Hansard

The Convener SNP

Our first substantive item is evidence from the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, Bill Thomson, and from Brenda McKinney, invest...

Bill Thomson (Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland)

Thank you, convener. I submitted a letter to the committee that was dated 11 February. For the moment, I have nothing to add to what was in that letter. I am...

The Convener SNP

Okay. That is fine. We can see from your annual report that the number of complaints has dropped. Is that because there are fewer problems out there or is i...

Bill Thomson

I have no information to suggest that there are people who feel that their complaints have not been acted upon, although you may be about to provide me with ...

The Convener SNP

How would you respond to a member of the public who said that reporting anything to you is a waste of time? It is a scenario that I have come across on a num...

Bill Thomson

I am not sure how I would respond to that. I would like to know why the member of the public thought that it was a waste of time. I do not see how I could an...

The Convener SNP

Do you think that, after an investigation and after you have come to a decision, you explain well enough in your communication to the complainant why you hav...

Bill Thomson

I always do my best to do so, but I accept that improvement is always possible. I draw the committee’s attention to the fact that approximately a fifth of...

The Convener SNP

Do you think that there need to be changes to the drafting of the code in order to satisfy members of the public in that regard?

Bill Thomson

There are different views on that. For what it is worth, I would prefer the key principles not to be included in the code. I am not suggesting for a moment t...

The Convener SNP

Are you saying that, even though the key principles are written into the code and folk think that there has been a breach of the code with regard to those ke...

Bill Thomson

It does.

The Convener SNP

What attempts have you made to get the code changed so that people are not led up the garden path in a way that leaves them thinking that they are being igno...

Bill Thomson

I am not sure why you are putting the question in that form, convener.

The Convener SNP

I am putting the question in that way because your answers lead me to some of the things that have been said to me by members of the public in recent times.

Bill Thomson

My statutory role is to investigate—it is a narrowly defined role. My view, which I have just expressed to the committee, is that the inclusion of the key pr...

The Convener SNP

You do not think that you should be making suggestions about changes to the code.

Bill Thomson

That is not what I said. I said that, if anyone were to ask me, that is something that I would suggest.

The Convener SNP

I think that you said, just prior to that, that it is not up to you to ask for changes to the code.

Bill Thomson

I said that that is not part of my statutory remit.

The Convener SNP

It might not be part of your statutory remit, but the fact that things are not part of people’s statutory remits does not prevent folk from suggesting variou...

Bill Thomson

Indeed, and I have done that in the committee this morning.

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (Ind) Ind

My questions follow on from the convener’s comments. I have done some calculations regarding the number of breaches and the number of complaints that were ma...

Bill Thomson

I agree entirely.

John Wilson Ind

Would you want to make that recommendation in your position?

Bill Thomson

Yes. If the code could be simplified and made clearer, that would make everybody’s lives better. It would certainly be better for councillors, who have to ob...

John Wilson Ind

If the code is not fit for purpose, how can we make it fit for purpose?

Bill Thomson

I did not say that the code is not fit for purpose.

John Wilson Ind

I take it from what you are saying that it is not fit for purpose. That is the term that I am using. How can you, as the Commissioner for Ethical Standards i...

Bill Thomson

I am sorry to be hesitant, but I do not think that the answer to that question is simple. As members are well aware, the code is promulgated by ministers, so...