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The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-20557, in the name of Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a timetable for stage 3 consideration of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill. Any member who wishes to speak should press their request-to-speak button now.
Motion moved,
That the Parliament agrees that, during stage 3 of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, debate on groups of amendments shall, subject to Rule 9.8.4A, be brought to a conclusion by the time limits indicated, those time limits being calculated from when the stage begins and excluding any periods when other business is under consideration or when a meeting of the Parliament is suspended or otherwise not in progress:
Groups 1 to 3: 1 hour 25 minutes
Groups 4 to 5: 2 hours 55 minutes
Groups 6 to 8: 5 hours
Groups 9 to 11: 7 hours 15 minutes
Groups 12 to 15: 8 hours 50 minutes
Groups 16 to 19: 9 hours 50 minutes—[Graeme Dey]
14:27
I rise to speak on the business motion. My issue with it is simple, and I will start with a quote from Winston Churchill, who said:
“democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 11 November 1947; Vol 444, c 207.]
What we are doing here is part of the democratic process. My concern with the business motion, which was agreed to by the Parliamentary Bureau yesterday—when I was in the process of my four-hour drive down to the Parliament, and therefore unable to feed in my concerns on the timetable—is that it is difficult to understand how each of the timings have been worked out.
In the stage 3 debate that we had on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, I ended up with a considerable number of amendments in some groups. In one group, I had more than 30 amendments, yet I was given five minutes to speak to those 30 amendments.
There appears to be a repetition today. In group 5, I have 36 amendments. If I am given only five minutes to speak to those amendments, maths tells me that I have about eight seconds per amendment, during which I might just be able to read out what the amendment says. On group 8, in which I have 26 amendments, the time is a little bit more generous, because I will have 11 seconds per amendment, so I might be able to explain what the first line of each amendment is about.
Presiding Officer, I know that, when you and the bureau sit down to work out the timings, you do so with care, to ensure that you comply with rule 9.8 of standing orders and, specifically, paragraph 4A(a), which is on enabling members to be
“given a right to speak on an amendment”
in the debate.
My concern is that I will be in a position where I have considerable numbers of amendments in a small number of groups and will not be able to explain them as I would hope to, which will not allow me to have the democratic process that I expect to have in this Parliament and that I believe people in Scotland expect to see when members stand up to speak and to express their views.
Presiding Officer, I would be grateful if, when we consider the motion moved by Mr Dey—which I do not intend to object to—I could be given some reassurance that, in groups where members have a considerable number of amendments, they will not be limited to eight seconds to speak to each amendment.
I call the minister to respond on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau.
14:30
The timings provided are the result of detailed work conducted by Parliament staff, and business managers were of the view that the timings strike the right balance between allowing the proper airing of amendments and going beyond that. It is, of course, for the chair—and we should all respect the authority of the chair—to determine how each group of amendments, and indeed the entire stage 3 process, is conducted.
On the accuracy of the predicted timings and of the time offered, I draw the member’s attention to last week’s stage 3 business, when the predicted timings were accurate almost to the minute and, indeed, also catered for one of his colleagues taking 17 minutes to make a single spoken contribution. I think I speak for the majority of those here when I express the view that I hope we will avoid any contributions of a similar length today or tomorrow, from either Mr Mountain or anyone else, but I have confidence that, in the chairing and handling of the stage 3 process, he, and all members, will be afforded the appropriate opportunity to have their say.
The question is, that motion S6M-20557, in the name of Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a timetable for stage 3 consideration of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees that, during stage 3 of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, debate on groups of amendments shall, subject to Rule 9.8.4A, be brought to a conclusion by the time limits indicated, those time limits being calculated from when the stage begins and excluding any periods when other business is under consideration or when a meeting of the Parliament is suspended or otherwise not in progress:
Groups 1 to 3: 1 hour 25 minutes
Groups 4 to 5: 2 hours 55 minutes
Groups 6 to 8: 5 hours
Groups 9 to 11: 7 hours 15 minutes
Groups 12 to 15: 8 hours 50 minutes
Groups 16 to 19: 9 hours 50 minutes