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The next group that we will hear from is a proposed CPG on poverty. I welcome to the meeting Beatrice Wishart, who would be the deputy convener of the proposed group. I invite you to make an opening statement setting out the ideas behind the CPG.

Thank you very much, Beatrice. Before we move on, Bob Doris would like to put something on the record.

Thank you, Bob. Your interest is noted on the record.

Beatrice, you have a substantial list of organisations, and you rightly pointed out that, often, those that are working in that field are small and are located in one geographical area but are doing extremely good work. If the proposed CPG goes ahead, will it be open to other third parties to join and to bring their lived experience—and, I hope, solutions—to the appalling problem of poverty across Scotland?

That is very helpful.

We should also formally put on the record that, if the order is agreed to, the intention is that it will affect any polling on or after 5 May, which includes the forthcoming local elections—hence the minister’s evidence with regard to the Gould principle not being relevant.

I have a question about paragraph 10 of the policy note that you have delivered. I am fully aware that the answer to this question may not rest with you, minister, but I hope that it will rest with the others who are here today. It is about the commission’s duties with respect to compliance. I understand that, when the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 came in, the extensions that are being sought were specifically excluded from the commission’s monitoring and compliance role. Are you or those around you aware of why they were specifically excluded at the time?

That is very helpful.

Putting it on a statutory footing also helps in the movement away from the Government having to ask the Electoral Commission to do that.

I am grateful for that.

I am aware that a number of committee members have questions about the poll card situation. I will pass over to Edward Mountain.

Thank you very much for that clarification.

No other committee members have questions for you. The committee will consider whether to approve the application for recognition under agenda item 3 and the clerks will inform you of the committee’s decision in due course. I thank you for coming along this morning.

Good morning. I welcome members to the 12th meeting in 2021 of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.

We have moved into public session for agenda item 2. The committee has been considering a complaint about a former MSP, and I will now read out a statement that sets out the committee’s findings.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to make the following statement in relation to a complaint against a former MSP.

The committee has considered a complaint from Ms Fiona Johnston and Ms Elizabeth Tennet about former MSP Adam Tomkins. The complaint was that a tweet posted by Adam Tomkins on 1 March was disrespectful towards another MSP. The commissioner concluded that the respondent had breached the code of conduct’s provisions in relation to courtesy and respect.

The committee is unanimous in the decisions reached on the complaint. It agrees with the acting commissioner’s findings in fact, but it does not agree with the conclusion that a breach of the code of conduct occurred.

The “Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament” sets out the standards of conduct for members in relation to their parliamentary duties as an MSP. It specifically excludes members’ private and family life and members expressing their political views in their capacity as a member of a political party or organisation.

In considering the complaint, the committee was mindful of the scope of the code of conduct. On balance, it concluded that a link between the tweet in question and the member’s parliamentary duties was not sufficiently established.

The guidance on the code of conduct makes it clear that its provisions in relation to how members conduct themselves apply in relation to activity on social media, subject to the overall scope of the code. The committee recognises, however, that there might be value in reviewing the guidance so that MSPs, as well as the public, have a clearer understanding of the interaction between social media postings and parliamentary duties and what falls within the scope of the code. For that reason, the committee intends to look at whether any clarifications to the code or its guidance might be helpful.

Full details of the complaint, and the acting commissioner’s investigation of it, will be included in the committee’s report, which will be published later this afternoon.

Thank you. We now move into private session.