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I welcome members of the press and public to the 17th meeting in 2004 of the Local Government and Transport Committee. Before I introduce the witnesses for our first evidence-taking session, I will deal with two brief items of business. Following the passage of the Local Governance (Scotland) Bill last week, I put on record my thanks—supported, I imagine, by the rest of the committee—to Eugene Windsor and the rest of the clerking team for the work that they did on the bill. I thank Eugene Windsor, Alastair Macfie, Euan Donald, Jamie Connelly and Stephen Herbert, the Scottish Parliament information centre researcher who provided a great deal of expert advice to the committee. I apologise that I did not manage to say that in the chamber, but in the stage 3 debate on the bill I was restricted to two minutes and was hard pressed to decide which bits of my speech to leave in and which to cut.
You have made the important point that you were permitted to speak for only two minutes. A number of other members were unable to speak in the final debate on an important bill. Perhaps it would be appropriate for us to convey that point to the Parliamentary Bureau, to be taken into account in its future deliberations on the time to be made available for debates on important pieces of legislation. Half an hour for the final debate on a very significant piece of legislation is not appropriate.
I agree heartily. If the committee as a whole is of that view, I am happy to raise the issue formally with the Parliamentary Bureau on its behalf. Is that agreed?
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Scottish Parliament Local Government and Transport Committee Tuesday 29 June 2004 (Afternoon)Next
Item in Private