Role of committees

• Inquiries are a way for committees to gather information and examine an issue
• During an inquiry a committee will usually

  1. Ask individuals and organisations for their views

  2. Examine the views it gets

  3. Hold evidence sessions where they question members of the public, organisations and experts

  4. Visit organisations, companies and communities to get a deeper understanding of the inquring topic
• The committee usually produces a report which makes recommendations to the Scottish Government and other public bodies
• The Scottish Government must respond to the committee's recommendations, saying if they agree or not
• Example

  • The Scottish Government had a Covid-19 inquiry which looked at investigating the devolved strategic response to the Corona virus pandemic in Scotland between 1st January 2020 and 31st december 2022
• Committees have an important role of examining a bill
• Bills are assigned to a "lead committee", who examine bills closely
• The committee either agree or disagree with the purpose of the bill (the general principles")

  If enough MSPs agree and the bill passes this vote, the committee either agree or disagree