SPCB Written Question · S3W-16397 · Session 3
With reference to the statement in the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s annual report for 2006-07 that “significant one-off …
The question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, with reference to the statement in the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s annual report for 2006-07 that “significant one-off costs such as meeting the cost of a legal challenge will now be met from a central contingency fund in the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body budget rather than from the Commissioner’s budget”, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body untertook to cover from 2007-08 all legal costs incurred by the Commissioner, including advice concerning complaints against members and advice challenging advice already provided in writing by parliamentary officials.
The answer
The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is expected to meet the costs for legal advice in undertaking his functions from his own budget.
The officeholders'' central contingency fund was established by the SPCB to remove the need for each individual officeholder to have a built-in contingency in their individual budgets. The central contingency fund is for exceptional expenditure which cannot be met from the officeholder''s agreed budget allocation for any given year, such as a potential legal challenge in the courts in relation to a function exercised by the commissioner. The SPCB would consider an application from an officeholder to draw down from the contingency fund on a case-by-case basis.
It is a matter for the commissioner to determine the nature of the advice he seeks from his legal advisers.
The officeholders'' central contingency fund was established by the SPCB to remove the need for each individual officeholder to have a built-in contingency in their individual budgets. The central contingency fund is for exceptional expenditure which cannot be met from the officeholder''s agreed budget allocation for any given year, such as a potential legal challenge in the courts in relation to a function exercised by the commissioner. The SPCB would consider an application from an officeholder to draw down from the contingency fund on a case-by-case basis.
It is a matter for the commissioner to determine the nature of the advice he seeks from his legal advisers.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S3W-16397 by reference.