Chamber and committees

Is the amalgamation of commissioners or other public bodies possible?

We have also heard from people who feel that, if commissioners are seen to have greater responsibility, that undermines democratic accountability because, rather than accepting direct responsibility for something, a minister can say that it is covered by the role of the commissioner. Some organisations perceive the setting up of such a commissioner to be almost an attempt by the Government to body-swerve responsibility for things. Do you think that that is a fair assessment?

Okay. I will open up the session to questions from colleagues around the table, the first of whom will be Michelle Thomson.

Will that approach be applied to existing bodies to see whether we still require them?

That is very helpful. I thank you for your evidence, and I thank colleagues for their questions.

I am sorry; I should ask, as I always do at the end of a meeting, whether you want to make any further comments.

How do you see it? From a minister’s point of view, do you think of it as a way of talking to one person—the commissioner—about an issue rather than to 10 different groups?

We are straying off the topic of commissioners here.

I hope that it is not going to be a morning of ducking and diving, and bobbing and weaving.

I have a final question. Way back in 2007, one of our predecessor committees said:

“Policy papers accompanying new proposals for officeholders should provide strong evidence that the proposer has explored all possible opportunities to have an existing body carry out the additional function or make use of existing resources wherever possible to support any new office-holder and have very good reasons for not adopting an approach which would avoid the creation of a new body”.

The committee highlighted that the then Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People was in an anomalous position because those criteria would not have been met had it been set up any time since 2007. That commissioner is, of course, still in existence 17 years later. Do the criteria that were set out by our predecessor committee form part of the ministerial control framework?

Monie a mickle maks a muckle, minister.

On a number of occasions, you have talked about the robustness of the Government in assessing new commissioners. I wonder why, therefore, we are still progressing not just with the victims and witnesses commissioner, but with a proposed future generations commissioner and a disability commissioner. How do they fit into the context of the ministerial control framework?