THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENTARY CORPORATE BODY
ANNUAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTS 2004-05
(12 MONTHS ENDED 31 MARCH 2005)

FOREWORD TO THE ACCOUNTS

These resource accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Direction by The Scottish Ministers given on 15 July 2002 in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.

HISTORY AND STATUTORY BACKGROUND

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) was established in May 1999 under Section 21 of The Scotland Act 1998 (the Act). The SPCB comprises the Presiding Officer, and four other members of the Scottish Parliament elected by the Parliament. The SPCB has appointed a Clerk (who is also the Chief Executive) in accordance with section 20 of the Act, and other staff of the Parliament. The SPCB is independent of the Scottish Executive.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES

The SPCB has a duty to provide the Scottish Parliament, or ensure the Parliament is provided with the property, staff and services required for the Parliament's purposes. This allows the Parliament to fulfil its constitutional role as a legislature and to scrutinise the policies and actions of the Scottish Executive.

The SPCB provides the infrastructure and allowances which enables MSPs to undertake their duties both at the Parliament and in their constituencies. It provides the facilities and staff to allow the Parliament and its Committees to meet and encourage public participation in the process.

The SPCB has legal responsibility for the Parliament Building at Holyrood.

REVIEW OF THE MAIN ACTIVITIES

The main activity of the SPCB and its staff during the year was the continued support of the work of the Parliament. In the course of the parliamentary year, 16 bills were introduced by the Scottish Executive, covering areas such as housing, the Gaelic language, regulation of charities, the management of offenders and the banning of smoking in certain enclosed areas. In addition four Member's Bills and one private bill were introduced. A total of 17 bills became Acts, including some which had been introduced in the previous year. In the same period, the Parliament held debates on a wide range of issues, including 12 debates on matters raised by committees. In addition to the programme of legislative scrutiny, the Parliament's committees undertook 38 inquiries, questioning the actions and activities of the Executive, engaging in European issues, and examining the Executive's spending plans. Between them, the committees held 541 meetings and heard from over 2,000 witnesses. 110 new petitions were considered from members of the public, community groups and other organisations. Further detail on Parliamentary activity is contained in The Scottish Parliament Annual Report 2004-05 which is available on The Scottish Parliament website www.scottish.parliament.uk.

The Parliament has continued to hold committee meetings throughout Scotland, involving local people in issues that affect them.

Parliament staff moved into their offices at the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in early August 2004 with Members and their staff arriving by the end of August in time for the first business after summer recess to begin on 7 September. On 9 October 2004 Her Majesty the Queen formally opened the new building. Since then over 500,000 people have visited the Parliament.

During 2004-05, the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland and the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland were appointed. Their posts along with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the Scottish Information Commissioner and the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner were established by Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Although these office-holders operate independently, the SPCB is responsible for funding their activities. Funding in 2004-05 was £2,108,000 (2003-04 - £2,382,000) for the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, £1,062,000 (2003-04 - £907,000) for the Scottish Information Commissioner, £85,000 (2003-04 - £70,000) for the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, £616,000 for the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland and £204,000 for the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland. Further details are contained in Note 23 to the Accounts.

The new Holyrood building remained the most significant expenditure project for the SPCB. The building has been completed and occupied in the 2004-05 financial year. An independent valuation following Royal Institute Chartered Surveyors (RICS) guidance and appropriate accounting rules was completed and is reflected in our accounts. The building was valued on the basis of depreciated replacement cost and was valued at £333m. The Holyrood Project accounted for £101.8 million of the SPCB's total capital expenditure of £104.1milion during the year.

The net resource outturn for 2004-05 was £158.3m. Salaries for parliamentary staff, MSPs and other office holders accounted for £27.7m of this total as disclosed in Note 2 to the Accounts. Members' allowances, which enable MSPs to secure staff and accommodation to assist them in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties were £8.9m as disclosed in Note 4 to the Accounts. In 2004-05 due to the valuation of Holyrood an exceptional charge of £84m is reflected in the outturn. Information on the financial position is contained in Schedules 1-5 with further disclosure in the notes to the Accounts.

IMPORTANT EVENTS OCCURING AFTER YEAR END

No important events have occurred since the year end.

INDICATION OF LIKELY FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Currently legislation is in progress for a new Human Rights Commissioner which may add to our funding requirement for future years.

PENSION LIABILITIES

The treatment of pension liabilities and details of the relevant pension schemes are set out in the statement of accounting policies (note m).

SUPPLIER PAYMENT POLICY

The SPCB's policy is to comply with the Confederation of British Industry’s Prompt Payers Code. The target is for payment to be made within agreed payment terms or 30 days of receipt of invoices not in dispute for goods and services received. Average payment performance for 2004-05 was 66.5% (2003-04 75.6%). Payment Performance was affected by the disruption of the move to new offices, and we have introduced an action plan in 2005-2006 to improve matters.