– in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 November 2023.
Craig Hoy
Conservative
On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance on how parliamentary process can be correctly followed to secure answers on the £11,000 Michael Matheson iPad scandal. On behalf of our constituents, we have tried repeatedly to get answers from the Government and the Parliament but, since last Thursday, we have been frustrated at every turn.
Mr Matheson has referred himself to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, but yesterday the self-same body said that no such process exists. Topical questions have been rejected. Urgent Questions have been refused. Debate requests have been dismissed. A request for a further statement received the response that such a statement would be inadmissible, and all the while, the facts keep changing.
The lesson from all great political scandals is that the cover-up is often worse than the crime. It is now abundantly clear that the Scottish National Party is in an industrial cover-up and is closing ranks to avoid the truth getting out.
We have it on record that the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care have all misled the Parliament in recent times, but nothing has happened—no corrections, no apologies and no proper investigations. I cannot understand how that meets the obligations of our standing orders, which ensure that the code of conduct is followed by members, regardless of how senior their position is in Government.
To our constituents watching at home, the Parliament appears to be totally toothless, whether on the iPad scandal or the deleted WhatsApp messages. Words and standards apparently count for nothing for the SNP Government.
The health secretary has been accused by journalists of lying to the Scottish press. Members and the Scottish public deserve to know the truth of that charge, but, sadly, it is increasingly clear that the Scottish ministers are hiding behind the Parliament’s rigid rules and inflexible timetabling to evade investigation and interrogation.
In summary, Deputy Presiding Officer, I seek your guidance on how the Parliament can compel the evasive and scandal-hit health secretary to answer key questions on an issue that has rightly enraged our constituents and the entire country.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
Thank you, Mr Hoy.
In response to the point that you have raised in relation to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, it has indicated that self-referral is not possible, but it has also indicated that it is due to meet tomorrow to consider the matter further and it will issue a statement following that meeting.
On the code of conduct, as you will know, that is a matter that is agreed by Parliament, but it is for the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee to consider and report on the adoption, Amendment and application of any code of conduct for members. Any revisions to that have to be agreed by Parliament on the basis of recommendations from the committee. Therefore, if you have concerns, you may wish to consider writing to the convener of that committee.
As you will know, the business of the Parliament is agreed at the Parliamentary Bureau. You may wish to consider speaking to your business manager about that. When a business motion is brought before the Parliament, as will be amply demonstrated shortly, there is an opportunity to speak against it.
An Urgent Question, formerly a Private Notice Question (PNQ), is a question in the House of Commons of an urgent nature, for which no previous notice has been given, relating to a matter of public importance or the arrangement of business. An Urgent Question may be taken at the end of Question Time if it has been submitted to, and approved by, the Speaker. The Minister concerned must be notified before the question is asked. Private Notice Questions became Urgent Questions at the start of the 2002/03 session. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 on the UK Parliament website.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
