Official Report 109KB pdf
Protection of Children (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
The committee drew the points that we made on the bill to the Executive's attention and the response means that we do not want to pursue them any further. Are we agreed?
Mental Health (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
The bill is big and, I am told, the most important bill that the Parliament has considered so far. Because of that, because the committee will want to raise a number of questions concerning the European convention on human rights, apart from anything else, and because there has been such controversy about the medical treatment of those with mental illness, we should summarise our questions on aspects of the bill, ask the Executive for its answers and indicate that we want to take evidence.
Will the evidence be from the Executive?
Yes.
Is the plan that we will have the Executive's written answers this week so that we can consider them over the weekend and decide what issues we still want to pursue? There will almost certainly be issues, but we will see them over the weekend. Is that correct?
The Executive has indicated that it appreciates that there are issues, given the nature of the bill. The plan is that we will have for weekend study the answers from the Executive to the points that we put to it.
Do we anticipate that we will tell the Executive before Tuesday what we will ask about, or will the Executive officials just have to come prepared for anything?
I think that we will tell the Executive. The bill is too serious to try to go for bear traps. We just want to discuss with the Executive its reasoning and any questions and reservations that we may have.
Will there be a mechanism whereby we let the Executive know—or let you know and you let the Executive know—before Tuesday what issues we have identified?
You can let me know, I will let the clerk know, and he will let the Executive know.
Should we try to do that by Monday?
Yes.
Is Gordon Jackson suggesting a series of interrogatories?
We will write to the Executive with perhaps 40 questions and it will give us as many answers from which we might then identify half a dozen issues. We just want to tell the Executive which areas we want to discuss. The committee members undertake to flag up by Monday the issues that we think should be raised. We will arrive at some consensus and the clerk can tell the Executive which issues we will raise.
I have already made a rough selection, but members may well have other issues.
That is helpful.
A lot of the issues are about principles such as how much scrutiny there should be and whether measures should be in the bill. There is a pattern to the questions that we are likely to ask. That will become clear to the Executive, which probably knows the kind of territory that we will explore.
I will ask the clerks to inform the Executive of the issues that we will raise.
Next
Executive Responses