Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, Edinburgh - Briefing Document Twenty

Email SCPO

Parliamentary Officer:Rev Graham Blount
Phone:
0131 558 8137

Briefing Document No 20 - Page 5 of 8

True to its Principles? - Continued

Procedures Committee Inquiry into Implementation of the CSG Principles - Response

Scotland's churches have had a historic role in the public life of our country; they were glad to play a significant part (through the Constitutional Convention and otherwise) in the civic discussion in which the CSG principles emerged as the grammar of a new politics; they continue to play an active role as stakeholders - along with many other groups, and the public as a whole - in the Scottish Parliament. The response which follows emerged from a gathering of representatives of churches and religious groups hosted by the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office. It is rooted in (a) the churches' experiences of working with the Parliament during its first two years (b) their commitment to the well-being of the nation, and (c) a theological perspective which recognises the Scottish Parliament as our Parliament under God, seeking as inclusive a sense of that ownership as can be achieved. The churches, then, have been broadly supportive of the CSG principles as embodying a shared vision by expressing the rights and duties of Parliament's stakeholders; in that context, we offer these comments on the practice of Parliament in relation to these principles. Sharing the Power
1. Churches recognise and welcome the undeniably greater opportunities for "civic society" in Scotland to contribute to the Parliamentary decision-making process, particularly for groups which have been able to learn quickly how that process works. The voluntary sector, in general, has had a high level of recognition and inclusion in the process, and the churches, through their Parliamentary Office, have welcomed the chance to contribute their experience, analysis and vision. However, there are frustrations where the system fails to implement the CSG principles, and the reality is that there remain many people across Scotland who feel little or no sense of being empowered by the advent of the Parliament. While there may have been shifts in and some widening of the "usual suspects", there are still many people who do not feel that their voice is heard.
1.1. One dimension of this is geographic. The CSG report proposed "that committees should be encouraged to meet and to take evidence outside Edinburgh…. and that in a number of cases committees should have their permanent base somewhere other than Edinburgh". While committees have met, particularly to gather evidence on specific items, outside Edinburgh, this has by no means been the norm. A defensiveness about cost seems to have undermined this commitment, when a more positive case could be made for meetings encouraging communities to have a stake in the process. More imaginative ways of enabling people across Scotland to feel stakeholders in the Parliament should be pursued, perhaps in partnership with local government. This might also include consideration of Regional Committees (as in Wales), so long as these were constituted in ways that did not threaten the place of local authorities.
1.2. Parliamentary Committees are a key locus for the involvement of a wider public in the process, and important access has been achieved through inquiries and evidence-giving. However, in two key respects this is undermined - by meetings in private and by the parties' control of committee membership, which severely limit the extent to which people genuinely share in power. (See further below 3.1 & 3.2 re evidence-giving and meetings in private)
1.3. There are many good examples of consensual working, and of serious scrutiny of the Executive, in Committees, but the reshuffling of Committee membership, apparently very much at the direction of party managers, has also detracted from the original vision of increasingly expert Committees building up both expertise and a sense of common purpose and identity. Allowing Committees to retain more continuity of membership would also help them to do longer-term strategic thinking.