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We move to agenda item 2 of the 7th meeting in 2019 of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee. The committee has been considering a complaint about a member of the Scottish Parliament and I will now read out a statement that sets out the committee’s findings.
On behalf of the committee, I would like to make the following statement in relation to a complaint against an MSP. The committee has considered a complaint from Kenny McCartney about Rachael Hamilton MSP. The complaint is that Rachael Hamilton failed to make an oral declaration of a registered interest when asking a parliamentary question.
The committee is unanimous in the decision reached on the complaint. It agrees with the findings in fact and conclusion of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland that Ms Hamilton did not breach the statutory or the “Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament” requirement to make an oral declaration of her interests in relation to the parliamentary question that she asked on 29 November 2018 at First Minister’s questions.
It is unsatisfactory that details about this complaint appeared in the media before the committee had received a copy of the commissioner’s report and undertaken its consideration. This is not the first time that this has happened. The committee must be able to carry out its work without external comment. We therefore intend to reflect on whether any further improvements can be made to protect the confidentiality of the complaints process.
Full details of the complaint and of the commissioner’s investigation of it will be included in the committee’s report, which will be published later today.
That ends the public part of the meeting. Thank you.
09:42 Meeting continued in private until 11:20.Previous
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