On the first day, the members of the Scottish Parliament presented the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, responsible for the Parliament’s property management and administration. The MPs, members of the Body, are elected not as party representatives, but representatives of all the MPs. The Body also employs the administrative staff necessary for the Parliament and MPs’ successful work. The National Assembly MPs were presented the organisational structure and duties performed by the Parliament’s administration to offer support to the parliamentarians in their work, as well as achieve openness, transparency and accessibility of the parliament to the citizens and public.
The participants declared the possibility to follow the parliamentary television channel on the Scottish Parliament’s webpage important for the public promotion of segments of the Parliament’s work other then plenary sessions.
The Scottish parliamentarians also presented the Public Petitions Committee which is particularly important considering that it provides the citizens with a venue for direct contact with the parliamentarians and the opportunity to affect policy creation. The Parliament’s web page also enables the citizens of Scotland to submit petitions and have insight into their status.
The National Assembly MPs briefed the Scottish parliamentarians on the procedures for and handling of civic petitions and proposals sent to the National Assembly.
The workshop also touched on the Parliament’s control role realised via the Public Audit Committee in the Scottish Parliament. The National Assembly MPs also learned about the Committee’s scope and how it handles the reports submitted by the Scottish Audit Institution.
National Assembly Speaker, MA Nebojsa Stefanovic took part in the workshop on the second day. Stefanovic briefed the Scottish parliamentarians on the National Assembly’s priorities – further outreach to the citizens, providing a better quality of legislative process, strengthening the control function and parliamentary diplomacy.
On the second day of the workshop the MPs were presented the legislative process at the Scottish Parliament – legislative spheres delegated to it by the UK Parliament, stages of deliberation on a bill and the role of committees in the legislative process. The MPs were also briefed on the election process in Scotland.
Following the workshop, the Scottish parliamentary delegation, comprising MPs and the Parliament’s Service representatives, also met with the staff of the National Assembly’s Support Service.