Committee
Procedures Committee, 06 Jun 2006
06 Jun 2006 · S2 · Procedures Committee
Item of business
Parliamentary Time
Each of us could contribute by speaking to our respective business manager and telling them to get a grip.We have covered the first paper, which is perhaps the weightiest of the three. I turn to the second paper, on special cases of parliamentary business. At the moment, committees have 12 half sitting days and Opposition parties have 16 half sitting days for debates. A subtle point is made in the paper that those days can be sliced up, so to speak. There is a suggestion that it might be better to say that committees have 12 two-hour sessions, for example. There is also the overall issue of whether the allocations are fair. I suppose that that point impinges somewhat on the subject matter of the next paper, on interpellations. If we go for interpellations, out of whose current slice of the cake do they come?
In the same item of business
The Convener:
LD
Item 2 is our review of parliamentary time. Today we have four papers in all—three from the clerks and one from me—which set out a number of aspects of this ...
Robin Harper:
Green
Subject debates offer a huge opportunity to explore subjects in depth but, if they are Executive debates, they come with only a week's notice, which I think ...
The Convener:
LD
That is a constructive idea. I get the impression from the people who decide these things that they are reluctant to tie themselves down about what will happ...
Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
Yes. The other important point on subject debates is that there is often no motion and amendments; the question that we must ask is whether such debates draw...
The Convener:
LD
I accept that entirely. Paragraph 12 suggests that committees could consider holding subject debates. That is a constructive idea, because committees have a ...
Mr McFee:
SNP
That point is well made—I should have alluded to it. It would be an idea to have committee subject debates. We would have to free up time for that. Although ...
The Convener:
LD
Would it be fair to say that the general view is that subject debates perform a useful purpose, but that it would be helpful to take them more seriously and ...
Mr McFee:
SNP
And, potentially, the Executive.
The Convener:
LD
The Executive holds such debates already, but it could do so more often.
Robin Harper:
Green
Yes—it could give us more notice.
The Convener:
LD
The subject of notice of motions arises later, but the proposal on that is much more modest than Robin Harper's suggestion.We move on to chamber stages of bi...
Mr McFee:
SNP
There is a stage 1 report, which one would have thought was a long briefing.
Robin Harper:
Green
Indeed.
The Convener:
LD
On a recent bill, I objected because the lead committee's stage 1 report was available only the minimum legal time before the stage 1 debate, but it is a fai...
Mr McFee:
SNP
It depends on whether members have been maintaining an interest in the bill, or have had the time to do so, throughout the stage 1 deliberations. If they are...
Robin Harper:
Green
The problem is that committee members will rightly have their shot first. Other members know that in the limited time that is given to stage 1 debates they h...
Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab):
Lab
There is certainly a very good case for members to receive informal briefings at stage 1—after all, many members would like to take part in stage 1 debates. ...
The Convener:
LD
If informal briefings were offered but no one went, we would at least have tried to do something about the situation.What underlies the whole matter is Robin...
Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con):
Con
In the stage 3 debate last week, debate on a group of amendments was extended and the Presiding Officer said that six or seven members were not called to spe...
Mr McFee:
SNP
That goes to the heart of the matter. We still have to take the fundamental decision about whether we should continue to operate according to rigid decision ...
Robin Harper:
Green
In the seven years of the Parliament, very few stage 3 Executive amendments have been withdrawn or defeated and very few Opposition amendments have been acce...
Alex Johnstone:
Con
At what is perhaps an even shallower level than what Robin Harper suggests, some parties have at times voted for or against amendments to the surprise of the...
Richard Baker:
Lab
Bruce McFee referred to the pinch point in the Licensing (Scotland) Bill. Things have improved a bit since then and since some of the committee's recommendat...
Mr McFee:
SNP
During the Animal Welfare (Scotland) Bill, the Presiding Officer seemed to be reluctant to use the full 30 minutes. I am trying to remember whether we ended ...
The Convener:
LD
The clerks have been doing some homework on this. My recollection of the Animal Welfare (Scotland) Bill is that the 10 minutes was used, but not the 30.
Mr McFee:
SNP
That is right.
The Convener:
LD
We can certainly look into that.As I see it, members agree that we are still not getting enough time for stage 3 proceedings, that the Presiding Officers are...
Andrew Mylne (Clerk):
It is up to members whether they wish to discuss the subject. The point was covered in the papers for the previous meeting, but nothing has been finalised, a...
The Convener:
LD
If we are to have a plan A and a plan B, plan A is to consider whether a definite closing time is a good thing or we want to change that, and plan B is to qu...
Mr McFee:
SNP
That is a wonderful idea, but I am not sure whether we are geared up for it at the moment. The Executive might come back and say, "Instead of making that 3s ...