Chief Executive’s Report to the SPCB

April 2017

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Introduction This report looks at work carried out during March and April and includes the SPCB financial report for Period 11. Some of the items to note include:

Nine bills are currently being considered by the Parliament, including two private Bills.

On 13 and 20 March the Social Security Committee met jointly with the Scottish Affairs Committee at Holyrood and then Westminster. This is the first time joint activity of this type has been undertaken.

Northgate PS was announced as the IT contractor for the lobbying register database on 15 March. The implementation timetable and the setting up of a stakeholder Working Group were both announced on 30 March.

The refreshed Parliament exhibition opened on 1 March - feedback from visitors and other building users has been extremely positive.

The Parliament hosted the 9th annual meeting of the OECD network of parliamentary budget officials and independent fiscal institutions from 5 – 9 April. SPICe staff facilitated the event and received excellent feedback from delegates.

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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OVERVIEW OF PARLIAMENTARY ACTIVITIES Bills Nine bills are currently being considered by the Parliament, including two private Bills introduced in March (the Edinburgh Bakers’ Widows’ Fund Bill and Pow of Inchaffray Drainage Commission (Scotland) Bill). Private Bill committees have been established to consider these and a third small Private Bill is expected to be introduced in the near future. In addition to the single Member’s Bill introduced so far this session, NGBU has one Member’s Bill being drafted and is dealing with four other proposals lodged (of which two have completed consultations, and one has a consultation in progress). A substantial number of prospective proposals are also being worked on, for MSPs of four different political parties. Committees Social Security Committee The Social Security Committee met in Glasgow on 27 March to examine the Child Poverty Bill. Glasgow has the highest level of child poverty in Scotland. As well as holding a formal meeting in the City Chambers the Committee also held an informal engagement event with local groups afterwards. On 13 and 20 March the Social Security Committee met jointly with the Scottish Affairs Committee at Holyrood and then Westminster. The sessions examined the relationship between the Scottish Government and the Department of Work and Pensions in delivering devolved social security. The outcome was a joint letter to both Governments suggesting ways in which they might further develop the relationship. This is the first time joint activity of this type has been undertaken. Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee The Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee received written representations from the Govan Law Centre regarding the Bankruptcy Fees (Scotland) Revocation Regulations 2017. The Committee decided to take oral evidence from the Govan Law Centre, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), and from the Minister. Following this, the Committee wrote to the Scottish Government outlining its concerns and Committee Member Andy Wightman lodged a motion to annul the instrument. The Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy subsequently confirmed to the Committee that the regulations would be revoked. Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee The ECCLR Committee has recently focused media work on a letter it sent to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform on

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wildlife crime and the Committee’s report on deer management. Both generated wide media coverage across print, online and broadcast media. The wildlife crime letter widely reported, especially by environmental journalists, while also being picked up by the Sunday Politics show. The deer management report followed just over a week later and was issued on a Monday to give daily journalists an opportunity to cover the issue. This mixed approach proved very successful with positive feedback from Members. Lobbying Register

Northgate PS was announced as the IT contractor for the lobbying register database on 15 March. The implementation timetable and the setting up of a stakeholder Working Group were both announced on 30 March. IT testing will now take place over the summer, with completion of the lobbying register system targeted for the autumn. In response to requests from a wide range of stakeholders, the finalised system and parliamentary guidance will be made available to users for a trial period, until the end of 2017, with the Act coming fully into force in early 2018 (the exact date will be confirmed later this year).

The Working Group will consist of up to 12 individuals from a varied range of interests. These include small and medium/large organisations from the third sector, PR/consultancy firms and other businesses. There are also plans to recruit from more specialist areas in the legal, journalism and pro-transparency fields. Applications for membership are due by Thursday 13 April with the intention that the first Working Group meeting takes place in May.

Engagement Parliament Exhibition On 1 March the refreshed Parliament exhibition was opened by the Presiding Officer at an event attended by those members of the public who feature in it. The exhibition has been redesigned to be up-to-date and accessible to visitors. It explores the current role of the Parliament and its Members and key points in the history of Scotland’s parliaments. Feedback on the new look has been overwhelmingly positive, with a postcard station where people can leave comments on what is important to them about Scotland proving particularly popular. Following the launch of the new exhibition Visitor Services arranged drop-in sessions for Members’ staff, focusing on the content of the new exhibition and services that can enhance constituency/group visits. Feedback was again very positive from those in attendance. “Your Parliament” Conference On 24 March, more than 100 students from 26 out of 27 of Scotland’s colleges attended a Your Scottish Parliament conference. Following a paper based snowball fight in the Debating Chamber; a lively Q&A session explored the

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issues that were important to young people. Three workshops then explored Committee interest areas – voting, bullying and transition to work. The event has proved successful in strengthening our relationship with colleges – traditionally a harder to reach audience for the Parliament. OECD Conference of Parliamentary Budget Offices and Independent Fiscal Institutions On Wednesday 5th - Friday 7th April, the Parliament hosted the 9th annual meeting of the OECD network of parliamentary budget officials and independent fiscal institutions. Following a keynote speech from Alice Rivlin, the first director of the Congressional Budget Office in the United States, representatives of fiscal institutions from across OECD member states as far as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand discussed ways to improve effective parliamentary scrutiny of public finances and consulted on best practices for legislative budgeting. SPICe staff chaired and participated in the sessions. The conference was a great success and included a dinner and traditional Scottish ceilidh in the Main Hall of the Parliament. SPICe Briefings SPICe will be launching the new digital briefings after the Easter recess, this is the culmination of two of years of work. Briefings on the Great Repeal Bill’s implications for Scotland, Universal Credit Housing Elements for 18-21 year olds, Labour Market Update April 2017, and Local Government Finance: Facts and Figures 1999-2018 will be published as part of this. Presiding Officer Events Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani MSP hosted the International Women’s Day event which was held in the Debating Chamber on Saturday 4 March. This event was attended by more than 380 women representing a diverse range of communities from across Scotland.

On Tuesday 28 March the Presiding Officer hosted a preview event for the exhibition showcasing the 10 shortlisted designs for the new UK National Holocaust Memorial and Educational Centre; which will be located next to Westminster in Victoria Tower Gardens. This touring exhibition was produced for the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation to consult the UK public on the different design ideas developed so far by leading architects and artists for the memorial and education centre.

On Wednesday 29 March the Presiding Officer launched the Scotland’s Futures Forum’s Scotland 2030 Programme. Guest speakers were leading entrepreneur and videogames developer Chris van der Kuyl and multi award-winning folk singer Karine Polwart as they posed questions on what Scotland will look like in 2030. The Presiding Officer hosted a reception, on Thursday 30 March to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Scottish Property Federation; a membership organisation for the Scottish real estate industry.

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Disabled Access Day On Saturday 11 March the Edinburgh Signing Choir performed as the centrepiece of our participation this year in Disabled Access Day. We also offered BSL-supported tours and audio-descriptive tours to the public and encouraged visitors to experience the new exhibition. Feedback from visitors was positive, both in person on the day and via social media channels. Harry Benson: Seeing America On Friday 22 April Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani MSP will represent the Parliament at the opening of the Harry Benson: Seeing America exhibition at the National Trust for Scotland’s Drum Castle in Aberdeenshire. The SPCB has approved the loan of the exhibition to the Trust for a seven month period. Visitor Survey Public Information and colleagues conducted a survey of visitors entering the building during March. The purpose was to gain more insight to the people who are coming in to the Parliament particularly in terms of where they are from, how they became aware they could visit and their reasons for visiting. More than 20,000 visitors were observed and over 700 short interviews were conducted. This information is part of a series of visitor research strands being gathered as part of a key activity in the Public Engagement Strategy to improve the visitor experience at Holyrood; a paper will come to the SPCB on this after the summer recess.  

International Relations The International Relations Office has facilitated the following recent inward visits:

Courtesy calls on the Presiding Officer from the Polish Ambassador; The CPA Chairperson (and Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh); and the Secretary-General of the CPA.

Members of the Canada-UK Inter-Parliamentary Association and Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association.

Members and officials from the Jordanian House of Representatives and the Moroccan House of Representatives.

Members of the Roads and Transportation Committee of the Senate of the Parliament of Kenya.

Outward visits have included:

The Presiding Officer, accompanied by Clare Adamson MSP and Edward Mountain MSP participated in an outward visit to Canada and the USA. Meetings with the Speaker of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and the Speakers of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate were included as part of official visit programme.

Rhoda Grant MSP and Gillian Martin MSP attended the 4th British Isles and Mediterranean Region Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Conference in Cardiff.

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Instagram The @scotparl Instagram account was created in 2016 to reach a younger audience and to engage people with the work of the Parliament in a different way. The @scotparl account currently has 2526 followers, and has had over 13,480 likes on the posts published to date. The age profile of followers on Instagram is very different to followers on other social media channels. 28% of our followers on Instagram are under the age of 25, this compares with only 19% on Facebook. Of our followers on Instagram, around 58% are under the age of 34, this compares with only 39% of our Facebook followers. All posts are visually led, with our regular content plan including #ParliamentArt posts showcasing our art collection, architectural details and information, fun facts about the building and reposting photos of the Parliament taken by the general public on Instagram. We plan to include more content showing and explaining parliamentary business in the future. #ParliamentPeople was launched in January 2017 and is a new series to introduce staff working for the Parliament and to showcase all the different people and jobs that there are here. #ParliamentPeople posts are published on Fridays and are rotated between male and female members of staff, as well as grade and group. In addition to uploading images, “Instagram Stories” are also regularly published. Stories are made up of videos, photos and gifs that remain on Instagram for 24 hours then vanish. Instagram Stories are an effective way to get across a lot of information in a fun way and are now a key part of the @scotparl strategy to illustrate how Parliament works and its relevance to a younger audience. Recent “Stories” have looked at such things as the processes behind a Committee meeting and how First Ministers Questions is broadcast. Business Information Technology

The current contract used by the Business IT Office to provide network and server support and maintenance, is scheduled to end on the 2nd January 2018. The current contract has been in place since 2008 and has an estimated value-over the 9/10 years-of £17m. A project to ensure the continuity of the critical services currently provided by this contract was initiated in the autumn of 2016, and the associated procurement exercise is well underway. In February, the project successfully passed through a gateway review, conducted by the Head of Internal Audit, resulting in the specification for the new contract being released to the potential suppliers on the Procurement Scotland’s Digital and Technology Services (DATS) Framework. A good number of bids were received by the closing date (3rd April) and they will now be evaluated by the project team from the Business IT and Procurement Offices. The current plan is to award the new contract during the summer, and then the start the transition to the successful supplier in the autumn.

SPCB FINANCE REPORT Period 11 – February 2017

1. This report is to inform SPCB of general financial activity and expenditure

trends in 2016-17.

Executive Summary

Performance against Budget (year to date variance)

a) Total SPCB revenue and capital expenditure

Para 2 & 5

b) Total SPS expenditure

Para 6

c) Total project expenditure

Para 7

Operation of Financial Controls

d) Key reconciliations up to date

Para 4

Other Key Indicators

e) Payment performance

Para 4

Key: RAG Status

Financial Commentary

2. The Scottish Parliament’s total revenue and capital expenditure for the first 11

months of 2016-17 of £73.5m represents an underspend against budget of £1.5m (1.9%) which is within the SPCB’s target range of 0% to 2.5% under budget at this stage of the financial year (as shown in green in the Executive Summary chart). The overall underspend is lower in percentage terms than the comparable position for 2015-16 of expenditure of £67.9m which represented an underspend against budget of £1.4m (2.1%).

3. Following the high level forecasting exercise in January, focusing on projects

and high value budget lines, we released £600k of funding for approved project expenditure in the current financial year from projected underspends elsewhere in the SPCB’s overall budget.

4. 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 95.6% for the year to date.

Financial Results

5. The SPCB’s total revenue and capital expenditure per Schedule 1 for February

2017 is £73.5m, which is £1.5m (1.9%) under the approved budget of £74.9m. This is lower in percentage terms than the underspend as at February 2016 of

Performance within target range

Performance outwith target range but acceptable

Performance outwith target range not acceptable

100%

99.1%

G

A

R

1.9%

1.7% %

3.2%

£1.4m / 2.1%. We expect the percentage underspend to reduce further once the full year accounts are finalised.

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2)

6. The year to date expenditure for the Parliamentary Service (SPS) of £39.1m is £0.7m (1.7%) under budget. Parliamentary Service Costs incorporate both capital and revenue projects. The previous year’s expenditure of £38.8m at period 11 was £0.1m (0.3%) below budget. An analysis of the current financial year by main category of expenditure is shown in the two charts below.

7.

5.0

3.2

2.6

3.2

2.1 2.9

1.7 2.1 1.6 1.9

6.4

5.1

6.6

4.7

4.1 3.8

3.3 2.9

2.5 2.1

1.4

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

%-a

ge

Trend of Total Monthly Underspend

16/17 15/16

21,822

503

6,768

5,542

4,463

21,917

697

6,867

5,663

4,610

21,652

642

6,486 5,552

4,470

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Total StaffCosts

Total StaffRelated Costs

Total PropertyCosts

Total RunningCosts

Total Projects

£'0

00

Parliamentary Service YTD Expenditure £k

Actual 16/17 Budget 16/17 Actual 15/16

Staff Pay is reported as £95k (0.4%) under budget including Agency staff and contractors. The forecasting system for staff pay introduced at the start of the year has enabled groups to have greater certainty over their staff cost budgets.

Expenditure on staff pay to date is £21.8m, £170k (0.8%) higher than the equivalent 15-16 costs.

Expenditure on Staff Related Costs is £503k. This is £193k (27.8%) below the budget to date of £697k. Actual spend on staff related costs is £139k (22%) less than that for the equivalent period in 2015-16. Training (£105k) and Travel & Expenses (£68k) make up the biggest element of the underspend and are unlikely to be fully spent by the year end. We have undertaken an analysis of the longer term trends in corporate and job related training expenditure, which reveals a pattern of lower spend in election years. This will be factored in to future budget bids.

Property Costs of £6.8m are £99k (1.4%) below the Year to Date budget. This is principally attributable to Maintenance (£59k) & Utilities (£36k). The reported Maintenance underspend is due to timing (actual expenditure occurs later than budgeted) and is forecast to reverse by the year end. In keeping with previous years, there was a full programme of maintenance work in the February recess week, when the building was closed to the general public. The full year utilities costs are now expected to remain below budget.

Running Costs of £5.5m are £121k (1.2%) under budget. Main running cost underspends are General Consumables (£32k) and Restaurant Services (£29k), all due to timing, offset by overspends in Stationery & Copy Costs (£37k) and Printing (£63k).

148

121

99

193

95

50100150200250

Projects

Running Costs

Property Costs

Staff Related Costs

Staff Pay

Underspend £k Overspend £k

Parliamentary Service YTD Under & Overspends £k

Project Reporting (Schedule 3):

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

Total project expenditure to February is £4.5m, £148k (3.2%) under the year to date budget.

Revenue Projects show a total spend of £3.3m, an underspend of £19k (0.6%) against budget.

Capital Projects have spent £1,123k for the year to date against a budget of £1,252k, an underspend of £129k (10.3%). This is principally attributable to a £100k underspend against the 2016-17 budget for the Chamber Lighting project, due to a change in the assumed phasing of the expenditure. We expect the overall capital projects underspend to reverse by the year end.

105

68

59

36

32

29

(37)

(63)

Training

Travel & Expenses

Maintenance

Utilities

General Consumables

Restaurant Services

Stationery & Copy Costs

Printing

PS (Excluding Projects) Key YTD Under / Overspends £k

71.8%

14.1%

14.1%

0.0%

Project Budget Status February 2016

Spent

PO

Forecast

Uncommitted

This compares with 80.4% spent, 10.0% purchase order, 9.5% forecast and 0.1% uncommitted at the same period in 2015-16.

Members’ Costs (Schedule 2)

9. Members’ costs are analysed in Schedule 2, which shows £27.0m reported cost to February 2017, £809k (2.9%) below the phased year to date budget. (The corresponding figures for 2015-16 at period 11 were an underspend of £1.3m, 5.7%). There are still a number of local offices to be established, including costs of relocating from existing offices in some instances. Additional costs will also result from local office security improvements which are met from within the overall Members’ costs budget. Members’ pay includes payment of resettlement grants to MSPs who stood down or were not returned for Session 5 and Members’ expenses includes MSPs’ staff redundancy payments incurred under winding up costs.

Commissioners & Ombudsman Costs (Schedule 2)

10. The SPCB’s funding cost for Commissioners and Ombudsman (Officeholders) in the first 11 months of 2016-17 amounts to £7.4m, which is £11k (0.2%) over the budget to February 2017. The Officeholders contingency is at £239k following a transfer back of £28k from SCCYP in P11. Following the SPCB meeting on 9 March 2017 SIC has been allocated £49.3k and SHRC £14k from contingency; these changes will be put through in P12 and will bring contingency down to £176k. A further bid on the contingency of £121.2k by ESC has subsequently been approved by the SPCB and will be reflected in the period 12 report.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Innovation Fund/Other

OD & other HR projects

FM Building & Equipment

BIT and Digital

Project Budget Status by Portfolio

Spent PO Forecast Uncommitted

Central Contingency 11. The central contingency remains unchanged with a £100k balance to deal

with any unplanned cost pressures in the final month of the financial year and to support additional project expenditure.

Commitment 12. SPS actual and planned expenditure is shown below.

Actual Spend £39.1m, 86.7%

Outstanding Commitment £3.8m, 8.5%

Forecast £2.0m, 4.4%

Funds Available £0.2m, 0.4%

PS Committed Funds as at February 2017: £k,%

Period 11

February 2017 Financial Schedules

Schedule 1

Current Original

Annual Approved

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

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2) 39,099 39,755 656 1.7 45,075 43,280

Members' Costs (Schedule 2) 26,964 27,772 809 2.9 30,865 28,760

Commissioners & Ombudsman Costs (Schedule 2) 7,393 7,382 (11) (0.2) 8,414 8,369

Sub Total 73,455 74,909 1,454 1.9 84,354 80,409

Reserves - SPCB Contingency n/a 100 4,000

TOTAL SPCB EXPENDITURE 73,455 74,909 1,454 1.9 84,454 84,409

Year to Date

Period 11

February 2017 Financial Schedules

Schedule 2

Current OriginalAnnual Approved

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

Parliamentary Service Costs

Staff Pay 21,822 21,917 95 0.4 23,967 23,693

Staff Related Costs 503 697 193 27.8 796 864

Property Costs 6,768 6,867 99 1.4 7,587 7,596

Running Costs (Including Events & Income) 5,542 5,663 121 1.2 6,513 6,627

Parliamentary Service Costs excluding Projects 34,636 35,145 508 1.4 38,863 38,780

Projects (Schedule 3) 4,463 4,610 148 3.2 6,212 4,500

Total PS Expenditure 39,099 39,755 656 1.7 45,075 43,280

Members' Costs

MSP & Officeholders' Pay 13,002 12,968 (35) (0.3) 13,965 11,860

MSP Expenses 13,550 14,328 778 5.4 16,380 16,415

Party Assistance 411 476 65 13.6 520 485

Total 26,964 27,772 809 2.9 30,865 28,760

Commissioners & Ombudsman

Ethical Standards Commission 767 766 (1) (0.1) 837 812

Standards Commission 218 221 3 1.2 240 240

Human Rights Commission 912 898 (14) (1.5) 958 958

Scottish Information Commissioner 1,356 1,357 1 0.1 1,516 1,492

Public Services Ombudsman 2,988 2,989 1 0.0 3,360 3,253

Commissioner for Children 1,152 1,151 (1) (0.1) 1,264 1,264

Reserves - C&O Contingency 0 0 n/a 239 350

Total 7,393 7,382 (11) (0.2) 8,414 8,369

Year-to-date

Period 11

February 2017 Financial Schedules

Schedule 3

Project Summary : February 2017 YTD Actual

£k

YTD Budget

£k

Variance

£k

Variance

%

Current Annual

Budget £k

Original

Approved

Budget £k

% Spent of

Total Budget

Outstanding

Commitment

£k

Forecast Funds

Available

Revenue Projects

Allocated 3,340 3,359 19 0.6 4,106 2,970 81.3% 544 296 (74)

Unallocated 0 0 0 n/a 0 30 n/a 0 0 0

Total Revenue Projects 3,340 3,359 19 0.6 4,106 3,000 81.3% 544 296 (74)

Capital Projects

Allocated 1,123 1,252 129 10.3 2,106 1,500 53.3% 331 666 (13)

Unallocated 0 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a 0 0 0

Total Capital Projects 1,123 1,252 129 10.3 2,106 1,500 53.3% 331 666 (13)

TOTAL 4,463 4,610 148 3.2 6,212 4,500 71.8% 875 961 (87)

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

Forecast Funds

Available

BIT and Digital 2,274 2,259 (15) (0.7) 3,032 2,755 75.0% 321 344 93

FM Building & Equipment 1,685 1,865 180 9.7 2,609 1,420 64.6% 527 580 (183)

Innovation Fund/Other 224 214 (10) () 246 165 91.2% 17 16 (11)

OD and HR projects 280 273 (8) () 325 160 86.2% 10 21 14

Total Projects Allocated 4,463 4,610 148 3.2 6,212 4,500 71.8% 875 961 (87)

Unallocated Project Budget 0 0 0 n/a 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0

TOTAL 4,463 4,610 148 3.2 6,212 4,500 71.8% 875 961 (87)