Local Government Committee, 01 Feb 2000

Meeting date: Tuesday, February 1, 2000

Official Report 193KB pdf

---

Scottish Parliament Local Government Committee Tuesday 1 February 2000 (Afternoon)

[The Deputy Convener opened the meeting at 14:05]

I welcome everyone to this meeting of the Local Government Committee. As you will have realised, the convener, Trish Godman, is unable to be with us today. She is still unwell and I am sure that we all send her our best wishes for a speedy return. I have a particular personal desire for her to return soon so that I do not have to convene any more meetings, but I hope that she will take sufficient time to recover so that she can come back to deal with matters as soon as possible.

We have a number of items to deal with. From my informal discussions with members of the committee, I know that we are all anxious to deal with as much of the McIntosh report as possible today. That will allow us not to meet next week, when most members are committing at least one day, if not two, to local government visits. Next week, our scheduled meeting on Tuesday afternoon will clash with a couple of other committees. If we do not manage to get through the business today, we will have to meet next Tuesday, but I hope that we will be able to combine useful discussion with conclusions today.

I suggest that we deal with the other two items of business first, allowing ourselves the space to work our way through McIntosh knowing exactly how much time we have left. There are also a number of housekeeping items with which we must deal at the end of the meeting.