Members’ Expenses Scheme

I will give members a brief explanation of the motion. The reimbursement of members’ expenses scheme requires that regional members for a party in any region share an office. In this session, circumstances have arisen whereby some regional members have chosen not to have a local office, which has impacted on the ability of the remaining regional members from that party to secure a local office within their pooled office-cost provision limits.

At our meeting on 2 December last year, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body considered options around supporting regional members who find themselves in such circumstances through no choice of their own. We agreed that the calculations for the allocation of office-cost provision for regional members would remain as they are. However, where a regional member or members find themselves with reduced funds due to a decision of one or more members not to participate, a recalculation process would be introduced and the scheme amended accordingly.

Changes to the reimbursement of the members’ expenses scheme require agreement by Parliament. Therefore, on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, I move,

That the Parliament, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 81(2) and (5)(b) and 83(5) of the Scotland Act 1998, determines that the Reimbursement of Members’ Expenses Scheme, which was agreed to by resolution of the Parliament on 2 March 2021, be amended to:

(a) in paragraph 4.3.5, delete “the” where it appears at the beginning of the fourth line and delete “members concerned” in that same line and insert instead “those members who establish a local parliamentary office”;

(b) delete “When” at the beginning of paragraph 4.3.6 and insert instead “Subject to paragraphs 4.3.9 and 4.3.10, when”;

(c) insert after paragraph 4.3.8:

“4.3.9 Where one or more regional members, returned from a registered political party’s regional list, do not establish and run a local office the limit of entitlement to office cost provision of those members remaining who do establish and run a local office, in the circumstances set out in paragraphs 4.3.4 to 4.3.7, will be recalculated as though the member or members who do not establish an office had not been returned on that registered political party’s regional list.

Number of Regional Members originally returned on regional list

2
3
4
3
4
4

Number of Members not establishing a local office

1
1
1
2
2
3

Number of Regional Members recalculations subsequently based on

1
2
3
1
2
1

4.3.10 Should a member, who has previously not established a local office, decide at any subsequent point to establish a local office then all of those members returned from a registered political party’s regional list who establish a local office will require to share a local office as set out in paragraphs 4.3.4 to 4.3.7 and those members’ entitlement to office cost provision will be recalculated in accordance with paragraph 4.3.9 from the point of establishing that shared office.”;

(d) renumber paragraphs currently numbered as 4.3.9 to 4.3.13 to paragraphs 4.3.11 to 4.3.15 and amend any references to those paragraphs to take account of the number change accordingly; and

(e) insert after paragraph 4.4.1:

“4.4.2 The above calculation will be based on the number of members originally returned on the regional list for the political party, taking no account of any change made to calculations for those members who do establish and run a local office as set out in paragraphs 4.3.9 and 4.3.10.”