Buill Pàrlamaid na h-Alba (BPA)

Complaining about general conduct, conflict of interest or lobbying

The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland handles some types of complaints about MSPs.

You can complain to the Commissioner about:

• issues with MSPs’ registration or declaration of financial interests (sections 1-3 of the Code of Conduct).  For example, if an MSP hasn’t registered or declared a financial interest (like shares in a company)
• paid advocacy (section 4 of the Code of Conduct)
• lobbying and access to MSPs (section 5 of the Code of Conduct)

You can also make a complaint to the Commissioner about an MSP’s general conduct in relation to some of the areas set out in Section 7 of the Code of Conduct:

• treatment of other people
• use of parliamentary staff
• the confidentiality rules
• MSPs’ responsibilities to their own staff

The Scottish Parliament does not deal with these types of complaints. You should send complaints about these matters direct to the Commissioner.

Complaining about conduct in Parliament

Use this form to complain if you’re unhappy with an MSP’s behaviour in the Parliament (this can be in the Chamber or in a Committee meeting).

MSPs must carry out their parliamentary duties in an appropriate way. 

Section 7.9 and 7.10 of the Code of Conduct has rules on conduct in the Chamber and committees, including that MSPs:

• must act in an orderly, courteous and respectful manner and respect the authority of the Presiding Officer
• in committees and sub-committees, members must respect the authority of the convener

If you think an MSP has not followed these rules, you can make a complaint using the form.

If you would prefer to send us a letter, the address details are:

For complaints about MSPs in the Debating Chamber:

The Presiding Officer
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

For complaints about MSPs in a committee, please use the form.

Complaining about a constituency issue

Constituents include anyone who lives in an area (constituency or region) represented by an MSP. Use this form if you’re unhappy with how an MSP’s handled your constituency issue and you want to complain about them.

Under Section 8 of the Code of Conduct, an MSP must take on a constituent’s case when they’re contacted about it, unless they have a legitimate reason not to.

Examples of legitimate reasons include:

• the constituent has asked the MSP to take inappropriate action
• the case would lead to a conflict of interest with the MSP’s existing casework
• the case is contrary to the MSP’s political beliefs

Section 8 of the Code of Conduct also lists rules:

• MSPs must follow when engaging with constituents
• for how MSPs can describe their roles as a constituency or regional member
• for how MSPs can describe the area they represent

If you think an MSP has not followed these rules, you can make a complaint using the form.

MSPs are responsible for running their own offices and there are no rules about how they must do this or how they approach constituency casework.  The only requirement is that they must take on a constituency case when approached.

If you would prefer to send us a letter, the address is:

The Presiding Officer
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

Use of Parliament resources or allowances

Use this form to complain if you think an MSP may have misused a Parliament resource (like stationery or meeting rooms) or allowance (like office running costs or travel expenses).This could be for party political purposes or some other kind of misuse.

MSPs get reimbursed for some of their expenses through the Members' Expenses Scheme. This includes some travel costs for meetings, staff salaries and things like stationery.

MSPs should follow the principles of the scheme. This includes:

• only asking for expenses that are related to parliamentary duties
• making sure the expenses represent value for money
• keeping receipts or other documentation for expenses
• not making a claim for any party political activities
• not making a claim for anything that results in personal gain for the MSP or any other person

If you think an MSP has not followed these rules, you can make a complaint using the form.

If you would prefer to send us a letter, the address is:

SPCB Secretariat
Room Q2.03
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

Complaining about something an MSP has done in their role as Government minister

Some MSPs are also Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers in the Scottish Government. These are members of the government, with specific areas of responsibility. This is a separate role to being an MSP, with separate duties.

The Scottish Government handles complaints about these roles.

Contact them only if the complaint is about an MSP’s work as a member of the Scottish Government.

For more information, visit the Scottish Government website.