Local Government and Transport Committee, 25 Apr 2006

Meeting date: Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Official Report 200KB pdf

---

Interests

Before we welcome our first panel of witnesses, there are a couple of items that we need to deal with. First and foremost, I welcome Maureen Watt, who has been appointed by the Scottish National Party to replace Bruce Crawford, who served as a member of the committee from September 2004 until last week. I convey my thanks to Bruce Crawford for his contribution to the committee over that period, during which he also served as deputy convener. I always found him co-operative and easy to work with in that role. Bruce certainly contributed to the committee's work, so I extend our best wishes to him in whatever role he will be playing from now on.

I congratulate Maureen Watt on her election to the Scottish Parliament last week. I am sure, Maureen, that you will find this a busy committee and one on which you can get your teeth into a number of important issues. I look forward to working with you and I wish you well.

I formally invite Maureen to declare any relevant interests.

I do not think that I have any interests that I ought to declare, although perhaps you should know that my husband is involved in the offshore shipping industry and my uncle is an independent councillor in Moray.

Thank you for that declaration. I am sure that your husband will be busy at the moment with the events that are taking place in Moray.

Bruce Crawford's resignation from the committee means that we need to elect a deputy convener. The deputy convenership is allocated to the Scottish National Party, so I propose that we choose a new deputy convener at the next committee meeting, by which time those in the Scottish National Party group will have had time to decide which of their members they intend to propose for the position. Do members agree to consider that at our next meeting?

Members indicated agreement.

A week should be long enough.