Section 54 – Power of Scottish Ministers to require Council to establish committees
136.Under paragraph 17 of Schedule 1 to the 1965 Act the GTC are empowered to appoint whatever committees they think are necessary, subject to the requirement to have a committee on exceptional admission to the register and now the PCC, DSC and ISC. This discretion will remain but, under new paragraph 16A, Scottish Ministers will be able to stipulate, through regulations, that a committee should be established and what its membership should be. The intention is not to empower Scottish Ministers to identify named individuals as members of committees, but rather to allow them to ensure, if necessary, that a committee has adequate representation of relevant interests.