Meeting of the Parliament 13 March 2026 [Draft]
Last night, I read the Parliament’s report on the review conducted about dignity in the workplace. While doing so, I thought back to my time working in newspapers. Workplace cultures were very different to what is typical today, as I am sure many of us can testify. The world of work has changed significantly, and for the better. It is now a given that every employee should feel safe at work and that they should not be subject to bullying, harassment or sexual harassment.
The review begins by saying that there is
“a strong commitment across the Scottish Parliament to maintaining a workplace founded on dignity, courtesy, and respect.”
However, as the Presiding Officer and the First Minister have said, there are causes for concern and grounds for improvement. Respondents said that they had experienced and/or witnessed 84 instances of bullying, harassment or sexual harassment since 2021. The report explains the complexity of Parliament as a workplace, with 129 small employers in the form of MSPs alongside Parliament staff and various outside contractors. That creates, in the words of the report,
“uneven protections and accountability gaps”
and a
“perceived two-tier culture.”
It is clear that things need to change and that change is in the interests of all parties, all MSPs and all colleagues. The report says that Parliament adopted a zero-tolerance approach many years ago but that there is still uncertainty about what that means in practice. With just a few days until the dissolution of Parliament, the next Parliament must take the necessary action to ensure that unacceptable behaviour at Holyrood is no longer tolerated.