Committees

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• Why does the Scottish Parliament have committees and what do they do?

  The Scottish Parliament is a single-chamber legislature in which the committees play an important role in considering and revising proposals for new laws.

  Under the rules set out in the standing orders, most committees in the Scottish Parliament should have between five and 15 MSPs as members. (The current mandatory and subject committees generally have between seven and nine members.) They carry out detailed scrutiny of bills, consider subordinate legislation and European legislation that fall within their remit, conduct inquiries, examine public petitions and hold the Scottish Government to account by examining its spending plans and questioning Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. Scottish Parliament committees also have the power to propose new laws by introducing a committee bill.

• How can I find out the membership and remit of Scottish Parliament committees?

  You can find full details of a committee’s membership and remit by clicking on the name of the relevant committee within the committee section of our website.

  A list of all current committee members that you can download or print out can be found in the fact sheets on our website.

  If you would like to find out which committee(s) an individual MSP sits on, click on the MSP’s name in the Current MSPs section of the website. Each MSP’s pages contain details of committee membership, as well as other biographical information.

• Can I attend committee meetings and debates?

  All meetings of the Parliament in the Debating Chamber and most committee meetings are open to the public.

  You can find information about attending parliamentary business by looking in the Tickets for Parliament Debates and Tickets for Committee Meetings sections of the website.

• Can members of the public take part in committee meetings?

  Only MSPs and witnesses can take part in committee meetings. Subject to the availability of tickets, members of the public can attend all committee business that is not held in private, but they are not able to take part in the discussions unless they have been invited by the committee to give evidence as a witness.

  Individuals or organisations with expertise in any of the devolved areas can register as a potential adviser to the Scottish Parliament’s committees to assist them with their inquiries.

• How can I find out about consultations?

  Scottish Parliament committees frequently consult the public when conducting inquiries into issues of concern or considering the general principles of a bill at Stage 1. Details of current Scottish Parliament consultations are available on our website.

  The Scottish Government also carries out consultation exercises, which allow you to express your opinions on proposals. Information about the Scottish Government's consultation process and details of its current and forthcoming consultations can be found in the Consultations section of the Scottish Government's website.