Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Official Report
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Ministerial Appointments (Code of Practice)
The next item of business is consideration of two motions in the name of Dave Thompson: S4M-04830, on the Public Bodies Act 2011 orders, standing order rule changes; and S4M-04832, on the consultation on the code of practice for ministerial appointments to public bodies. Mr Thompson, I would appreciate it if you would speak to and move both motions. I can give you until 5 o’clock to do so.
16:53
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee is recommending standing order changes that will establish a procedure for Parliament to consent to orders under the United Kingdom Public Bodies Act 2011 that affect devolved interests. The 2011 act gives UK ministers the authority to abolish, merge or transfer the functions of certain public bodies. The act is largely enabling legislation, with any changes to public bodies taking place via secondary legislation and orders being brought forward at Westminster. However, any orders that are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament require to be consented to by this Parliament.
Interim arrangements have been in place since last year and the procedure used has been based on that for legislative consent motions. First, the Scottish Government lays a memorandum that gives its views on the order, with that memorandum being accompanied by a copy of the order, plus relevant accompanying documents; secondly, a lead committee and the Subordinate Legislation Committee consider the memorandum and report on it to the Parliament; and, finally, the Parliament has to debate an LCM-style motion and vote on whether to give its consent to the order.
Over the past year, the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee has taken the opportunity to consider how well those interim arrangements have worked in practice, and we have concluded that the arrangements have provided an effective model for scrutiny of the orders. In each case, the relevant subject committee and the Subordinate Legislation Committee have scrutinised the order and reported on it to the Parliament, which has then taken a decision, informed by the scrutiny, on whether to consent to the order.
We therefore propose that those arrangements should form the basis of new standing orders. The main change being proposed by the committee is a new chapter of standing orders—chapter 9BA—covering the procedure for consenting to 2011 act orders. That largely mirrors the legislative consent motion procedure set out in chapter 9B, with appropriate modifications. The remit of the Subordinate Legislation Committee in rule 6.11 is also being amended to allow it to consider the orders. In addition, there are several consequential changes from the new procedure, including changes to rule 5.4 on the business programme and rule 5.9 on the Business Bulletin. The motion in my name invites Parliament to note the committee’s report and agree that the changes to standing orders are made with effect from 21 November 2012.
I will move on to deal with the Public Appointments Commissioner for Scotland consultation. The commissioner issued a consultation on 30 August 2012 on revisions to the code of practice for ministerial appointments to public bodies in Scotland. The purpose of the code of practice is to provide a framework that enables Scottish ministers to attract and appoint the most able people in a manner that meets the requirements of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003. The consultation aims to establish whether there is scope to make improvements to the code itself or to the guidance issued by the Public Appointments Commissioner.
The current code of practice was made in April 2011 and came into effect only in September 2011. The Public Appointments Commissioner’s reasons for reviewing the code just one year on are, first—
Excuse me, Mr Thompson, there is just far too much chattering in the chamber. I ask members to have the courtesy to listen to Mr Thompson.
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
The first reason for reviewing the code is to ensure that the code is operating on the basis of effectiveness, efficiency and economy; secondly, it is to ensure that regulation under the code is proportionate; and, finally, it is that the code acts as a real aid to ministers in ensuring that appointments are made openly, fairly and with due regard to equal opportunity requirements.
A number of issues were raised during the committee’s evidence session with the commissioner, including feedback received on the operation of the current code; the format of application forms; the variation in length of recruitment exercises; the effectiveness of the current reappointment process; and the role of the public appointments assessors. The commissioner has indicated that he is likely to propose specific revisions to the code of practice early in 2013. In the light of that, the committee has agreed simply to note the current consultation in the meantime. The motion in my name therefore invites Parliament to note the committee’s report on the consultation on the code of practice for ministerial appointments to public bodies in Scotland.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s 6th Report 2012 (Session 4), Public Bodies Act orders - Standing Order rule changes (SP Paper 198), and agrees that the changes to Standing Orders set out in the annexe of the report be made with effect from 21 November 2012.
That the Parliament notes the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s 7th Report 2012 (Session 4), Consultation on the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland (SP Paper 210).
[Applause.]
That is a well-deserved round of applause. [Laughter.] The questions on both motions will be put at decision time.