Plenary, 21 Apr 2005

Meeting date: Thursday, April 21, 2005

Official Report 727KB pdf

---

Point of Order

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. At First Minister's question time earlier this afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon said in relation to exchanges between officials that the Minister for Health and Community Care's office had told the Scottish Parliament information centre that information would be released, but not until after First Minister's question time. As you know, it is not appropriate to misquote staff of either this Parliament or the civil service in pursuance of a political point.

First, the minister's office was not contacted today and was not involved in any exchanges. [Interruption.] I appreciate that some members might not want to hear the detail of this, but they are obliged to hear it in the interests of the staff involved. Secondly, the member of staff in the parliamentary clerk's office made it clear that, given that ministers were in the chamber, she was unable to confirm precisely when the information would be available. In fact, the member of staff in question feels that she was misinterpreted. As I am sure that you will all agree, Ms Sturgeon gave quite a different interpretation. For the record, that is most unfair on the member of staff involved.

I accept that there must be robust debate in the chamber, but we all, including the deputy leader of the Scottish National Party, have a responsibility to be accurate, particularly when we are referring to members of staff.

Further to that point of order, Presiding Officer. Talking of courtesy in the chamber, it would have been extremely helpful if a member who was going to be named in a point of order had been so informed. It is clear that the minister's point of order has been made in response to the fact that the Executive has got it wrong and has covered up the figures that are there. It is trying to create a smokescreen because it does not want the information to be out there.

You have made your point of order in full detail, Ms Curran, and it is now firmly on the parliamentary record. It is for all members to ensure the accuracy of what they say and of the quotations that they provide. However, it is simply not possible for the Presiding Officer to police the veracity of what was allegedly said or not said by a third party. The point is now firmly on the record and I suggest that, in this election period, we leave it at that.