MSPs force concession on public services bill

But it failed to appease some opposition MSPs who said ministers are muscling into areas which are the responsibility of parliament.

Proposals in the Public Services Reform Bill give ministers more power to change the functions of some public bodies, or even scrap them, by making orders under a procedure which gets only limited parliamentary scrutiny.

Finance secretary John Swinney told MSPs: "We propose to bring forward amendments to provide additional procedural safeguards and to address specific concerns which have been raised about the scope of the powers."

Any proposals to change the powers of the parliamentary ombudsman and bodies through secondary legislation must be initiated by Holyrood's own corporate body, Mr Swinney assured MSPs.

But Liberal Democrat backbencher Mike Rumbles said the measures presented a "fundamental problem".

"The minister does not accept apparently that it is not up to him and it is not up to the government to initiate changes that are decided here in parliament," he said. "It is not the prerogative of the government to do this. He misses the constitutional point that there's a difference between government and parliament."