A Call for True Transparency

That the Parliament welcomes the publication of information on the parliamentary pay and allowances for MSPs as an example of the open and democratic transparency essential in today’s modern Parliament; regrets however the way in which these figures are presented as they do not allow for different staffing arrangements such as “pooling”; recognises that this lack of clarity can mislead the public as to the amount of the expenditure incurred by individual MSPs, rather than monies spent on essential staffing costs, and calls on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to separate staffing costs from MSPs’ allowances and thus to present these figures in a truly open and transparent manner that identifies MSPs’ spending.