Finance Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Official Report 351KB pdf

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Convener

Item 2 is to choose a convener. The Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish National Party are eligible for nomination as convener of the committee. That being the case, I seek nominations for the position of convener.

I nominate Kenneth Gibson.

I second that.

Kenneth Gibson was chosen as convener.

I congratulate Ken on his appointment. It gives me great pleasure to hand over the chair to him for the remainder of the proceedings.

Thank you, John. I welcome everyone to the committee, which in a way is a completely new committee. Although the Finance Committee has been in existence for many years, none of us has been on it previously. It will be a learning process for all of us. I hope that we will work well together—I have no reason to believe that we will not. Thank you for choosing me as your convener.

I take it that everyone will have got to know the staff members, but I ask them formally to say who they are and what their remit is, just for the record.

I am Jim Johnston, the clerk to the committee.

I am Fergus Cochrane, the senior assistant clerk to the committee.

I am Lucy Scharbert, the assistant clerk to the committee.

I am Ian Lavery, an official reporter. I am not meant to speak at meetings. [Laughter.]

I know that. It is just that, because this is the first committee meeting for many members, it is important for them to know who the official reporter is.

We also have someone sitting in the background.

I am Ross Burnside, a member of the financial scrutiny unit in the Scottish Parliament information centre.

Thank you all very much.

It might be good if members all said a wee bit about themselves.

I am the SNP member for Renfrewshire North and West. Do you want any more than that? You do not want a Paul Wheelhouse list, do you?

Just tell us a couple of wee things about yourself.

I was the leader of Renfrewshire Council, and I live in Renfrew. Is that sufficient? Would you like more?

It is up to you.

I enjoy running and I spent yesterday in Kilmacolm.

I am an SNP member for the South Scotland region. For my sins, I am an economist and a former consultant. As members have heard, I have done a lot of work in the public sector.

I am a Conservative MSP for North East Scotland, and have been since 1999. Members will find that most of my actions and decisions will be characteristically Tory.

I am a Scottish Labour MSP. Previously, I worked at the University of Strathclyde for 17 years and, for the past two years, I have been a self-employed consultant.

I am the member for Glasgow Shettleston. As I said, I was an accountant. I have worked for housing associations and a nursing home group, as well as overseas in Nepal, and I am a Clyde supporter.

You were also a councillor and member of Parliament, I believe.

Yes, I was a councillor and an MP.

I am the MSP for Cunninghame North. I do not have the 12 years of unbroken service that Alex Johnstone has but, in total, I have been a member for eight years and, before that, I was a councillor for seven years. This is my first convenership.

I am the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw. I have been a councillor for more than 20 years with North Lanarkshire Council, acting as convener of finance, and I have been the finance spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. My outside interest is golf—birdies or bogeys, it does not matter. Obviously, I am a political anorak, so I look forward to working on the committee.

Thank you and welcome to all, once again.