I think we should perhaps leave this agenda item, unless there are any specific requests.
We received a copy of a paper, dated 17 September.
That is the paper to which I have already referred. Jack McConnell will attend the next meeting.
Will he deal specifically with issues of public expenditure, planning and additionality? I am not talking about the objective 2 issue. I want to talk about the whole issue of structural funds and the Scottish assigned budget.
The paper was produced in response to the questions that we asked the minister about whether expenditure in Scotland would change as a result of the objective 2 decisions. I do not think that the paper is clear enough, but that is something that we can question him about at the next meeting.
I am trying to help here with the questions that we may want to ask.
I am informed that the minister will be at the meeting on objective 3. We have not had a decision on objective 2. Is there anything on which the clerk can usefully brief us? The briefing paper arose from comments made by the minister, and only he can clarify the points made in it. If members want me to, I will go back to him, as I certainly do not think that the points have been addressed.
My specific area of concern is the paragraph on public expenditure and additionality on page 2 of the document. It is somewhat alarming—indeed bizarre—that, due to the fact that
The chances of structural funds increasing in Scotland are fairly remote.
That does not deal with the principle of the matter.
It is a valid point, but let us wait to see what the settlement is. If the problem arises, we will investigate it. There is no point doing so now. We have enough on our plate without getting into areas of theory. Bruce, if you think that a briefing note would help, we will ask for one.
I want a briefing note on that whole area. It is not just about the budget going up and down depending on the structural funds; it is about the fact that that sum is counted in the Scottish block.
To help the clerk, what exactly do you want a briefing note on?
I want a briefing note on public expenditure, planning and additionality.
Do you mean how European funding and the Scottish block work?
Absolutely. That will be an issue not only for this committee, but for the Finance Committee.
We will see what information we can get on that. Are there any other requests for briefings?
I want to ask about the timing of the next meeting. How firm is the date of the meeting with Jack McConnell on 19 October? I will try to make it, but it will be difficult. Was there any consultation with members of the committee before the date was fixed?
That was the date that was suitable for the minister. It is not particularly convenient for me either. We can certainly ask if there are any other days on which he is available, although the indication was that that was the only one. Who is available on 19 October? Seven of us are available. I think that we will need to run with that date unless something untoward happens. The only other option would be to see whether the minister is available later that week, but that may cause other problems. I am informed that there is also an issue about having the time once we have met the minister to turn our comments round and pass them to the Executive, in time for the deadline in Brussels.
I do not want to make war with the minister, but the problem of ministers' availability not matching that of members was also raised at the Health and Community Care Committee. Ministers may not quite invite themselves to committees, but often the date on which they are available does not fit in with the committee's work. Do we have the power to summon ministers to a committee? Perhaps that could be clarified at the conveners meeting.
We said that we wanted Jack McConnell to speak to us about objective 3 funding as soon as possible. He is trying to accommodate that request. If we had asked for an early date, the difficulty would have been that we would not have had the documents to allow us to give the matter proper consideration. We therefore agreed to delay the meeting, which put it back to the second week of the recess. The minister suggested the Tuesday. We went with that, because that is the day on which the committee tends to meet, but we can suggest another date to him.
If the minister was available for the meeting the following Tuesday, would that interfere with the timetable for us getting our thoughts into the decision-making machinery?
Yes. We must hold the meeting on either the Tuesday or the Thursday of that week, although the Thursday is beginning to look a bit tight as well.
Tuesday.
Thank you.
Meeting closed at 16:08.
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Convener's Report