Presiding Officer agrees parliament can be boring

HOLYROOD: She admits her successor will have to push on with more reforms

Holyrood’s presiding officer has admitted parliament can be “boring”.

Tricia Marwick agreed with Conservative MSP Gavin Brown when he said some question sessions in the chamber can be “dull as ditch water”.

Ms Marwick, a Fife MSP who is stepping down at May’s election, also told a gathering of journalists and politicians that she supports the idea of a second chamber at the parliament.

Describing general and portfolio questions as dull, Mr Brown said: “I can’t remember the last time a question or answer in any of them was actually good.”

Ms Marwick said there had been some changes to make them more relevant, but conceded: “It will be for the next presiding officer (to make further changes), but I agree with you it is boring.”

She said her reforms since 2011 included giving backbenchers more opportunities to speak at First Minister’s Questions and introducing topical questions, which allows MSPs to probe the Government on breaking issues.

There has “never been such opportunity to scrutinise an individual minister”, Ms Marwick said.

The Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP added she was “frustrated” by the “deeply disappointing” lack of reform to Holyrood’s committees, which have been under fire for failing to properly scrutinise ministers and legislation.

There is some “first class” work going on in some of the committees, Ms Marwick added, but the “burden on MSPs is intolerable” because there are too many committees and their membership is constantly changing.

“How on earth do we expect people to build up the expertise when they simply do not have the stability of being on a committee for any length of time?” she said.

Asked whether more MSPs was the answer, she said there was an argument for that but any party who proposed it ahead of an election would be “absolutely slaughtered” by the public.

On whether the Scottish Parliament needs a revising chamber, Ms Marwick said there are issues over how to make it democratic.

But she added: “I’ve always believed that this parliament actually needs a second chamber. I think a second chamber at some point will come.”

Picture: PA. Holyrood Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick.