Consensus and scrutiny part of the Scottish Parliament's architecture

THE debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament has seating arranged in a curve, which reflects the desire to encourage consensus among elected members.

The design contrasts with that of the House of Commons, which has a more adversarial construction with the government and opposition benches directly facing opposite each other.

The role of committees is stronger in the Scottish Parliament than elsewhere, partly to strengthen the role of backbenchers in their scrutiny of the government and partly to compensate for the fact that there is no second, revising chamber.

The founding principle of the parliament was for the committees of the Scottish Parliament to conduct inquiries, scrutinise legislation and hold the government to account.

However, the committees have seen MSPs divide on party lines.

Recent examples have included First Minister Alex Salmond appearing before the local government committee to answer questions about the handling of the application from tycoon Donald Trump to build a golf resort in the North East of Scotland. Mr Salmond faced a series of hostile questions from Labour members of the committee.