We move to item 7, which relates to a point that Donald Gorrie raised and which has been specifically referred to us by the Presiding Officer. It arises directly from recent experience in relation to the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Bill.
I suggest that the point that Michael Russell made in the previous discussion is relevant. If there were a better system of helping members to draft legally and administratively sound amendments, the problem would not arise.
We can make the change to the standing orders quite quickly—if we give ourselves time to examine the issues—but the issue of how we build on the relationship between staff, members of Parliament and the Executive civil servants in the working up of amendments will take longer to resolve and might be difficult.
It is possible for members with draft amendments to consult the minister responsible for the bill in an attempt to ascertain whether the amendment is acceptable. That might not work in all cases, but it is worth trying. In the case that we are discussing, it might have been possible for the draft amendment to have been amended before it was lodged, which would have avoided the need for a manuscript amendment.
It would be useful if the Executive made members aware of that. It is certainly news to me. I am sure that I have the information somewhere in my paperwork and that, if I read and absorbed everything that landed on my desk, I would be aware of it. I would have benefited from knowing about it, as would other members who lodged perfectly good amendments that were knocked back because an eagle-eyed civil servant spotted an unintended implication in the wording. Many members would use the mechanism if they were aware of it.
This is a matter of the relationships between members and ministers.
We are all finished, then.
I am certain that the Parliamentary Bureau will act when it reads the discussion of the earlier report and sees for itself the concern that has been expressed. The Executive as a corporate body—if that is not a contradiction in terms—will seek ways of assisting members to grapple more effectively with this part of their remit. We should send the Official Report of this discussion, along with that of our earlier discussion, to the Parliamentary Bureau for its consideration.
The time scale is as relevant as the resource issue. That is what I tried to address in my paper.
We will accept an issues paper as soon as possible with a view to making an appropriate amendment to standing orders. Are we agreed?
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