A CONSENSUAL APPROACH
1. Following the publication of the consultation paper by the Scotland
Office on the size of the Scottish Parliament, the Centre for Scottish
Public Policy convened a meeting bringing together a group of interested
individuals and organisations to seek a consensus view on this important
issue. Membership of the Group was drawn from a wide range of Scottish
civic society and included members and representatives of:
Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP)
Institute of Governance, University of Edinburgh
Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC)
Scottish Civic Forum
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS)
UNISON
Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI)
individual members of the Consultative Steering Group (CSG)
The Group met under the convenership of Neil McIntosh, head of the
recent Commission on the relationship between Local Government and the
Parliament in Scotland.
2. The Group welcomes the consultation and the opportunity to comment
on this important issue. We support the sentiments expressed in the consultation
document, and note the government's intention to press ahead with the
reduction in the number of Scottish Westminster MPs. We endorse the position
expressed in the document that the electoral system of the Scottish Parliament
should not be altered at this time. Our comments below reflect the sentiments
of the consultation paper and reflect also unanimity among the Group
as to our response.
A Young Parliament
3. The Scottish Parliament is a young institution. It was established
less than three years ago as the product of an overwhelming constitutional
consensus among the people of Scotland that a devolved legislature was
needed. That consensus found political expression in a 74% vote in favour
of establishing the Parliament in the 1997 Referendum.
4. The establishment of the Parliament arose from a broad consensus
of view that a democratic deficit existed in Scotland. The original proposals
of the Scottish Constitutional Convention sought to address that deficit
and were again based on a broad consensus across Scottish civic society.
That spirit was carried into the key guidance for the Parliament developed
in the Consultative Steering Group Report, and the final current size,
electoral basis and operation of the Parliament arose from that spirit
of consensus and reflect those principles.
A Framework of Principles
5. The CSG Report of 1998 outlined a framework of principles that have
guided the establishment and early years of the Parliament. The Report
was widely endorsed, and supported by all political parties in Scotland.
The CSG principles are power sharing, accountability, access to and participation
in the Parliament by civic society and a commitment to equal opportunities.
These principles should continue to be applied in the future work of
the Parliament and be central to consideration of the question of the
size and operation of the Parliament.
6. Experience of the operation of the Parliament so far has been that
Parliamentary structures and individual MSPs are fully employed and busy.
The Parliament recognised the need to monitor and review its procedures
and arrangements, and to act to improve these when necessary. This has
already seen changes to the make up and structure of committees to ensure
better scrutiny and more effective use of time for MSPs. The Procedures
Committee of the Parliament is presently engaged in a major review of
its operation, and early findings in this review indicate that it would
be difficult to operate with fewer MSPs and that there is little support
for change at this point in time.
7. The Parliament should continue to monitor and review its operation
and be prepared for change, but such a process must be based on the considered
experience of its work. The relationship between Holyrood and Westminster
will develop naturally over the years, and must reflect the needs of
both legislatures rather than be based on a formulaic approach. Certainly,
change should not be forced upon the Scottish Parliament through the
mechanical application of a formula, and driven by changes in another
legislature. At this stage in its development the Parliament needs a
stable environment in which to grow.
APPLYING CONSENSUS AND PRINCIPLE
8. The history of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament shows
the important and distinctive role of consensus across a broad range
of Scottish civic and political life and the development of important
guiding principles supported by that consensus. These principles, which
we have outlined above, should continue to guide the work of the Parliament.
When we apply them to the questions before us, it is clear that the current
size and electoral basis of the Parliament should not be reduced or changed
at this time. We offer the following reasons in support of this view.
9. First among these reasons is proportionality and a commitment that
the political balance of the Parliament should broadly reflect the votes
cast by the people of Scotland in electing that Parliament. This is intrinsically
linked to the sharing of power between layers of governance in Scotland.
This reassurance that their vote matters is a fundamental strength for
the Parliament and is essential to the process of building confidence
in the legislature among the electorate.
10. A second reason is the need to ensure that the Parliament reflects
the whole population of Scotland in all its diversity. From the outset,
the size and make up of the Parliament were designed to reflect the varied
geography and demography of Scotland, to offer opportunities for our
rich ethnic base and, in particular, to maximise the participation of
women in the Parliament. Scotland's legislature has been praised internationally
for its early commitment to family friendly working practices and for
the high number of women MSPs - at 37% among the top five in the world.
We need to build on this success. It is a source of confidence and strength
for the Parliament among its electorate and a reassurance that the Parliament
speaks for them.
11. A third area of importance is that the Parliament is accessible
and accountable to the people and transparent in its operation. Its powerful
committee structure and impressive number of cross-party groups emphasise
the involvement of civic society in its work, offering and facilitating
contact and dialogue between the legislature and the people it represents.
Much Parliamentary time is devoted to this process, and the Parliament
has already changed its committee structure to ensure that MSPs have
the ability to participate fully in this important scrutinising and legislative
role of the committees. It is again a feature that reassures the electorate
that the Parliament is working for their interest.
PROBLEMS OF REDUCING THE SIZE OF THE PARLIAMENT
Working with Fewer MSPs
12. If the terms of the Scotland Act were applied, the number of MSPs
would automatically be reduced, following the reduction in the number
of Scottish Westminster MPs. A reduction in the size of the Scottish
Parliament would fundamentally undermine the principles on which it was
established and has been operating. It would undermine the committee
structure and other accessibility mechanisms of the Parliament. It would
undermine the ability to promote the adoption of women candidates and
would introduce working time pressures that would in turn act to reverse
the family friendly operation of the Parliament that encourages wider
participation. A smaller number could also have an adverse effect on
the representation and participation of regional diversity, and make
representation of ethnic minorities more difficult.
13. A smaller Parliament would mean less MSP time available to carry
out the busy schedule currently undertaken by MSPs. Less available time
would undermine current commitments to extended consultation, to decentralising
the operation of Parliament and to encouraging proper working hours.
The result of these pressures could be changes in the electoral procedures
or practice that would in turn put at risk the ability of proportionality
to operate.
14. The ongoing review of the operation of the Parliament being conducted
by the Procedures Committee has indicated that many of the functions
currently carried out by the Parliament would be extremely difficult
to achieve with fewer MSPs. Moreover, there is strong evidence from that
review that there is no consensus for fundamental change to the Parliament
at this early stage in its existence. A major change at this early stage
of the Parliament's life could be destabilising at a time when the new
institution is still evolving.
Coterminous Boundaries of Constituencies
15. If the Scotland Act as it currently stands was not applied, a situation
would arise where the boundaries of electoral constituencies for the
Scottish Parliament were not coterminous with those for Westminster elections.
We do not see this as a fundamental problem.
16. Scotland has a politically aware electorate. This electorate has
long accepted that constituencies vary with the character of elections.
At the present moment, an elector is faced with a different size of constituency
for local authority elections, Westminster elections, Scottish Parliament
list elections and European elections. This has become an accepted fact
of political life. The electorate has shown a sophisticated understanding
of these differences, creating varying voting patterns in order to achieve
a variety of political outcomes. Changes in the size of the Westminster
constituencies will change this landscape once again, but there is no
evidence to suggest that this will have an adverse effect on the electorate.
17. Crude application of the Scotland Act as it stands might address
the issue of non-coterminous boundaries. However, it would do so at the
expense of the fundamental principles and practices which have come to
characterise the Scottish Parliament, at a stage in its existence where
the Parliament itself has had little opportunity to review its operation
and arrangements.
18. In addition, there is considerable evidence from elsewhere that
non-coterminous constituencies are not a problem. The consultation document
itself states that "in England ..... there is in practice less coterminosity
between Westminster and local government boundaries". Similarly,
in Germany, one of the most developed devolved governments in Europe,
the Bundestag and Landtag constituencies diverge considerably in many
Länder - for example, in Baden-Württemberg and in Bavaria.
If we look further afield, Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada is divided
into 7 federal ridings in order to elect 7 representatives to the 301-strong
Canadian Parliament, but split into 48 provincial ridings for the election
of the provincial parliament. A similar situation exists in the other
Canadian Provinces.
CONCLUSION
19. We believe that the Scotland Act should be amended to allow the
proposed reduction in the number of Scottish MPs at Westminster to go
ahead, while at the same time maintaining the size and basis of representation
at Holyrood.
20. Review and change are inevitable, but should come through the considered
experience of the Scottish Parliament, not the application of a mechanical
rule so early in the life of the Parliament.
21. We have sought in this submission to present both the practical
reasons and the fundamental principles which support our view that the
Scottish Parliament must continue at its current size, retain its current
proportional system of representation and continue to adopt accessible
and family friendly procedures in its operation. This is a view which
is unanimous in our Group and, we believe, commands considerable support
across Scotland.
8 February 2002
(Published Online: 12 February 2002)
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