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[The Convener opened the meeting at 14:12]
I open the 11th meeting in 2005 of the Local Government and Transport Committee. In addition to members of the Scottish Parliament, I welcome to the meeting Stewart Ferguson, who will act as an adviser to the committee on the Licensing (Scotland) Bill, of which we will commence consideration today. We look forward to his assistance. I also welcome to the committee David Davidson MSP, who has been appointed by the Conservatives as a substitute for David Mundell. I ask him to confirm that and to make any relevant declarations of interest to the committee.
I confirm that I am here as a substitute. The information that I have supplied to the register of members' interests stands and I have nothing to add that directly reflects on the legislation that we are considering today.
Thank you, David, and welcome to the committee.
Before we start the agenda, convener, will you say something on the record about the Caledonian MacBrayne issue that was carried over from last week's meeting? You said last week that we would discuss the matter at a future meeting. When is it planned that we do that? Time is of the essence.
The issue is not planned for discussion next week because we will be in Easter recess then, but I assure the committee that we will produce a paper on future options. The matter is not as pressing as it may previously have appeared. The Executive made a clear commitment at last week's meeting to evaluate fully the proposals, including the various academic ones, as part of the consultation and not to make any further moves until it has reported back to the Parliament on its intentions. However, it is still my view that it would be helpful for the committee to hear directly from some of the people who have submitted papers. The clerks will draft a paper on the matter, which will come before a meeting of the committee after the recess.
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