Committees Flashcards
What are committees?
Small groups of cross-party MSPs who work to together to scrutinise, legislate and amend policies on certain areas of responsibility such as education, health, the criminal justice system.
Why would the SNP have more members in committees than the Conservatives?
They won more seats in 2021.
How is committee composition decided?
The more members a party has in parliament after an election the more members from that party are on the committees.
Why does the composition of committees mean leadership is shared?
The leadership of the committees is shared between the parties to ensure accountability and effective scrutiny.
Most committees are led by?
Most of the committees, the convenor (chair) is from the SNP.
Why does the composition of committees mean the members of the committees will not be members of the government.
As one of the main roles of the committees in the Scottish Parliament is to scrutinise the work of the Scottish Government it will not have members of the government on the committee to remain as neutral as possible.
Who will committees call upon when scrutinising the work of the Scottish Govt in general?
Humza Yousaf
Who would committees call upon when scrutinising health or education?
Neil Gray - Health
Jenny Gilruth - Education
One purpose of the committees is to conduct __________
inquiries
The committees will gather evidence on an issue, learn any important lessons and make recommendations for the future as part of their inquiries?
True
What organisation is currently part of ongoing committee inquiries?
Police Scotland to assess the effectiveness of the amalgamation in 2013.
Another purpose of the committees is to hold the Scottish Government to _________
account
What does holding govt to account mean?
This means to pay close attention to the work of the Scottish Government and question them on issues that are a concern, it will look at both the success and limitations of policies and legislation to determine next steps.
What did former education Secretary John Swinney have to do?
He had to explain what happened with the cancelled exams in 2020 and 2021 and how education continued during the Covid-19 pandemic to the Education and Skills Committee.
A further purpose of the committees is to ____________ legislation
Scrutinise
What does scrutinising legislation mean?
This means to look very carefully at proposed Bills by going line by line and discussing how it works. The committee will also gather evidence to support their decision on supporting or rejecting the Bill.
The Health and Sports committee scrutinised what legislation?
The Organ Donation Bill before recommending that all of Parliament supports it.
What do committees examine and consider from the public?
Petitions
What legislation did the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee scrutinise?
The Gender Reform Act
The Scottish government have to do what to committee inquiries?
Respond to recommendations and declare whether they agree or not.
What is currently undergoing committee inquiry as a result of claims of racism?
Scottish Cricket following claims of racism from Yorkshire Cricket Club
Who is the convener of the Criminal Justice Committee?
Audrey Nicoll SNP
What committees is Ben Macpherson part of?
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Who do committees release their findings to?
The public and the media
