Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: Thursday, December 6, 2012
Official Report
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Points of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Further to my question at First Minister’s question time, I have since been told that three 24-hour strikes have been set for the Serco NorthLink Northern Isles routes for 14, 21 and 28 December. Can you advise me whether the Scottish Government will be provided with an early opportunity to update Parliament on the steps that ministers and others are taking to help resolve this potentially damaging dispute?
Ministers have not so far indicated to me that they wish to make such a statement. However, the Parliamentary Bureau meets on Tuesday. I am sure that your business manager has paid attention to what you have said and that ministers, too, have heard your remarks. I am quite sure that we will have a discussion on just that issue on Tuesday.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I make this point of order with reference to rule 1.6 of standing orders, on the “Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament”.
At First Minister’s question time, Johann Lamont made comments to the First Minister in respect of the case of a Mr Morrison, his inability to access cancer drugs under the current Scottish Medicines Consortium regime and the fact that he has been charged an administrative cost for the drugs he has purchased privately. I immediately recognised that the person referred to is my constituent and that this is a live case that I am dealing with, having met Mr Morrison and his wife. I am in correspondence with NHS Borders and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on behalf of Mr Morrison, and indeed I raised the issue of VAT and administrative charges at topical question time a week or so ago.
Section 8.1.2 of the code of conduct states:
“A constituent can approach any of the MSPs (whether a constituency MSP or one of the seven regional MSPs as the case may be) elected to represent them as all MSPs have equal formal and legal status.” [Interruption.]
Order.
Section 8.1.3 says:
“In the event that a member is made aware that a constituent’s case is already being pursued by a constituency MSP or regional MSP, it is recommended that the member notifies that MSP. Whilst this is not a requirement of the Code of Conduct, adopting such an approach should avoid any duplication of case work or MSPs working at cross purposes thereby damaging a constituent’s case. Notification between members should only take place with the explicit consent of the constituent.” [Interruption.]
Order.
Section 8.1.4 says:
“An MSP must not deal with a matter relating to a constituency case or constituency issue outwith the member’s constituency or region (as the case may be) unless by prior agreement.”
Presiding Officer, I seek your guidance. Ms Lamont is not a member for South Scotland; she did not seek my “prior agreement”; and neither she nor any of the regional Labour MSPs for South Scotland who might or might not have drawn her attention to this case have made any contact with me regarding this matter. Is it appropriate that she appears to be pursuing the case of Mr Morrison, who, I should add, is blameless in this matter? Indeed, whose “prior agreement” has to be sought?
I thank the member for notice of this point of order. I have been able to consider the matter briefly this afternoon.
The matters raised by Christine Grahame are, as she has said, more appropriately raised under the code of conduct rather than as a point of order. Under volume 2, section 9 of the code of conduct, the member should write to me raising these issues, and I will consider them.