Standing Orders (Changes)

– in the Scottish Parliament at 12:14 pm on 19 December 2002.

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Photo of Murray Tosh Murray Tosh Conservative 12:14, 19 December 2002

The next item of business is consideration of motion S1M-3716, in the name of Murray Tosh, on the Procedures Committee's fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh reports, on changes to the standing orders.

Photo of Kenneth Macintosh Kenneth Macintosh Labour 12:25, 19 December 2002

Motion S1M-3716 seeks the Parliament's approval for a number of changes to standing orders that are proposed in the Procedures Committee's fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh reports of 2002. If approved, the changes will come into force on 6 January 2003.

On 10 October, the Parliament agreed to the recommendation in our fourth report of 2002 for a change to standing orders in relation to the Scottish parliamentary standards commissioner. We now seek the Parliament's approval for the other recommendations in that report on private legislation, temporary conveners and the journal of the Scottish Parliament.

As well as constituting a tidying exercise, the private legislation changes clarify the deadline for lodging objections and make it clear that no further fee is payable for reintroduced private bills.

The proposed temporary convener changes will result in committees being able to appoint a temporary convener if both convener and deputy convener are unavailable, for which standing orders do not provide at the moment.

The journal of the Parliament is the Parliament's authoritative record. The changes to standing orders seek to clarify that it should contain the dates of publication of committee reports, the details of each bill that is introduced and the minutes of meetings of the Parliament.

The Procedures Committee's fifth report of 2002 recommends that the conveners group should be constituted formally in standing orders, following recommendations from the conveners liaison group and the Parliamentary Bureau. The conveners liaison group has met informally since 1999. The Procedures Committee recommends the formalisation of the group and its functions in standing orders.

The first three recommendations in the committee's sixth report relate to answering written parliamentary questions.

The first recommendation seeks to help to streamline the work of the Executive and the chamber desk. It will enable full account to be taken of the reduction in the number of working days available for the processing of answers to parliamentary questions that arises from public holidays and days when the office of the clerk is closed. Instead of 14 days, the Executive will have 10 working days or, to use a more accurate expression, counting days—days when the office of the clerk is open—in which to lodge an answer to a written question. As the change will not lengthen the period for answering questions, it will not disadvantage members.

The second recommendation seeks to reduce the potential for holding answers, by extending the period for lodging written questions immediately before recesses of four or more days from one week to two weeks. At present, the deadline for answering written questions that are lodged in the second week before the summer recess falls in the first week of the parliamentary recess, when many Executive staff are on leave. That can lead to more holding answers. We hope that the proposed measure will help to avoid that.

The third recommendation seeks to clarify that junior Scottish ministers should be permitted to answer written questions.

The fourth recommendation in the committee's sixth report relates to the language in which public petitions are submitted. Following a report by parliamentary officials and the endorsement of the Presiding Officer, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body and the Public Petitions Committee, we recommend that the Parliament should accept public petitions in any language and that appropriate arrangements should be made for translation.

Finally, the recommendations of the committee's seventh report of 2002 relate to the remit of the Audit Committee. They seek a change that will allow the Audit Committee to consider any report that the Auditor General for Scotland makes to the Parliament.

Although each individual change is small, the committee believes that they will result in distinct improvements to procedures in those areas of parliamentary business to which they apply.

I move,

That the Parliament approves the recommendations (a) for changes to the Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament concerning Private Legislation, Temporary Conveners and the Journal of the Scottish Parliament contained in the Procedures Committee's 4th Report 2002, Changes to Standing Orders concerning the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, European Committee remit, Private Legislation, Temporary Conveners and the Journal of the Scottish Parliament (SP Paper 665), (b) of the Procedures Committee's 5th Report 2002, Constituting the Conveners' Group (SP Paper 682), (c) of the Procedures Committee's 6th Report 2002, Changes to Standing Orders concerning Written

Parliamentary Questions and the Languages of Public Petitions (SP Paper 693) and (d) of the Procedures Committee's 7th Report 2002, A Change to Standing Orders concerning the remit of the Audit Committee (SP Paper 692) and agrees that those amendments to the Standing Orders should come into force on 6 January 2003.

Photo of Euan Robson Euan Robson Liberal Democrat 12:28, 19 December 2002

The Executive welcomes and endorses the recommended changes to standing orders that are outlined in the Procedures Committee's fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh reports of 2002.

The suggested changes, some of which were initially proposed by the Executive, will assist in making more effective and efficient the discharge of parliamentary business. I want to place on record the Executive's acknowledgement of the committee's careful consideration of the issues.

Photo of Murray Tosh Murray Tosh Conservative

The question on motion S1M-3716 will be put at decision time.

Meeting suspended until 14:30.

On resuming—