Holyrood committee recommends citizen groups help with post-legislative scrutiny

Citizen panels should be regularly used by parliamentary committees to reach a consensus on post-legislative scrutiny, a Holyrood committee has said.

The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee (CPPPC) has published a report with a range of recommendations following a year-long inquiry into whether the views of marginalised communities were being heard enough in the Scottish Parliament.

A panel of 19 people from across Scotland was set up to help the inquiry, with MSPs now suggesting two further groups can be set up to review how well legislation that has been in effect for years is working, while another will assess a current topic of interest.

The committee hopes it can then recommend a permanent model for Holyrood to use after the 2026 election.

However, it accepted that the panels will be costly and will not be suitable for every topic but can ensure a wider range of voices are considered when it comes to policymaking.

Committee MSPs also suggested each panel should be different based on the topic, rather than having one panel to look at multiple topics, and recommended that politicians are not included within the group selection.

Other recommendations include reducing barriers to participation, such as paying people back if they have to take time off work or pay for childcare to engage, or translating into different languages.

Panel members suggested Holyrood’s presiding officer is given more power to ensure ministers give adequate answers to questions, with the committee referring the issue to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee to assess despite concerns it could make the job more political.

Jackson Carlaw, committee convener, said: “Over the course of the past year, we’ve heard time and time again that the parliament doesn’t hear enough from some groups and communities across Scotland.

“This report is therefore a significant milestone in our pursuit of a more inclusive parliamentary process.

“The recommendations, particularly the introduction of increasingly regular citizens’ panels and the embedding of deliberative democracy in the work of the parliament, underscore our commitment to amplifying diverse voices.

“This report sets a strong foundation for a more participatory and collaborative democracy in Scotland, and we hope it will be welcomed by the citizens’ panel that was integral to its development, as well as parliamentary colleagues from across the political spectrum.”