Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Official Report 341KB pdf

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Annual Report

Agenda item 3 is our draft annual report, which we have to consider just to ensure that we all agree. As some members have not been through this process before, I point out that it is a necessary part of the Parliament’s annual activities. Basically, the annual report lays out our activities during the year. If members wish to comment on the report, now is their opportunity. It is a very clerkly worded document and is therefore non-party political. I notice that it reflects that we are having 21 meetings this year. This is meeting 13, so there are still some to go.

I ask the clerk when the report will be published.

It will be published in June.

So it is fairly imminent.

Do members have any comments?

I have a small comment on a presentational issue. In the second line in paragraph 28, the word “to” is missing between “due” and “policies”.

I had that down as a comment.

So did I. I have another point on the same paragraph.

I thank the Scrabble players in the committee.

In the bottom line of the same paragraph, there should be an s after “remit”—it should be plural.

Excellent. Do members have any other comments on the wording or the text?

I have a substantive comment on paragraph 16, on page 3. It was suggested, although I am not sure whether this was passed back to the clerks, that our report on the common agricultural policy, which was in the form of a letter, should be sent to the European Parliament rapporteurs as well as to the European Parliament committee. I do not know whether that has happened.

We can add a line to reflect that.

The important point is that the report should be forwarded as soon as possible to the European Parliament rapporteurs, because things are happening.

Yes.

It would be good to add that to the report, because we agreed that last week.

Have members noticed anything else?

Yes. There might be a slightly better way to present the information in the second sentence in paragraph 41 on page 6, which states:

“Of these meetings, 2 were wholly in private and 21 were partly in private.”

I suggest that we say, “Of these meetings, 2 were wholly in private, 8 were wholly in public and 21 were partly in public and partly in private.” That would emphasise the fact that most of our work has been in public and that the work in private has been the exception. We should reformulate the presentation of the information.

That is fine. The paragraph uses standard wording.

We should reflect more accurately the fact that we most often meet in public.

As we are doing at present.

If members agree, we will make those amendments and submit the report in due course. Are we agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Meeting closed at 10:28.