Plenary, 01 Oct 2009
Meeting date: Thursday, October 1, 2009
Official Report
672KB pdf
Point of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer, I seek your guidance on a matter of parliamentary procedure that may become relevant later in the year. Today, Aberdeenshire Council refused to rule out the possibility that compulsory purchase order powers may be used against residents, leaving open the possibility that residents may lose their homes for the sake of a golf resort that is being promoted by the allegedly respectable Mr Donald Trump.
If residents cannot find protection in such matters from their council, then Scottish ministers will, once again, be drawn into the issue, despite having expressed repeated support for the developer. I ask for your guidance, Presiding Officer, on the means by which Parliament can hold ministers to account for their role in this matter.
The Local Government and Communities Committee had cause to examine the Government's role in the Trump development. By majority, it levelled serious criticisms against the First Minister for directly facilitating a meeting between Trump representatives and the Scottish Government chief planner. The issue has national importance in terms of the operation of the planning system, which has already been brought into disrepute for the convenience of the Trump Organization.
Normally, people expect their local council to stand up for their rights. If that protection is not offered, they seek support from their local member of the Scottish Parliament. In this case, the local MSP is the First Minister—the man whose Government will approve or block the use of CPO powers, who has expressed support for the developer and who would be asked to judge any breach of the ministerial code—
I am keen to hear a point of order, Mr Harvie.
My point of order is to ask for guidance, Presiding Officer. Is it the case that members of the Scottish Parliament—yourself included—can exercise no power in relation to ministerial decisions of this kind, should they arise? Will we be limited to publishing critical reports once the bulldozers have rolled through the homes of those whose democratic representatives have stood up for Mr Trump and not their citizens?
You are asking about the procedure of holding ministers to account, Mr Harvie. The procedures are clearly laid out. We have oral and written parliamentary questions for that—indeed, it is their very purpose. It is certainly not the role of the Presiding Officers to do so.