Committees of the Scottish Parliament

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

Equal Opportunities

European and External Relations

Finance

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

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.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments

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

Education and Culture

Health and Sport

Infrastructure and Capital Investment

Justice

Local Government and Regeneration

Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment

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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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

• Joan McAlpine (Convener)
• Jackson Carlaw (Deputy Convener)
• Gordon MacDonald (Scottish politician)
• Mark Griffin (politician)

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

• Anne McTaggart (Convener)
• Bruce Crawford
• John Lamont (Scottish politician)
• Sandra White

City of Edinburgh Council (Portobello Park) Bill Committee

• Siobhan McMahon (Convener)
• James Dorran (Deputy Convener)
• Alison McInnes
• Fiona McLeod

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

• Christine Graeme (Convener)
• Alison McInnes (Deputy Convener)
• Graeme Pearson
• John Finnie
• Kevin Stewart (Scottish politician)
• Margaret Mitchell (Scottish politician)

Subject Committees

Referendum (Scotland) Bill Committee

• Bruce Crawford (Convener)
• Annabell Goldie
• Annabelle Ewing
• Linda Fabiani
• Patrick Harvie
• Rob Gibson
• Lewis Macdonald
• Stewart Maxwell
• Tavish Scott
• Drew Scott
• Stuart McMillan

Welfare Reform Committee

• Michael McMahon (Convener)
• Jamie Hepburn (Deputy Convener)
• Alex Johnstone
• Ken Macintosh
• Annabelle Ewing
• Kevin Stewart (Scottish politician)
• Linda Fabiani

References

External links

• Committees of the Scottish Parliament, at the official parliamentary website