Do members agree to take items 5 and 6 in private? The items concern forthcoming reports.
I agree that we should take in private the draft report that Helen Eadie and I have prepared. However, bearing in mind the complaints that we hear about committees taking items in private, I wonder whether item 5 needs to be held in private.
One of the reasons is that we will try to agree a list of witnesses. Given that the lines of questioning that we could take in the inquiry are quite wide, I do not want to disappoint people by discussing them and then not inviting them to give evidence. If we hear the item in private, it also gives the adviser the opportunity to speak frankly to the committee. As it will be the first time that he has done so, it would be helpful for us to hear the item in private.
Okay.
In that case, are we agreed?