A HOLYROOD committee has called for a halt on any new commissioner-style bodies in Scotland, amid fears they are taking work away from MSPs.

In a new report released on Monday, the cross-party finance and public administration committee says it has heard “compelling evidence” that the present system of bodies — including the Standards Commission for Scotland, the Scottish Information Commissioner, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and the Scottish Human Rights Commission — “lacks coherence” and “isn’t fit for purpose.”

Calling for a moratorium, committee convener, SNP’s Kenneth Gibson said: “Over the years, the landscape has developed in an ad-hoc way, with new commissioners being agreed on a case-by-case basis.

“It’s led to a disjointed landscape of individual bodies with varying functions and powers. There is also evidence of duplication and overlap.”

Mr Gibson raised concern that appointed commissions and commissioners risk usurping elected members’ scrutiny function.

“This proliferation appears primarily to have been driven by calls to respond to perceived failures in public service delivery, or to bring prominence to certain issues or policies,” he said.

“It is our clear view that this advocacy role is for MSPs to undertake, with Parliament holding government to account.”