The second item on the agenda is consideration of an approach paper from the clerk on stage 2 of the budget process for 2005-06. Members will see that we need to agree whether to have a meeting, possibly in November, outwith Edinburgh. We also need to agree on a location and whether the meeting should have the same format as previous external meetings have had—members will recall our meeting in Motherwell. Finally, we need to discuss whether we agree with the proposal for subject committee reports and to think about potential witnesses, which we can do either now or later.
I found last year's external meeting to be useful, so another would be worth our while. The format was informative.
Yes—it worked well.
We have discussed briefly our going to Fife. MSPs who represent Fife have confirmed to me that there has never been a parliamentary committee meeting in Fife. Would it be possible to have the meeting in Fife?
I agree with Elaine Murray that last year's meeting in Motherwell was valuable. It was a good day and we received good evidence. If we are to meet elsewhere, Fife would be a useful place to go. For Wendy Alexander, we should perhaps choose a place that has a railway station—Kirkcaldy would be a good place. That is just a thought.
We should hold the meeting in the most deprived area that we can find, for example Clydebank.
The statistics show that Kirkcaldy is the third-poorest town in the United Kingdom at the moment, even though it is the birthplace of our Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It beats Clydebank by one place.
Am I right to say that we do not have a meeting scheduled for a fortnight hence?
We do not, at present.
Should not we have our discussions in a committee meeting during a parliamentary term, which is when we are supposed to meet, rather than have an away day?
We are not talking about the away day; we are talking about the budget process and meeting outside Edinburgh.
Would that meeting be part of the committee's work?
Yes.
I had planned to mention the fact that I do not see why we should have an away day during the summer recess when we might miss a committee meeting during the parliamentary term. That is wrong and will lead to extra expense. Not all members will be able to go to the away day. I want to place that point on record.
We have already made a decision about that. The present agenda item is about the proposal to meet outside Edinburgh as part of the budget process. Such meetings have been welcomed and have been seen positively in the parts of Scotland where we have been. Elaine Murray suggested that the format that we adopted for the meeting in Motherwell was worth while—we will ask the clerks to consider that. The suggestion is that Fife would be an appropriate place to visit. No committee has held a meeting in Fife, which is a good reason to go there. Rather than commit to holding the meeting in Kirkcaldy, I suggest that the clerks investigate locations in Fife with Fife Council in order to find a suitable venue. Parliament has to identify places that have adequate facilities for committee meetings. The clerk will produce a report on possible locations in Fife, after which we will firm up our decision.
I was unable to attend part of last year's external meeting; I cannot remember whether it was an all-day meeting.
The issue could be considered in one of the workshops.
The options in the approach paper for the date of the meeting are Monday 15 November and Tuesday 16 November. I recall that last year we met on a Monday and did not meet on the Tuesday. For diary planning, it will be preferable if we stick to a Tuesday, which is the normal day for committee meetings. By all means, we should meet for the whole day, but a decision on the date is vital.
The problem is that at least one committee member is a member of another committee.
We can meet on the Monday, in that case. If we are to maximise attendance, it would be valuable to know as soon as possible which full day will have to be blocked out in our diaries.
As far as I am aware, if we are to have a full committee meeting with an Official Report, it might be a problem to take official report staff away from Edinburgh on a Tuesday, when they are needed for other committee meetings. The same point applies to committee clerks who work with two committees.
Fine—let us agree to meet on the Monday. It would be helpful if the convener circulated a decision.
We will get a clear date and work out the logistics.
Are we not going to talk about potential witnesses?
Sorry, I missed that out. Do you have any suggestions?
I would be keen for Donald MacRae to come back. That would give us some continuity.
I do not oppose that suggestion; we will take it on board. I ask members to e-mail the clerks with any further suggestions for witnesses. Do members agree?
It would be helpful if we could get e-mails in by Thursday lunchtime.
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