SPCB(2009)Paper 8

21 January 2009

SPCB VISIT

Background

1. Since its establishment in 1999 the Scottish Parliament has hosted many visits by the Speakers/Corporate Bodies and senior management of other parliaments from across the world. One of the main reasons for such visits has been the Parliament’s reputation for innovation and development, with visitors keen to examine our corporate structure, operations, management systems and the level of resourcing and services provided to MSPs. Over the course of the last 10 years the SPCB has not travelled to undertake any similar fact finding exercise and it is proposed that this would be an opportune time for such a visit to take place.

2. In conjunction with the External Liaison Unit, the SPCB secretariat has been looking into options for SPCB members to visit one or more similar legislatures to examine their corporate management systems and method of organisation in order to learn from best practise and compare them to the operations of the SPCB.

Timing

3. It is envisaged that such a visit would take four to five days (depending on logistics) and it has been proposed that it could be carried out during the week of the 2009 February recess (16 – 20 February) so as to reduce the impact on parliamentary business.

Discussion

4. Australia and Canada were both considered as examples of similar legislatures with good governance set ups. With 226 and 408 members respectively, both were considered good options from a corporate governance perspective. Both are forward thinking and have to deal with dual languages. However, there are a couple of obvious major disadvantages to both of these locations - both are bicameral and there is the issue of the time and cost of getting there which would be significantly greater than the other options available.

5. Following an initial examination by the External Liaison Unit of similar parliaments within Europe, three parliaments have been identified which the SPCB may wish to consider as part of this exercise.

6. The parliaments selected for consideration are the Norwegian Storting in Oslo; the Swedish Riksdag in Stockholm and the Landtag (state parliament) of the German state of Schleswig Holstein in Kiel. These parliaments have

1 been short listed as the most appropriate for consideration based on the following criteria:

• the Norwegian, Swedish and German parliamentary systems were all considered as part of the original Consultative Steering Group (CSG) report on the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and elements of all three systems were drawn upon in the development of the blueprint for the Parliament. Much of this work went on to form the basis for Scotland’s Parliament (the white paper) and the Scotland Act 1998;

• all three parliaments are in neighbouring northern European countries/regions which are relatively similar in population and composition to Scotland;

• all three parliaments give a balanced mix of systems in terms of size, organisation and constitutional powers. All three are unicameral parliaments with a broadly similar corporate structure; however there are also significant differences between their systems and that of the Scottish Parliament which will offer alternatives for the Corporate Body to consider. 7. It is proposed that the SPCB could visit two of the three legislatures selected during a 4 day visit. 8. Attached at Annex A is a brief outline of each option.

Resource Implications

9. Allocation has been made in the 2008-09 budget for such a trip. It is proposed that two officials would also accompany the members.

Equalities Implications

10. There are no equality issues relating to this proposal. However, if the trip were to go ahead, equality issues relating to the accessibility of the Scottish Parliament may well be one of the areas members are able to discuss with their counterparts in the other legislatures.

Publication Scheme

11. This paper will be published in line with the Parliament’s Publication Scheme.

Recommendation

12. In view of the choices outlined, ELU recommends that a visit to the Norwegian Storting and Swedish Riksdag would be most beneficial for the SPCB to undertake. The similarities in the political system between Sweden and Scotland provides a common basis regarding political operations while

2 the difference with the Riksdag would provide the SPCB with the opportunity to compare its procedures with that of a larger staff organisation.

13. The Storting and Riksdag would also provide the opportunity for the SPCB to visit two parliaments which work very closely together, in an international sense, through bodies such as the Nordic Council. This may be beneficial to examine in more detail in terms of the Scottish Parliament’s organisational relationship with Westminster and the other devolved legislatures in the UK.

14. The International Office of the Storting has indicated that a visit during the week commencing 16 February could be accommodated with the delegation meeting with either the President or Vice President of the Storting, Members of the Presidium, the Secretary General and other parliament staff and with appropriate committees. In terms of the parliamentary programme it would be for the International Office at the Storting to draw up a suitable programme (in much the same way as ELU develops programmes for incoming political delegations to the Scottish Parliament).

15. The British Embassy in Oslo have also indicated that the Ambassador would like to meet with the SPCB should they choose to visit Oslo.

16. At the time of writing, ELU is awaiting confirmation from both the Swedish Riksdag and the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein as to whether a one day visit by the SPCB could be accommodated during the week of 16 – 20 February.

Decision

17. The SPCB is asked to agree:

17.1 whether it wishes to proceed with the proposed visit;

17.2 which legislatures it wishes to visit; and

17.3 which members would attend.

SPCB secretariat January 2009

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Annex A

The Norwegian Storting

1. Norway has a population of 4.7 million people and an area of about 148,000sq miles. Like Scotland the vast majority of the population is concentrated in a small area of the country (the south and south central costal area) with remote centres of population scattered in west the north of the country.

2. The Storting, the national parliament of Norway, is a single chamber parliament comprising 169 directly elected members, elected for a fixed four year term. Members are elected by proportional representation system based on party lists. Seats are divided on a population basis amongst Norway’s 19 counties, (each county forms a multi-seat region, ranging from the most populated county, which elects 19 MPs, to the least populated which elects 4 MPs). As the next Norwegian general election will take place in September 2009 a visit to the Storting would afford the SPCB an opportunity to examine a neighbouring parliament in preparations for an election.

3. The Storting elects a President and Deputy President for its four year term. The President is both the organisational and symbolic head of the Storting. Despite being a single chamber parliament, the Storting currently divided itself into two separate chambers when considering primary legislation (similar to a committee of the whole house in the UK system). At the start of each four year session one quarter of the Members are selected, by lot, to form the Lagting (the upper chamber for legislation) the remaining three quarters form the Odelsting, (the lower chamber). Both the Lagting and Odelsting elect their own President and Deputy President separate from the President and Deputy President of the Storting.

4. In organisational terms the primary governing body of the Storting is the Presidium, which is chaired by the President and made up of the Deputy President plus the President and Deputy President of both the Odelsting and Lagting (6 elected members in total). These 6 posts are shared out amongst the main political parties proportionally based on the number of seats they hold in Parliament. The Presidium performs a role similar to both that of the SPCB and the Parliamentary Bureau in the Scottish Parliament in that it oversees the political business of the Storting as well as acting as the board to which the senior management reports on organisational/administrative issues.

5. The senior official of the Storting is the Secretary-General (similar to a Clerk/Chief Executive) who reports to the Presidium on the operations of the Storting. The Secretary-General is responsible for the Storting Administration, which has about 400 members of parliamentary staff and an operating budget for 2008 of £85 million, (£123 million including the budget for various Ombudsmen supported by the Storting). The Secretary-General is supported by the Office of the Secretary-General.

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The Swedish Riksdag

6. Another potential parliament to visit is the Riksdag, the national parliament of Sweden. Much like Norway, Scotland and Sweden have similar demographic profiles in that most of the Swedish population are concentrated on a small area of the landmass, namely the south and south east coast. With a population of 9.2 million, Sweden has about twice the population of Scotland.

7. With 349 elected members, the Rikstag this is the largest of the three parliaments considered for a potential visit. Like the Storting, the Riksdag is elected once every four years on a proportional party list system (from 29 electoral regions). Elections take place on the third Sunday in September, every fourth year (the next election is due in September 2010).

8. The Speaker of the Riksdag is elected for a four year term and heads up the administration of the Riksdag. The administration is divided into five distinct departments, headed by a Secretary-General, who is also the Clerk of the Riksdag Chamber. The Speaker chairs the Riksdag Board, which comprises 10 Members elected by the Riksdag, and performs a role similar to the SPCB. The Board has a sub-committee, the Council for Members' Affairs, chaired by the Secretary-General and made up of a single elected member from each political party. This Council oversees the provision of services to elected members, under the overall auspices of the Rikstag Board. Unlike the Storting, the Riksdag Board does not perform the role of a parliamentary bureau, that task is carried out by another committee (also chaired by the Speaker). The Rikstag administration has about 580 members of staff and an annual operating budget for 2008 of £150 million.

9. The Speaker is required to be politically neutral in Sweden and to give up party politics on taking up office. This is because the Speakership is, constitutionally, the highest office one can be elected to in Sweden, ranking before the Prime Minister in constitutional affairs. Uniquely in Sweden, the Speaker is considered the ‘de-facto’ Head of State in terms of forming a government following an election and makes the formal recommendation to the King of Sweden as to who should be appointed Prime Minister. On any occasion on which the King is absent or the office is vacant, the Speaker is, in effect, the acting Swedish Head of State, until a Regent is appointed or the heir apparent accedes to the Throne. The Speaker can also ceremonially represent the Swedish state abroad in place of the King.

10. A visit to the Rikstag would afford the SPCB an opportunity to examine the governance of a larger parliament in terms of organisation and staffing. It would also afford the opportunity for the SPCB to compare the differences and similarities in organisational structure between a larger parliamentary organisation and a smaller one (e.g. the Storting or the Landtag of Schleswig- Holstein).

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The Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein

11. Schleswig-Holstein is the most northern of Germany’s 16 federal states (Lands). It is bordered by Denmark to the north; the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Verpommern and Hamburg to the south; the Baltic Sea to the east and to the North Sea to the west. It has a population of about 2.8 million and an area of 6,800sq miles.

12. The unicameral state parliament (Landtag) is located in the state capital Kiel, about 60 miles north east of Hamburg. The current Landtag consists of 69 members elected once every five years on a mixed member propositional system. The next state election will be in September 2010. Owing to the German electoral system the number of seats in parliament can vary from election to election, this is due to process of overhang seats. Members of the Landtag (MdLs) are elected on a mixed member system similar to the Scottish Parliament, with about 70% elected from single seat districts and the remaining 30% elected on a top up party list system.

13. Unlike the Storting or the Rikstag, the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag is not a national parliament. Under the German federal system the states have control over much of the same issues that are devolved to the Scottish Parliament in the UK system, that is to say policy on issues like agriculture, health, education, justice, local government, economic development etc. The Lands also have the major lead in family and social affairs as well as a constitutional role in European affairs. As a result of the aftermath of WWII and the occupation of Germany by the Allied powers, Germany has a detailed written constitutional system, with the German constitution (the Basic Law), clearly setting out powers between the states and the Federal Government. The Lands also play a very important part in national government in that ministers of the various 16 state governments make up the membership of the Bundesrat (the upper house of the German federal parliament in Berlin).

14. The organisation of the Landtag is overseen by the President (the Landtagspräsident), who is elected from amongst the members at the start of each five year session. As the presiding officer of the Landtag he/she both chairs the plenary of the parliament and heads the political administration.

15. The President is assisted by two vice presidents (all three presidents are normally drawn from different political parties). Together with an elected representative of each of the main parties in the Landtag they make up the Council of Elders or Ältestenrat. The current Ältestenrat of the Landtag consists of the three presidents and five other members (representing the five current political parties in the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag). The Ältestenrat perform an oversight function similar to the SPCB in staff organisation as well as having a political function similar to the Parliamentary Bureau.

16. The senior staff officer is the Director of the Landtag. The Director acts as a chief executive officer reporting to the President and the Council of Elders and heading up the staff organisation as well as performing a clerking

3 function on rules and procedures. Unlike the UK parliamentary system the Director (and sometimes other senior department heads in the staff organisation) tend to be political appointees, though this is not always the case. This position can vary from Land to Land depending on the political situation. Normally the Director is a member of the same political party as the President of the Landtag.

17. The Schleswig-Holstein Landtag has a core staff of about 120, most of whom are state employees. In the German political system however other freestanding parliamentary departments also provide certain services to the Landtag President. Under the system which developed after WWII, the Landtag President effectively assumes the role of official representative of their respective state (almost like a state Head of State). As a result the President is supported by other offices, paid for by state funds, but not under the operational control of the Director (e.g. political advisers, media relations, protocol etc). These staff can be a mix of civil servants and party political staff.

18. A visit to the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag would provide the SPCB with an opportunity to see how a state parliament in a larger federal country is organised. In terms of both numbers of elected members and parliamentary staff, the Landtag is the smallest of the three parliaments examined.

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