SPPA/S3/09/6/A STANDARDS, PROCEDURES AND PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE AGENDA 6th Meeting, 2009 (Session 3) Tuesday 28 April 2009 The Committee will meet at 2.15 pm in Committee Room 6. 1. Decision on taking business in private: The Committee will decide whether to take item 5 in private and to consider a draft report on its Hybrid Bills inquiry in private at future meetings. 2. Cross-Party Groups: The Committee will consider applications for recognition from three proposed Cross-Party Groups. 3. Annual report: The Committee will consider a draft annual report for the Parliament year from 9 May 2008 to 8 May 2009. 4. Review of Section 2 of the Code of Conduct (in private): The Committee will receive a briefing. 5. Hybrid Bills inquiry: The Committee will consider written evidence received. 6. Accuracy of contributions in parliamentary proceedings (in private): The Committee will consider a draft report. Gillian Baxendine/Alison Walker Clerks to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Room TG.01 The Scottish Parliament Edinburgh Tel: 0131 348 5239 Email: [email protected] SPPA/S3/09/6/A The papers for this meeting are as follows— Agenda item 2 Note by the Clerk SPPA/S3/09/6/1 Agenda item 3 Draft annual report SPPA/S3/09/6/2 (P) Agenda item 5 Written evidence SPPA/S3/09/6/3 (P) Note by the Clerk SPPA/S3/09/6/4 (P) Agenda item 6 Draft report SPPA/S3/09/6/5 (P) SPPA/S3/09/6/1 Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee 6th Meeting, 2009 (Session 3) Tuesday 28 April 2009 Cross-Party Group applications Introduction 1. In accordance with the provisions on Cross-Party Groups set out in Section 6 of the Code of Conduct, proposals for the establishment of Cross- Party Groups (CPGs) in the Scottish Parliament must be submitted to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee for its approval. 2. The applications due for the Committee’s consideration were submitted prior to the Parliament’s recent approval of a revision to section 6 of the Code of Conduct. Therefore, the Rules referred to in the registration forms relate to the previous version of section 6. 3. The effect and requirements of the Rules are not affected by the recent update. This paper sets out the Rules as they currently stand in section 6.4, as required by section 6.3.1. 4. There are three proposed groups for the Committee’s consideration. None have been active in previous sessions. Proposed CPG on Scottish Universities 5. The registration form submitted by the proposed Group is attached as Annexe A. Purpose 6. Rule 1 states that a group “must be Parliamentary in character, and its purpose must be of genuine public interest”. The purpose of this proposed Group is described as— “To consider and discuss the future of Scottish Universities.” Membership 7. Rule 2 requires group membership to include at least five MSPs, with each of the parties or groups represented in the Parliamentary Bureau. 8. The MSP membership (by party) of the proposed CPG on Scottish Universities is: • 2 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party • 1 Scottish Green Party • 7 Scottish Labour Party • 1 Scottish Liberal Democrats • 1 Scottish National Party 1 SPPA/S3/09/6/1 9. Rule 3 entitles groups to contain members from outwith the Parliament, although the overall membership profile should remain Parliamentary in character. To guarantee and maintain the Parliamentary nature of group meetings, Rule 8 requires at least two MSPs (who are registered members of the group) to be present at any meetings. 10. Rule 6 states that only registered group members may vote at any meeting. Clarification on the voting rights of external group members is provided in Volume 3, Section 6.1.3: “Each member is entitled to vote at group meetings, for example, an individual member has the right to vote; an organisation or group has only one vote but is able to send a different representative of the organisation or group to meetings and that person may vote on behalf of that body.” 11. The Committee may wish to note that the proposed group has listed a number of individual external members, with some of those individuals being members of the same organisation. The Committee may wish to seek clarification on whether the individuals listed will attend group meetings in an individual or representational capacity: in the event of more than one individual being present from the same organisation, the Committee may also wish to seek clarification on how the proposed group will conduct any votes. Office Bearers 12. Rule 4 requires at least two office bearers within a proposed group to be MSPs. This proposed group has identified the following as Co-Conveners: • Murdo Fraser MSP • Rhona Brankin MSP • Christopher Harvie MSP • Margaret Smith MSP • Robin Harper MSP Subscription and Financial Benefits 13. Rule 9 sets out the terms on any subscription charges. The registration form indicates that the proposed group does not charge a subscription for members. 14. Rule 10 requires groups to register any financial or material benefit received by the group from a single source, where the total of that benefit exceeds £500 in any one calendar year. At the time of registration the tariff was £250. The registration form indicates that the proposed group has received no financial or other material benefit. Proposed CPG on Credit Unions 15. The registration form submitted by the proposed Group is attached as Annexe B. Purpose 16. The purpose, as required under Rule 1, of this proposed Group is— 2 SPPA/S3/09/6/1 “To provide a forum to discuss issues, which involve credit unions in Scotland. The CPG will also create a foundation for policy development relating to credit unions and help to form a network of good practice between credit unions and parliamentarians. The CPG may also promote the positive role of credit unions as social enterprises in Scotland.” Membership 17. MSP membership (by party) of the proposed CPG on Credit Unions, as required under Rule 2 is: • 2 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party • 6 Scottish Labour Party • 1 Scottish Liberal Democrats • 2 Scottish National Party 18. The proposed Group has registered five individual external members. Two of these are members of the same organisation (Capital Credit Union). 19. In line with the guidance on voting rights as set out in Volume 3, Section 6.1.3, the Committee may wish to seek clarification on how the proposed Group may conduct any votes at meetings at which the two individuals from the same organisation are present. Office Bearers 20. Rule 4 requires at least two office bearers within a proposed group to be MSPs. The proposed CPG on Credit Unions has Frank McAveety MSP as its Convener, with three Vice-Conveners: John Wilson MSP; Mary Scanlon MSP and Robert Brown MSP. Subscription and Financial Benefits 21. Rule 9 sets out the terms on any subscription charges. The registration form indicates that the proposed group does not charge a subscription for members. 22. Rule 10 requires groups to register any financial or material benefit received by the group from a single source, where the total of that benefit exceeds £500 in any one calendar year. At the time of registration the tariff was £250. The registration form indicates that the proposed group has received no financial or other material benefit. Proposed CPG on Town and City Centre Development 23. The registration form submitted by the proposed Group is attached as Annexe C. Purpose 24. The full text of the proposed Group’s purpose, as required under Rule 1, is contained within Annexe C. The Committee may wish to consider whether it would be more accessible if the purpose was limited to the final sentence within the proposed Group’s registration form— 3 SPPA/S3/09/6/1 “The aim of the group is to ensure that Scotland’s traditional town/city centres are suitably placed within the economic growth agenda, and are fit for purpose in the future for people to live, work, invest and play in.” Membership 25. MSP membership (by party) of the proposed CPG on Town and City Centre Development, as required under Rule 2 is: • 3 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party • 1 Scottish Green Party • 11 Scottish Labour Party • 3 Scottish Liberal Democrats • 2 Scottish National Party Office Bearers 26. Rule 4 requires at least two office bearers within a proposed group to be MSPs. The proposed CPG on Town and City Centre Development has Marilyn Livingstone MSP as its Convener, with Jamie Stone MSP as Vice- Convener. 27. The proposed Group has listed a number of external organisations within its membership. Two of these organisations will provide the secretary and treasurer posts. Subscription and Financial Benefits 28. Rule 9 sets out the terms on any subscription charges. The registration form indicates that the proposed group has agreed a maximum subscription of £50 per group member per year. 29. The proposed group has not registered any financial or other material benefit at this stage. Recommendation 30. The Committee is invited to consider whether to accord recognition to the following proposed Cross-Party Groups: • Scottish Universities • Credit Unions • Town and City Centre Development 4 Annexe A CROSS-PARTY GROUPS IN THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT REGISTRATION FORM 1. GROUP NAME Code of Conduct 6.2.2 Groups that have undertaken to comply with the rules on Cross-Party Groups may use the words Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament in their title. Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Scottish Universities 2. GROUP PURPOSE Code of Conduct 6.2.4 and 6.3, Rule 1 A brief statement of the main purpose of the group.