Your kill me, Presiding Officer, moved Thank you and the question is that decision time be brought forward to now are we all agreed We are agreed and there are five questions to be put as a result of today's business The first is that motion 9722 in the name of Angela Constance on Northern Ireland Troubles Legacy and Reconciliation Bill UK legislation be agreed Are we all agreed The Parliament is not agreed therefore we will have a short suspension to enable members to access the digital voting system Clearly I was not on the chair earlier where members have been voting and I am out of sync so please do cast your votes now Thank you The vote is closed Point of order Russell Findlay App catastrophe I would have voted no Thank you, we will ensure that is recorded Point of order Willie Rennie My app is not working I would have voted yes Thank you Mr Rennie, we will ensure that is recorded Point of order David Torre I couldn't connect to that I would have voted yes Mr Torrance will ensure that is recorded I call Co-cap Stewart Point of order, thank you I couldn't get connected I would have voted yes I call Mercedes Fialba for a point of order My app wouldn't connect I would have voted yes Thank you Ms Fialba The result of the vote on motion 9722 in the name of Angela Constance is yes 83, no 27 there were no abstentions the motion is therefore agreed The next question is that motion 9725 in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville on charities regulation and administration Scotland will be agreed and members should cast their votes now The vote is closed Point of order Willie Rennie My app is not working I would have voted yes Thank you Mr Rennie, we will ensure that is recorded Point of order David Torrance My app couldn't connect I would have voted yes Thank you, we will ensure that is recorded Point of order Co-cap Stewart Thank you Presiding Officer My system is still not letting me in I would have voted yes Thank you, we will ensure that is recorded Rhoda Grant I did vote Presiding Officer but it now says that my vote didn't register I can confirm that your vote has not been registered Ms Grant Could you please repeat that I'm sorry, I just couldn't hear you The result of the vote on motion 9725 in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville is yes, 108 There were no votes against there were no abstentions the motion is therefore agreed and the charities regulation and administration Scotland bill is passed Thank you, the next question is that motion 9723 in the name of Tom Arthur on economic crime and corporate transparency bill UK legislation be agreed Are we all agreed The motion is therefore agreed The next question is that motion 9727 in the name of Martin Whitfield on appointment of the Scottish Information Commissioner be agreed Are we all agreed The motion is therefore agreed The motion is therefore agreed and I propose Thank you I propose to ask a single question on nine parliamentary bureau motions Does any member object No member objects The final question is that motions 9720 on committee duration 9756 and 9757 on approval of an SSI 9758 to 9760 on designation of a lead committee 9787 on approval of an SSI 9761 and 9790 on committee membership 9791 on committee substitutes in the name of George Adam on behalf of Parliamentary Bureau Are we all agreed The motions are therefore agreed That concludes decision time and we will now move on to members business in the name of Russell Finlay