When the advisory group on tackling sectarianism reported last December, Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham welcomed its findings.

"We will change Scotland for the better and build sectarian-free communities to benefit all of our people," she said.

The report came following legislation in 2011 that aimed to tackle the problem in relation to Scottish football. But the Offensive Behaviour At Football And Threatening Communications Act was criticised for being rushed and only addressing one dimension of the sectarianism problem.

The advisory group, commissioned by the Scottish Government, certainly felt there was a need for a wider response. It made dozens of recommendations, covering local councils, private professions, policing, education, churches and much more.

Some would doubt the significance of sectarianism as an issue. But, in parts of the country at least, it still has a malign impact. Indeed, it is worth noting the only significant scenes of public disorder during the whole of the referendum campaign, in the immediate aftermath of the vote, were widely thought to have been sectarian in nature.

The advisory group felt change was needed. It concluded Scotland was "weary of the lingering impact of sectarianism and ready for change". Its author, Dr Duncan Morrow, said the country was at the start of a journey. The group also called for political leadership. Indeed, the need for such leadership was its first recommendation.

So where is that leadership? It is bizarre that this report - the most thorough ever on sectarianism in Scotland - has not been debated in the Scottish Parliament.

Nearly a year on, we do not know whether any or all of its many recommendations are being implemented and to what effect. Ministers have committed £9 million over three years to be spent on work by different bodies to research or tackle sectarian attitudes.

How is the work progressing? Are the outcomes being monitored? Is the spending appropriate? What will happen when funding runs out next year? There have also been concerns raised funding may have been used in some cases to support favoured projects, by giving their work a sectarian "spin" rather than funding genuinely useful work.

All these and other issues, including the impact of the 2011 Act, could be addressed by MSPs if there were more debate and scrutiny. Yet the issue has not been discussed at Holyrood for eight years.

Some of the more complex issues facing Scotland have been sidelined during the independence debate. But while it may have been put on hold, this work cannot simply be left in the proverbial long grass.

Dr Morrow is right to say this is not a party political issue, but it is a significant social issue, with a plan already in place to tackle it.

This is an opportunity for the Scottish Government to show it is still at work, serious about what it started, and can get back to business now the referendum debate is concluded.