Good afternoon everyone.

Welcome to the 2013 AGM of the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce.

Firstly, by way of introduction to those who do not know me, my name is James Aitken and I am the Convener of the Chamber.   I will make further introductions as we go along.

Before I begin do we have any apologies?

The order of events is fairly straightforward.  I will firstly seek approval of the minute of last year’s AGM.

I will then outline some of what has been happening in the Chamber over the past year.  You will no doubt be relieved to hear I only intend to speak for 20 minutes or so.

I will then ask Craig Little, the Chamber’s Treasurer, to give a review of our finances.  I understand that Craig has brought a number of copies of our accounts for anyone who would like a copy.  Craig will then answer any questions you have.

Then I will ask the other directors and in particular our new Convener and vice- Convener if they would also like to say a few words.

I will then invite questions from the floor.

We should be finished the formal part of the AGM by around 1pm.  I hope that many of you will be able to stay for the buffet lunch.

Firstly to the minute of last year’s AGM.  Does everyone have a copy with them or has seen a copy of the minute?  Are there any questions? Do we have a proposer and a seconder? Thank you.

The location for my final speech on behalf of the Chamber is an apt one.  I grew up in Langlee which overlooks the College and University campus.  My rugby club is just a few yards from here.

I also know from personal experience how important the College is to the Borders and the wider business community.  I left school before my 16^th birthday to start an electrical apprenticeship.  I attended the old Borders College on the Melrose Road to study for my City and Guilds.  When it finally became clear how poor an electrician I was, and that I wanted to go to university, a number of people at the College helped me when I was teaching myself the Highers I needed to get into University.

With this in mind, this is also a good opportunity to introduce Susan Rennie, Employer Engagement coordinator at Borders College.

So to the Chamber and the past year.

“As the leading business membership organisation in the Scottish Borders the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce is committed to representing the interests of the business community in the Scottish Borders.”  I am sure that many of you will have seen this phrase used in our press releases and in other Chamber publications and speeches.  This statement is what the Chamber should be judged against.

If one phrase sums up the position of the Chamber this year, as opposed to last year, it is “improving but still lots more to do”.  Our financial position is much healthier, our membership continues to grow and what the Chamber is saying and doing is regularly covered in the press.

This has a great deal to do with the work done by Bruce Simpson, Andrew Collier and Alan King.  Bruce took over our communications role from Harry McGrath just over a year ago, Andrew has dealt with the press on our behalf and Alan King deals with membership.  These are paid positions and done on a month to month freelance basis.

The work done on these fronts has directly contributed to our growing membership which has meant an improved financial position.

Each role is crucial and complimentary.  It may seem obvious but we actually need to meet with our members and listen to what they are saying.  That is something we have simply not done enough of in the past and still need to improve further on.  That is one of the main reasons we created Alan’s role.

Alan, Bruce and Gordon Innes are also working very hard on updating our “member benefits” package just now.

Then there is the amount of positive and regular publicity generated for the Chamber by Andrew and Bruce.  Barely a week has gone by during the last year without the Chamber being mentioned in our local press.  A number of members have given this as their main reason for joining or re-joining when they have met with Alan.  I and a number of other directors have also given a number of TV interviews.   This has given the Chamber a much higher profile than in past years.

I would also like to thank Andrew and Bruce for all the work they did concerning the Ofcom consultation.  It clearly had an impact.  One reason for its impact was that it was part of a wider campaign.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Parker, leader of Scottish Borders Council and the Dumfries and Galloway Chamber for their help with this campaign.

It is likely we will soon see improved local news coverage and the showing of a number of programmes from STV.  It is not good for our businesses that the rest of Scotland do not see or hear enough about the great things that happen here in the Borders.  It is also ridiculous that the South of Scotland does not receive programmes such as STV Rugby, Scotland Tonight and the Young Scot Awards.  We could not even watch one of our local MPs debate with the deputy First Minster recently.  The response that you can view Scotland Tonight and other programmes online or on the “STV Player” is simply patronising.

One thing that has become obvious to me over the last two years is that dealing with the press and generating publicity for the Chamber is a job for a professional.  That of course has a cost implication and must be kept under review.  There are though huge benefits to the Chamber both in terms of increasing our membership and how we lobby our elected representatives and various other agencies and quangos.

Social media is also something that the Chamber is embracing.  Thanks in particular to Bruce.   Our new improved website is also just about to be launched.

Now to events.  This is something that the board keeps under review.  We are keen to do more joint events with other local business organisations and that is something the board is working on just now.  Our recent joint lunch with the FSB went very well.   We are also looking at possible joint initiatives with other business organisations such as the Exporters Club.   The benefits of this approach are obvious.

The Chamber has also held a number of very successful events this year.  A huge improvement on the previous year.  Bruce is already promoting our winter events programme.  One thing we have taken on board is that our members would also appreciate more of a chance to meet other members in a more relaxed setting.  “Informal networking on the last Friday of the month” now forms part of the events programme.  Again, as with our media coverage, our events play an important role in our ability to lobby our elected representatives.

Now to our finances.  Craig will outline this in more detail in a few minutes but we are in a much stronger position than we were a couple of years ago.  The Chamber also does not receive any public money.  A situation I personally hope continues.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank Craig for all the work he has done over the past two years regarding our finances.  As already mentioned, the work done by Bruce, Andrew and Alan does have a cost implication and must be kept under review but for the moment appears to be working well.

Now to the lobbying of our elected representatives which I have mentioned a couple of times already.  This is one of the primary tasks of the Chamber and has been one of the Chamber’s priorities over the last two years.  We are very lucky in the Borders that three of our elected representatives hold ministerial positions.  The Chamber has spent a great deal of time putting forward our views on an extremely wide range of topics to our local councillors, MSPs, MPs and MEPs.  That has included the importance of the partial return of our railway, business rates, the Ofcom consultation, the need for an abattoir in the Borders, the upgrading of the A1 and the urgency of improving other main roads, arguing for windfarm development where appropriate, various tourism issues, the strange workings of the so called ‘meat levy’, asking politicians to hold “business surgeries”, various banking issues and the importance of urgently improving our broadband and mobile phone services.

Our politicians want to engage with us.  Let’s not disappoint them.

It was also great to see the Scottish cabinet visit us recently.  It was also great to see the huge amount of positive coverage it gained for the Borders throughout Scotland notwithstanding the lateness of the invitations.

I am also delighted that our relationship with Scottish Borders Council has improved markedly and in particular I would like to thank Councillor Stuart Bell for our participation on the Council’s Economic Development Group and to Samantha Smith for all her help, support and advice in relation to the Scottish Borders Business Forum.  More on that initiative in a minute.  The Chamber was also involved in the discussions surrounding Scottish Borders Council’s “Scottish Borders Loan Fund”.   This is the kind of initiative the Chamber welcomes.

The Chamber not only has to engage with our politicians but a number of agencies and quangos.  I have often been asked what I think about bodies such as Visit Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.  My view is fairly straightforward.  I do not automatically believe that the Borders needs its own organisation for every sector, agency or quango or that the way we did things in the past was automatically better.  That said, organisations such as these – and this Chamber as well – must act transparently and make a huge effort to meet and talk to their respective stakeholders.  It does no-one, least of all business in the Borders, any favours to see yet another war of words between different groups and factions when it is likely that regular and transparent communication from all sides would solve many of the perceived issues.

As for our relationship with Scottish Chambers I must admit to being in two minds about this.  That though is a matter for my successor and the board.  I would though like to thank Ged Cowans, our vice-Convener, who is also standing down for all the work he has done representing our Chamber at numerous Scottish Chamber events.

On a personal note I am delighted that my idea of bringing the various business organisations together to discuss and debate the bigger issues affecting our businesses here in the Borders has been successful.  The new body is to be called the Scottish Borders Business Forum and its first event deals with a number of local transport issues and is being held on the 14^th of September.  That is a Saturday morning and is at Scottish Borders Council HQ starting at 9am.  It should last about two hours.  The meeting will have speakers from Transport Scotland, Scottish Borders Council, Network Rail and the Road Haulage Association.

I was also pleased that the Chamber agreed to donate the sum of £2,000 to this project.  The only business organisation so far to make such a contribution.  That will be used to make available online a list of all the business organisations in the Borders along with their contact details and also what events they have planned.  This is not rocket science and is long overdue.

As for Directors, a number of new Directors have recently been appointed:  Raymond Kerr, Nick Green and Paul Heyhoe.  Four directors resigned during the year:  Alan Dickson, Maggie Stanfield, Andrew Collier and Chad Dawtry.  Thanks to all of them for all they have done for the Chamber.

The membership of the board is obviously an ongoing process and the Chamber is always looking to hear from local business people who would like to get involved.  One thing I have not had as much success on as I would have hoped is the make-up of the board.  It is still male dominated.  That simply has to change and it is something that the board is looking at again.

The Chamber is also creating an association of former Directors of the Chamber.  The advantages to the Chamber of making use of the knowledge and experience of our former Directors are obvious.

A few final thoughts.  There are a huge number of great things going on here in the Borders.

Eyemouth Harbour can now receive cruise ships, our first crematorium is now in operation, the Borders Book Festival, the Border Union Show, the new 3G sports arena, plans are now in place for a purpose-built mountain bike chairlift at Innerleithen, our common ridings and festivals, our “Sevens” tournaments, our first palliative care unit and a site has been found for the Bill McLaren museum.   Let’s also not forget the newly refurbished Abbotsford House.  I am sure everyone here today could add many others to this list.

One reason I mentioned these things again concerns a letter I had published in the Southern Reporter a few months ago which received a great deal of comment.  I must admit I was getting sick and tired of the negativity surrounding the Borders that seem to dominate the letters pages of our local papers.  I simply wanted to point out some of the great things happening here in the Borders.

I also mentioned the negativity towards the return of the railway, which has been disgraceful, and I hope at last is at an end.  It gave a great deal of ammunition to those in other parts of Scotland who wanted the money spent on their patch.  We were accused of being divided and insular.  With this in mind, I would again ask those local politicians who even now seem reluctant to support the project to put the Borders first and get behind the campaign to take the railway to Melrose, Hawick and hopefully Carlisle.  This is a fantastic opportunity for the business community in the Borders and something the Chamber fully supports.

One of the reasons we lost our railway is that we were divided.  Let’s never let that happen again.  Hopefully the Scottish Borders Business Forum will give us the single business voice that we have not had up till now.

It is though not just about the railway.  The quality of our communication infrastructure is absolutely vital if business in the Borders is to remain competitive let alone expand.   The main roads that cross the Borders are simply not good enough.  This is a matter mainly for the Scottish Government and BEAR Scotland but also for Scottish Borders Council.  Regarding BEAR Scotland.  The amount of time it took them to resolve the landslip problem on the A68 between Earlston and Lauder was simply not good enough.  When we contacted them about this it was difficult to even persuade them to put signs up saying what the problem was.  When we contacted Scottish Borders Council to try and put pressure on BEAR Scotland about this their response was pretty much, “nothing to do with us”.  If our politicians and organisations such as BEAR Scotland do not understand the importance of roads such as the A68 to business here in the Borders this will make it much more difficult to retain or even entice more businesses to the Borders.  It is that simple.

So what do we want?  Of course we want to see the A1 dualled all the way to the Border.  We know that the other main roads into and out of the Borders are not going to be dualled.  That is why we are arguing for two or three more passing lanes on the A7 and A68 as a matter of urgency.  The Chamber will also be arguing very strongly for much improved broadband and mobile phone services for the Borders.

A few final words.

I am pleased to report that the Chamber remains in very good hands.  That brings me nicely to Jack Clark and Bruce Simpson.  Jack Clark is my successor as Convener and Bruce Simpson succeeds Ged Cowans as vice-Convener.  Both Jack and Bruce have done a power of work for the Chamber over the last few years. We will hear from both of them in a few minutes.

I would like to thank my fellow directors, both past and present, for all their support over the last two years.  Our board of directors are unpaid unless they also take on one of our paid roles and rarely even claim expenses.  A great deal of the work they do goes unreported.

Lastly, and by no means least, I would like to thank our members for their continued support of the Chamber.

I will finish where I began.  “As the leading business membership organisation in the Scottish Borders the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce is committed to representing the interests of the business community in the Scottish Borders.”

It has been an absolute pleasure and honour to represent the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce for the last two years.  Thank you.

“There is currently a 12 week waiting period before your PoA can be processed and returned to you. This week we will be working on PoAs received on and around 30th May 2013.

If there is a genuine urgency, we will expedite the registration of a PoA ‘on cause shown’. We ask that people respect this service and only use it in cases of true urgency to avoid defeating its purpose.”

More on this can be found here.

The latest HMRC Trusts & Estates newsletter can be found here.

“HMRC has published updated forms and guidance notes:

• C1 – Confirmation Inventory
• C2 – Inventory continued
• C5(2006) – Return of estate information
• C5(OUK)(2006) – Return of estate information(Person domiciled abroad & their UK assets consisted of cash/and or quoted stocks & shares only, gross value less than £150,000)
• C5(SE)(2006) – Information about small estates
• C3(2006) – Notes to help you fill in form C1 Confirmation Inventory and form C5(2006) HM Revenue & Customs return
• Integrated Inventory – contains form C1 confirmation and form C2 continuation

Forms C5(OUK)(2006) and C5(SE)(2006) are now online only forms.”

More on this can be found here.

Ask yourself a simple question: what happens to your digital assets on your death or if you are incapacitated?

I suspect for most people it is not an issue that has even occurred to them.

Digital assets come in many forms: computer programs installed on a PC, laptop, tablet or mobile phone (along with related files and documents), music, photos and videos (taken with phones and digital and cameras), as well as email, tweets and other social media content.  The list is almost endless and is likely to increase.  From Twitter to Facebook from PayPal to Flickr.

Your assets may have an economic value but it is more likely that it is the sentimental value that you will want to protect.

Determining whether or even how you can control the inheritance of your digital estate will depend on the particular service and/or content provider. Unfortunately there is no consistency of approach.

If you would like to know more about the issues surrounding digital legacies please contact: james@legalknowledgescotland.com

This is a very helpful announcement from OPG Scotland.

“We are aware that difficulties have been encountered when trying to use a non-Scottish Power of Attorney (PoA) in Scotland, as Organisations have not accepted the authority given in a non-Scottish PoA.

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 suggests a non-Scottish PoA is automatically valid in Scotland. Consequently there is no arrangement under the law for having it formally endorsed.

In recognition of the difficulties experienced and to offer support we have devised a Certificate which can be printed and presented along with the PoA to an Organisation. This may assist in getting a non-Scottish PoA accepted in Scotland. If you need more information generally or about how best you might proceed in a given case please contact e-mail opg@scotcourts.gov.uk“

More on this can be found here.

There are signs that the quality of the Scottish independence debate is at last improving.  The ‘NO’ campaign’s relentless negativity is now being commented on and it is also being asked questions concerning what happens if Scotland votes ‘NO’.  The ‘YES’ campaign also seems to be finding its feet and the Scottish Government has published a number of detailed policy papers.  It is though it’s “White Paper” that is eagerly anticipated.    

Further evidence for this improvement comes from the Law Society of Scotland.  The Law Society published its paper titled: “Scotland’s Constitutional Future Views, opinions and questions” this week.  The paper can be found here.  This is an excellent contribution to the debate and asks questions of both sides.

In particular I liked its comments surrounding Scotland’s membership of the European Union.  It is quite obvious to anyone but the most one-eyed commentator that it is going to be very difficult to get more clarity on this issue without the cooperation of the UK Government.  It seems, and for purely political reasons, that the UK Government does not want clarity on this issue.

The following quote from the paper is also telling: “Scotland, as part of the United Kingdom, complies with the European Union treaties and the EU acquis ((all the EU laws, treaties, declarations and resolutions, international agreements and the decisions of the European Court of Justice, i.e. Europe as it is). Whether by way of accession or amendment to the treaties following negotiation, Scotland should be able to qualify, in legal terms, for EU membership in its own right.”  I was also pleased to see that Sir David Edward’s (a former judge of the European Court of Justice and one of the foremost European lawyers in Scotland) common sense analysis of this issue being quoted.

As someone who spent a great deal of time researching and writing about the options for the devolving of substantial tax and fiscal powers to the Scottish Parliament, I was also very pleased to see the ‘NO’ campaign being asked some basic questions such as “which powers” and “when” if Scotland votes ‘NO’.

Now to Wales.  It seems that the UK Government is going to consult again on whether control of SDLT is to be devolved to the Welsh Parliament.  The following story on this from the BBC website shows the increasing frustration at the UK Government’s continued delaying tactics.  The reality is that Westminster only devolves power as a matter of last resort.  All the usual tactics are being used here and in particular the need for yet another consultation.  The latest consultation can be found here and the report from the BBC news website can be found here.

Let’s now take a minute and compare and contrast the next few stories.

An independent Scotland would offer tax incentives to film and TV productions according to Scotland’s Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.  More on this can be found here.

The Scottish Government has condemned a High Court decision that ruled applying a cap on housing benefits for disabled people lawful.  Firstly it would be helpful if the news reports explained or clearly stated that this was the “High Court” of England & Wales.  That said, Scottish Housing Minister Margaret Burgess has demanded, and it seems has had some success, that Scotland gets a fair share of the £35m funding pot set aside for those hardest hit. 

Interestingly she also said:  “The bedroom tax will hit the poorest hardest and it is wrong that it applies to people in crisis such as those in temporary accommodation and some supported accommodation.”  “Scotland is disproportionately disadvantaged because much of Scotland’s temporary accommodation is affected by the bedroom tax, unlike in England. The majority of our temporary accommodation is local authority owned, which is not the case in England.”  That begs the question:  Would a Scottish court have come to a different decision?  More on this can be found here.

The UK Government has outlined plans to give tax breaks to companies involved in the UK’s nascent shale gas industry.  It has proposed cutting the tax on some of the income generated from producing shale gas – found in underground shale rock formations – from 62% to just 30%.  This proposal has been criticised by environmentalists, with Friends of the Earth calling them a “disgrace”.  Just how generous are these tax breaks? Gas production is typically taxed at 62% although in some parts of the North Sea long standing operations are taxed at up to 81%.  More on this from the BBC news website can be found here.

Sometimes you have to wonder if Scotland exists.  Will the so-called “Mansion Tax” apply to Scotland?  No.  Do almost all the news stories refer to “Britain”?  Of course they do.  See for example this one from the Independent which can be found here.

11 of the 22 high-value settlements reached by HMRC last year were considered inadequate by the Tax Assurance Commissioner’s office, according to its first annual report. The office was created in February 2012 in response to criticisms of HMRC’s handling of big-money tax disputes.  More on this from Pinsent Masons can be found here.

Now to matters slightly further afield. 

Jersey fights back?  A report commissioned by Jersey Finance has found that Jersey helps the UK generate £2.3bn in tax revenues each year and supports 180,000 UK jobs by channelling foreign investment into the UK. It estimates that losses to the UK Treasury through legal tax avoidance via Jersey are well under £480m a year, while annual evasion costs are less than £150m.  More on this can be found here.

The French Government is to extend the capital gains tax exemption for second homes to properties owned for 22 years, rather than the current 30 year requirement. The 30-year rule was introduced by the previous Sarkozy government in February 2012 to replace the previous qualifying ownership period of only 15 years, but it accelerated the slump in France’s residential property market.  More on this from the Telegraph can be found here.  A good example of the schizophrenic relationship that exists between certain parts of the UK and France.

Early data collected by Swiss banks from their UK clients under the UK-Swiss tax regularisation agreement suggest that it may reveal far less untaxed income than the UK Government has claimed.  More on this from STEP can be found here.

An Irish parliamentary committee has voted down calls for multinational companies to be grilled in Dublin about their tax affairs, in the wake of a string of controversies at firms such as Google and Apple which use the Irish tax regime. Some of Apple’s largest Irish subsidiaries were found not to be tax resident anywhere, prompting Carl Levin, chair of the US Senate subcommittee on investigations, to call Ireland a tax haven.  More on this from the Guardian can be found here.

The Australian Tax Office will next year conduct 680 reviews and 115 audits of people suspected of using ‘secrecy jurisdictions’ to avoid paying tax.  This is in addition to 1,500 income tax reviews and audits of wealthy individual taxpayers.  More on this can be found here.

The US Internal Revenue Service has begun a drive against multinational companies whose permanent establishment strategies result in some profits not being taxed in any country, so-called “stateless income”.  More on this from Reuters can be found here.

The Spanish government is threatening to open tax investigations into the 6,000 Gibraltar residents who own property in Spain.  This is seemingly in retaliation for the Gibraltar Government’s attempts to exclude Spanish fishing vessels from its waters.  Spain is also considering imposing a €50 tax on vehicles entering or leaving Gibraltar; restricting the use of Spanish airspace to planes bound for Gibraltar; and taxing the many Gibraltar-based Internet gambling companies.  More on this from the BBC website can be found here.

I was asked this week to comment on some of the initial tax related issues that the Scottish Parliament might have to consider if Scotland votes ‘YES’.

The first comment I made was that the Scottish Parliament should pretty much enact the UK tax system on independence.  The Scottish Parliament should then take its time in deciding what to keep and what to change.  That said, there are a number of matters it might have to look at early on.

Let’s start with VAT.  Only if Scotland becomes independent will it have control, or at least as much control as is possible, of VAT.  The Scottish Parliament could reduce the VAT rate on home repairs and renovations to 5%.  Something our building industry has long been arguing for.  The Scottish Parliament could also ensure that Police and Fire & Rescue Scotland can recover their VAT costs.  This is something the UK Treasury has so far resisted.

The Scottish Parliament could look again at what constitutes a charity in Scotland and with that which entities should receive the associated tax and other benefits.  “Private” or “independent” schools for example.  This is an issue that should not just be left to OSCR, the body that regulates charities in Scotland.

Then there is the debate surrounding a European Union “financial transaction tax”.  An independent Scotland will have to consider its position on this.  If a number of European countries decide to go ahead with this then the Scottish Parliament will have to decide if it wants to join them.  One option could be to agree to a FTT and at the same time abolish stamp duty on shares.

Now to environmental taxes.  The Scottish Parliament might want to consider introducing a carbon tax.  The debate in Australia shows how difficult this might be.   Independence does though mean tough decisions.

Then there is local taxation.  I am sure “Land Value Tax” supporters will be pressing their case even more strongly if Scotland votes ‘YES’.

Now to administration.  Lots of opportunities here for simplifying things. There is no need for Scotland to have a separate Companies House, Stamp Office and Registers of Scotland.  “One stop shops” for the services provided by these bodies is a minimum of what we could do.  We could even create “tax and benefits” centres throughout the country that are based in our local authority buildings.

Then there is “tax avoidance” and “tax evasion”.  The Scottish Parliament could consider publishing at least a summary of each tax return or legislate for published beneficial ownership registers.

Just a few thoughts.

The latest update from the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) on the current Powers of Attorney position can be found here.

The update includes the following:

“We are delighted that uptake of the electronic process for submitting powers of attorney is becoming increasingly popular. This system is easy to use and allows PoAs to be registered within a matter of days.  We would urge you, if you have not used the electronic format, to please give this active consideration. “

I was interested to see that OSCR, Scotland’s charity watchdog, has authorised Scotland’s 23,500 charities and voluntary organisations to take an active role in the independence debate if they wish.

One issue that is important to the charity sector is tax.  Charities for the most part do not pay tax.  Another important issue for the charity sector is administration and in particular when applying to become a charity.

It will be a surprise to many that just because a charity is registered with OSCR it is not automatically entitled to the various applicable tax reliefs.  A charity has to make a separate application to HMRC.

This causes two complications.  Charity law in Scotland differs from that of the rest of the UK.   For example Scotland’s list of “charitable purposes” is different. That is the first complication.

The second complication is that HMRC apply English and Welsh charity law principles.  This means that there is potentially less work for let’s say an English registered charity, as its original application to its Charity Commission was based on English and Welsh legal principles. A Scottish charity has to also ensure its application to HMRC meets English and Welsh charity law.

It this a huge issue? No.  Is it an issue that can cause problems?  Yes.  Was there a simple solution?  Of course there was.

The simple solution was if a charity is recognised by OSCR it should automatically be recognised by HMRC.  This was a matter I and others argued for before the Calman Commission.  Tax simplification is often talked about but rarely achieved.  This was an obvious opportunity.

How did I get on I hear you ask?  Not only did Calman not agree to this relatively simple measure but recommended that that some parts of Scottish charity law should be re-reserved.

The Scotland Act 2012 did not in fact re-reserve this area of responsibility in whole or even part.  I suspect that the main reason for this was how this would have looked at this particularly politically sensitive time.   The Scotland Act did in fact do nothing on this particular matter.

Possibly something for charities in Scotland to reflect on.