Hansard

The Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 received royal assent on 13 July last year. Certain sections of the act came into force the day after that, to enable Parliament to make determinations. Those determinations will replace existing determinations under the current members' interests order, which were made by the Presiding Officer.

In giving powers to Parliament in relation to those matters rather than to the Presiding Officer, the act gives all members a greater say in the content of determinations. Determinations can be replaced as required to suit future arrangements, which will enable us to keep the requirements of the act current, relevant and pertinent in the future. Without that method, the only way in which we could amend the requirements imposed on us by the act would be by way of a further bill.

A procedure for making determinations under the act was agreed recently by the Parliament and is set out in rule 1.8 of our standing orders. The purpose of today's debate is to discuss four determinations. The Standards and Public Appointments Committee agreed to make separate determinations under separate parts of the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006. The four reports that members have before them are deliberately designed to stand alone. The committee could have produced an omnibus report and an omnibus determination covering all the determinative powers under the act, but for the following reasons, we decided not to adopt that approach.

First, it is important that each determination is capable of being reviewed and revised on its own merits. As a consequence, only one determination will require to be reprinted and debated. Secondly, further to increase transparency, the approach will enable any interested observer to consider a determination and follow a single audit trail of revisions, reports and debates.

Members will have read the reports, but it might be useful if I were to comment briefly on them. The reports span four determinations: one relating to the form and content of a written statement; one relating to the publication of the register of interests; one relating to a declaration of interests; and one relating to gross income from heritable property.

Under section 4 of the 2006 act, the Parliament may determine the form and content of a written statement of interests. I hope that members will recognise the form of the statement that is presented in annex A of the relevant report. We have tried to keep the statement as close as possible in format and content to the current statement. Some additional information, as set out in the consultation document, has been included. For example, more use has been made of bandings for financial values in the proposed statement than in previous statements.

Under paragraph 8 of the schedule to the 2006 act, the Parliament may determine the amount of gross annual income that triggers a requirement to register heritable property. That amount is replicated in the relevant section of the written statement relating to heritable property. Again, there is a stand-alone report in case the Parliament decides at some point in the future to revise the thresholds for income from property.

The committee has taken the starting point that all income from property should be registered. The approach taken is that all remuneration is registrable, and the same approach has been adopted for property. That is a change from the previous arrangements.

Under the 2006 act, the income threshold must be expressed as an amount, so the amount in the determination has been set at zero. The registration of any income from heritable property is required under the determination. However, the committee appreciated that just registering a figure for income may provide a distorted picture to an observer. Members should bear it in mind that there is provision in the statement to include the income from heritable property in bands. They should also note that, to provide a fuller picture, additional information may be included in a statement. If a member considers it relevant, information such as any profit or loss connected with a property may be included.

Overall, we are all agreed that there should be a register of members' interests—that was agreed by the Parliament—and we hope that the register will also cover other possible or perceived external influences. For the register to be meaningful, we need to disclose a reasonable amount of information, and I hope that our proposals in the determination on the written statement are reasonable.

I do not intend to speak for much longer because I am aware that, although the determinations are important, they may be rather less than riveting as a topic for debate. I hope that the determinations proposed under sections 11 and 13 of the 2006 act are relatively straightforward, as they replicate the practices of sessions 1 and 2 of the Parliament, with which members should be familiar. However, in relation to the determination proposed under section 13 of the 2006 act, members should note the requirement to have relevant interests registered prior to voting. Members should also note that the requirement to cover declaration of interests for voting purposes as well as other actions stems from mandatory requirements in section 39 of the Scotland Act 1998.

We have set out to fine tune the system that has worked in sessions 1 and 2. The Parliament is quite young, and I hope that we have provided a good basis for coming sessions, with practical arrangements for encompassing change if required.

I move,

That the Parliament notes the Standards and Public Appointments Committee's 5th Report, 2006 (Session 2), Determinations required under the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 - Determination required under Section 4 (SP Paper 706), and agrees that the determination set out in Annexe A to the report be made with effect from 4 April 2007.

That the Parliament notes the Standards and Public Appointments Committee's 6th Report, 2006 (Session 2), Determinations required under the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 - Determination required under Section 11 (SP Paper 707), and agrees that the determination set out in Annexe A to the report be made with effect from 4 April 2007.

That the Parliament notes the Standards and Public Appointments Committee's 7th Report, 2006 (Session 2), Determinations required under the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 - Determination required under Section 13 (SP Paper 708) and agrees that the determination set out in Annexe A to the report be made with effect from 4 April 2007.

That the Parliament notes the Standards and Public Appointments Committee's 8th Report, 2006 (Session 2), Determinations required under the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 - Determination required under the schedule, paragraph 8 (SP Paper 709), and agrees that the determination set out in Annexe A to the report be made with effect from 4 April 2007.