Review of allowances at the Scottish Parliament
Remit of the review
At a meeting on 20 June the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) agreed the following remit for the Parliamentary Allowances Review:
To carry out a review of the Members’ Allowances Scheme, Party Leaders’ Allowance Scheme and Equipment and Furniture Scheme. As part of its consideration, the review panel is to have regard to the following:
What are the tasks expected of Members of the Scottish Parliament?
What are the tasks expected of party leaders and should there be a numerical qualification in terms of numbers of Members to qualify for payment, and if so, what should this be?
What resources are required to enable those tasks to be undertaken effectively and efficiently on behalf of constituents and the Parliament
What resources could be best provided centrally, or through other financial support mechanisms and what resources could be provided through an Allowances Scheme
The review panel shall invite evidence submissions from MSPs and such persons, parties and other organisations as it deems appropriate, and shall otherwise conduct the review as it sees fit.
The review panel may consider comparators with other support mechanisms both within the United Kingdom and beyond.
The review panel shall prepare a report setting out its findings and recommendations, with reasons, for submission to the SPCB by around the end of March 2008.