Serbian Parliament to welcome Scottish Parliament delegation

15.01.2013

Three Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) will this week visit the Serbian Parliament to deliver workshops on the corporate services provided to MSPs to support them in their work and in communicating with constituents.

All three MSPs are members of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, the cross party group of MSPs responsible for ensuring that the Parliament is provided with the property, staff and services it requires. Liam McArthur MSP, Mary Scanlon MSP and David Stewart MSP will arrive in Belgrade on Wednesday 16 January where they will deliver workshops on the following topics:

• The role of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
• The Legislative Process in the Scottish Parliament
• The electoral system for the Scottish Parliament
• The work of the Parliament’s Public Audit and Public Petitions Committees.

Speaking ahead of their departure, Mary Scanlon MSP and Deputy Convener of the Public Audit Committee said:

“The request to speak to Serbian Parliamentarians about the systems we have here in the Scottish Parliament is an exciting one. Whilst we are a relatively young Parliament, we have worked with a variety of governmental structures that have each posed differing challenges for the scrutiny processes of the Scottish Parliament. I look forward to discussing our support, systems and processes so that the Serbian Parliament can understand what it might wish to consider for its own purposes.”

David Stewart MSP and Convener of the Public Petitions Committee said:

“Holyrood welcomes more than eighty international delegations a year and there is a huge interest from other Parliaments to learn about how we do things here in Scotland. Many are keen to learn about our Public Petitions Committee, a topic I am always happy to talk about as I believe strongly in its effectiveness.”

Liam McArthur MSP said:

“The Scottish Parliament has a strong reputation as an institution that has been innovative in delivering Parliamentary services that provide effective scrutiny of Government and also are accessible to, and involve, the people of Scotland.  As a member of the Parliament’s Corporate Body, I look forward to sharing the Scottish experience of delivering Parliamentary services with our Serbian counterparts.”

Background

The visit has been organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (external website), who are paying for the travel, accommodation and expenses of the delegation once they depart Scotland. The MSPs will be accompanied by three members of staff who have experience in the corporate body activities and will support the MSPs in the delivery of the workshops.