Whatever happened to Holyrood's committees? There was a time when they were seen as one of the strengths of the Edinburgh parliament, but not any more. In the last few years, their reputation has suffered in the face of an in-built SNP majority and the apparent unwillingness of many of its MSPs to challenge and question the government. Committees should take on the government on behalf of the electorate, not simply nod their heads as the government does what it likes. It cannot go on like this.

There have been some attempts at reform with the presiding officer Tricia Marwick proposing that committee convenors should be elected – a system that has proved highly successful at Westminster. With the committees in London free to choose their own chairs, a number of high-profile MPs such as Margaret Hodge have emerged as excellent interrogators of ministers and vested interests. But sadly, a proposal to introduce the same system at Holyrood was rejected by the standards committee. It is worth noting that the committee is dominated by the SNP.

If the system is to be improved in the longer term, the idea of elected committee conveners should be re-visited as soon as possible, but in the meantime, as the nationalist MSP John Mason has said in his submission to the standards committee, it is incumbent on MSPs to take their jobs on committees much more seriously. Mr Mason says some of this colleagues are overly protective of the party line and that they must change their approach. "The answer is in the attitude of the members of the Scottish Parliament," he says, "and in particular the attitude of backbench members within the majority party, which is currently the SNP."

Mr Mason's assessment of the committee system and his suggested solution are both spot on. It would be unfair to tar all committees with the same brush as some of them have proved effective (the justice sub-committee on policing in particular has vehemently pursued answers on important subjects such as armed patrols) but on the whole there is far too much obedience and not enough objection from SNP committee members. The suggestion that some SNP backbenchers have asked ministers questions drawn up by party advisors in advance is particularly shocking.

With the need for reform clearer than ever, the question all MSPs – but particularly those belonging to the SNP - must ask themselves now is: what am I at Holyrood to do? One of their jobs certainly is to represent their party, but a MSP must be more than a party functionary – he or she must also be a parliamentarian, and a good parliamentarian must always be prepared to challenge the Government when needed. When SNP MSPs strive harder for that aim, the troubled committee system at Holyrood could begin to improve.