POLITICAL whips will be stripped of their ability to hand top scrutiny posts to the party faithful under sweeping new reforms of the Scottish Parliament.

Committee conveners, who have a key role in holding the Government to account but are often members of the ruling party, will soon be elected by the whole Parliament rather than selected by party whips.

“Pointless” questions inquiring what the First Minister is doing for the rest of the day will also be scrapped, as will scripted inquiries that give Nicola Sturgeon advance notice of what MSPs are likely to ask.

Holyrood’s committees have come under fire for being toothless watchdogs, particularly when the ruling party has a majority and one of its own in the chair.

MSPs are now taking on new powers over income tax and welfare, making effective independent scrutiny of Government policy even more imperative.

Holyrood Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh convened a Commission on Parliamentary Reform, chaired by former BBC Scotland controller John McCormick, to draw up recommendations for reform to make committees, and the parliament as a whole, more open and accountable.

In its findings, published yesterday, the commission said Holyrood was generally well-regarded, but changes would result in “significant improvements” in its effectiveness and ability to act as “a more successful and stronger force for good”.

Its 75 recommendations also include a committee engagement unit to support committees in innovation and risk-taking, while committee membership should reflect Parliament’s gender balance.

Holyrood should replace the current three-stage legislative process with a five-stage process, including pre-legislative and post-legislative scrutiny. Committees and the chamber could be allowed to meet at the same time and the “pointless” scripted diary questions party leaders open First Minister’s Questions with should be scrapped and no longer require advance publication of chosen questions.

A further recommendation is to create a working group to examine the case for increasing resources, such as pay and staffing, for MSPs who take on extra roles, such as committee convener, and for party leaders.

The commission, which heard from more than 1,200 people including former first ministers, also recommends establishing a legislative standards body.

Mr Macintosh accepted the recommendations and said: “The long-term gain is it will promote trust in the Scottish Parliament and in parliamentarians generally in the eyes of the Scottish people so that they can have confidence in the Scottish Parliament.

SNP group convener Bruce Crawford said: “It’s right the Scottish Parliament takes stock, periodically reviews how it works and considers ways to improve those processes.

“We look forward to discussing and debating these recommendations further and deciding, as a parliament, how best to take them forward.”