Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Presiding officer taking a fresh look at MSPs’ ‘family friendly’ working hours

Post Thumbnail

MSPs could be forced to work longer hours at Holyrood under changes unveiled by the new presiding officer.

The proposals by Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Tricia Marwick, who took up the PO role in May, are being considered as part of a revamp of the parliament’s so-called ”family friendly” hours.

At present, MSPS attend the Edinburgh chamber for only one and a half days a week on Wednesday afternoons and Thursdays.

They sometimes meet on Tuesdays to attend committees, but most £57,000-a-year politicians are normally finished by tea-time.

This has prompted criticism that not enough time is put aside to scrutinise important legislation, ask questions and hold ministers to account.

Ms Marwick has written to Holyrood’s Standards Committee asking it to study the time spent working at the parliament by MSPs.

Among her suggestions is that they meet for an extra full session on Tuesday afternoons.

She said: ”My ambition is for a parliament that is responsive to developments and meets the needs of the people of Scotland by ensuring topicality and relevance in its deliberations.

”The current time gap between the parliament rising on a Thursday evening and resuming on a Wednesday afternoon means that the parliament may not always be in a position to respond to emerging or urgent issues.

”I consider this to be a weakness that could be addressed by, for example, the parliament meeting in plenary session on three afternoons a week to reduce the times during which the parliament is not able to consider issues; and committees meeting on three mornings a week.”