Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, Edinburgh - Briefing Document Twenty

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Parliamentary Officer:Rev Graham Blount
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Briefing Document No 20 - Page 8 of 8

True to its Principles? - Continued.

3.4. Although the greatest number of consultations are initiated by the Executive, Parliamentary Committees have also engaged in various forms of "consultation", sometimes with more imaginative methods of involving people than those used by the Executive (such as the relationship between the Social Justice Committee and the Communities Against Poverty Network). On the other hand, tight deadlines, often shorter than the three months envisaged in the Voluntary Sector Compact with the Executive, prevent voluntary groups making full use of available experience. The Education Culture and Sport Committee's open day discussion on the Children's Commissioner proposal seems a good example of one way to get beyond paper responses, and we would hope that the openness to varied forms of consultation will develop, with opportunities to widen participation and to contribute at early stages in the decision-making process. Good feedback, which includes indications of why points were not taken on board, is also crucial to the credibility of a process which has induced cynicism in the past.

3.5. Although some remain concerned about aspects of its structure, we welcome Time for Reflection as adding a distinctive element to proceedings which we believe is widely appreciated within and outwith Parliament. However, we do not feel that this adequately addresses pastoral issues within the Parliament. There are particular pressures on MSPs and those who work with them, and we strongly urge Parliament to give early consideration to the recognition of a chaplaincy team to offer pastoral support to MSPs, their staff and Parliamentary staff. This would be a low-profile but important dimension of support for people in public life, and there are good examples to draw on of such chaplaincy working effectively in local government and elsewhere. Equal Opportunities
4. While broadly welcoming the commitment to securing equality of opportunity through all aspects of legislation and policy via an Equal Opportunities Committee with a cross-cutting remit, we are concerned that the issues effectively tackled so far tend to be restricted to a narrow agenda which avoids issues with substantial cost implications and some difficult issues like sectarianism. Ageism and the more poverty-related aspects of equality of opportunity should be higher on this agenda, alongside issues such as racism on which we welcome the positive work that is being done. Monitoring
5. We congratulate the Procedures Committee on initiating this inquiry and hope they will keep a watching brief on the CSG principles, but we believe that an element of independent monitoring is necessary. An annual review or audit, perhaps by the Civic Forum if properly funded, might also include the setting of targets for developing the implementation of the principles and monitoring of progress toward these. 6. We set all of the above in the context of a positive recognition of what has been achieved in a comparatively short time, and a recognition of the pressure to deliver, to make a difference, to tackle injustice. We want to be supportive of that, and believe that the points raised will assist Parliament in achieving that more effectively.