Official Report 463KB pdf
Good morning and welcome to the 25th meeting in 2017 of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. I ask everybody to switch their phones to silent mode, and I say to our guests that they do not need to press their buttons to operate the microphones—the audio tech guys will do that directly.
I have a few announcements to make before we get into the substance of today’s meeting. We have received apologies from our convener, Christina McKelvie, who will not be able to attend today’s meeting or meetings for the next few weeks for health reasons. As deputy convener, I will convene meetings in her absence. I am sure that I speak for the whole committee and its staff when I say that I wish her a speedy recovery. I welcome Linda Fabiani as a substitute member of the committee.
Before we move on to our first item of business, I would like to take a few moments to acknowledge the very sad passing of Ian Methven, one of the official reporters who support our committee. Along with his colleague Simon Eilbeck, Ian attended our meetings each week to assist with the transcription of our proceedings. Ian was one of the longest serving members of the official report. He joined the Scottish Parliament with the original group of staff back in 1999. During one of the first committee meetings of the Parliament back in June 1999, the convener of the committee in question decided to introduce all the support staff by reading their names into the record. When he turned to the official report staff, there was some debate as to whether reporters should remain anonymous. One committee member playfully remarked that official report staff
“do not have time to have names, they just write.”—[Official Report, Procedures Committee, 22 June 1999; c 16.]
The convener did read the names of both official report staff present that day into the record, and one of them was Ian. All of us know that Ian and his colleagues in the official report do so much more than “just write”.
Like his colleagues, Ian dedicated his career to making the Scottish Parliament a success. He worked daily to deliver the founding principles of this Parliament to be open, accessible and accountable to the people of Scotland through his high-quality reporting work. That work has earned Ian and his official report colleagues the respect of all of us in this place.
I know that it will be very difficult for Ian’s colleagues to transcribe these words into the very Official Report that Ian worked so hard to produce. However, just as our predecessors did 18 years ago, I think that it is fitting that we acknowledge Ian’s quiet and steadfast contribution to the work of the Scottish Parliament by reading his name into the record again here today.
On behalf of the convener, Christina McKelvie, and all the members and staff of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee, I offer our sincere condolences to Ian’s wife Elizabeth and his family, and to his professional family and friends in the official report and across the Parliament, who are grieving his untimely loss.
I should add that Simon Eilbeck of the official report has asked that we record the thanks of the official report to the committee for that tribute.
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