Contents
- Scottish Parliament Wednesday 26 October 2005
- Time for Reflection
- Point of Order
- Non-Executive Bills Unit (Prioritisation of Workload)
- Equality Bill
- Business Motions
- Parliamentary Bureau Motions
- Decision Time
- Summer Academy @ Strathclyde
Point of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance on rule 8.11, about business motions. Evidence was led this morning at the meeting of the Justice 1 Committee and Justice 2 Committee that directly concerns the debate that is taking place at Westminster at the moment. That evidence could not have been referred to at yesterday's meeting of the Parliamentary Bureau. I ask the business managers to find time to allow us to debate the issue from the perspective of this Parliament, given that our operational responsibility for policing, for example, will be directly affected by the Terrorism Bill. Is it possible, under rule 8.11, for the Minister for Parliamentary Business to add to the proposals that she will put to the Parliament this afternoon, so that we might have a debate on the matter?
The minister is not with us at present, but I am sure that she will take due notice of what you have said. I thought that you were going to propose a motion without notice, but that is not the case. You were not at the bureau yesterday, Mrs MacDonald. It might have been more appropriate to raise such matters then.
I certainly would have raised the matter yesterday had the evidence been given by the police yesterday, but the evidence was given to the justice committees only this morning. In the light of the fact that discussions taking place at Westminster today impact directly on the responsibility of this Parliament, without our having been consulted, it might be a good idea to discuss the matter.
The minister is not with us at this point, but I am sure that the Government whips will ensure that your views are conveyed to her and I suspect that she will have a word with you thereafter.