Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, December 6, 2018

Official Report 679KB pdf

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Cross-party Groups (Annual Report)

We have two more items to get through, one of which is item 4, which is in private.

Item 3 is consideration of an annual update on cross-party group compliance with the code of conduct. At the moment, there are 106 cross-party groups, and as members will see from the report, compliance with the code is high. Are there any comments from members?

It is good that compliance is high. Would it be worth asking some groups that have not submitted an annual return in time to explain why they have not done so?

That is a good point. We have an annual monitoring report, and we want to make sure that we take that monitoring seriously. If some of the 106 groups—which is a lot—are not meeting the compliance standards, we should take that issue forward. Perhaps we can bring the issue back at a later meeting when we might have a chance to look at it in depth. Is there anything else that you have pulled up that you want to discuss at the moment?

No. All I would say that is explanations are often given but when an explanation is not given, we should ask for it. Most of the groups do give explanations that are perfectly reasonable and understandable, but where there is no explanation, the onus is on the committee to ask for one.

As we know, our clerking team is very strong on ensuring that people comply with the code and chases people up if there are issues. We know that three groups have folded recently, but they had decent reasons for doing so. Our clerks are very much on top of the issue, but we could bring the report back if there are any specific issues that might not have been covered in people’s responses on why they might not be meeting the code.

Can we note that, Elaine?

We should also thank the clerks for their work in making sure that members who are conveners comply, but things are often difficult when they have busy timetables. As I have said, there are often good and understandable reasons for these things, so we should put it on the record that the clerks do a good job in alerting cross-party groups and making sure that they comply.

I am happy to note the report just now.

We would all go along with what you have said. As far as I can make out, the clerking team has been pretty successful in its efforts. We can have a wee look at the situation on our own behalf and see whether there is anything that we would like to raise.

Are there any other points?

A group should provide clerks with 10 calendar days’ notice of meeting. I can see that, when clerks are not informed, that might be an oversight, but I get the impression from my inbox that MSPs often do not get 10 days’ notification either. Something needs to be done about that. People need to be aware that it is not acceptable just to say, “There’s a meeting of such-and-such cross-party group tomorrow night.”

There are also those who seem to think that it is okay to always meet on a Thursday night. That is not acceptable to me, anyway. Groups should not always be on a Thursday night—they need to meet at different times.

We could certainly put those well-made points to the groups, and we can notify them of their responsibilities to ensure that their MSP members are taken into consideration and not taken for granted when meetings are set up.

With those useful comments, we will take the issue forward. Most groups are aware that members have a lot of other issues and items to attend to, including other cross-party groups, but it does no harm to make everyone aware of their responsibility for ensuring that the groups carry out their duties and meet their MSPs. We do not want to make it difficult for MSPs, particularly those who come from some distance away, to meet their groups.

Is there a one-sheet guide to what the groups should be doing?

It is all set out in the code of conduct.

Is it readily identifiable?

I personally do not know that. We will let members see what the code of conduct actually says, because I am as guilty as anybody of not looking at it. We will then be aware of what is in it, and we can draw on our experience as MSPs to look at what requirements are not being met by the cross-party groups and then help them meet their duties.

That discussion went faster than I expected, but it was worth having. I thank the clerking team again for the annual monitoring report, which requires a lot of work. Now that we have it, we can take those items forward.

11:15 Meeting continued in private until 11:23.