An independent commission charged with reviewing how the Scottish Parliament works should come up with challenging and effective recommendations, the man heading the inquiry said.
John McCormick has been tasked with chairing the independent Commission on Parliamentary Reform set up by Holyrood Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh, which met for the first time on Monday.
Read more: Police Scotland considering future of 58 police stations in estate review
The work is being carried out after questions were raised about how effective Parliament committees are at scrutinising Scottish Government legislation.
It also comes at a time when MSPs are preparing to take on new powers over income tax and welfare, thanks to changes introduced in the 2016 Scotland Act.
Announcing the formation of the Commission, Mr Macintosh said: ''The Parliament's systems are not broken but they are in need of an MoT."
With changes also having been made to Holyrood's powers as a result of the 2012 Scotland Act, Mr McCormick, who will step down as Electoral Commissioner for Scotland at the end of this year, said the time is right to "take stock".
Read more: Labour's Starmer says Scotland should get special Brexit deal
He told Press Association Scotland: "We're looking at the Parliament as it is today with the powers it has, the powers it has just been awarded in the 2016 Act and the 2012 Act, and assessing what impact that has had on the Parliament, on its engagement with the people and on its legislative programme and the scrutiny of committees.
"All of that is there on the table, there's a lot to discuss and take account of.
"By the time the next elections come around, the Parliament will be 21 years old, I think it's good to stand back and take stock and come up with some challenging and effective recommendations to ensure it is kept in touch with its founding principles and the expectations of people across the country."
Read more: Alex Neil: Brexit can transform Scotland into a more progressive country
The Commission includes members from each of the five political parties represented at Holyrood, but also has six members who have not come from a political background, including Mr McCormick, the Very Rev Dr Lorna Hood, a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and Reform Scotland think-tank director Geoff Mawdsley.
Mr McCormick said: "We've been asked to look at the Parliament against the background of the changes that have taken place in Scotland since 1999, changes in society like social media was in its infancy in 1999, 16 and 17-year-olds didn't have the vote in 1999, and since 1999 the Parliament has also gained a lot of additional powers.
"Our task really is to look at Scotland as it is now, look at the way the Parliament is operating, and to see what recommendations we can make to improve how it's working.
"It's called the Commission on Parliamentary Reform so the implication is that it can do better."
Read more: Labour councils are fighting back against SNP budget cuts, says Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale
The Commission has been given a "broad" remit and will be looking at parliamentary procedures, practices, how MSPs scrutinise legislation, how the committee system operates, and how well Holyrood engages with the people of Scotland.
Mr McCormick said: "It is one of the founding principles of the Parliament that it should engage in participative democracy with the people of Scotland, and we want to engage with people across Scotland, talk to people, individuals, organisations and politicians, people who have engaged with the Parliament and learn from them how they feel it is doing.
"I see it as a very broad remit and we'll come up with some very challenging proposals, I hope."
Read more: Row as SNP blames opposition for collapse of £10bn China deal
The Commission is due to make its recommendations by June 2017.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here