Public service authority
43.Schedule 2, introduced by section 21, lists the bodies to which a participation request can be made, to be known as “public service authorities”. This includes local authorities, Health Boards, and certain other Scottish public bodies. The public bodies selected are involved in providing or supporting local services. The list does not include, for example, boards which advise Ministers or which regulate certain professions.
44.The remainder of section 21 gives the Scottish Ministers a power to remove or amend any entry on the list, or to make an order designating other persons or classes of person as public service authorities. Subsection (4) provides that persons may only be designated if they fall into the following categories:
part of the Scottish Administration (which has the meaning given in section 126(6) to (8) of the Scotland Act 1998);
“Scottish public authorities with mixed functions or no reserved functions under the Scotland Act 1998” – this means that UK Government departments and public bodies that deal with matters reserved to the UK Parliament cannot be included;
companies wholly-owned by public service authorities.
45.Under subsection (9), when adding a person to the list, the Scottish Ministers may exclude some of the services they provide from being subject to participation requests.
