Lesson Starter The work of committees 01.10.2018 Lesson Starter In what ways can the Scottish Parliament be held to account? Discuss these as a group and make a list in your notes.

Today we will… Success Criteria Outline the work of committees in the Scottish Parliament. Success Criteria I can participate in a paired reading to summarise the work of committees

Timed essay- Friday 5th of October 3 areas to study: Either 4/6 or 8 marks Devolution in Scotland AMS- advantages/disadvantages The work of committees

As we go through the following slides take notes on some general information about committees, their roles and functions A KU question about committees will usually be on how valuable they are scrutinising the work of Scottish Parliament.

MSPs have to be part of a Committee. The Work of Committees Committees are small groups of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) who meet on a regular basis, usually on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday morning. MSPs have to be part of a Committee.

Committees have 5 main roles: Carry out enquiries Report to the parliament Closely examine bills Suggest bills Question Scottish ministers

Committees The Committee System allows for accessibility, openness and participation. It is generally accepted that the real work of the parliament is done in the committee rooms. Every piece of legislation coming out the parliament will have come under the scrutiny of one or more of the committees. Remember the stages of passing a law? Stages 1+2 scrutinises the legislation before debated by the parliament.

Committees and Openness The committee system allows for the participation of as many people as possible in the democratic process. Committees normally meet in public and can do so anywhere in Scotland, not just in the Parliament. Since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999, around 100 committee meetings have been held outside Edinburgh. Most allow the public to attend- true democracy in action.

What does this mean? This situation gives committees significant strength in influencing decision making in the Scottish Parliament. Committees scrutinise every scrap of legislation. Most amendments to bills are made during committee meetings. Scottish Government are held to account by the work of the committees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09HI17OmPh0&list=PL4l0q4AbG0mnzemyL3Lx28OYdonKBLJyx&index=9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09HI17OmPh0&list=PL4l0q4AbG0mnzemyL3Lx28OYdonKBLJyx&index=9

Membership Committee membership is restricted to MSPs who are not in the government- cannot hold the title of Cabinet Minister or Ministers. The appointment of members takes account of the balance of political parties and groupings in the parliament. Essentially the biggest party in Parliament will claim the most places on committees.

Gathering Evidence and Information Most of the work of committees is gathering and recording of evidence in order to scrutinise the work of government and adequately amend laws. Health Committee gathering evidence on smoking outside hospitals. Taking evidence from ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) and FOREST pressure groups. Witnesses give evidence. (Doctors, Health Professionals etc.) This work is mainly carried out when they have to scrutinise the activity of the government, scrutinise a bill, decide whether to propose a bill and consider proposals for a members bill.

Scrutinising bills Committees scrutinise proposed bills and make amendments where they feel necessary to be sent back to the Government to consider. They need to know that bills will work in practise and seek out the advice of different groups of people to help them. Committees can take evidence by letter or email, invite witnesses to give evidence in person before the committee, and the committee members can even travel to external locations on fact-finding visits to gather information first hand from groups, organisations and businesses.

Proposing Bills Committees can also suggest bills to Parliament. This can emerge of the expert advice given surrounding a specific issue or policy. These inquiries can be conducted into how effective legislation passed by the parliament has worked in practice- ‘post-legislative’ scrutiny. Committees have the power to introduce a Committee bill. If there is enough support for a Committee Bill in Parliament it can be passed and become an act of law.

Reporting to Parliament Committees discuss and write reports for the Parliament to consider. Reports will recommend whether the parliament should agree to a bill. Committee reports can have an influence on how MSPs vote in Parliament. The valuable work of Committees directly contributes to the effectiveness of Parliament as a whole, as it allows the chamber to check the work of the executive and hold the government to account.

Question the executive Committee’s have extensive power as they can check the work of the executive by asking Scottish ministers about legislation their government department has proposed to introduce. This is one-way government Ministers can be held to account or be asked questions to provide clarification on a bill or policy. The committees have the power to require anyone to give evidence before them and to produce reports in connection with their enquiries.

Conduct enquiries Committees have the power to scrutinise the work of the Scottish executive as they can carry out enquires regarding specific issues. Committees can publish reports that set out their recommendations regarding proposed legislation & policy. There have been numerous inquiry reports published for the public to view.

These examples will be incorporated into your essays. PEE preparation 25 mins Using your notes and iPads/laptops fill in the table given- the explanations have been added, you are completing the column marked EXAMPLE. One has already been done for you. For the example column research: How committees fulfil their role/ how does this allow them to effectively hold the executive to account or scrutinise the work of the government. These examples will be incorporated into your essays. Use the Scottish Parliament website to help you

Examples you could include in the table provided are as follows:

EXAMPLES Carry out inquiries- In 2016 the Education and Skills Committee first discussed the Scottish Child Abuse inquiry at the end of a formal evidence session on 2nd November. This session was to scrutinise the Government in relation to the decisions announced in the Cabinet Secretary’s ministerial statement to Parliament on 17th Nov. Also, to raise the issues highlighted in meetings with survivor groups. All letters, Committee papers and Official Reports are linked on the Scottish Parliament website. Report to Parliament- The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill 2014, underwent scrutiny from 4 committees before being reintroduced to Scottish parliament. This Committee would have kept Parliament up-to-date on any changes made and an official report on the Bill would have been shared with Parliament, thus allowing transparency.

EXAMPLES Scrutinising proposed legislation- The Health and Care (staffing) (Scotland) Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Health and Sport committee, many amendments will be made to this Bill before possibly being moving to the next stage. Suggest Bills- In 2010 the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc. Bill was introduced by Trish Godman MSP (on behalf of the Review of SPCB Supported Bodies Committee). This Committee bill aimed to revise earlier legislation centred around policy effecting public life. As this Committee directly deals with the administration of the Parliament. This is an example of how committees can effectively scrutinise the work of previous governments, as they have the power to amend passed legislation in order to ensure the policy remains effective. *Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Homework Mon 8th Oct KU question: Explain, in detail, why the committee system ensures that the Scottish government are actively scrutinised. Give a maximum of two reasons in your answer. (6)