Committees of the Scottish Parliament

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Private Bill Committees are set up to deal with the legislation required for major public sector infrastructure projects - such as the underground extensions to the National Gallery of Scotland in 2003.

The Scottish Parliament has a number of committees, with small numbers of Members appointed to deal with particular topics or issues.

Much of the work of the Scottish Parliament is done in committee. The role of committees is stronger in the Scottish Parliament than in other parliamentary systems, partly as a means of strengthening the role of backbenchers in their scrutiny of the Government[1] and partly to compensate for the fact that the parliament is unicameral (there is no revising chamber).

The principal role of committees in the Scottish Parliament is to conduct inquiries, scrutinise legislation and hold the government to account.[2] Committee meetings take place in the Parliament's committee rooms all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning when Parliament is sitting. Committees can also meet at other locations throughout Scotland.[3]

Membership of the committees reflects the balance of parties across Parliament.[2] There are different types of committee, with their functions set out in different ways.

The membership of the committees in August 2011 is shown below. All committees also have substitute members (not shown).

Mandatory Committees

Mandatory Committees are committees which are set down under the Scottish Parliament's standing orders, which govern their remits and proceedings. The current Mandatory Committees of the Scottish Parliament are:[2]

Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee

Name Party
Nigel Don (Convener) Scottish National Party
John Mason (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Margaret McCulloch Scottish Labour Party
John Scott Scottish Conservative Party
Stewart Stevenson Scottish National Party

Equal Opportunities

Name Party
Margaret McCulloch (Convener) Scottish Labour Party
Sandra White (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Christian Allard Scottish National Party
Jayne Baxter Scottish Labour Party
John Finnie Independent
Annabel Goldie Scottish Conservative Party
John Mason Scottish National Party

European and External Relations

Name Party
Christina McKelvie (Convener) Scottish National Party
Hanzala Malik (Deputy Convener) Scottish Labour Party
Roderick Campbell Scottish National Party
Willie Coffey Scottish National Party
Adam Ingram Scottish National Party
Jamie McGrigor Scottish Conservative Party
Anne McTaggart Scottish Labour Party

Finance

Name Party
Kenneth Gibson (Convener) Scottish National Party
John Mason (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Richard Baker Scottish Labour Party
Gavin Brown Scottish Conservative Party
Malcolm Chisholm Scottish Labour Party
Mark McDonald Scottish National Party
Jean Urquhart Independent

Public Audit

The remit of the committee, as published by the Parliament, is to consider and report on:

  1. any accounts laid before the Parliament
  2. any report laid before or made to the Parliament by the Auditor General for Scotland
  3. any other document laid before the Parliament concerning financial control, accounting and auditing in relation to public expenditure
Name Party
Paul Martin (Convener) Scottish Labour Party
Mary Scanlon (Deputy Convener) Scottish Conservative Party
Colin Beattie Scottish National Party
Nigel Don Scottish National Party
Colin Keir Scottish National Party
Stuart McMillan Scottish National Party
Tavish Scott Scottish Liberal Democrats
Drew Smith Scottish Labour Party
David Torrance Scottish National Party

Public Petitions

The remit of the Committee is to decide what action should be taken on admissible public petitions. The Committee is also responsible for deciding, in cases of dispute, whether a public petition is admissible.

On 16 June 2009 the Committee reported on its 'Inquiry into the public petitions process'[4] issued to reflect 10 years of operation, which included an evaluation of the pioneering e-Petitioner online petitioning system.

Name Party
John Pentland (Convener) Scottish Labour Party
David Torrance (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Jackson Carlaw Scottish Conservative Party
Kenny MacAskill Scottish National Party
Angus MacDonald Scottish National Party
Hanzala Malik Scottish Labour Party
John Wilson Independent

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments

Name Party
Stewart Stevenson (Convener) Scottish National Party
Margaret McDougall (Deputy Convener) Scottish Labour Party
George Adam Scottish National Party
Cameron Buchanan Scottish Conservative Party
Patricia Ferguson Scottish Labour Party
Gil Paterson Scottish National Party
Dave Thompson Scottish National Party

Subject Committees

Subject Committees are established at the beginning of each parliamentary session, and again the balance of members on each committee reflects the balance of parties across Parliament. Typically each committee corresponds with one (or more) of the departments (or ministries) of the Scottish Government. The current Subject Committees are:[2]

Economy, Energy and Tourism

Name Party
Murdo Fraser (Convener) Scottish Conservative Party
Dennis Robertson (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Chic Brodie Scottish National Party
Patrick Harvie Scottish Green Party
Johann Lamont Scottish Labour Party
Richard Lyle Scottish National Party
Gordon MacDonald Scottish National Party
Lewis Macdonald Scottish Labour Party
Joan McAlpine Scottish National Party

Education and Culture

Name Party
Stewart Maxwell (Convener) Scottish National Party
Siobhan McMahon (Deputy Convener) Scottish Labour Party
George Adam Scottish National Party
Colin Beattie Scottish National Party
Chic Brodie Scottish National Party
Mark Griffin Scottish Labour Party
Gordon MacDonald Scottish National Party
Liam McArthur Scottish Liberal Democrats
Mary Scanlon Scottish Conservative Party

Health and Sport

Name Party
Duncan McNeil (Convener) Scottish Labour Party
Bob Doris (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Rhoda Grant Scottish Labour Party
Colin Keir Scottish National Party
Richard Lyle Scottish National Party
Mike MacKenzie Scottish National Party
Nanette Milne Scottish Conservative Party
Dennis Robertson Scottish National Party
Richard Simpson Scottish Labour Party

Infrastructure and Capital Investment

Name Party
Jim Eadie (Convener) Scottish National Party
Adam Ingram (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
James Dornan Scottish National Party
Mary Fee Scottish Labour Party
Alex Johnstone Scottish Conservative Party
Mike MacKenzie Scottish National Party
David Stewart Scottish Labour Party

Justice

Name Party
Christine Grahame (Convener) Scottish National Party
Elaine Murray (Deputy Convener) Scottish Labour Party
Christian Allard Scottish National Party
Jayne Baxter Scottish Labour Party
Roderick Campbell Scottish National Party
John Finnie Independent
Alison McInnes Scottish Liberal Democrats
Margaret Mitchell Scottish Conservative Party
Gil Paterson Scottish National Party

Local Government and Regeneration

Name Party
Kevin Stewart (Convener) Scottish National Party
John Wilson (Deputy Convener) Independent
Clare Adamson Scottish National Party
Cameron Buchanan (politician) Scottish Conservative Party
Willie Coffey Scottish National Party
Cara Hilton Scottish Labour Party
Alex Rowley Scottish Labour Party

Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment

Name Party
Rob Gibson (Convener) Scottish National Party
Graeme Dey (Deputy Convener) Scottish National Party
Claudia Beamish Scottish Labour Party
Sarah Boyack Scottish Labour Party
Nigel Don Scottish National Party
Alex Fergusson Scottish Conservative Party
Jim Hume Scottish Liberal Democrats
Michael Russell Scottish National Party
Richard Lyle Scottish National Party
Angus MacDonald Scottish National Party

Conveners’ Group

The Conveners’ Group is a special committee of the Scottish Parliament chaired by the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. Its main responsibilities are involved in the administration of Committee expenses and certain other activities.

Name Party
Tricia Marwick (Convener) Presiding Officer
Nigel Don Scottish National Party
Mary Fee Scottish Labour Party
Joe Fitzpatrick Scottish National Party
Murdo Fraser Scottish Conservative Party
Kenneth Gibson Scottish National Party
Rob Gibson Scottish National Party
Christine Grahame Scottish National Party
Iain Gray Scottish Labour Party
Stewart Maxwell Scottish National Party
Christina McKelvie Scottish National Party
Duncan McNeil Scottish Labour Party
David Stewart Scottish Labour Party
Stewart Stevenson Scottish National Party
Maureen Watt Scottish National Party

Private Bill Committees

A further type of committee is normally set up to scrutinise private bills submitted to the Scottish Parliament by an outside party or promoter who is not a member of the Scottish Parliament or Scottish Government. Private bills normally relate to large-scale development projects such as infrastructure projects that require the use of land or property.[5] Private Bill Committees have been set up to consider legislation on issues such as the development of the Edinburgh Tram Network, the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link and extensions to the National Gallery of Scotland.[6]

Burrell Collection (Lending and Borrowing) (Scotland) Bill Committee

City of Edinburgh Council (Leith Links and Surplus Fire Fund) (Scotland) Bill Committee

City of Edinburgh Council (Portobello Park) Bill Committee

Justice Sub-Committee on Policing - Implementation of Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act

Subject Committees

Referendum (Scotland) Bill Committee

Welfare Reform Committee

References

  1. Dardanelli (2005) p185
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Inquiry into the public petitions process Scottish Parliament Paper 300, 3rd Report, 2009 (Session 3) (PU/S3/09/R3) (Accessed 16.06.2009)
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links