Official Report 423KB pdf
Our third item of business is consideration of the committee’s draft annual report for 2017-18. Before I invite members to comment, I have a couple of observations to make.
In paragraph 18 on page 9, I think that we should put in an additional sentence that explains that we have agreed to wait for the Migration Advisory Committee to publish its final report for the Home Office, which it will do later this year, before we return to our immigration inquiry. That is what we decided to do, which is why we have not taken any more evidence on that subject. I think that the addition of a sentence to that effect would clarify matters. Do members agree?
Members indicated agreement.
My only other observation is that there is a typo in the second bullet point in paragraph 29 on page 12. I ask for that to be fixed, please.
Do members have any comments?
You will be surprised to hear that I have a comment to make, given that I am a new member of the committee. I have a general observation. I made a similar observation in relation to the annual report of another committee of which I am a member. I am trying to gently encourage all committees to include a section or sections on equalities and human rights and accessibility. I want to make sure that the work that committees do is as accessible as possible. I had quite a robust conversation with my colleagues on the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee about what more committees could do to ensure that the work that they do is as accessible as possible to users who are deaf or blind. That could include the use of British Sign Language or the subtitling of committee meetings. We must make sure that the work that committees do gets out to the widest range of people.
I am pleased that, as a result of that conversation, the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee decided to include a section on the equalities impacts of the work that it has done over the past year. That is perhaps an issue for all committees to reflect on.
Thank you very much. That was an important and useful suggestion. As a committee, we have responded to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s request for information on those very subjects. I can make that response available to you. It is certainly an area that we should be aware of; perhaps we could cover it in our business planning day, to make sure that we always keep it in mind in the future.
Do members have any other comments?
On page 7, the report talks about our Erasmus+ inquiry, but there is no mention of universities and their involvement in the Erasmus+ programme.
Yes, it is important that mention of universities is included. We took evidence from the University Council for Modern Languages Scotland on the importance of delivering modern languages courses in our universities. That was important evidence, which, as I recall, was highlighted in the press release that accompanied the publication of our Erasmus+ report. Therefore, the annual report should certainly mention universities in that context.
Are members content to sign off the report for publication? It will be circulated once the suggested amendments have been made.
Members indicated agreement.
10:08 Meeting continued in private until 10:37.Previous
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