Equal Opportunities Committee, 01 Dec 2009
Meeting date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Official Report
189KB pdf
Work Programme
Agenda item 5 is consideration of and formal agreement on the various additions to the committee's work programme that were discussed at our away day on 17 November. The clerks have prepared a paper, which members have in front of them.
I draw members' attention to paragraphs 3 and 5, which note the decisions that were taken as a result of our discussions at the away day. Paragraph 3 lists a number of things that we have undertaken to do, such as to distribute our report on female offenders to various parties and to seek views on the report—including the view of the Scottish Government—and on the Government's response before the plenary debate that we hope to hold in February. We hope that that will lead to a better debate.
We undertook to consider whether the issue of mainstreaming could be discussed at the Conveners Group. The best forum for such a discussion might be a Conveners Group away day, given the number of issues that regularly crowd the group's agenda.
Finally, we thought that it would be good to ensure that we always allow time in our meetings—especially during an inquiry—to review the evidence that we receive while it is fresh in our minds. It is good to take a few minutes to go over that evidence and note the key points.
I was not at the away day. Was there any discussion of who we would seek views from? Would it be the people who took part in the round tables and so on, and people who made written submissions?
I think that it would be more general than that. The report was circulated more widely than to the round-table participants. Obviously, they would be included, but a range of other people would be made aware of the opportunity to feed in to the Government's response and to the report itself. The report has been widely circulated and seems to have been well received. Do you want to add anything, Terry?
The committee forwarded its report on female offenders to everyone who gave evidence. There were five or six evidence sessions in our inquiry. Also, the committee went to Cornton Vale and over to Northern Ireland, so the report was forwarded to those concerned with those visits. Also, at Hugh O'Donnell's suggestion, we forwarded it to various social work departments throughout Scotland.
As for the people who would come to give evidence in January or February, that would be for the committee to decide, perhaps nearer the time. First, it has to be agreed that there will be a plenary debate on female offenders. We then need to decide when that will be held. Working back from there, the committee will probably want to decide who should come along. Off the top of my head, I guess that the committee must have had 20-odd witnesses. It would not be feasible to have all of them sitting round a table, but I could draw up a shortlist of who would be the best participants.
Yes, that is how we aim to carry that forward. Is everyone in agreement on paragraph 3?
Members indicated agreement.
We turn to paragraph 5, which indicates that we decided to consider a paper on post-legislative scrutiny. When we considered the acts to look at, we were conscious that they would need to have been in place long enough for us to be able to see how they had bedded in and how they were playing out. It was therefore suggested that we consider the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002. We will also consider the research carried out by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on how the Scottish Parliament's equal opportunities powers are being used.
We wanted to consider an options paper on a possible inquiry into trafficking and the economic impact of migration, focusing on devolved issues; to ask the Scottish Government for copies of responses to its consultation on forced marriage, then consider whether that would be a relevant topic on which the committee could hold a round-table discussion; to invite an update from Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Community Safety, on the Scottish Government's progress on its work on religion and belief relations just to see where we are with that, because it is quite some time since we have looked at it; to request an oral evidence session with the Minister for Housing and Communities on the Scottish Government's progress on the public sector disability duty and to sweep up any outstanding recommendations from our predecessor committee's report on disability and our follow-up report; and to consider the Scottish Government's response on the issue of spent convictions for prostitution. Do we agree on the content of paragraph 5?
Members indicated agreement.
Bill Kidd was not at the away day, but he has made a good suggestion, which is that future annual reports should include a section that summarises the activities that each committee member undertakes when they become responsible for one of the equality strands and meet with various groups. That would be a welcome addition. The practicalities of that suggestion can be considered nearer the time of the next annual report's publication. Do we agree in principle to that idea?
Members indicated agreement.
That concludes discussion of our work programme.
Meeting closed at 11:52.