Hansard

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I did not realise that so many members are interested in standing orders.

The motion seeks Parliament’s agreement to some minor changes to standing orders on two subjects: committee substitutes and the quorum of the Conveners Group.

First, the rules on committee substitutes state that a member cannot be a committee substitute for more than one committee at the same time. That rule can cause difficulties to parties, particularly the smaller ones, when they are trying to find substitutes for a number of parliamentary committees. The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee therefore recommends increasing from one to two the number of committees on which a member can be designated as a substitute. That will allow increased flexibility without the practical difficulties that are associated with a member being a substitute on too many committees at once.

Secondly, the rule on the Conveners Group quorum requires representatives of three or more political parties to be present before a meeting can go ahead. As only two parties—the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish National Party—have more than one convener, that puts undue pressure on the Conservative convener of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, who must attend Conveners Group meetings if the meetings are to be quorate.

Members: Aw. [Laughter.]