Plenary, 22 Apr 2009
Meeting date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Official Report
328KB pdf
“Members' Bills—cut-off date for introduction”
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-3925, in the name of Gil Paterson, on behalf of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee, on members' bills—cut-off date for introduction. If anyone else wishes to speak in the debate, I ask them to press their request-to-speak buttons now. Again, I call on Gil Paterson to speak to and move the motion.
The second Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee report to be debated this afternoon relates to the deadline for the introduction of members' bills. At present, the deadline for introduction is the end of September in the year before a general Scottish Parliament election. The change that is recommended by the committee will move that deadline to the beginning of June in the year before an election.
The committee recommended that change following concerns raised by the Health Committee and the Communities Committee at the end of the previous session. Both committees had been referred members' bills, but decided that they could not consider the bills due to their existing work programmes. The deadline for the introduction of members' bills meant, in those committees' view, that they did not have enough time to consider the legislation properly.
Following consultation, the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee concluded that the deadline for introduction should be brought forward to the beginning of June. The committee noted that the recommended change may provide committees with only an additional eight weeks of sitting time to consider members' bills. However, it would also provide an opportunity for consultation to be undertaken over the summer recess and for committees to schedule work on a member's bill when drawing up their autumn work programme.
The committee considered whether there should be a mechanism to allow for the introduction of a member's bill beyond the deadline in exceptional circumstances, for example due to political impetus for a particular issue to be taken forward in a particular session. The change that is recommended by the committee therefore gives the Parliamentary Bureau the option to extend the deadline, if that is considered appropriate. We will be happy to work with the bureau to consider further what the criteria should be for extending the deadline in exceptional circumstances.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee's 1st Report 2009 (Session 3), Members' Bills – cut-off date for introduction (SP Paper 205), and agrees that the changes to Standing Orders set out in Annexe A to the report be made with effect from 24 April 2009.
Again, no one has indicated that they wish to speak in the debate, so we will move to the next item.