Background to the Act and Summary The Parliamentary corporation supported bodies
4.Since 2000, the Scottish Parliament has established six new offices supported by the Parliamentary corporation. Each performs a distinct role, including advocacy, regulatory and investigatory functions. Whilst the officeholders are all directly accountable to Parliament through the laying of annual and other reports, they are independent of the Scottish Government, members of the Scottish Parliament and the Parliamentary corporation in the exercise of their functions.
5.The six Parliamentary corporation supported offices are: the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman; the Scottish Information Commissioner; the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner; the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland; the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland, and the Scottish Commission for Human Rights.
6.The Parliamentary corporation has a statutory role to ensure that the Parliament is provided with the property, staff and services required to carry out its functions and it has a similar role to play with regard to the officeholders and bodies that it supports. In addition the Parliamentary corporation determines the terms and conditions of the appointment of the Auditor General for Scotland (the Scottish Commission for Public Audit looks after funding for the office).