Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament 'Shaping Scotland's Parliament' Presented to the Secretary of State for Scotland December 1998 Publisher The Scottish Office More information on the Consultative Steering Group is available on The Scottish Office Devolution website http://www.scottish-devolution.org.uk CONTENTS Foreword by Mr Henry McLeish MP, Scottish Office Minister of State responsible for Home Affairs, Devolution and Local Government Membership and Remit of the Consultative Steering Group 1. Introduction 2. The Key Principles: putting them into practice 3. Detailed Recommendations 3.1. The Standing Orders for the Scottish Parliament 3.2. Members, Offices and Bodies of the Parliament 3.3. Parliamentary Business 3.4. Accountability 3.5. The Legislative Process 3.6. Access and Information Next Steps Annexes A. Remits and membership of Expert Panels and Working Groups B. Research C. CSG Consultation paper D. Analysis of written responses to CSG E. Summary of points raised in open forums F. Draft information strategy for the Scottish Parliament G. Consultation mechanisms H. Mainstreaming Equal Opportunities I. Financial Issues Advisory Group: Summary of Recommendations J. Expert Panel on Information and Communications Technologies: Sub-Group on Democratic Participation: Summary of Recommendations Glossary of terms ________________________________________ The information contained on this WWW site is Crown Copyright but may be reproduced without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use. © 1998 FOREWORD By CSG Chairman, Mr Henry McLeish MP, Scottish Office Minister of State, responsible for Home Affairs, Devolution and Local Government. To the Secretary of State for Scotland, It gives me tremendous satisfaction to present to you the Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament. On behalf of the members of the Group I should like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to be involved in the challenge of drawing up detailed proposals on how the Scottish Parliament should operate. Our deliberations have been wide-ranging. We have consulted widely with interested bodies and individuals and we have been supported by expert advice from various panels established to aid our considerations. In all our deliberations we have been struck by the degree of consensus that exists. In particular, that the establishment of the Scottish Parliament offers the opportunity to put in place a new sort of democracy in Scotland, closer to the Scottish people and more in tune with Scottish needs. People in Scotland have high hopes for their Parliament, and in developing our proposals we have been keen to ensure that these hopes will be met. In particular our recommendations envisage an open, accessible Parliament; a Parliament where power is shared with the people; where people are encouraged to participate in the policy making process which affects all our lives; an accountable, visible Parliament; and a Parliament which promotes equal opportunities for all. I have been fortunate to chair a Group which has been open in its work and has striven throughout its deliberations to achieve consensus. I particularly welcome the constructive approaches taken by the representatives of the other main political parties in Scotland. This has allowed us to deliver a set of recommendations for a Parliament to which Scottish people can relate and in which they can take pride. The work of this Group has set the tone for the future of Scottish politics. I would like to thank the members of the Group for the enthusiasm and commitment they have brought to this task. My thanks also go to the Scottish Office team who formed the Secretariat for their diligent work throughout the last 12 months. We hope that this Report will stand as the blueprint for the manner in which the Scottish Parliament will operate and that it will provide a firm basis for the Standing Orders of the Parliament. CONSULTATIVE STEERING GROUP: MEMBERSHIP AND REMIT Members Mr Henry McLeish MP, Minister of State (Chair) Professor Alice Brown Dr Campbell Christie CBE Mr Andrew Cubie Mr Paul Cullen QC Mr Keith Geddes CBE Mrs Deirdre Hutton CBE Ms Joyce McMillan Mr George Reid Ms Esther Roberton Dr Joan Stringer Mr Jim Wallace QC MP Canon Kenyon Wright Remit To bring together views on and consider the operational needs and working methods of the Scottish Parliament. To develop proposals for the rules of procedure and Standing Orders which the Parliament might be invited to adopt. To prepare a report to the Secretary of State by the end of 1998, to inform the preparation of draft Standing Orders. Scottish Office Secretariat Mr Robert Gordon, Head, Constitution Group Mr John Ewing, Head, Constitutional Policy Division Mr Murray Sinclair, Constitution Group Solicitors Ms Carol McCracken, Head, Constitutional Policy Branch Miss Jane McEwan, Constitutional Policy Branch Ms Deborah Smith, Constitutional Policy Branch SECTION ONE INTRODUCTION 1. The Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament (CSG) was set up by the Secretary of State for Scotland in November 1997, following the positive outcome of the Scottish devolution referendum, and met for the first time in January 1998. Its membership included representatives of all four major Scottish political parties, as well as of a wide range of civic groups and interests; and our remit was both straightforward and daunting. It was: To bring together views on and consider the operational needs and working methods of the Scottish Parliament. To develop proposals for the rules of procedure and Standing Orders which the Parliament might be invited to adopt. To prepare a report to the Secretary of State by the end of 1998, to inform the preparation of Standing Orders. 2. The Government's White Paper "Scotland's Parliament"1, published in July 1997, had already set out a broad framework for the operation of the new Parliament, drawing on the recommendations of the Scottish Constitutional Convention. It emphasised the Government's expectation that the Parliament would adopt modern methods of working; that it would be accessible, open and responsive to the needs of the public; that participation by organisations and individuals in decision- making would be encouraged; that views and advice from policy specialists would be sought as appropriate; and that Committees would play an important role in the new Parliament, able to initiate legislation, as well as to scrutinise and amend the Scottish Executive's proposals, carry out wide- ranging investigative functions, and meet regularly in locations away from Edinburgh, so as to improve public access to the Parliament's work. 3. The White Paper also stated the Government's wish, within these broad outlines, to leave detailed decisions on how the Scottish Parliament should operate to the Parliament itself. But it was clear from the outset that it would be unreasonable to expect MSPs to begin drawing up Standing Orders - the detailed operating rules of the Parliament - from scratch, immediately after the first elections. Hence the setting up of the CSG, with the task of developing a set of proposals which would be likely to command widespread support, and would provide a clear and well-founded basis for debate when the Parliament itself comes to make final decisions on its procedures and working methods. 4. In preparing its report, the CSG has therefore drawn on a wide range of information and advice: full details of our working methods, and of the results of our consultations, can be found in Annexes A-E. Our work was supported and administered throughout by a team of officials from The Scottish Office Constitution Group, who drafted the vast majority of our working documents and papers. We were advised by the Expert Panels on Procedures and Standing Orders, Financial Issues, and Information and Communications Technologies, and by a Working Group on the Code of Conduct for MSPs; towards the end of the year, an Expert Panel on Media Issues was also set up. 5. In addition, we commissioned research into the working methods of national and regional Parliaments in the European Union and elsewhere. We launched a massive written (and electronic) public consultation exercise, actively inviting views on the working of the Parliament from more than 800 organisations, and placed copies of our papers and minutes on The Scottish Office Devolution Website for open public response. We used targeted focus groups to seek the views of groups often marginalised by consultation processes, including young people and people in urban, rural and remote areas; and we held a series of Open Forum meetings across Scotland, to allow us to hear views at first hand. 6. In presenting this report to the Secretary of State, and to the wider Scottish public, we would therefore like to thank everyone who took part in this consultation process, and in the development of our thinking about the kind of Parliament Scotland will need in the 21st century. The remainder of the report is divided into 3 sections. Section 2 outlines the key principles which we determined should guide our work, and describes how those principles shaped our thinking about the practical operation of the Parliament. Section 3 contains more detailed proposals for procedures and Standing Orders which we believe embody those principles, and would help to give them real force in Scotland's political life. Section 4 outlines how our work will be taken forward. 7. Our aim has been to try to capture, in the nuts and bolts of Parliamentary procedure, some of the high aspirations for a better, more responsive and more truly democratic system of government that have informed the movement for constitutional change in Scotland; and in submitting these proposals for debate, our hope is that the principles on which they have been based will continue to influence the life of Scotland's Parliament, not only in the letter of its Standing Orders, but in the spirit of its work.