Procedures Committee Reports
We come now to the debate on motion S1M-2002, in the name of Murray Tosh, on the Procedures Committee's reports on written parliamentary questions and changes to standing orders.
I am delighted to introduce the Procedures Committee's second report on parliamentary questions. I presented our first report on the subject in November last year. The main purpose of that report was to recommend the establishment of an agreement between the Parliament and the Executive to monitor publicly the volume of parliamentary questions, of which there have been 15,801 to date, and the speed of the Executive's responses, of which there have been 15,426.
We proposed a series of seminars on the resources that are available to members in pursuing information. Two of those seminars have been held. We also proposed that members should have direct access to civil servants in appropriate circumstances through the provision by the Executive of its departmental directories. That system has been in place for a couple of months. We proposed to make transparent in the relevant parliamentary publications the gap between the holding and substantive answers to a written question and we have made a further recommendation on that matter in the report that we are debating today.
I can report that the parliamentary authorities and the Executive have established jointly a robust and quantifiable structure for monitoring the volume of written questions and the speed of the Executive's responses, which reflects what we sought earlier. The resulting figures are published regularly in Written Answers.
The run of figures covering the Executive's speed of response is contained in our report. In the period from 18 September 2000 to 30 March 2001, the Executive answered an average of 55 per cent of questions substantively to time. The committee believes that that figure must improve and, given the level of co-operation that the exercise has helped to engender, there is every reason to believe that that is possible. The committee will receive regular progress reports in that regard.
The second report on parliamentary questions goes beyond the recommendations in the first report and suggests that the date of holding answers should be given in Written Answers from now on when the substantive answers are given. We hope that that will assist all members in keeping track of the periods of response to parliamentary questions.
The report covers a number of other important subjects, but I have time to mention only some of them. The committee was not persuaded to recommend any moratorium on questions during the parliamentary recess. The committee was sympathetic with the Executive's concern about keeping up the pace of responses in recesses, when its staff resources are depleted due to annual holidays, but thought that it benefited no one for backlogs to build up during the recess. The committee therefore recommended, as a modest relief for the Executive, extending by seven days the present deadline of 21 days for answering questions that are lodged in the major recesses and in the week prior to those recesses. A change to standing orders to accommodate that is set out in annexe F of the report.
The committee accepted that answers to inspired questions were a suitable means for the Executive to make policy announcements to the Parliament. Without the ability to use questions in that way, the Executive would find it difficult to timetable announcements in the Parliament. We considered, however, that in the interests of transparency the Executive should identify the questions that it intends to use in that way and allow members adequate time to anticipate the answers to such questions. No change to standing orders is required and the Executive has indicated to us that it will co-operate with those recommendations.
I have a question about inspirational questions and the need for transparency. There was an inspired question during the crisis in the tourism industry. In such circumstances, it would help if the ministerial reply were made available to members in advance, just as a ministerial statement is made available to the Opposition spokespeople before the statement is made.
The committee prefers to think of the questions as inspired rather than inspirational.
The point that Mr Neil raises is valid. However, the current practice whereby the Executive provides advance copies of statements to Opposition spokesmen is a matter of inter-party courtesy, rather than of standing orders or parliamentary procedure. It would be appropriate for the committee to raise that issue with the Executive, but I would not want to anticipate the Executive's response. Ultimately, we have no jurisdiction in that area.
The committee is conscious that, during question time, fewer oral questions are being reached than was hoped. That suggests that there might be a mismatch between the time that is allotted to questions and demand. The committee has considered that and, although it has made no recommendation on this occasion, it has given notice in the report that it will examine the question further later in the year.
The committee recognises the Executive's efforts, which were explained first in November 2000, to increase the resources that are available to speed the responses to parliamentary questions. Primarily, that increase has been in additional staff in the Executive secretariat and in an improved internal system to track the progress of answers to questions. The committee was told that the Executive was engaged in work on the costs of answering parliamentary questions. The committee has discussed that, but no conclusions have been reached. The committee has invited the Executive to discuss with it the conclusions of that work when they become available.
An issue arises from the fact that, when ministers refer members' questions to organisations such as non-departmental public bodies, many of the substantive replies from those organisations are not made available to members generally or to the public. The committee was concerned that, as a consequence, matters of genuine public interest may be escaping the communications net that links the Parliament, the Executive and the public. As a result, the committee has undertaken to examine further the current absence of any parliamentary mechanism whereby such information can be disseminated.
Like the previous report on parliamentary questions, the second report is an interim one and much work remains to be done. The committee is committed to promoting and maintaining a parliamentary question-and-answer system of the highest quality. We will not achieve that, or even make progress on it, unless we all continue to work as we have been doing—co-operatively. Our report is an attempt, both in its specific recommendations and in the methodology of the work that led up to it, to embody that principle of co-operation. I commend the committee's second report of 2001 to the Parliament.
Our third report of 2001 contains three proposed changes to standing orders. The first change will permit the withdrawal of amendments to motions, for which the current standing orders, surprisingly, do not provide. The committee agreed that that omission should be rectified and that the withdrawal of amendments should be treated in the same way as the withdrawal of motions. Amendments to motions that have been withdrawn should also fall automatically, and that should also apply to amendments to amendments.
The second recommended change to standing orders is that those who deal with financial resolutions should reflect the principle that the Executive has the exclusive right to propose to the Parliament expenditure and charging commitments that have direct implications for the Scottish consolidated fund. The committee recommends, therefore, that amendments should not be able to be made to motions on financial resolutions. The resolutions can of course be negated, in that members may vote for and against them, but we recommend that they should not be subject to amendment.
The third recommendation concerns the Scottish commission for public audit. The appointment and removal procedures for that body are contained in a transitional order, but require to be set out in the Parliament's standing orders. Standing orders setting out the appointment and removal procedures are therefore included in our third report, as are the ways in which the commission will report to the Parliament.
I am grateful for the latitude that the Presiding Officer has given me to expand and explain—adequately, I hope—the main thrust of the report. I apologise to the school party that was in the public gallery and has now departed; its arrival into the chamber today, for this most arcane debate, was probably mistimed. However, the debate concerns matters that are important to the Parliament, because they reflect on the way in which we work and the way in which we unceasingly try to improve procedures in the general interests of everyone connected with the Parliament. I commend the Procedures Committee's third report of 2001.
I move,
That the Parliament accepts
(a) the terms of the 2nd Report, 2001 of the Procedures Committee, Report into the Volume of Written Parliamentary Questions and the Scottish Executive's Speed of Response, and Related Matters (SP Paper 346); agrees to amend the Standing Orders in terms of the amendment set out in Annexe F to the report, and agrees that this amendment should come into force on 15 June 2001; and
(b) the terms of the 3rd Report, 2001 of the Procedures Committee, Changes to the Standing Orders of the Parliament (SP Paper 347); agrees to amend the Standing Orders in terms of the amendments set out in Annexe A to the report, and agrees that these amendments should come into force on 15 June 2001.
I am pleased to convey the Executive's support for the two Procedures Committee reports and for the recommendations and changes to standing orders contained therein.
I take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of the Procedures Committee in producing the two reports and to thank the members of the committee and its convener, Murray Tosh, for the consensual approach that was adopted in taking this important work forward.
The Minister for Parliament and I were grateful for the opportunity to meet the committee on 1 May to discuss a range of matters relating to parliamentary questions. We both found the exchanges most valuable. The Executive is happy to accept the committee's report on parliamentary questions and its recommendations, but in taking forward certain of them, there are some points of detail that we want to discuss further at official level. For example, while the Executive has no objections in principle to tagging questions, we wish to discuss further the development of a system, to assess how it would work in practice before we come to firm conclusions.
We welcome the proposed change to standing orders to extend the period for answering parliamentary questions during recess periods from 21 to 28 days and the proposal that the new arrangement will include the week before any recess of four days or more. As committee members know, the Executive had hoped that the committee would agree to a moratorium on lodging questions for three or perhaps four weeks during the summer recess. That arrangement would, we believe, have afforded greater benefit overall, not only for ministers and civil servants but for chamber office staff, at pressure points when resources are stretched. That would allow the Executive to concentrate on any backlog of questions and would put us on a firmer footing for dealing with the day-to-day flow of questions, which is what we thought all members would wish to see. We hope that the proposed arrangements will go some way to alleviating some of the pressures that are prevalent during holiday periods.
It might help if I said for the record that the committee considered those points. Our concern was that if we had such a moratorium, its principal impact would be to present the Scottish Executive executive secretariat with a huge backlog of questions lodged at the end of the summer recess. We were not convinced that such discontinuity in routine parliamentary work would benefit anyone. That remains an issue to be reconsidered in further discussions between the committee and the Executive.
We need to agree to the changes that are to be implemented, to see how they work, and then revisit the issue if necessary. Building up a backlog at the end of the summer recess is a possibility and should not be discounted, but we would like to consider the matter further.
The Executive is happy for the joint monitoring of parliamentary questions to continue, with the Procedures Committee keeping the outcome of the exercise under regular review and reporting periodically to Parliament. The Executive will continue to produce its own quarterly audits of parliamentary question performance.
This will, I hope, be a helpful intervention. Speaking as someone who makes modest use of the facility for asking questions, I think that there is no doubt at all that if the Executive were to give straighter answers to initial questions, a lot fewer supplementary questions—written questions and questions in the form of correspondence—would be generated. That would help also with regard to the time that it takes to get responses to correspondence to ministers, in particular to the Minister for Health and Community Care, who takes months to respond to the simplest of letters, which in turn generates more questions. It would help the Executive and the Parliament if ministers, when asked questions, gave straight answers. That might reduce the volume of written questions.
There is perhaps a subtle difference between a straight answer and the answer that members want to receive.
Either would do.
I understand Alex Neil's point, and I believe that the Executive wishes all departments to raise their performance levels for answering questions. The issue of responding to correspondence is of considerable importance for the proper working of Parliament and the Executive is particularly aware of it.
I believe that there is now greater awareness of how the parliamentary question system can best be used and managed and of the various mechanisms that are open to members to access information. As the convener of the Procedures Committee mentioned, the Scottish Executive staff directory is now available on the Scottish Parliament intranet, so that MSPs and their staff—I emphasise "and their staff"—can, in cases of genuine and exceptional urgency, make direct contact with Executive officials for factual information that is not available in the public domain. We are monitoring how MSPs and their staff use that facility and we will report our findings to the Procedures Committee later this year.
Over the next few months, we will continue our study of the costs of answering questions. Once our findings have been analysed, we will be pleased to report back to the committee with any proposals for establishing a standing advisory cost limit.
All of us have a responsibility to ensure that the parliamentary question mechanism works as efficiently and as effectively as possible.
There will be some concern about what the minister has just said about a standing advisory cost limit. Parliamentary approval of that will have to be sought—I presume via the Procedures Committee—rather than the Executive making an ex cathedra decision that there is to be such a limit. I hope that the minister will take that on board when the matter is considered. An Executive decision could be used to restrict the answering of questions. I am sure that it would not be, given the Deputy Minister for Parliament's good offices, but parliamentary assent to the limit would perhaps avoid that possibility.
I understand the member's point. I said that we would report back to the Procedures Committee with any proposals. What I mean by that is that there would be discussion with the committee about any proposals before they were implemented. We will take the committee's view into account, but first we need to complete the review and report to the committee.
I ask the minister for a commitment that there will be parliamentary discussion of, and parliamentary authority for, the standing advisory cost limit. The Parliament should have that reassurance.
I understand the point that the member makes. We would wish to seek the Procedures Committee's agreement.
Will the minister give way?
I would rather continue, as I am running short of time.
I have a question.
The minister is not giving way.
As I said, all of us have a responsibility to ensure that the parliamentary question mechanism works as efficiently and as effectively as possible. I believe that the Executive made significant progress in its consideration, in conjunction with the Procedures Committee, of how best to manage the process. A great deal has been achieved and the Executive is committed to improving its performance further. We look forward to assisting the committee further in its continuing work.
I will address briefly the changes to standing orders, which relate to the withdrawal of amendments to motions, amendments to motions for financial resolutions and appointments to the Scottish commission for public audit. While those changes are relatively minor, they are nevertheless important and the Executive is happy to endorse them. The changes will add clarity to parliamentary rules and procedures and should assist in the more efficient and effective discharge of parliamentary business.
The Executive commends the work carried out by the Procedures Committee and is happy to endorse both the reports that are before the chamber. We are particularly pleased with the co-operation that exists between the committee and the Executive. As ever, we are ready to assist the committee further with its continuing work.
I pay tribute to Murray Tosh and the way in which he handled the committee's business. I also pay tribute to John Patterson and his team. The work of the Procedures Committee may be dry, but it is an easy committee to work with. I will probably be removed from the committee now that I have said that.
Murray Tosh's speech covered most of the major points. I have no desire to go over them all, but I would like to endorse what he said and speak to a couple of the points.
The ability to ask questions throughout the parliamentary year is vital to MSPs' work in holding the Executive to account. A moratorium would put that work back by light years. We should guard that privilege—it is more of a duty—with everything that we have.
There are lessons to be learned. We must recognise that the last thing that a person running a business would do is burden himself with a lot of work during a holiday period. There is a responsibility on members to take it easy when it comes to recesses, as they should be aware that that is when officials go on holiday. Day-to-day research work should be held back during the recess and only vital questions lodged.
Let me give an illustration of how the system could work. I lodged 27 questions on my work on men's violence against women and children; the questions were all published in one issue of the business bulletin. I asked them after I had contacted the police, health trusts, outside agencies and the voluntary sector—we even elicited information from abroad. In due course, the 27 answers arrived. We have all had experience of asking questions that receive poor-quality answers. Alex Neil suggested that the fact that answers are sometimes of such poor quality generates more questions. However, the answers to the 27 questions that I lodged were high quality. I would like to think that those questions—and the answers—had a bearing on the Executive's views and on the direction in which it headed.
Apart from getting the hard political facts, there is an add-on benefit in asking questions; they give us an opportunity to get help from the Executive on finding answers.
In the committee, I raised the fact that only English may be used for parliamentary questions. Standing orders seem to suggest that every word must be English. In other words, if a member were to use Scots, some form of translation would need to be given. However, most of us—including the Presiding Officer—have used Scottish words. Perhaps we are all bilingual and use a mixture of words. It would be ridiculous to permit only English words. I gave examples of Scots words, such as dreich, drookit, oxter and—since I come from the west of Scotland—vindaloo. We use many other words in our everyday language.
One area of conflict between Murray Tosh and me arose when he said that he would be embarrassed if Australians were to look up the Parliament's website and find Scottish words and not know what they meant.
Mr Paterson is working hard at creating a difference of opinion where no difference exists. At the committee, I made it clear that I consider oxter, dreich, drookit and vindaloo to be within the English language. Like any other language, English absorbs vocabulary from all round the world. Words that are in everyday use—including different pronunciations of standard words—are clearly English.
The committee and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body have made it clear that we have no difficulty with the introduction of the old Scots leid or tongue, which is an attempt to bring in a different language, but if parliamentarians wish to speak in the old Scots tongue, a translation will be required, not least because most members do not speak Scots. I do not think that anyone in the official report is particularly geared to understand it either. It would be unfortunate if our publications—electronic and paper—did not contain an English-language version of a language of which relatively few people in Scotland now have a command.
Dinna fash yersel, man.
That is English.
One of the difficulties is who would decide what is a Scottish word and what is not. We should be able to use everyday words. To say that we are embarrassed sets back what we are trying to do. We should not make people embarrassed about the way they speak.
I looked up Australian Hansard on the web and I found that, lo and behold, every day of the week, aboriginal and Australian words are used in the Australian Parliament. The Australians do not have any problem with that; they are not embarrassed and we should not be either.
I respect Murray Tosh an awful lot. I certainly would not describe him as a galah or a dag; I would call him a fair dinkum person. I hope that he will join me and many others in Scotland on this matter. We will have a great corroboree in our own Scottish tongue.
I do not know whether I can join in this stushie, but I would like to commend Murray Tosh. He tries hard to keep a fair balance between allowing us, whenever possible, to rough up ministers—people such as me feel that that is our task—and giving a fair do to the ministers and the civil servants who are being roughed up and who deserve reasonable protection.
I appeal to members—especially those who are not here but are listening at their desks, with half an ear to the television—to fill in the questionnaire that the committee produced to seek members' views on a number of options for improving the way that we conduct our affairs.
I would like to discuss one or two points from the report. One concerns the best use of oral questions. It would be helpful to compare the way that we operate with the way that Westminster operates. I suspect that Westminster ministers have to reply to a greater volume of questions than ministers here do, but it would be useful to find out. Our collective job is to hold ministers to account. It may be the case—and I believe that it is—that we do not lodge enough questions to hold them to account fully.
The second point relates to questioning quangos. That is a big issue that we have not really resolved. Ministers manage to wash their hands of quangos by saying, "It wasnae me." Quangos run a huge proportion of our activities. They really must be held accountable. We must pursue how we can ask questions of them.
One of the many things that I do not understand is the rule that civil servants are not allowed to speak to members of Parliament. A civil servant may receive a question from a member and not really understand what the member is getting at. In any civilised society, he or she would pick up the phone and say, "Look, you have asked a question about X—what on earth are you on about? What do you want to find out?" That would clarify the question and the answer would then be relevant to what the member was looking for. I was approached at a recent social event by a civil servant who was in exactly that position. We had quite a useful conversation, wondering why it could not be normal practice to clarify questions. The thing may be quite clear in the questioner's mind, but it may not be clear in the civil servant's mind, with the result that a huge amount of time is spent scratching heads and wondering what on earth this idiot Gorrie is on about. We must break the Westminster tradition that civil servants are not allowed to speak to members.
We have to consider the overall use of our time. Yesterday's discussion of the Housing (Scotland) Bill showed yet again that we do not allow enough time for stage 3 of major bills. The timetable was far too tight. It is not acceptable that members who lodge worthwhile amendments do not get the chance to speak to them. They probably know that they will lose the vote, but they deserve to put their case. We are doing ourselves no favours at all by rushing things through in just the way that we deplore when it happens at Westminster.
This debate and the previous one illustrate the fact that virtually all debates are conducted by the members on the relevant committees, who merely rehearse what has been discussed in committee. Gil Paterson flogs his Scottish horse. It is a good horse, and I am all for flogging it, but others should be involved. I am guilty, as are others—sometimes I do not attend debates on subjects that are covered by other committees. There is a risk of us all becoming too specialised in our own committees and developing tunnel vision. I have no suggestions on that, but we must work out a broader way of running the Parliament so that more members take part and take an interest in the activities of other committees.
There are many issues to consider with regard to improving the way that we go about things. In this Parliament, unlike Westminster, there is a possibility of improvement. I live in the hope that, one day, Murray Tosh will lead us to the promised land.
Can we afford to send anybody to the promised land? During the previous debate, we had questions on whether we could afford to live up to our own ideals.
I support what Donald Gorrie says about the structuring of debates. Yesterday's stage 3 debate was a very good example of the problem. People outside the Parliament can easily understand the issue that was being discussed, which was not esoteric but was about housing costs, conditions and provision. There were amendments that were undebated, so arguments went unrehearsed and information did not go out to the people who pay our wages. We fell down on the job yesterday. I do not want that to happen with other legislation that comes before the chamber.
I agree with the point that Donald Gorrie made—we did not collude and there was no inspirational questioning—about quangos and non-departmental public bodies not being as accountable as they should be, given the influence, power and finance that they have. That is an excellent point. Our procedures are a bit old-fashioned and are not up to date with the way in which public duties and policies are discharged. If the convener of the Procedures Committee does not mind, I would like the committee to address that point.
Finally, I will raise the point that I meant to raise in the first place. I had a question for the minister, and if he had just answered me I would not have had to take up time by making this speech. Can we find out which questions are forbidden? I asked a perfectly reasonable political question, as I am supposed to do of an opposing politician, but I was forbidden from lodging it by the clerks, because it was not about something covered by the Scotland Act 1998. The question I asked was: will the Executive instigate an investigation into full fiscal autonomy for the Parliament? I have no doubt that the Executive would not be too keen to do that, but I would like to hear why it would not be keen to do it. As I had heard ministers discuss the concept, I thought that it would be reasonable to have a further explanation in the Parliament, but I was not allowed to lodge the question. I ask the minister to tell us in his summing-up which questions are forbidden.
I have a couple of points that I hope the Procedures Committee will examine, one of which is about question time. The current situation is that we question the Executive in its entirety, never knowing which minister or junior minister will answer, so we do not have the opportunity to grill the ministers from a particular department as is done at Westminster.
Just because something happens at Westminster does not mean that it is automatically a bad idea. That may be news coming from an SNP member, but there are some things at Westminster that are better than here. The Procedures Committee should examine the possibility of grilling the ministers from a department, for example the health department, the education department or the enterprise and lifelong learning department, for 20 or 30 minutes on Wednesday every week. In that way we could get to the basis of departmental policy.
We discussed that proposal and are willing to examine it again. I must point out that in the context of meetings of the Parliament on a day and a half a week, if we seek to increase question time substantially, it will impact on other aspects of the Parliament, not least the ability of back-bench MSPs to make speeches on matters of contemporary importance. To a degree, the feeling in the Parliament has been that committee meetings provide the opportunity for sustained questioning of ministers. I put those points to Mr Neil for his consideration, as we examine this issue in the round.
I am sure that another 20 minutes on Wednesday afternoon would not destroy the structure of debates or the ability of back-bench members to speak. One of the problems that we have in the Parliament is that we have not got the system of debates right. As we heard from Donald Gorrie and Margo MacDonald, not enough time was allocated to stage 3 of the Housing (Scotland) Bill, and perhaps too much time is allocated to debates that are time fillers, as we have seen in recent weeks in the run-up to another event.
Repeats and replays.
It is bad enough being heckled by other parties without being heckled by my own party.
I have put my suggestion on the table. Perhaps the Procedures Committee can revisit the proposal.
My second point is about the time that is allocated for First Minister's question time. I feel that 20 minutes is too short and perhaps we need about 30 minutes. For example, it is rare that members are able to ask supplementaries to the leader of the SNP's questions. Limited supplementaries are made to the questions from the leader of the Conservative party, and since January, despite the excellent way in which the Presiding Officer handles matters—
Flattery will get you everywhere.
We have sometimes not reached question 4, seldom reached question 5 and even more rarely reached question 6. We need to revisit First Minister's questions. To be honest, part of the reason for the problem is that the First Minister is rather lengthy in some of his replies. Twenty minutes is fairly short. At Westminster, the Prime Minister is grilled for 30 minutes during question time. Frankly, that system seems better.
I suggest that we revisit whether we can slot in the grilling of departmental ministers individually rather than as part of the wider corporate Executive. We should also reconsider First Minister's questions to decide whether that can be improved and made more effective.
I thank the members who have spoken during the debate. There has been more interest than I had expected, but I find it difficult to imagine that a debate initiated by the Procedures Committee would need the extra sandwiches and refreshments that were laid on for last night's marathon session.
I thank my colleagues on the Procedures Committee. We worked well together to achieve agreement with one another and with the Executive on how our Parliament should work. On the more controversial subject of parliamentary questions, neither the committee nor the Executive was happy with the volume or speed of responses, but the committee recognised the efforts that the Executive has made to improve performance and the modest success that it has achieved.
As a result of its work, the Procedures Committee appreciates better the difficulties in achieving progress. We do not underestimate the difficulties, but expect that progress will be made. That will require combined effort. Committee members urge other members to recognise their responsibility for and role in improving that vital parliamentary procedure.
I will respond to a couple of points that were raised during the debate. In an intervention, Alex Neil talked about ministers' slow responses to letters. Mr Adam has raised that issue with the committee, although we are not considering it at present. It is interesting to note that the Executive has established a group, headed by a civil service department, to consider that matter. The people who deal with parliamentary questions also deal with parliamentary letters.
Mr Russell sought reassurance from the Executive on the proposals that will be made about an advisory cost limit on parliamentary questions. I may not be able to offer the reassurance that he seeks, but I draw his attention to paragraph 80 on page 16 of the committee's report, which says:
"The Committee considered that it was of paramount importance that any cost limit on parliamentary questions was fully justified. The flow of information from the Executive to Members and on to the wider community was a fundamental principle of parliamentary democracy."
We invited the Executive to discuss the conclusions of its study with us.
I thank the member for explaining that issue in detail from the Procedures Committee's point of view. I made it clear that the Executive will discuss that point in detail with the committee, before any action is taken. I hope that that is of some reassurance.
I thank Mr Robson for his comments. I wish that Mr Russell were present to hear that reassurance, but I am sure that it will be passed on.
The Minister for Parliament also restated the Executive's request for a moratorium on asking parliamentary questions during the summer recess. Gil Paterson strongly objected to that request. The committee considered the matter at length. The convener has already said that we wish to avoid the build-up of a backlog of questions. In keeping with the Parliament's family-friendly policy, we wished to respect the importance of the recess to the Executive and civil servants and to allow them to take their holidays too. However, we were unanimous in our belief that a ban on parliamentary questions would be inappropriate.
Earlier in the debate, the convener gave an indication of the Procedures Committee's view on inspired questions. Can Mr McIntosh confirm whether, in addition to agreeing that inspired questions should be tagged, the Executive will introduce a delay between the publication of the question and the provision of the answer? I believe that that change is to be made to current practice.
I can confirm that that is the case. That is not a recommendation of our reports, but the Executive has agreed to do that. No change to standing orders is required.
Mr Gorrie raised a number of points that require our attention. Alex Neil echoed some of them, in particular Donald Gorrie's point about the time that is available for debates. The debate is not the final word on the subject. I will have many opportunities to address Mr Gorrie's concerns.
Margo MacDonald asked about forbidden questions. I am not sure that I can answer her question entirely. I offer her the guidance that questions that come within the responsibility of the Scottish Executive are acceptable.
In accordance with standing orders, it is the chamber desk that decides on which questions are admissible. The Executive has no role in that decision. It becomes involved only when the question is lodged. The member might like to take up her concerns with the chamber desk.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Now that I have aired the matter of forbidden questions in the chamber, I ask you for guidance as to whether I take up the matter with the chamber desk or with you. Is it not the Presiding Officer who rules on whether a question is in order?
Margo MacDonald is technically correct. The chamber desk, in common with all the Parliament's clerks, is overseen by the Presiding Officers. The answer to her question is straightforward: questions outside the scope of the Scotland Act 1998 are simply not admissible in the Scottish Parliament.
On another point or order—
Let not us get into a debate.
It is not a debate. I do not want to debate the subject with you. However, I would like to talk to you about it.
I was about to invite Margo MacDonald to come and talk to me about the matter.
If the subject matter has been discussed in the chamber and ministers have introduced it, is not it permissible for me to ask a question on it?
No. I take Margo MacDonald's question seriously. At any time, the Parliament can debate or make reference to matters that are outside the Scotland Act 1998. What members cannot do is ask ministers questions on subjects that are outside the Scotland Act 1998. There is a difference between debates and questions. That difference is enshrined in the standing orders.
Believe it or not, Mr Macintosh, you had the floor.
I was trying to say that ministers can answer only for their own responsibilities.
I end by thanking the committee clerks for their work: John Patterson, Mark MacPherson, Katherine Wright and Eileen Martin. I also want to thank others who helped to develop the proposals that we have debated today, including Anne Peat, Alison Coull and Andrew Mylne.
The changes that are proposed to standing orders are relatively minor but, as I said in response to Mr Gorrie, they are not the last word on the subject. As the Procedures Committee convener mentioned in his opening remarks, the system of parliamentary questions will be kept under review.
In reply to a query that was made by Alex Neil, I confirm that the committee will examine in greater detail the length of the weekly question time, the volume of questions that are raised during the recess and the transparency of Executive answers.
I commend the two reports to the Parliament.