Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: Thursday, December 5, 2013
Official Report
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Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland
The next item of business is consideration of motion S4M-08489, in the name of Liam McArthur, on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, on the appointment of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. I call Liam McArthur to move the motion on behalf of the SPCB.
17:00
I will set out a little bit of the background before I move, on behalf of the corporate body, the motion in my name, which invites members to agree to the appointment of William Thomson as the new Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
The Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc Act 2010 provides that the commissioner is to be appointed by the SPCB with the agreement of the Parliament. The SPCB sat as a selection panel on 25 November 2013. The panel was chaired by David Stewart; the other members were Mary Scanlon and me. On behalf of the panel, I thank the independent assessor, Louise Rose, who oversaw all aspects of the process and has provided the SPCB with a validation certificate that confirms that the process complied with good practice and that the nomination of the new commissioner is made on merit after a fair, open and transparent process.
I turn to our nominee. William Thomson is the panel’s choice from a very strong field of candidates invited to interview. Many of us here will know Bill, as he is one of the Parliament’s assistant clerk/chief executives. He has 25 years of public sector experience. He worked at a very senior level for East Lothian Council before he joined the Parliament at the outset in 1999.
The commissioner’s role is an important one in securing high ethical standards in public life. The commissioner is responsible for investigating complaints about the conduct of MSPs, local authority councillors and members of public bodies, and also regulates how people are appointed to the boards of public bodies in Scotland.
The SPCB believes that the skills that Bill has deployed in the Parliament and his previous local government experience will more than equip him for his new role. The panel believes that he will bring to the post enthusiasm, professionalism, fairness and integrity, and I am sure that the Parliament will want to wish him every success for the future in his role.
I know that the Parliament would also wish to record its sincere thanks to Stuart Allan for his considerable contribution. Mr Allan’s term of office will end on 31 March next year. We wish him a long, happy and healthy retirement.
I have pleasure in moving,
That the Parliament agrees to the appointment of William Thomson as the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
The question on the motion will be put at decision time.