Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, November 18, 2021

Official Report 1088KB pdf

Point of Order

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. In the spirit of the comments that the minister has just made, I appeal to you for help in relation to an important matter that affects members. The accountability of the Government to the Parliament is at the heart of our democracy. As members, we have a duty to ask questions of the Government, and the Government has a responsibility to answer them as fully as it can. That is particularly true for written parliamentary questions when members are seeking information from the Government.

Today, I received an answer to my question S6W-04075, in which I asked the Scottish Government

“what recent discussions it has had with businesses regarding the introduction of a deposit return scheme.”

This is the answer that I received from Lorna Slater:

“Scottish Government officials have been engaging, and continue to engage, closely with a range of businesses to reach an implementation timetable for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) that is both ambitious and deliverable.”

That is the entire answer, but it is not an answer. That is the latest in a long series of my questions that have not been answered.

I am afraid that the Government shows a steely determination to avoid accountability. Therefore, may I ask you, as the Presiding Officer of our Parliament, what steps your office can take to ensure that when members ask written parliamentary questions, the answers that they receive directly respond to the question, or at least bear some relationship to the question? That would allow all members to uphold their basic duty of holding the Government to account.

The member will appreciate that the content of written answers is not a matter for the Presiding Officer. However, such matters can be discussed at the Parliamentary Bureau and I am content for that discussion to take place at the next meeting of that body.