Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Official Report 440KB pdf

Deputy Convener

Item 3 is the choice of a deputy convener. The Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish National Party are eligible for nomination as deputy convener of this committee. I ask whether there are any nominations for the role. I understand that Paul McLennan might wish to say something.

Yes, convener. I nominate Bob Doris for the position of deputy convener.

Bob Doris was chosen as deputy convener.

Congratulations, Bob. You certainly have committee experience dating all the way back to 2007, including in relation to local government and subordinate legislation. In fact, I think that you have experience of virtually all committees but, most importantly from my point of view, you were a member of the predecessor of this committee, so I will be looking to you for advice, wisdom and support. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Do you want to say anything?

I would not normally say something at this point but, given the resonance of your initial comments as convener, it would be remiss of me not to reflect on them. We should of course strive for gender balance on all committees, but that is particularly the case with this committee, given the types of issues that we will consider proactively, I hope, and, frankly, as a matter of course. I support your initial comments. The lack of gender balance is deeply unfortunate but, irrespective of that, I look forward to working collegiately with all committee members to ensure that we seek the views of MSPs more widely—they are far more reflective of Scotland than the members of the committee might be in practice at the moment—and the views of wider society.

Absolutely. I agree with those points.