This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Executive wants Parliament to stay same size
26/03/2002
The number of MSPs should remain at 129 to give the Scottish Parliament stability and let it continue working in partnership with the Executive to make Scotland a better place, Minister for Parliament Patricia Ferguson said today.
The Parliament has already passed 39 Bills in less than three years. Public spending is at record levels. Our priorities are the priorities of the people of Scotland - health, education, transport, crime and jobs. Parliament is closer to the people than ever before.
Any reduction in the number of MSPs would have a serious impact on the work of the Parliament and the Committees. This would have an impact on the Executive legislative programme and the capacity for Committees and individual MSPs to bring forward Bills.
The Minister for Parliament - speaking in advance of a debate on the size of the Scottish Parliament and the publication of the Executive response to the Scotland Office consultation on 129 - added:
"We believe there is a very strong case for the Parliament to remain at its current size. We do not believe that the Parliament and its Committees could function as well as it does with 106 Members instead of 129. We believe that the force of this argument outweighs the case, which we fully recognise, for retaining common constituency boundaries.
"Everyone recognises we need stability. The present arrangements are working well. Reducing the size of the Parliament would considerably change its dynamics, in my view for the worse. It would amount to a considerable upheaval for no good purpose.
"A reduction in the number of MSPs would have a particular bearing on the work of the Committees, which already have a heavy workload.
"That in turn would have serious implications for the Executive's legislative programme, and indeed for the capacity of Committees and Private Members to bring forward their own Bills, as they have started to do. The ability of Committees to scrutinise proposals for legislation, to hold the Executive to account and to conduct independent inquiries would be severely curtailed. So also would the ability of individual MSPs to serve the needs of their constituents. In short, the ability of this Parliament to function effectively would be compromised, in my view quite significantly.
"These are concerns about co-terminous boundaries, but electors already have to contend with different boundaries for local, parliamentary and European elections, not to mention different voting systems. There is no evidence that this has caused any great problems.
"The Executive believes that there are indeed compelling arguments for retaining the Parliament at its current size. The UK Government has made it clear that it is prepared to listen. I hope and believe that the UK Government can be persuaded to accept these arguments and bring forward appropriate amendments to the Scotland Act in due course."