Commentary on provisions of Act Section 69: Transfers of property etc to the Scottish Ministers
Section 69 amends section 60(3) of the Scotland Act 1998. Section 60 confers a power to provide for (a) the transfer to the Scottish Ministers of any property belonging to a Minister of the Crown or government department, (b) the Scottish Ministers to have rights or interests in relation to such property and (c) the transfer to the Scottish Ministers of any liabilities to which a Ministers of the Crown or government department is subject. The scope of the power is limited by subsection (3) of that section to any transfer or sharing of functions of a Minister of the Crown by virtues of section 53, 63 or 89 of the Scotland Act 1998 or any other circumstances which the person making the legislation considers it appropriate to do so for the purposes of the Scotland Act 1998.
	The amendment to subsection (3) will allow transfer of property, rights or interests in relation to such property and liabilities, to the Scottish Ministers in connection with the transfer or sharing of functions of a Minister of the Crown to the Scottish Ministers by virtue of this Act. This Act provides for the transfer or sharing of functions:
by way of general transfer of functions (see the gloss of section 53 by sections 9, 32 and 51;
by textual amendment where legislative competence is also transferring;
by textual amendment where there is no transfer of legislative competence; and
where the consequential power in section 71 is used to transfer a function to the Scottish Ministers.
	Without an amendment to section 60, the power in that section could not be used following a transfer of functions in the last three class of cases. The first category would be within the scope of the existing power as section 53 is glossed.