Official Report 176KB pdf
The first item on today's agenda is the committee's report on cross-party groups. The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has approved our recommendations for use of parliamentary facilities by such groups, and the clerks have suggested a couple of amendments to clarify the practical arrangements. Those are highlighted in the text that members received before the meeting. Is the committee content to proceed with the publication of the report on the basis of the amended text?
Yes. The text is now entirely satisfactory in terms of its clarity and detail. It accords fully with the principles agreed by the committee on how this matter should be taken forward. I am happy to support its going forward for publication.
Is that the view of the rest of the committee?
It would be an excellent idea to ask the bureau to find some time for a short debate on this matter. That would indicate to the general public and to the large number of organisations that want to interact with the new Parliament how we hope to go about our business; it would also provide an opportunity for us to bring this issue to the attention of MSPs. Such a debate would enable people to see that we are trying to be the open, accountable, transparent and accessible Parliament that we promised. There is a great deal of interest in our deliberations on cross-party groups, particularly from voluntary organisations throughout Scotland, which are keen to place their relationships with us on a firmer footing. We have done a good job on this and it will be widely welcomed. We should ensure that the public is as well informed about it as possible.
If that is the view of all members of the committee, I will approach the Parliamentary Bureau to ask for a short debate.
Perhaps you can guide me on this, convener. For some months, I have been a member of what we term an all-party group. Its subject is the provision of hospitals on the south side of Glasgow and in East Renfrewshire. At this stage, not all our meetings can take place in public—I stress that at the moment they are taking place outwith the Parliament—because there are conflicting interests with respect to the hospital provision to which I have referred. Undoubtedly, there will come a time when we have to make approaches to the Parliament and even make use of its accommodation. I am not sure whether, as an all-party group, we are required to register under this provision.
A group must register only if it wants to be recognised as a cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament. You must register if that is what you want.
That may come later. At the moment, I do not think that members would want to do that.
That is fine.
As John Young says, a number of groups have already sprouted up—indeed, they seem to be sprouting up all over the place. I notice that the clerks have included some rules on interim arrangements. Could Vanessa Glynn inform us of the time scale for registering groups and for establishing a cross-party bulletin and so on? Are we looking to get them up and running in the new year?
We had thought that we would try to start the registration process before the Christmas recess. If the committee wants to seek parliamentary time for a debate, the process may be somewhat delayed, but I would still expect it to begin early in the new year.
I will take our suggestion before the Parliamentary Bureau.
It may be some time before the bureau can process it. Must we formally seek Parliament's agreement before implementing this as a de facto procedure, or can the Standards Committee say that it will be the procedure unless it is modified by Parliament? I am thinking about the next three or four weeks. I will be involved in the start of a cross-party group this evening.
I understand your concerns. This is a major innovation and it would be most appropriate if Parliament were to approve it. All-party groups have started to form, but the advice from the clerks is that we should seek parliamentary approval.
We are not holding people back from doing the work—this is a question of registering the groups. I note that the Standards Committee must approve them; I think that we will have a long list to approve.
Would it be possible to distribute this document on regulation of cross-party groups to MSPs as a draft? We should let members know that it is available and that it is likely that the proposals in it will eventually be adopted. If cross-party groups are being set up, they will be able to benefit from the thinking that we have done over the past few months. We could help with potential problems without taking away the right of the Parliament to approve groups.
You are absolutely right, Tricia. We have approved this document, so it will be published immediately and be in the public domain.
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