Local Government Committee, 24 Nov 1999

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 24, 1999

Official Report 235KB pdf

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Forward Plan

I want to make some changes to the forward plan. I thought that we could have a free day on 8 December to allow the clerks to catch up on reports. However, we need to use that day.

Most members do not seem to have a copy of the forward plan. The clerk will make some photocopies.

Meeting suspended.

On resuming—

Members should all have a copy of the timetable for the committee forward plan and the annexe, which has to be changed slightly. We must consider the ethics and standards bill, and we will take evidence on that on 8 December. I had thought that I would be able to give the clerks some time to pull things together, but it looks as if they will be working on that at night and at the weekends.

The meeting on 14 December has been scheduled for a committee debate on the ethics and standards bill, rather than the hearing of evidence, which will now take place in the week of 8 December. After taking the evidence we will have time to discuss it at the meeting on 14 December, and the latter part of that meeting will be about the reports on visits to councils other than the ones that we will hear today.

We have to fit in the Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Bill. Unfortunately, 12 January is a Wednesday, which means that we have to stop because we must be in the chamber in the afternoon. At the moment, we are not allowed to have a committee meeting while the Parliament is meeting. We may therefore have to split our consideration of that bill between the meeting on 12 January and the one on 18 January.

So be it.

Kerley has been given an extra month for the report on the power of general competence, so that frees up 26 January for us. By that time, we should have organised an adviser on rateable values. The only other way to deal with matters would be to fit in extra meetings. Members will be aware that meetings can be held on a Monday afternoon, and we could do that if people want to.

We would then come back to business ratings on 26 January and the advisers will, I hope, have a report by then. We can be up and running with that sooner rather than later. We should do that and tighten up arrangements as we get more information regarding advisers' visits. Is that acceptable?

Yes.

We can move the final discussion on McIntosh forward. Are members happy to come back later to what will happen in February and March? I have made some changes and we will need to examine those more closely. Is that acceptable?

Yes.

Do we have a space on 18 January?

It looks as though we will have to split the debate on poindings and warrant sales. The first part of our debate will be split between the 1 January and 12 January. The second part will be on 18 January. We have many people to take evidence from and it is an important bill. We must also complete a report for the Justice and Home Affairs Committee—the lead committee—that it will incorporate in its report. We are, in a sense, holding that committee up, but I make no apology for that. Our agenda is busy and that committee must wait until we have done our business properly. Our report will be ready to go to the lead committee on 18 January.

Can I clarify that, although the content has been changed on the list, the dates and times are the same?

Yes. Items have just been moved up. I will ask the clerks to make the revised programme available as soon as possible.

Will the venues be the same?

Yes. If we split the discussion on warrant sales between 12 January and 18 January, we will not run into any difficulties. If things get tight nearer that time, members will have to consider using a Monday afternoon if they feel that more time should be spent on warrant sales. The clerk will tell us what the possibility is of staying late one evening.

That is not a possibility at present.

The possibility of committees meeting at the same time as Parliament is being seriously examined by the Parliamentary Bureau and the committee of conveners. I have never quite understood why committees cannot meet at such times.

There might be debates that we all want to attend for their duration.

The European Committee is going to Brussels on 1 February. That might be a problem. I will not be able to attend a meeting on that date.

That might have to go before the Standards Committee. [Laughter.]

We could just hold our meeting in Brussels.

That affects only Sylvia Jackson. We will be changing the timetable for February and March anyway.