Item 4 concerns the draft annual report. Are members content with the report?
I am content with the contents of the report, but I wonder whether the fact that the committee has pursued a questionnaire—although not with great success—should be included. There has been activity on that and I am sure that some of the clerks' time has been devoted to pursuing it. Perhaps the report should at least mention that we have tried to do that.
The clerk says that he is happy to mention that.
It depends on whether it is called the Gorrie questionnaire or the Procedures Committee questionnaire.
I am not trying to bore people.
I have a vague feeling that, although there is nothing wrong with what the report says about the consultative steering group inquiry, it does not quite capture the fact that that has dominated our time. It has been the main focus of our work this year, and I am not quite sure that that emerges from the report. It looks as if changes to standing orders, substitutions and other matters have been of equal import.
One way to highlight that would be to emphasise the fact that the committee moved away from its former cycle of one meeting per month to fortnightly or weekly meetings. We have not just spent our time on that inquiry; we have significantly increased the amount of time that we have spent on committee discussions and hearing evidence from witnesses.
Thank you. That concludes this morning's business. Have a good holiday during the recess and do not worry too much about procedures.
Meeting closed at 11:06.
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Parliamentary Questions