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Chamber and committees

Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 27, 2012


Contents


Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Question Time


Garden Furniture



1. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide benches in the garden area. (S4O-01209)

Linda Fabiani (East Kilbride) (SNP)

The SPCB plans to install external furniture on the paved area in the members’ garden. However, in light of discussions on having a members’ coffee lounge downstairs rather than upstairs and information that has been imparted in that respect, the furniture will take the form of tables and chairs rather than benches.

Annabelle Ewing

I am very pleased to hear about the provision of some outdoor furniture, which I hope will afford staff, visitors and—from time to time, though obviously not too often—members the opportunity of appreciating the building’s outdoor environment. However, I still make a plea for consideration in due course of the odd bench in the outdoor area.

Linda Fabiani

Annabelle Ewing is absolutely right to suggest that we take advantage of the Parliament’s beautiful garden. Perhaps we should get a bit tougher and, instead of parasols, use big umbrellas.

I note that concrete benches have already been built into the landscape in the members’ garden. During those great occasions when we have spells of good weather, the benches are certainly well used by members and staff and they, of course, supplement the tables and chairs that are placed outside the garden level restaurant.


Information Technology (Members Services)



2. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what impact the recent changes to the Parliament’s information technology system have had on services to members. (S4O-01211)

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)

Like most other modern organisations, the Scottish Parliament is reliant on IT for the effective and efficient delivery of business. Recent changes to the IT systems have included increasing the resilience and speed of our voice and data systems to provide greater capacity for internet services such as e-mail, web browsing and remote access, and to reduce costs.

In addition, contractual changes have provided a vehicle for ensuring that all local offices are equipped with the fastest broadband service that their local telecommunications infrastructure supports, as well as providing the potential to exploit different technologies where the local broadband infrastructure provision is insufficient. Members have also benefited from increased mailbox sizes and improved reliability of remote access solutions.

The SPCB also recognises the impact of unplanned IT downtime on members, and the corporate body receives regular updates from officials working with suppliers to ensure that service availability is optimised. IT staff will also continue to work with individual members to tailor services to meet their needs and to seek feedback from members to help ensure that future IT strategy is member focused.

John Wilson

I thank the member for his extensive response. Following changes to the Scottish Parliament website, members of the public are no longer able to access MSPs’ work via the theyworkforyou.com website, even though they can still receive notification of what MPs and Northern Ireland Assembly members are doing. It is my understanding that work has been carried out to create data in a format that external organisations can automatically use, but there is no indication that www.theyworkforyou.com does not cover the Scottish Parliament.

Will the SPCB investigate the possibility of making the website compatible with theyworkforyou.com services to ensure that all members of the public can get automatic updates when MSPs ask questions or make speeches in the chamber as they can with MPs and Northern Ireland MLAs?



David Stewart

I know that the member takes a great interest in these matters. He is right to say that theyworkforyou.com helps to publicise the work of the Parliament and members’ individual contributions. One of the advantages of the changes to our website design is that they will allow us to work to ensure that information is available to external organisations. However, the current format of our data means that external organisations cannot automatically get the information that they wish to have. The member makes a very good point, which I will raise at the next meeting of the corporate body.


Scottish Beer



3. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what it is doing to promote the availability in the building of beer brewed in Scotland. (S4O-01215) [Applause.]

Linda Fabiani (East Kilbride) (SNP)

That is obviously a popular question.

We actively encourage the use of Scottish products throughout the catering services. Currently, we sell bottled and draught beer from a local Scottish brewery. During previous Scottish food and drink fortnights we have invited the brewer to host tastings with people in the bar area.

Patrick Harvie

I draw members’ attention to my declaration of interests, which states that I am a member of the Campaign for Real Ale.

Sadly, it is only the CAMRA annual reception that showcases the best of the quality real ale and craft beer that Scotland now produces to a much greater extent and diversity than in previous decades. I encourage the corporate body to look at what more can be done in the bar and mainstream catering or in the events and receptions that take place in the Parliament, which serve wine pretty much every night but rarely serve beer that is brewed with locally produced ingredients to a high quality in Scotland.

Linda Fabiani

I am more than willing to do that as long as it does not compromise the wine, as I am not a beer drinker.

I repeat that we do encourage that use. If members know of any company with a strong Scottish identity and product who would be interested in supplying the Scottish Parliament, they should please get in touch with our facilities management team. Our facilities management manager has met MSPs, including my colleague Aileen McLeod, to explain the process. We are happy to continue that practice, and I encourage members to get involved.


External Screening Facility



4. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what advice it sought regarding the proposed external screening facility. (S4O-01210)

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)

In 2007, the corporate body commissioned and received official security advice about the measures in place at the Parliament in relation to current risks and threats. In 2011, we asked our security adviser to review the recommendations received in 2007. We received clear advice from our adviser, other official security sources and the police that the risks and threats that had been identified were still relevant.

We have also received professional architectural and construction advice, as well as advice from the solicitor to the Scottish Parliament about the corporate body’s responsibility to ensure the safety of employees and visitors.

I understand the sensitivities involved in this issue, but is the member able to share with the chamber the identified at-risk groups that use the Parliament and the responsibilities the corporate body faces in discharging that risk?

David Stewart

I know that Mr Pearson takes a great interest in security matters because of his background as a senior police officer in Scotland and London. The corporate body has a duty of care to MSPs and staff, and to the thousands of people who visit the Parliament every year. We have to live in the real world and acknowledge that, regrettably, the Parliament is a target for a small minority of obsessed individuals. We have to get the balance right between managing an open and accessible Parliament and our legal and security responsibilities to the Scottish public. No final decision will be made on the project until after the summer recess.


Living Wage



5. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what action it is taking to become a living wage employer. (S4O-01212)

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)

Following questions raised by members at previous corporate body question times, we have considered whether the corporate body should become a living wage employer. I confirm that all directly employed corporate body employees and agency-recruited staff are paid above the living wage. However, our legal advice is that to impose a requirement on contractors for them to pay their staff the living wage may be in breach of European Union regulations. The Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, Alex Neil, has written to the EU to seek clarification on the matter, and we will review our position on becoming a living wage employer when that has been received.

I thank the member for his answer. When will the corporate body ensure that all staff, including contracted staff, are paid above the living wage?

David Stewart

I am grateful for that question from Jenny Marra. I know that she has an interest in and a commitment to this issue. I believe that adopting a living wage policy is essentially a gold standard for an employer. As Jenny Marra identified, the challenge is around our contracted services, which are cleaning and catering. That contract is due for renewal in 2015. Currently, 15 catering staff are paid 5p an hour below the living wage and seven cleaners are paid 35p an hour below that threshold. The key is the EU advice. If the EU advice allows us to make the living wage a contractual obligation, that would be a matter for the corporate body to consider in the future.

How many agency staff are currently employed by the Scottish Parliament?

David Stewart

I will get back to the member on that particular point.

The key point is that relatively few staff—even among the contracted staff—are actually below the living wage. My personal view is that we need to look for a solution that means that everybody is above the living wage. I stress that that requires a positive response from the EU first.


Event Costs (Small Charities)



6. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how it helps small charitable organisations to meet the costs of organising events in the complex. (S4O-01214)

Linda Fabiani (East Kilbride) (SNP)

There are no costs imposed by the Parliament to organisations to hold an event here as the SPCB does not charge for room hire, plasma screens, laptops, or the in-built public address system and so on. Any costs incurred by organisations are in respect of additional services hired in for their events at their own discretion—catering or audio-visual services, for example.

Alison Johnstone

I thank Linda Fabiani for her answer. I recognise the professional and courteous service offered by the Parliament events team to small and large organisations alike. When organisations invite people into the Parliament they like to offer hospitality. Currently, the least expensive package of canapés and drinks is more than £17 per person. Could the SPCB consider a sliding scale of charges for organisations based on their income and size?

Linda Fabiani

I cannot give an immediate answer to that, because there is an awful lot behind that question and an awful lot of work there. We also have to consider the relationship that we have with the contractors who provide those services.

We try to provide low-cost catering options at the moment. There would be difficulties in offering a two-tier catering tariff, or even something beyond that. In exceptional circumstances, we allow food to be brought in for consumption as part of an event—for example, ethnic food that our catering provider is not equipped to prepare.

The question is certainly not an easy one to answer. We can look at it, but the main function of using the Parliament is to get an organisation’s message across. The other things are additional to that.


Procurement



7. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how its procurement contracts take account of article 19 of the European Union procurement directive. (S4O-01213)

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con)

I commend the member for the support that she has given to procurement opportunities for supported businesses.

As part of our responsible purchasing policy, the SPCB aims to have at least one contract with a supported factory or business. At project planning stage, forthcoming requirements are examined to identify contracts that may potentially be reserved for supported businesses. The supported business directory is used to identify those suppliers.

To give one example, the SPCB information technology disposal services contract was awarded to Pluss, which is a social enterprise that supports people with disabilities and other disadvantages into employment each year. About half of Pluss’s own workforce has a disability. Although the contract value was below the EU threshold, the requirement was reserved and the competition was undertaken with three supported factories and businesses.

Helen Eadie

I thank Mary Scanlon, a member of the corporate body, for that answer, and I commend the corporate body for its continuing commitment to make some inroads into this important aspect of our work in the Parliament.

I appeal to the SPCB members to work in collaboration with the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Fergus Ewing. He is working with the trade unions to look at what more can be done to support supported businesses and how we can expand on that commitment, because the Scottish Parliament has historically been a pathfinder in that regard and is an example for other businesses throughout Scotland to follow.

Mary Scanlon

The issue of procurement has been raised by several members. I will raise the point about working with Fergus Ewing, and I have also had an offer from the head of procurement. Liam McArthur and I would be happy to discuss the issue further with Helen Eadie.