Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 17:57
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP):
With the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament (Amendment) Act 2016 becoming law, we need to amend the “Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament” and the written statement forms that set out the information that members are required to provide when registering interests. The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s report “Code of Conduct Revisions” describes the required changes. We also propose changes to the rules for cross-party groups.
Our 2016 act moves interests that are currently registrable with the Electoral Commission into the Parliament’s regime. The benefits are that MSPs’ financial interests will be in one place, on the Parliament’s website; that MSPs will have to provide information only once; that Parliament officials will be able to advise members on all their interests; and that the complaints process will be all in the hands of one body—the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
The Electoral Commission, which will rely on our collecting the data that it needs, is satisfied with the changes that I am asking the Parliament to approve today.
Members new and old can rely on sage advice from our clerks on registration matters. We must talk to them, listen to them and protect our individual and collective reputations.
The 2016 act enhances the sanctions that are available after breaches of the rules, broadens the existing paid advocacy offence and adjusts the threshold for registering certain gifts. All the changes are set out in the revised code of conduct.
On cross-party groups, the committee previously reviewed our rules and the groups’ operation and found that too few groups fully complied with the form and intention of our rules. Therefore, twice a year we now consider a report on groups’ activities and their compliance with the code. With some prompting from standards clerks, groups are operating to standard. When necessary, we have indicated that we can deregister a group.
In that context, we have considered whether the rules are working effectively and whether further change is needed. In part, that was driven by our consideration of recent complaints against groups. The revised code of conduct will provide clarity for the committee and the public on the status of attendees at meetings and certainty for groups on the purpose and timings of their annual general meetings.
We consider that automatic reregistration of a group in a new parliamentary session should not continue. Prior to our agreeing to registration, we now routinely assess whether a group’s proposed remit overlaps with those of others. The start of a session is a good time to test in that way all previous groups that want reregistration. We need a proper balance between the number of groups that we would wish to cover a wide area of interest and the number of MSPs who are available to be members of them.
Finally, we propose changes to the rules that relate to groups that are accorded recognition late in a parliamentary session. Groups should not be able to receive recognition if there is not enough time left in a session for them to demonstrate that they can comply with the requirements of the code. We therefore propose that new groups will not be permitted to be established after March in the year that precedes an election, except in exceptional circumstances.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees to amend the Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament by making the alterations set out in Annexes A and B of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s 2nd Report 2016 (Session 4), Code of Conduct Revisions, and by inserting the written statement forms contained in Annexe A of that report at Annexe 3 of Volume 4 of the Code of Conduct, with effect from the date after the date of the first dissolution of the Parliament following the date on which this resolution is passed.
That the Parliament, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 4(1) and 4(2) of the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 (asp 12)—
- makes the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 (Form and Content of Written Statement) Determination 2016 as set out in the Annexe to this resolution;
- revokes the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 (Form and Content of Written Statement) Determination 2010; and
- provides that these changes shall have effect from the date after the date of the first dissolution of the Parliament following the date on which this resolution is passed.
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