1. To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on the waiting time for external stakeholder parliamentary events sponsored by MSPs. (S6O-03251)

I can confirm that the extension was not at the request of members of the corporate body.

I thank Rachael Hamilton for her question. I know that the issue is of interest to a number of MSPs. The member-sponsored events and exhibitions programme is very popular. With that in mind, the corporate body previously agreed that event organisers could book up to 12 months in advance, which means that the events and exhibitions team is currently taking bookings from event organisers and sponsoring members for events up to March 2025.

I thank Jackson Carlaw for that answer. According to the website, which was changed very recently, the next opportunity for a member-sponsored exhibition was December 2024 and is now early 2025. Given that we pride ourselves on being a people’s Parliament, what is being done to ensure that stakeholders and citizens have the opportunity to engage with parliamentarians? Is there an issue of bureaucracy, or do we need to offer more flexibility in respect of spaces that can be used for events?

In order to manage resources across parliamentary staff teams and the campus on busy business nights, agreement was given by the corporate body to limit the number of events accordingly. We currently deliver and support between nine and 10 member-sponsored events and two member-sponsored exhibitions weekly. The events and exhibitions team, which leads on delivery and programming of member-sponsored events and the exhibition programme, also designs and delivers the corporate body’s agreed major events and exhibitions programme, which supports the goals of the Scottish Parliament’s public engagement strategy. Outwith that, it is open to members to organise events that are consistent with the meeting-room booking policy, should they wish to do so, but they have to provide infrastructural support to allow such meetings to take place. That is, reasonably, not practical for large gatherings, but it would be practical for smaller gatherings.

On the wider point, the corporate body will see whether, if we find that there has been a significant increase in demand for member-sponsored events, it would be appropriate to suggest in the legacy report from this session of Parliament to the next that that part of the corporate body infrastructure should receive additional resource.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

You might not have asked for the extension in time, Mr Carlaw, but with answers that long we will need a further extension.