This week in Scottish political life has fought for attention against the soap opera that has become of the Great British Bake Off. Unbelievably, to this observer, it seems that the entire world has become transfixed by Mary Berry’s move from the BBC to Channel 4. Except, it seems that she is staying put, whilst the GBBO is heading off for that larger pay-cheque.
For those that managed to look beyond the Bake Off headlines, something really big did happen this week in Holyrood. Something much bigger than it sounded in isolation. In fact, it represented the long-overdue rising of Holyrood’s committee system from its deep slumber.
We’ve become used to parliamentary committees providing an interesting but ultimately shallow examination of Government policy, legislation and wider issues facing the country. Their evidence sessions providing an illusion of accountability subsumed by process, when in fact their determination to genuinely challenge was always limited by an in-built Government majority amongst their membership. It is one of the most significant outcomes of that election in May that the result signalled the end of that structural majority.
And the first sign of this new accountability has come this week, perhaps in retrospect predictably, from Bruce Crawford, convener of the Finance Committee. For him, and his committee, it was clear that the Government was offering a timetable on which to scrutinise their 2017/18 budget which would allow for no more than cursory rather than detailed scrutiny.
As if that was not enough, the same committee offered a direct rebuke to Finance Secretary Derek Mackay, for his refusal to provide them with any scenarios in advance of publishing his draft budget, which would allow them to anticipate potential outcomes.
This is not the type of behaviour expected of Holyrood committees in recent years, and the significance of the change cannot be over-stated. If it is replicated more widely it will once more enhance the role of committees, start to give real status to their conveners, who were expected at the creation of the Parliament to be crucial to the operation of Holyrood’s uni-cameral system.
The early signs are good for greater scrutiny, not least of all after the widespread late summer revolt against the Government’s appointment of “Parliamentary Liaison Officers” for each of their ministers, with many of them put forward to serve on the committees scrutinising the work of their bosses. That resistance to their appointment was not stalled and ignored says much about the new world of minority government which we are once again inhabiting.
For it now looks that, once more, we can expect committees to take a stand where necessary, rather than taking a back seat when it comes to genuine scrutiny. And that has to be a good thing.
We may look back on Bruce Crawford’s early actions as finance committee convener as setting a new trend, not really a surprise when you consider that he is exactly the right kind of person to be convening a Holyrood committee. Someone who has been around the block, understands government inside out, but is no longer ultimately beholden to it.
This has been a much better week for parliamentary democracy in Holyrood, than it has been for Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry as they part company over a TV show about baking. For those followers of Holyrood proceedings, we can all raise a glass to that.