Local Government Committee, 15 Jan 2002
Meeting date: Tuesday, January 15, 2002
Official Report
333KB pdf
Budget Process 2003-04
Item 3 on the agenda is the budget process. We must consider the appointment of an adviser to the committee for the budget process. Members will remember that we had an adviser last year.
I will go through the briefing paper on the budget process paragraph by paragraph to get members' agreement on the proposed terms of reference and person specification. I do not think that there are problems with the purpose and background of the report. The Finance Committee decided to have an adviser all to itself, who will probably be Arthur Midwinter, so he is off the list of candidates. The proposed terms of reference and the adviser's duties are given in a list of bullet points in the briefing paper. Do members wish to take anything out of, or add to, that list or the person specification?
No.
The final paragraph states that the adviser should be an expert in their field and should not presently be involved with the Scottish Parliament. We guess that the adviser's work will take 10 to 12 days, which is within the 15-day allowance for the fast-track procedure. I ask the committee to consider the content of the report. Do members approve the terms of reference for the adviser?
Members indicated agreement.
Meeting continued in private until 17:58.