Related Links

Finance Committee

Finance Committee calls for more financial accountability
for commissioners

CFIN004/2006 | 15 September 2006

A stronger governance framework for commissioners and ombudsman to ensure they are more accountable to Parliament for their spending is proposed in a report out today.

View the committee report

The report on the Finance Committee's inquiry into Accountability and Governance also calls for the Scottish Executive to delay the establishment of five new bodies. The committee wants plans to be put on hold until work to remove duplication of effort between existing bodies has been completed.

Des McNulty MSP, convener of the committee said:

"Our committee has responded to widespread concerns over the rising number and cost of Parliamentary commissioners and Executive bodies by producing strong recommendations which, if adopted, would help control costs and improve accountability arrangements for the bodies concerned.

"We believe that, according to criteria laid out in the report, no more bodies representing a specific interest group should be created as Parliamentary commissioners. The committee has therefore questioned whether Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People should continue to be directly accountable to Parliament or held accountable through Scottish Ministers.

"The committee also recommends no new bodies should be established if that role can be carried out by an existing body. In that context the proposed Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights should be integrated with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman's Office."

Other recommendations include:

•  Amending existing legislation to give the Parliament's Corporate Body power of direction over commissioners/ombudsman budgets and office location;

•  Reviewing the Executive's complex classification of existing bodies which can create barriers to sharing services;

•  Examining the current status of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit; the body responsible for scrutinising the Auditor General and Audit Scotland's spending; and

•  Amalgamation of bodies with similar roles by the Executive within its public sector scrutiny review.

The five bodies referred to in the report are the Roadworks Commissioner, Scottish Civil Enforcement Commission, Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights, Legal Complaints Commissioner and Police Complaints Commissioner.

Background

It is within the Finance Committee's remit to investigate any matter relating to or affecting the expenditure of the Scottish Administration or other expenditure payable out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

In recent reports on the 2006-07 Budget and the Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights (Scotland) Bill, the Committee noted very serious concerns over potential gaps in accountability in respect of all parliamentary commissioners and ombudsman.

The committee has previously recommended that there be a review of the powers of direction in relation to these officeholders in the legislation that set them up. It argues that steps need to be taken to strengthen the budgetary powers of the SPCB to address the gap in the legislation with regard to budgetary control over such bodies.

A SPICe briefing detailing the roles of existing bodies and their spending, and plans for additional commissioners is available on the inquiry webpage.

The committee's recommendations to the Scottish Executive are intended to feed into the Executive's Review of Scrutiny of Public Services and the consultation on a National Strategy for Shared Services.

One member of the committee, Mark Ballard MSP, dissented from a number of paragraphs in the report; these are referenced within the report with his proposed changes recorded in the minutes annex.

Further details of the committee are available on the Parliament's website at:

www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/finance

For further information, the media contact is :

Richard Holligan: 0131 348 5605

E-mail: richard.holligan@scottish.parliament.uk

Finance Committee contact information

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000

For general enquiries, contact 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)

Text phone: 0845 270 0152

email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk