Plenary, 12 Jan 2006

Meeting date: Thursday, January 12, 2006

Official Report 755KB pdf

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Point of Order

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. We are about to come to decision time, when members will be asked to vote on amendment S2M-3795.3, in the name of Mr David Davidson, on local government finance. I am concerned that that amendment contains a significant factual error. It states:

"many in Scotland are suffering as a result of the 55% rise in council tax since the Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition came to power".

In May 1999, when the Liberal Democrat-Labour partnership Government first took office, the average band D council tax in Scotland stood at £849. Today, it stands at £1,094—an increase of just 28.9 per cent and nowhere near the 55 per cent increase that the Conservative amendment claims. I think that the figure in the amendment refers to the increase since 1997, which is 55 per cent if we include the—

Sorry, what is your point of order?

Who has responsibility for ensuring factual accuracy in motions and amendments? Is it the chamber desk, which accepts the motions and amendments, or is it the members who submit them? If it is the members, do they have a responsibility, under standing orders and the code of conduct for members of the Scottish Parliament, to ensure factual accuracy in their motions and amendments?

The criteria for the admissibility of motions and amendments for the chamber desk are set out clearly in the standing orders. Beyond that, the accuracy of information in them is entirely a matter for the members in whose names they are lodged. Thereafter, I would have thought, it is a matter for free debate across the floor of the chamber.