Chief Executive’s Report to the SPCB

May 2015

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Introduction This report covers activity in April and May and includes the Finance Report for Period 12 of 2014-15. Some of the items to note include:-

a visit to Islay by the Equal Opportunities Committee, the first visit to the island by a parliamentary committee, as part of its inquiry into age and social isolation

the finalising of the last Member‟s Bill planned for introduction before the sessional cut-off.

Publication of the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee Report on the Smith Commission clauses..

the upcoming briefing session on climate change, to be hosted by two parliamentary committees and featuring John Ashton CBE, special representative for climate change at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2006 to 2012.

the final of Euroquiz 2015, involving schools from 29 local authorities, was held in the Debating Chamber on 11 May.

the acquisition of a new painting for the Parliament collection, entitled “Holyrood 2014, Robert Garioch” by Scottish artist Ruth Nicol.

Two more Parliament Days scheduled before the summer recess – Craigmillar and Kirkwall.

If you have any comments or questions on any aspect of this Report, I would be happy to discuss them with you. P E GRICE Clerk/Chief Executive

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SECTION 1 – OVERVIEW OF PARLIAMENTARY ACTIVITIES Chamber Office A key priority for the Non-Government Bills Unit (NGBU) has been to finalise the last remaining Member‟s Bill to be introduced by the 1 June sessional cut-off. This Bill, on organ donation (Anne McTaggart MSP), has been developed more quickly than would normally be possible through a combination of flexibility and collaborative working between NGBU clerks, solicitors and the drafter. The Pentland Hills Bill (Christine Grahame MSP) was introduced on 30 April and raises some new and complex issues for the Stage 1 process, as it appears to raise issues of hybridity (despite not being a Hybrid Bill as defined in standing orders). NGBU has continued to support Members whose Bills are in progress, including - The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill (Patrick Harvie MSP), Apologies (Scotland) Bill (Margaret Mitchell MSP), British Sign Language (Scotland) Bill (Mark Griffin MSP), and Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Bill (Jim Hume MSP). The last two have secured Scottish Government backing and are expected to be passed, albeit with amendments. In conjunction with SPPA clerks, NGBU has also continued to work on the Members‟ Interests Bill, a Committee Bill due for introduction later in May. At least two and up to four Private Bills, all expected to be fairly small, are anticipated in the run up to summer recess. Committees and Outreach Devolution (Further Powers) Committee

The Committee published its report on the Smith Commission clauses. A

media conference was arranged by the Media Relations Office.

Infrastructure and Capital Investment

The Committee began a short piece of work on access issues at Scotland‟s major urban railway stations. The clerks collaborated with SPICe, the Media Relations Office and Web and Social Media colleagues to create an innovative way of using social media and online surveys to gather evidence on stations. This resulted in close to 5000 responses. The use of surveys rather than a traditional call for evidence has been hugely successful in reaching everyday users of these services and stretching beyond the Committee‟s usual stakeholders.

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Welfare

On 5 May, the Welfare Reform Committee held a 'Your Say' witness session with people directly affected by the introduction of Personal Independence Payments. This, together with the previous session on the impact of welfare reform on children‟s services, attracted significant media attention. The Committee will also hold an evidence gathering „Your Say‟ session as part of the Parliament Day in Craigmillar on 18 May, where it will hear from benefits claimants who have been affected by changes to the UK benefits system. Equal Opportunities Committee

As part of its age and social isolation inquiry, the Equal Opportunities Committee met on Islay on 11 May: the first time that a committee of the Parliament has visited the island. The Committee also launched an inquiry into race, ethnicity and employment at the beginning of May. Public Petitions

The Public Audit Committee will be taking further evidence from NHS Highland, following on from their evidence session at a committee meeting in Inverness. Evidence will focus on an Auditor General for Scotland Section 22 report on NHS Highland‟s financial management during 2013/14. The Committee will take oral evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy as part of its work into audit, accountability and the further devolution of powers. This follows publication on 12 May of a number of written submissions from a wide range of Scottish and UK organisations on this issue. Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment

On 28 May the Committee will co-host (with the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee) a briefing session on climate change with John Ashton CBE, open to all MSPs. John Ashton was special representative for climate change at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2006 to 2012, and led for the UK Government at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in 2009. Mr Ashton is a prominent speaker and writer about climate change. BIT and Broadcasting The Broadcasting Office has recently updated the graphics on scottishparliament.tv to create a cleaner, more modern look. To replace the traditional broadcast character generators, originally installed over ten years ago and nearing the end of their useful life, the Broadcasting Office team developed their own innovative solution. This is based on credit-card sized computers and open source software, and has allowed for the replacement of new captioning equipment in all six committee rooms at minimal cost. In addition, the new solution has contributed to the organisations environmental

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targets by reducing power consumption of the character generator by over 90%. UK and International Relations Office (UKIRO) The Speaker of the Pakistan Provincial Assembly of Khyber Paktunkhwa, Mr Asad Qaiser, led a cross-party delegation to the Parliament on Thursday 14 May. During his visit, the first by a parliamentary delegation from Khyber Paktunkhwa, he was briefed on the legislative process in the Scottish Parliament by senior parliamentary officials. The Speaker also focussed on the support provided to Members by the Parliament‟s Non-Governmental Bills Unit (NGBU) when bringing forward Members‟ Bills. The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Mr Sungnam Lim, will visit Parliament on Thursday 21 May. In addition to paying a courtesy call on the Presiding Officer, Ambassador Lin will observe FMQs. Separate meetings have been arranged later that afternoon with Scottish Government Minister(s). The Speaker of the Flemish Parliament, Mr Jan Peumans, will lead a cross-party delegation to the Parliament on Thursday 28 May. During his visit, he will pay a courtesy call on the Presiding Officer and be briefed on the Parliament‟s public engagement, communication and media strategies by SPCB Members Elizabeth Smith MSP and Liam McArthur MSP. The delegation, also consisting of the Business Managers of the Flemish political parties, will hold informal discussions with their Scottish Parliament counterparts. Meetings to discuss committee reform will also be undertaken with DPO Elaine Smith MSP and members of the Conveners Group. Margaret McCulloch MSP will attend the 26th Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 17-22 May 2015. Anne McTaggart MSP will attend the 11th CPA Canadian Seminar in Ottawa from 24-30 May 2015. Patricia Ferguson MSP, Margaret Mitchell MSP and Sandra White MSP will attend the British Islands and Mediterranean Regional conference in Limassol Cyprus from 24-27 May 2015. Two committee clerks from the National Assembly of Malawi will arrive in Scotland on 29 May to begin a 4 week placement with Committee Office and Chamber Office. They will also attend the Parliament Day in Kirkwall planned for 8 June. Communications and Research SPICe The early part of 2015 saw increased enquiry numbers to SPICe, combined with a shortening of deadlines. In the first quarter of 2015 there was a 50% increase in shorter turn-round enquiries (two days and less), compared to

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both the previous quarter and the same quarter last year. Performance levels have been maintained and enquiry numbers will continue to be monitored to see whether this trend continues. Facilities, Events, Exhibitions and Visitor Services Visitor services Public tour capacity for April reached 87 % compared to 85% for the same month in 2014. There has been an overall increase in visitor numbers month on month in 2015 following a decline in the last quarter of 2014. Facilities Management Catering The Garden Level Restaurant has undergone recent changes with new signage and serving dishes as well as a new menu cycle. The feedback to the changes has been very positive. Maintenance and Projects A trial was undertaken to upgrade a storage wall within the MSP building to improve security. This was successful and the upgrade will be rolled out over the coming months to further areas in the Members‟ building. Work has also begun to install new roof access posts on the Bagpipes building with installation on subsequent roofs to follow. Fire Safety In line with our five year plan, a full fire evacuation exercise will take place before the summer recess. We will update the SPCB on timings following consultation with key stakeholder groups. A new process has been introduced which facilitates ease of access to mandatory fire safety training for Members‟ staff. This will become a requirement prior to issue of an individual security pass following the summer recess as previously agreed by the Corporate Body. We will be writing to Members shortly to advise them of the requirement. Events and Exhibitions The Incredible Power of Light exhibition was on display in the Main Hall from Wednesday 1 to Thursday 30 April, during which there were 30,520 visitors to Parliament. The exhibition was opened by the Presiding Officer on Tuesday 31 March, attended by guests from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Heriot Watt University and local industry and academic contacts. A successful public events programme aimed at family audiences with primary school age children was developed by the Events and Exhibitions Team and delivered as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

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Deputy Presiding Officer Elaine Smith MSP hosted the final of Euroquiz 2015 in the Debating Chamber on Monday 11 May. The competition was won by Carmendean Primary in West Lothian. Thirty schools from 29 local authorities were represented at the event which aims to promote and encourage education about Europe, particularly the European Union, among primary 6 schoolchildren throughout Scotland. The SPCB acquired a new painting for the Parliament collection. By artist Ruth Nicol, the work is titled “Holyrood 2014, Robert Garioch” and depicts the Scottish Parliament within the local Edinburgh area. The view is a vantage point from the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery near Regent Street and shows the building‟s position in relation to the Salisbury Crags, the Royal Mile and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

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SPCB FINANCE REPORT Period 12 – March 2015

1. This report is to inform SPCB of the full year outturn for 2014-15. The

final accounts figures are not expected to vary significantly from this report, but remain subject to adjustment as part of the normal year end accounts process.

Executive Summary

Performance against Budget (year to date variance)

a) Total SPCB revenue and capital expenditure

Para 2 & 6

b) Total SPS expenditure

Para 7

c) Total project expenditure

Para 8

Operation of Financial Controls

d) Key reconciliations up to date

Para 3

Other Key Indicators

e) Payment performance

Para 3

Key: RAG Status

Financial Commentary

2. The Scottish Parliament‟s total revenue and capital expenditure for

2014-15 of £76.5m represents an under spend against budget of £0.9m (1.2%), which is in the middle of the SPCB‟s target range of 0% to 2.5%.

3. All key reconciliations are up to date and payment performance within

contract terms for the year to date exceeds the 99% target. The equivalent figure for payment within 10 days is 93.7% for the year to date. An initiative to improve our 10 day payment performance, involving automatically generating alerts of potential delays in clearing invoices for payment, has now been rolled out to all offices, with an improvement to 97.8% achieved in the final quarter.

4. As previously reported, we have been using the Financial Forecasting

Tool (FFT) to improve the visibility of financial information across the Parliament‟s various offices and the accuracy of their financial forecasting. This was successfully used by all offices to underpin the November and January re-forecasting exercise and it will be used to support more frequent re-forecasting exercises during 2015-16.

(1.4)%

(8.9%)

%)

%)

%%%)%

%%)%8.5

%

%

99.6%

%

100%

Performance within target range

Performance outwith target range but acceptable

Performance outwith target range not acceptable

G

R

A

1.2%

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5. The year-end accounts preparation is proceeding to timetable and Audit Scotland is due to commence its audit fieldwork in mid-June.

Financial Results 6. The SPCB‟s total revenue and capital expenditure per Schedule 1 for

the year ending March 2015 is £76.5m, £0.9m (1.2%) under the approved budget of £77.4m. This underspend is marginally higher than the equivalent £0.8m (1.1%) achieved in 2013-14.

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2)

7. The full year outturn, including project costs, for the Parliamentary Service (SPS) of £43.2m is £0.6m (1.4%) over the allocated budget, which has been made possible by compensating planned underspends in other parts of the SPCB‟s overall budget. An analysis of the current financial year by main category of expenditure is shown in the two charts below.

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Staff Pay for the year is £22.7m, £43k (0.2%) over budget, and is £1.0m higher than the 2013-14 full year outturn. £250k of the year on year increase in costs is attributable to the higher costs of using agency staff and contractors to cover permanent staff vacancies, largely due to the effect of the 20% VAT on these costs which is not recoverable.

Staff Related Costs are £716k (£733k in 13-14) and £96k (11.8%) below budget. £52k of this underspend relates to Travel & Expenses.

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Property Costs of £7.0m are £8k over the annual budget. A planned overspend in maintenance of £29k was largely offset by underspends in utilities and other costs.

Running Costs of £6.4m are £105k (1.7%) over the annual budget. The main areas of overspend are Software Support and Licenses (£43k) and Mail Services and Postage (£45k).

Project Reporting (Schedule 3):

8. Schedule 3 shows project spend by category of project.

Total project expenditure of £6.4m is £524k (8.9%) higher than the full year budget of £5.9m. As noted above in para 7, this reflects the fact that we have been able to take forward some planned project expenditure in Q4, slightly earlier than originally forecast, as a result of compensating planned underspends in other parts of the SPCB‟s overall budget for 2014-15.

Revenue Projects show a total spend of £4.4m against a budget of £4.3m, an overspend of £135k or 3.1%. Most of this overspend is attributable to FM Building Projects (£114k, 4.1%), which include roof anchor points, change projects and work under the 25 year maintenance plan. The higher expenditure on revenue projects was partly offset by an underspend of £105k on infrastructure improvements.

The capital expenditure programme for 2014-15 shows expenditure of £2.0m for the year to date against a budget of £1.6m. The increase of £390k (8.9%) includes expenditure on the Server Replacement

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Programme (£260k), Broadcasting Equipment (£31k) and the Chamber Sound and Voting system (£39k).

The Digital Parliament Programme has seen expenditure of £1.3m in the year, £27k (2.1%) higher than the amount budgeted for 2014-15.

Members’ Costs (Schedule 2)

9. Members‟ costs are analysed in Schedule 2, which reports £23.7m total expenditure for the year, £1.27m (5.1%) below annual budget. (The corresponding underspend figure for 2013-14 was £0.949k, (3.9%). Of this underspend, £1.214m relates to Members‟ Expenses. Party Assistance, at £464k, was £3k under the annual budget.

Commissioners & Ombudsman Costs (Schedule 2)

10. The SPCB‟s funding cost for Commissioners and Ombudsman (Officeholders) 2014-15 was £8.0m, £206k (2.5%) under the annual budget of £8.2m. £25k was transferred into the Officeholders‟ contingency in period 11, as part of the Spring Budget Revision, to cover the relocation of the Commissioner for Children and Young People. In addition, £30.5k was transferred from the Officeholders‟ contingency to the SPSO as agreed by the SPCB at its meeting on 18 March. Following these transfers, the balance of £126k in the Commissioners and Officeholders‟ Contingency remains unspent at the year end.

Central Contingency

11. The SPCB‟s central revenue contingency was reduced to nil as part of the £1.0m of revenue budget returned to the Scottish Consolidated Fund via the 2015 Spring Budget Revision (SBR). At the same time, £404k was removed from the original Electoral Commission budget of £2,060k in the SBR to reflect the fact that their costs for the referendum were lower than set out in the financial memorandum.

Period 12 - March 2015 Financial Schedules

Schedule 1

Current OriginalAnnual Approved

Actual Budget Variance Variance Budget Budget£'000 £'000 £'000 % £'000 £'000

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2) 43,221 42,637 (584) (1.4) 42,637 42,733

Members' Costs (Schedule 2) 23,648 24,918 1,270 5.1 24,918 24,918

Commissioners & Ombudsman Costs (Schedule 2) 7,979 8,185 206 2.5 8,185 8,160

Sub Total 74,847 75,740 893 1.2 75,740 75,811

Reserves - SPCB Contingency 0 0 0 n/a 0 1,000

TOTAL SPCB EXPENDITURE 74,847 75,740 893 1.2 75,740 76,811

Electoral Commission 1,656 1,656 0 0.0 1,656 2,060

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 76,503 77,396 893 1.2 77,396 78,871

Year to Date

Period 12 - March 2015Financial Schedules

Schedule 2 Current OriginalAnnual Approved

Actual Budget Variance Variance Budget Budget£'000 £'000 £'000 % £'000 £'000

Parliamentary Service Costs

Staff Pay 22,688 22,645 (43) (0.2) 22,645 22,315

Staff Related Costs 716 813 96 11.8 813 794

Property Costs 7,035 7,026 (8) (0.1) 7,026 8,408

Running Costs (Including Events & Income) 6,371 6,266 (105) (1.7) 6,266 6,716

Parliamentary Service Costs excluding Projects 36,810 36,750 (60) (0.2) 36,750 38,233

Projects (Schedule 3) 6,411 5,887 (524) (8.9) 5,887 4,500

Total PS Expenditure 43,221 42,637 (584) (1.4) 42,637 42,733

Members' Costs

MSP & Officeholders' Pay 11,310 11,363 53 0.5 11,363 11,363

MSP Expenses 11,874 13,088 1,214 9.3 13,088 13,093

Party Assistance 464 467 3 0.7 467 462

Total 23,648 24,918 1,270 5.1 24,918 24,918

Commissioners & Ombudsman

Ethical Standards Commission 785 834 48 5.8 834 785

Standards Commission 215 226 11 4.9 226 226

Human Rights Commission 955 967 11 1.2 967 933Scottish Information Commissioner 1,517 1,543 27 1.7 1,543 1,446

Public Services Ombudsman 3,271 3,255 (17) (0.5) 3,255 3,241

Commissioner for Children 1,235 1,235 0 0.0 1,235 1,235

Reserves - C&O Contingency 0 126 126 n/a 126 294

Total 7,979 8,185 206 2.5 8,185 8,160

Year-to-date

Period 12 - March 2015 Financial Schedules

Schedule 3

Project Summary : March 2015v1 YTD Actual £k YTD Budget £k Variance £k Variance % Current Annual Budget £k

Original Approved Budget £k

% Spent of Total Budget

Outstanding Commitment £k

Funds Available £k

Revenue Projects Allocated 4,421 4,287 (135) (3.1) 4,287 2,250 103.1% 0 (135) Unallocated n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 150 n/a n/a 0Total Revenue Projects 4,421 4,287 (135) (3.1) 4,287 2,400 103.1% 0 (135)

Capital Projects Allocated 1,990 1,600 (390) (24.3) 1,600 1,415 124.3% 0 (390) Unallocated n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 685 n/a n/a 0Total Capital Projects 1,990 1,600 (390) (24.3) 1,600 2,100 124.3% 0 (390)

TOTAL 6,411 5,887 (524) (8.9) 5,887 4,500 108.9% 0 (524)

By Portfolio: YTD Actual £k YTD Budget £k Variance £k Variance % Current Annual Budget £k

Original Approved Budget £k

% Spent of Total Budget

Outstanding Commitment £k

Funds Available £k

FM Building & Equipment 2,901 2,787 (114) (4.1) 2,787 1,250 104.1% 0 (114)IT Capital & Broadcasting Equipment 1,865 1,467 (399) (27.2) 1,467 1,315 127.2% 0 (399)Digital Parliament 1,285 1,258 (27) (2.1) 1,258 1,100 102.1% 0 (27)Innovation Fund 48 65 17 25.4 65 0 74.6% 0 17Information Systems / Other 312 311 (1) (0.4) 311 0 100.5% 0 (1)

Total Projects Allocated 6,411 5,887 (524) (8.9) 5,887 3,665 108.9% 0 (524)

Unallocated Project Budget n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 835 n/a n/a 0

TOTAL 6,411 5,887 (524) (8.9) 5,887 4,500 108.9% 0 (524)

Period 12 - March 2015 Financial Schedules

Land & Buildings professionally valued at £306.5m at 31 March 2010.WIP has been allocated to IT Systems and Software, and Equipment. IT Systems and Software, and Equipment, include depreciation.

NoteMovement in prepayments is due to accounting treatment of rates

0500

1,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500

Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14 Mar-15

(£k)

Quarter

Debtors

Other debtors Prepayments and accrued income Trade Debtors VAT

0

1,0002,0003,0004,0005,000

6,000

Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14 Mar-15

(£k)

Quarter

Fixed Assets (Excluding Land & Buildings)

Artwork & donated assets WIP IT systems & software Equipment

Period 12 - March 2015 Financial Schedules

Note

NoteScottish Consolidated Fund creditor equal to bank balance

Bank balances kept within target.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14 Mar-15

(£k)

Quarter

Creditors

Scottish Consolidated Fund Other creditors Trade creditors Accruals

-00

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14 Mar-15

(£k)

Quarter

Cash At Bank

Commercial bank accounts & cash Government Banking ServiceMinimum Target Maximum Target

Period 12 - March 2015 Financial Schedules

Schedule 6 Income from Catering Operation and from Parliament Shop

Analysis of Catering Costs and Subsidy

2014-15 YTD (12 months to March 2015)Garden Level

Restaurant Coffee BarMembers'

Restaurant Members' BarQBH

LoungeParliament

Café

Members' Room Events Events

Internal Hospitality

Internal Meetings

YTD Actual

Total

YTD Budget

TotalYTD

Variance

Current Annual Budget

Original Approved

Budget£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Income 352 86 22 6 53 163 17 312 57 64 1,132 1,130 2 1,130 1071

Less:- Direct Outlet Costs (475) (63) (72) (4) (79) (143) (9) (170) (54) (61) (1,130) (1,129) (1) (1,129) (1,099)

Net Contribution to Trading Profit/(Deficit) after direct outlet costs (123) 22 (49) 2 (27) 20 8 142 2 3 1 1 0 1 (28)

Less:- Indirect Costs Generic Labour 1 & Other Overheads 2 (513) (519) 6 (519) (472)

Net subsidy (512) (518) 6 (518) (500)

Notes:Note 1 - Generic Labour includes: All management roles and some support rolesNote 2 - Other Overheads includes: Non capital equipment purchases and maintenance; all administrative costs (inc. Management Fee) and all sundry costs.All figures are exclusive of VAT

Shop Trading AccountYTD

Actual YTD

Budget YTD

Variance

Current Annual Budget

Original Approved

Budget2014-15 YTD (12 months to March 2015) £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Sales (net of discount) 273 265 8 265 230

181 178 3 178 124

Net Contribution 92 87 5 87 106

Direct Salaries 82 91 (9) 91 80

Other Direct Costs (2) 6 1 5 1 1 Total Direct Costs 88 92 (4) 92 81

Net Contribution/(Subsidy) after direct costs 4 (5) 9 (5) 25

Notes(1) Cost of sales is the cost to the Parliament of items for sale in the shop(2) Other direct costs are expenditure incurred directly in the operation of the shopsuch as stationery and credit card and cash uplift charges.As a result of the Visitor Services Office review, reduced staffing levels in the shop have been implemented during 2012-13 to reduce staffing costs.This statement does not include general overhead costs, e.g. for a proportion of business rates, utility costs and other operational and support costs.