Good afternoon, everyone.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I wish to raise a point of order under sections 4.1 and 6 of our rules on the submission of motions, insofar as they apply to motion S4M-13203, on the future of Scotland’s economy, in the name of Jackie Baillie. Let me say at the outset that I welcome any debate at any time on the economy and education, and I hope that I will be called to speak in the debate later.
The motion references a document, apparently from the University of Edinburgh, that cannot be found publicly available. I invite you to consider whether it thus may be in breach of Parliament’s rules on motions, at section 4.1, which states:
“The text of motions ... should not disclose any information that is ... confidential”.
I invite you, as Presiding Officer, under section 6, to consider what guidance you might give us on the matter. For the avoidance of doubt, for yourself and for colleagues, I am raising the matter as an individual and not as a committee convener.
I thank the member for the advance notice of that point of order. He referred to the admissibility criteria that are set out in the “Guidance on Motions”. In particular, he refers to the point that
“The text of motions ... should not disclose ... information that is confidential”.
He asserts that the information referred to is confidential, as it is not publicly available.
In this particular case, the information is in the public domain, as it was raised during First Minister’s questions last week and has also been covered in the media. The motion therefore meets the criteria for admissibility. However, in general terms, debates are better informed where information referred to in motions is easily available to all. That is our position.