Deans Community High School – Modern Studies Department
Higher Modern Studies
Study Theme 1A – Devolved Decision Making in Scotland
Decision making in Scotland: the Scottish Parliament as an arena for conflict, co-operation and decision making; functions; organisation of and procedures for business; The Scottish Executive/Government; the respective roles of the First Minister and the Cabinet; The effects of the electoral system on decision making for Scotland at Holyrood level.
Party representation in the Scottish Parliament
On May 4 2007 the SNP (Scottish National Party) achieved a historic victory in the Scottish parliamentary elections. The nationalist party increased their share of Holyrood seats, with 47 of the 129 seats available. Labour slipped into second place with 46 seats.
Talks with the Greens and the Liberal Democrats with the intention of forming a coalition fell apart, leading the SNP to form a minority government with Mr Salmond as first minister.
Opposition parties refused to work with the SNP because of its commitment to a referendum on independence before the end of its first term. With opposition support necessary to hold a referendum in any case, it is unlikely Scots will vote on independence during the current government.
The current situation in Scotland is that we have a devolved assembly, the Scottish Government which is controlled by a minority SNP administration. This means that the SNP run the Government (or Executive) but do not have an overall majority in the parliament. The other political groupings in the Parliament are the Labour Party, Conservative Party, and the Scottish Green Party. Margo MacDonald is an independent MSP.
Party / 1999 / 2003 / 2007SNP / 35 / 27 / 47
Labour / 56 / 50 / 46
Conservative / 18 / 18 / 17
Lib Dem / 17 / 17 / 16
Green / 1 / 7 / 2
SSP / 1 / 6 / 0
Others / 1 / 4 / 1
This was a major change from the situation after the 1999 and 2003 elections, when Labour were the biggest party, forming coalitions with the Liberal Democrats. The 1999 result showed that the new Scottish Parliament would be different from the two-party system in the UK parliament. In 2003, the new electoral system – Additional Member System (AMS) – provided a very different mix, with six parties having significant representation and four independents.
While all MSPs have the same status, there are still some who believe that constituency members have a bigger job than those who have been elected as list MSPs.
Constituency MSPs claim that they have to deal with a bigger workload than their colleagues elected from Regional Lists. They claim that list MSPs can choose the topics they want to take up. On the other hand high-profile list MSPs, like Robin Harper (the first Green representative) are faced with huge demands on their time and effort.
1 How has the position of the main parties in the Scottish Parliament changed between 1999 and 2007 elections?
2 What difference is there in the position of constituency and regional list MSPs?
The effects of the electoral system on decision making for Scotland at Holyrood level.
Coalition government
Basing the election system on proportional representation has meant that the Scottish Executive has been made up of a coalition between different parties. During the first two terms of the Scottish Parliament the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties shared power. The advantage of the coalition system is that the different members of the Executive will push forward issues of importance to their party manifesto. This means broader representation for more of the electorate. For example, the Liberal Democrats were mainly responsible for driving the abolition of university tuition fees.
Minority Government
As a result of the 2007 election, the SNP were forced into the position of forming a minority government. Labour and Lib Dem politicians, trying to come to terms with being evicted from government, expected to be able to make life difficult for their successors. Even if they could no longer rule the roost, they would at least be able to inflict regular defeats on the SNP or squeeze concessions from them with the threat of it.
But very little of that came true. There have been close votes – but far fewer than many expected. And the only serious defeat for the Government was on its bid to scrap Edinburgh's trams. They have been able to pass a budget, which was expected to be a major problem.
3 Compare the problems associated with running a coalition and a minority government.
Founding Principles of the Scottish Parliament
Sharing Power / Electoral System4 types of Bill
Petitions Committee
Accountability / Committee System
Question Time
Electoral System
Participation & Access / Public Petitions Committee
Committee system
'Family friendly' business hours
Equality / Procedures *
* There was a strong commitment to putting equality at the heart of policy, practices and procedures throughout the preparations for setting up the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. The new democratic institutions were given powers to act on equal opportunities, although the power to legislate on equal opportunities is reserved to the UK Parliament.
4 Examine all of the Principles. Show how the founding principles can be seen to improve Scottish democracy.
Legislative procedures, parliamentary questions, debates, motions, members’ business, decision time.
Legislation
The devolved powers give the Scottish Parliament the opportunity to produce Scottish solutions to Scottish problems. It has passed laws abolishing university tuition fees, banning smoking in public places, providing free personal care for the elderly, introducing drugs courts, reducing bureaucracy, banning hunting with dogs - and many others. It is not, however, without its critics who claim that too much of its time is spent on unimportant matters. One of the central issues has been the cost of building the new parliament in Edinburgh.
Individual MSPs
Another feature of the Scottish Parliament is that individual MSPs have more opportunities to introduce legislation. Each MSP has the right to introduce two Bills during one Parliamentary session. Nearly 10% of Bills passed so far have been initiated by individual MSPs. The law to ban hunting with dogs was a Member’s Bill which was passed after lengthy debate and a large number of amendments.
Legislative procedures
A Bill is a draft law. Bills are either public - seeking to change the general law - or private - seeking powers for a particular individual or organisation. Public Bills can be introduced by a member of the Scottish Government/Executive (an “Executive Bill”), a parliamentary committee (a “Committee Bill”), or an individual member of Parliament (a “Member’s Bill”). Private Bills are introduced by the person seeking the powers provided for by the Bill.
When a new law is being considered it must go through what is known as the legislative process. When a new law is proposed one of the Parliament’s committees will examine the general ideas within it and then report to Parliament. When the proposals enter Parliament it is known as a Bill. The Parliament then considers the Bill in three stages.
Stage 1
• committee report
• whole Parliament debate general principles
• vote
The lead committee will call witnesses and examine the general principles of the Bill. The committee then reports to Parliament recommending whether the Bill should proceed. All the MSPs will then debate and vote on the general principles of the Bill. If the majority vote in favour the Bill will pass to the next stage. If the majority vote against the Bill will fall. (thrown out)
Stage 2
• committee
• detail
• amendments
The committee will now examine the Bill in detail. The committee can make amendments (changes).
Stage 3
• whole Parliament
• debate
• final vote
The whole Parliament will debate the Bill, and any further changes, for a final time.
If most MSPs vote for the Bill it becomes a law.
Royal Assent
The final stage is that the Bill receives Royal Assent and becomes an Act of the Scottish Parliament. All bills passed by the Scottish Parliament must be signed by the monarch before they can become law. This procedure reflects the fact that Scotland remains part of the UK and all UK legislation must get the Royal Assent.
5 Make notes on the above processes.
Give examples to show the Scottish Parliament passing laws that have been different from the rest of the UK.
Parliamentary questions
Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government/Executive. The questions provide a means for MSPs to obtain factual and statistical information from the Scottish Government.
Parliamentary questions can be in oral or written form. Oral questions are answered at Question Time and First Minister’s Question Time. This is an important weekly event that helps to show whether the First Minister and other ministers are doing a good job. It helps to create the political climate through the media coverage it receives.
Written Questions are answered in the Written Answers Report – this shows MSPs working on behalf of their constituents and holding the government to account.
Debates
Debates in the Scottish parliament are on a motion tabled by a minister or other MSP. In most debates, most parties will put forward at least one amendment to the motion to reflect their views. Debates allow the parliament to think about issues that affect Scotland or Scottish people. A spokesperson is called from each party to speak to the motion or to move an amendment. Backbench MSPs indicate to the chair that they wish to speak and the chair time limits contributions accordingly.
Except in the case of debates that come at the very end of a day's proceedings, where no votes are taken, votes on amendments and motions are taken at the decision time following the debate. Votes are cast on each amendment move and then on the motion, which may have been amended in the preceding votes. The government normally wins.
This reflects the “family friendly” aspect of the Scottish Parliament because it means that the working day ends shortly after 5 o’clock.
6 What opportunities are there for MSPs to represent their constituents in the Scottish Parliament?
The work of committees
Scottish parliament committees scrutinise both the work of the government and all legislation. They are also deliberative, coming up with proposals for new bills, taking evidence on current affairs and reporting on issues affecting Scotland and Scottish people. In this way, Scottish Parliament committees resemble those of the European parliament more than those at Westminster.
There is always a finance committee to look at the budget and one to look at statutory instruments (decisions that ministers can make on their own).
One of the unique features of the Scottish Parliament is the way in which the Committee system operates. The Committees, most of which have seven members, scrutinise the work of the Government. They work much more on cross-party lines than do Committees of the Westminster Parliament and there tends to be much more agreement among MSPs from different parties when they are scrutinising or challenging the Government.
The Convenors of the Committees, who are responsible for organising the meetings, are drawn from across the main parties. For example, the convenor of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee might be a Labour MSP while the convenor of the Health and Community Care Committee might be a Liberal Democrat MSP.
There are two types of committee - mandatory committees and subject committees
Other committees cover all the main subjects of government business. They can work together to look at new laws or the actions of the Government.
Committees sit in both public and private, depending on the nature of their business. On occasion, some committees hold meetings outside Edinburgh.
7 What are the main functions of committees in the Scottish Parliament?
The appointment role and powers of the First Minister
The first minister is the most senior elected politician in Scotland who leads the Scottish Executive/Government, and chooses the cabinet and other ministers. The first minister is responsible for the development, implementation and presentation of government policy and for promoting and representing Scotland on the international stage.
There have been three Labour first ministers since devolution in 1999.
The first was Donald Dewar, who died in 2000, and his successor, Henry McLeish, resigned in 2001 following a row over Westminster constituency office expenses.
Jack McConnell held the job for more than five years.
MSPs vote for a first minister in the Scottish Parliament's main chamber using the electronic voting system, with the successful candidate recommended to the Queen for approval – an important power of the Scottish Parliament.
His main role as FM is to represent Scotland in the areas that are reserved to the Scottish Parliament. The FM is expected to have a vision for the country and to lead the country in a positive direction. His campaigns cut across and permeate the work of all government departments.
§ The appointment of a Council of Economic Advisers to provide independent advice on making the most of opportunities in the global economy