Committee
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee 10 September 2015
10 Sep 2015 · S4 · Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Item of business
Committee Reform
I have a list of “not the usual suspects” to call as witnesses and then if I run out of “not the usual suspects”, we go for the usual suspects. I decided to do that when I became the convener because I felt that the same people were saying the same things around the table every other week and we wanted to hear from different, new and emerging voices and maybe get some good discourse going on. I have a list and I say to my clerks, “Find me not the usual suspects,” then we work back from there.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Item 5 is an evidence session on our inquiry into committee reform. We have, unfortunately, received apologies from Murdo Fraser and Iain Gray. I welcome the...
Christina McKelvie (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP)
SNP
Thank you for inviting me to take part in your inquiry, convener. We have had a number of discussions over the past few months about how committees should fu...
The Convener
SNP
Before I go to Kenneth Gibson, I will just test your point about having committee meetings when Parliament is sitting. Could some plenary business suitably o...
Christina McKelvie
SNP
I agree with you on that. One of the parliamentary constraints that we have is that a stage 3 debate that includes consideration of amendments is obviously a...
The Convener
SNP
I take your point, as I have a question at general question time this morning.
Patricia Ferguson
Lab
I have a follow-up question on something that Christina McKelvie said. My committee meets on a Thursday morning, too, so we are very alive to the problem of ...
Christina McKelvie
SNP
This is my second session as an MSP, so I had a session when Parliament did not sit on a Tuesday afternoon. I was a member of a committee that met on a Tuesd...
Mary Fee
Lab
Patricia Ferguson has asked what I was going to ask about the Parliament sitting pattern and the impact of the three plenary afternoons. My other question is...
Christina McKelvie
SNP
No doubt we are all overextended when it comes to the cross-party groups that we sit on. I tend to think that maybe there are too many CPGs. Perhaps a bit of...
The Convener
SNP
I have two further requests from members to contribute, but I am going to defer them because I really want to bring in Kenneth Gibson. I do not want to open ...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
That is fine. I would just like to comment on some of the points—
The Convener
SNP
I just add that I am perfectly happy for there to be an interplay between the two conveners, if that helps us to understand the issues.
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
First, my position is clear: I was one of only two MSPs who did not vote for the Parliament to have plenary sessions on a Tuesday, because I think that we ne...
The Convener
SNP
Do you have anything else that you want to say at this stage?
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
Yes. Where do I start? There is a vast amount that we could cover. First, in relation to how committees are organised, there is a lot of responsibility on t...
The Convener
SNP
Cameron Buchanan and Dave Thompson have signalled that they want to come in, but I have a question first. On the specific issue of having enough time to scru...
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
I think that we do, in fact. For example, a couple of times in the past year I have said, “I am sorry, but we do not have time to scrutinise this effectively...
Christina McKelvie
SNP
Can I come in on that point, convener? Kenneth Gibson talked about financial memorandums and the issues that they can cause for his committee. There is an ad...
Mary Fee
Lab
I have a specific question for Kenneth Gibson. Last week, we discussed briefly the issue of sub-committees; you will know that there is a Justice Sub-Committ...
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
I am not much keen on sub-committees. We have only seven members on the Finance Committee and, given the importance of budget scrutiny, we want to have as bi...
The Convener
SNP
I will bring in the two members who indicated that they want to speak. I thank them for their forbearance. Cameron Buchanan can go first.
Cameron Buchanan (Lothian) (Con)
Con
We discussed at last week’s meeting the idea that Tuesday afternoons should perhaps be for members’ business debates. I rather agree that there are too many ...
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
Moving FMQs is an excellent idea. A lot of people come to the Parliament from far and wide and it is difficult for them to get here and get through the sausa...
Cameron Buchanan
Con
The timing of FMQs was moved to 12 o’clock for the press, apparently. I do not think that we should worry about that, to be frank.
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
I am of the same view as you—I do not think that we should. I am also not convinced that the topical questions session has been a particular success, to be ...
The Convener
SNP
I say to colleagues that we are considering committees and—
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
Exactly. That is the limitation.
The Convener
SNP
Although the timing of FMQs touches on committees.
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
It touches on Thursday morning committees. Moving FMQs would give more flexibility.
The Convener
SNP
I am not intending to shut down anyone trying to get something on that issue on the record; I am just saying that we need to be careful to remember what we a...