Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, 19 Sep 2007
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Official Report
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Budget Adviser
We come to agenda item 7. The Parliamentary Bureau has approved our request to appoint a budget adviser. A draft person specification has been drawn up and is provided in paper RAE/S3/07/4/11. Does anyone wish to comment on the specification?
It looks good.
We need advance agreement to discuss in private at our meeting on 24 October the prioritisation of candidates for the post of budget adviser. Are members happy with that?
Members indicated agreement.
I draw to members' attention the letter that has been circulated as paper RAE/S3/07/4/18, from the Highlands and Islands local authority conveners group, regarding the Crown Estate. We intend to invite the Crown Estate review working group and the Crown Estate itself to give evidence to the committee at its next meeting, subject to their availability.
I refer also to paper RAE/S3/07/4/17, which is on PE929. The petition is in an anomalous position. It was closed by the Public Petitions Committee and referred to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee for information only, not for action. That is not a particularly useful way of dealing with petitions. I am not making any comment about the merits or otherwise of the petition. I am going to suggest to the convener of the Public Petitions Committee that future petitions that are relevant to our remit are referred while they are still open, so that we can take action as we see fit, and that closed petitions are not referred to us at all. Referring to us a closed petition puts us in the invidious position of being presented with a fait accompli; it is almost like passing the buck and I do not find it acceptable.
The next meeting of the committee will be on Wednesday 3 October at 10 am.
Meeting closed at 11:55.