Accountability of the Accreditation Committee
Section 24 – Corporate plan of the Accreditation Committee
53.Section 24 requires the Accreditation Committee of Qualifications Scotland (established by paragraph 13 of schedule 1) to prepare and publish its own corporate plan, separate from that prepared by Qualifications Scotland, as soon as reasonably practicable after this section comes into force.
54.The corporate plan must set out how the committee intends to exercise the accreditation function under section 4 as well as its function of providing advice to Ministers (see paragraph 13(2) of schedule 1), for which it is responsible, and may include such other material as it considers appropriate. The committee may prepare a new corporate plan at any time and must publish any such new plan. The provision regarding the content of the plan also applies automatically to any new plan.
Section 25 – Annual report of the Accreditation Committee
55.This section places an obligation on the Accreditation Committee to report after each financial year on its activities during that year, separate from the report prepared by Qualifications Scotland. As noted above, the phrase “financial year” is defined in schedule 1 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 as a year ending with 31 March. The committee must publish this report and share a copy with the Scottish Ministers as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year. Following receipt of this, the Scottish Ministers must lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament. The form and content of the report is to be decided by the committee.
Section 26 – Scottish Ministers’ power to direct the Accreditation Committee
56.This section requires the Accreditation Committee to comply with any direction issued to it by the Scottish Ministers. This could, for example, relate to the exercising of the committee’s functions or it could relate to a more administrative matter such as how the body is to keep its records. While the Scottish Ministers will therefore be able to direct the Accreditation Committee under this section, Qualifications Scotland itself will not be able to do so (see paragraph 13(3)(a) of schedule 1).
57.Directions given by the Scottish Ministers to the committee must be in writing and published as soon as reasonably practicable after being given. A direction may be varied or revoked by a subsequent direction. There is, however, an obligation on the Scottish Ministers to consult the committee before issuing a direction, unless that direction is merely revoking an earlier direction.
