Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
Unlike the previous two motions, our motions do not include our entire reports. If they had, they would perhaps have made the Business Bulletin the longest in the entire session.
This evening, I will speak to three motions that mark the conclusion of two important pieces of work that the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee did in this session—our inquiry into committee effectiveness and our consideration of the recommendations in the gender-sensitive audit that the Presiding Officer established. If the changes that I will speak to are agreed, they will take effect from the start of session 7.
Our third report of 2026 sets out a number of standing order rule changes that the committee recommends following its report on strengthening committee effectiveness. Parliament endorsed those changes in the committee’s debate on its inquiry, which was held on 6 November 2025. Members may wish to note that the proposal relating to elected conveners will be considered under a separate motion later this evening.
The key rule changes that are proposed in the report include reducing from 15 to 10 the maximum number of members who may sit on committees, implementing the recommendation in the gender-sensitive audit that no single-sex committees be permitted in the next session, ensuring that committee membership normally reflects the gender balance of the Parliament, and enabling committees to meet in private at the same time as the chamber without requiring prior permission to do so.