Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament. page :7

Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament

Committees of the Parliament

58. In section 2, we set out our proposals for all-purpose subject Committees, which would combine the role of the Westminster Standing and Select Committee, with the following functions:

to consider and report on the policy and administration of the Scottish Administration;
to conduct inquiries into such matters or issues as the Parliament may require;
to scrutinise primary and secondary legislation and proposed European Union legislation;
to initiate legislation;
to scrutinise financial proposals and administration of the Scottish Executive (including variation of taxes, estimates, appropriation and audit); and
to scrutinise procedures relating to the Parliament and its Members (including adherence to those procedures).

59. In all cases the Committees should report to the Parliament with recommendations.

60. While we have taken the general view that it should be for the Parliament, once established, to make the final decision on its Committee structure and the remit of those Committees, we concluded, however, that there are certain Committees whose functions are so fundamental to the running of the Parliament that these should be required to be established. These Committees are:

a Business Committee;
a Procedures Committee;
a Standards Committee;
an Audit Committee;
a Finance Committee;
a European Committee;
an Equal Opportunities Committee;
a Public Petitions Committee;
a Delegated Legislation Committee.

Business Committee

61. We recommend that Standing Orders should provide for a Business Committee to be established as soon as possible after each General Election to the Scottish Parliament.

62. The functions of the Business Committee should be:

to prepare the programme of Business of the Parliament;
to timetable the daily order of Business for the Plenary session;
to timetable the progress of legislation in Committees;
to propose the remit, membership, duration and budget of Committees; and
any other tasks (other than SPCB functions) related to the conduct of the Parliament's business which the Parliament may ask it to perform.

63. The members of the Business Committee should be: the Presiding Officer (as Convener of the Business Committee) and a Member nominated by the leader of each party with 5 or more Members elected to the Parliament. We expect that each party will want to be represented by its Business Manager. Independents and smaller parties should be able to gain representation on the Business Committee if they group together to form a group with 5 or more Members. Such a grouping should be able to nominate a representative to sit on the Business Committee.

64. The two Deputy Presiding Officers, and the Chair of the Committee of Conveners, should one be established, should be entitled to attend meetings of the Business Committee but not to vote. The only exception to this should be where the Presiding Officer was temporarily unable to exercise his or her functions as Convener of the Business Committee. In such a situation, a Deputy Presiding Officer should act in the capacity of Convener.

65. There should be no quorum for the Business Committee. Members of the Business Committee unable to attend a meeting of the Committee should be entitled to send a substitute in their place.

66. Should the Business Committee require to vote on any issue within its remit, voting should be weighted to reflect the number of Members in the Parliament which each participant on the Committee represents. The Presiding Officer, or his or her Deputy if in the chair, should have only a casting vote in the event of a tie.

67. It should be the responsibility of the Business Committee to determine the forward programme of business, except for that Parliamentary business which is elsewhere determined in Standing Orders.

68. The Business Committee should put a regular programme of business to the Parliament for the Parliament to approve. It should agree the timetable for the consideration of legislation in Committees (subject to any provisions elsewhere in Standing Orders about timing of stages of Bills). It should also agree an overall timetable for the consideration of other business in the Committees, including the conduct of inquiries. Parliamentary Committees should be able to programme their own business within the timescale agreed by the Parliament on the proposal of the Business Committee.

69. The Business motion should be debatable but the debate on it should be time limited to 30 minutes. Members should be able to table amendments to the Business Programme, provided at least 10 MSPs subscribe to the amendment. Debate on any single amendment should be limited to one speaker for, and one speaker against, each speaking for no more than 3 minutes. The Executive's representative on the Business Committee would be expected to speak for the Business motion.

70. The Business Committee should also plan the daily timetable of business in the Plenary, including the timetabling of debates on Bills.

71. The Business Committee should make recommendations to the Parliament for the establishment, terms of reference, budget, membership and duration of Committees of the Parliament.

72. In making recommendations on membership the Business Committee should take into account the expertise of Members, any preferences expressed by Members, the requirements of the Scotland Act (eg as to the balance of parties) and of the law generally (eg regarding equal opportunities).

73. It should be open to any Member to propose the establishment of a Committee: the Business Committee should consider any such proposals and report with recommendations to the Parliament.

74. Business Committee recommendations on the establishment of Committees and sub-Committees should require the approval of the Parliament.

Standards Committee

75. A Standards Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 should be established for the duration of the Parliament.

76. The remit of the Standards Committee will be informed by the report from Code of Conduct Working Group.

Procedures Committee

77. A Procedures Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 should be established for the duration of the Parliament.

78. The remit of the Procedures Committee should be to consider the practice and procedures of the Parliament in relation to its public business, to monitor, review and advise upon the Parliament's Standing Orders, to monitor the Parliament's performance in applying the CSG key principles and to make recommendations.

Audit Committee

79. The Parliament should establish an Audit Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 for the duration of the Parliament.

80. The remit of the Audit Committee should be to consider financial audit reports commissioned by the Auditor General for Scotland. The Audit Committee will also monitor matters of regularity and propriety within the Parliament and Executive. In addition, the Audit Committee may, separately or in conjunction with the relevant subject Committee when this is appropriate, consider the findings of value for money studies commissioned by the Auditor General for Scotland.

Finance Committee

81. The Parliament should establish a Finance Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 for the duration of the Parliament.

82. The remit of the Finance Committee should be to comment on reports on financial issues provided by the subject Committees and, having given due consideration to the financial performance of the Executive, scrutinise the Executive's budget proposals. The Committee may also consider issues relating to the Executive's budgetary policy, as well as performance monitoring issues relating to wide ranging financial matters such as the assigned budget and the annual financial report. The Finance Committee will also support the Business Committee in co-ordinating the progress of financial legislation.

European Committee

83. The Parliament should establish a European Committee for the duration of the Parliament.

84. The remit of the European Committee should be: to sift relevant EU-related documents on behalf of the Parliament, and to take further action as necessary, whether through further consideration of the documents within the European Committee or through referral to the relevant subject Committee or to the Plenary; and to debate wider EU topics.

85. It should have between 5 and 15 members, recommended by the Business Committee. In recommending members to the European Committee, the Business Committee should recommend members already recommended to other Committees whose work is considered relevant to that of the European Committee, although not to the exclusion of those not so recommended.

86. The Convener of the European Committee should not be a Convener of another Committee considered relevant to the European Committee.

Equal Opportunities Committee

87. The Parliament should establish an Equal Opportunities Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 for the duration of the Parliament.

88. The remit of the Equal Opportunities Committee will be to develop equal opportunities policies for the Parliament and to monitor the delivery of equal opportunities within the policy making of the Parliament with the aim of ensuring mainstreaming of equal opportunities.

Public Petitions Committee

89. The Parliament should establish a Public Petitions Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 for the duration of the Parliament.

90. The remit of the Public Petitions Committee should be to decide whether the remedy sought by the petitioner falls within the competence of the Parliament; to acknowledge receipt of all petitions within 5 sitting days and to inform petitioners of the action and decisions the Committee had taken within 42 sitting days.

Delegated Legislation Committee

91. The Parliament should establish a Delegated Legislation Committee with a membership of 5 to 15 for the duration of the Parliament.

92. Its remit should be: to examine the provisions within Bills conferring powers to make subordinate legislation and to report; and to examine subordinate legislation brought before the Parliament to assess whether it is intra-vires. The Committee should be able to report its concerns on any technical aspect of subordinate legislation.

General Membership of Committees and Sub-Committees

93. Paragraph 71 above sets out our proposals for the role of the Business Committee in making recommendations for the establishment and membership of general all purpose Committees as described in paragraph 12 of section 2. The Business Committee should also consider requests from MSPs or Committees for a particular Committee to be disbanded. Recommendations on such disbandment should be put to the Parliament for its approval. The Business Committee should be able to put such a recommendation to the Parliament, without a request from an MSP or Committee.

94. Committees should have the right to establish sub-Committees. Membership of sub-Committees shall be approved by the relevant Committee. Proposals for the establishment and remit of sub-Committees should be approved by the Business Committee, and approved by the Parliament in the same way as establishment of Committees.

95. Only MSPs may be full voting members of Committees. Any MSP may put him/herself forward for consideration as a member of a Committee (other than the Business Committee) by submitting a formal indication of interest to the Business Committee.

96. Each Committee should have between 5 and 15 members.

97. In making recommendations on Committee membership to the Plenary, the Business Committee must have due regard to the balance of parties within the Parliament. Selection of members must not be on the basis of random selection.

98. The Business Committee, having due regard to the balance of parties within the Parliament, should propose the political party from which a Committee's Convener should be elected. The Committee's members would then elect their Convener subject to that limitation.

99. Should an MSP who is a member of a Committee no longer be able or wish to fulfil that role, the Business Committee should recommend a replacement member, again having due regard to the balance of parties within the Parliament.

100. Should the Committee Convener no longer be able to fulfil his or her role, the Committee should elect a new Convener from the same party. If there is no other representative of that political group on the Committee, the Business Committee should indicate the party or political grouping from which a new Committee Convener should be chosen, having due regard to the balance of parties within the Parliament.

Quorums

101. A quorum of 3 Members must be reached by Committees both for consideration of business and for voting. Only MSPs should be counted in respect of the calculation of a quorum. Committees which are not quorate should not be able to meet. The only exception to this is the Business Committee, proposals for which are detailed below.

Witnesses and Documents

102. Standing Orders should authorise all Committees of the Parliament to exercise the power provided in section 23 of the Scotland Act to call for witnesses and documents.

Reporters

103. Committees should have the right to appoint from their members, should they wish, a reporter in whose name a report would be submitted to the Plenary. This should be a broad provision which would encourage but not oblige Committees to appoint reporters. It is not proposed that Standing Orders should prescribe the potential functions which a reporter might adopt within the Committee, as this should be dependent on the wishes of a particular Committee.

Power of Summons

104. Sections 23 to 26 of the Scotland Act give the Parliament the power, subject to certain conditions and exclusions, to require persons to attend its proceedings to give evidence, or to produce documents.

105. It is anticipated that witnesses and documents will usually be invited rather than summoned to attend proceedings. In general, the Parliament should summon witnesses with a reasonable period of notice, because to do otherwise might provide witnesses or those providing documents with what the courts could interpret as a "reasonable excuse" not to comply. However, matters will depend on the circumstances of each case and there could be cases where a very short period of notice is appropriate.

106. It is proposed that Standing Orders should not therefore provide for a minimum notice period, but leave as much flexibility as possible to the Parliament.

Oath

107. Section 26 of the Scotland Act provides that the Presiding Officer, or other person authorised by Standing Orders, may administer an oath or require that a person attending take an oath or affirmation.

108. As most witnesses will be appearing in front of Committees, Standing Orders should provide for Committee Conveners to require that an oath be taken, and for the oath to be administered by the Clerk to the Committee in such circumstances.

Travel and Subsistence

109. Section 26, subsection (4) of the Scotland Act allows Standing Orders to provide for the payment of allowances and expenses to those giving evidence or producing documents to the Parliament.

110. We propose that Standing Orders should make provision for such payment to be made, but that the SPCB should be left to decide the specific administrative arrangements and the amounts to be paid.

Participation of Ministers in Committee proceedings

111. While it would not be appropriate for Ministers to participate in Committee proceedings which involve scrutinising the Executive, there should be a role for Ministers in Committee work which involves the consideration of legislation, either primary or secondary, as the presence of a Minister during the discussion would be invaluable in indicating the intentions of the Executive and the likelihood of suggested amendments being acceptable to the Government. At the same time, the Parliament, through its Committees, will want the Government to explain its proposed legislation. Standing Orders should set down which Committee functions should be undertaken with a contribution from Ministers.

112. Standing Orders should provide for the Minister responsible for a particular piece of legislation (or his or her representative) to participate in the work of a Committee when that Committee is scrutinising that legislation (whether it be primary, secondary or draft European legislation). The Minister should not have voting rights on the Committee.

113. The same provision should be extended to any other Member who is responsible for a piece of legislation before the Committee (eg on a Private Member's Bill). Again any MSP should have the right to attend Committee proceedings, unless they are excluded following a motion passed in Plenary. Non-members of Committees should have no voting rights, and should not count towards the calculation of a quorum.

Location of Committees

114. We recommend that, once the remits of the Committees of the Scottish Parliament have been agreed, the Parliament should identify a number of Committees which should be permanently based in a location other than Edinburgh. The location should be relevant to the remit of the particular Committee, taking into account the location of the people most affected by the decisions of the Committee, and the objective of spreading the location of some Committees geographically around Scotland. All subject Committees should be encouraged to meet around Scotland.

Budgets

115. Committees' budgets should be allocated at the start of each financial year with the agreement of the Parliament on the recommendation of the Business Committee, which would thereafter be responsible for the monitoring of Committees' expenditure. Should a Committee wish to exceed their budget they should be required by Standing Orders to seek the Business Committee's approval. Should the Business Committee decide not to approve the Committee's proposal then it should be open to the Committee to put the matter to a vote of the whole House via a motion that should be both debatable and amendable. In addition, should Members need to travel overseas on business related to the Parliament, then they should be required to give the Business Committee prior notification.

Summary of Recommendations for Standing Orders

Standing Orders should provide that:

Presiding Officer

when there is no Presiding Officer, the oldest Member in the Parliament, who is not a candidate for the posts of Presiding Officer, Deputy Presiding Officer or First Minister, should preside over the election of the Presiding Officer or Deputy.
during the first stage of the election of the Presiding Officer, nominations, which should be seconded, should be made from the Plenary. A set period should be allowed for such nominations to be made. A successful candidate should be given the opportunity to speak to accept election after the vote.
nominations should be able to be made only at the beginning of the process, not between successive votes.
a ballot should be held, overseen by the Clerk and 2 scrutineers drawn by lots from the members who are not candidates.
if there are more than 2 candidates, the candidate receiving the fewest number of votes in the first ballot should drop out, and successive ballots should be held until a clear winning candidate has been identified.
the winning candidate should command the support of a simple majority of Members voting, subject to a quorum for the number of Members voting of 25% of all the seats in the Parliament.
if a clear winner is not identified, the process should begin afresh.
the DPOs should be elected successively after the Presiding Officer. If the Presiding Officer and first Deputy Presiding Officer elected came from the same political party, then nominations for the second Deputy Presiding Officer should not be allowed for candidates from that party.
the Presiding Officer should have only a casting vote in the proceedings of the Parliament.
there should be no restriction on the DPOs' powers to participate in debate or to vote unless they are presiding over the business of the Parliament at the time, when they should have only a casting vote.
the Presiding Officer and the Deputies may resign at any time. The Deputy Presiding Officers should intimate resignation to the Presiding Officer, who should announce the resignation to Parliament. The Presiding Officer should announce his/her resignation to Parliament. Resignations should be published.
there should be a maximum period of 14 sitting days between the resignation of a Presiding Officer or Deputy Presiding Officer and the holding of an election for a successor.
the Presiding Officer may be removed from office only by an absolute majority of the number of seats in the Parliament: ie, at least 65 votes in favour of removal would be required. The same should apply to Deputy Presiding Officers.
the Presiding Officer should be able to delegate any of his/her functions to the Deputy Presiding Officers, subject to the provisions of the Scotland Act.

Scottish Executive

the appointment of the First Minister should have 3 main stages:
- nomination of a candidate by the Parliament;
- recommendation of the nominated candidate by the Presiding Officer to Her Majesty for appointment;
- appointment of the First Minister by Her Majesty.
any MSP, provided they are supported by a proposer and a seconder, should be able to stand for nomination for First Minister. The names of candidates should be submitted to the Presiding Officer. Following this an election or series of elections should take place by means of a roll call vote of MSPs, in which names should be progressively eliminated until one candidate emerged who enjoyed the support of a simple majority of MSPs. A quorum for voting, subject to 25% of the total number of seats, would be required. The successful candidate should then be recommended by the Presiding Officer to Her Majesty the Queen for appointment.
the same procedure as for the appointment of Scottish Ministers should be used for the appointment of Junior Ministers and Law Officers.
a simple majority of those voting should be required to signify the Parliament's agreement to a Law Officer's removal.
any Member should be able to present a motion of no confidence in the Executive. This would be a debatable and amendable motion and would require a simple majority for approval. If 26 or more MSPs sign a motion of no confidence, there should be an obligation on the Parliament to programme time for that motion to be debated and voted upon.
the Parliament should also be able to consider a motion of no confidence in a named Minister.
the Presiding Officer should notify the Parliament of any resignations made by Members of the Scottish Executive.
Law Officers should be subject to Standing Orders in all relevant cases where they apply to them.

Oaths

the Clerk should officiate over the taking of oaths as the first business after an election prior to the election of the Presiding Officer.

Resignations

resignations by MSPs should be notified to the Parliament by being lodged with the Clerk by the Presiding Officer and by being published.

Vacancies

the date of a constituency vacancy should be determined as being the date which is announced to the Parliament by the Presiding Officer or certified by the Presiding Officer.

SPCB

the 4 members of the SPCB should be elected by ballot. Nominations should be sought from the Plenary, and nominees should be supported by one proposer and one seconder. The election process should be similar to that for the election of the Presiding Officer and Deputies.
the Parliament should be able to elect a new member to the SPCB when it wants, and the Presiding Officer should also be able to appoint members to the SPCB.
resignations of members of the SPCB should be intimated to the Presiding Officer, who should announce the resignation to Parliament and ensure that it is published.
new appointments to the SPCB should take place after each General Election.

Committees

All-purpose Subject Committees

the Parliament should be able to establish Committees able to:
- consider and report on the policy and administration of the Scottish Administration;
- conduct inquiries into such matters or issues as the Parliament may require;
- scrutinise primary and secondary legislation and proposed European Union legislation;
- initiate legislation;
- scrutinise financial proposals and administration of the Scottish Executive (including variation of taxes, estimates, appropriation and audit); and
- scrutinise procedures relating to the Parliament and its Members (including adherence to those procedures).
in all cases, Committees should report to the Parliament with recommendations.