Audit Committee, 02 Mar 2004
Meeting date: Tuesday, March 2, 2004
Official Report
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Items in Private
As we are now in public session, I remind those who have joined us that pagers and mobile telephones should be switched off. I welcome Paul Grice and Derek Croll, from whom we will take evidence.
Before that, we must deal with agenda item 2, which is to consider whether to take agenda items 7, 8 and 9 in private. Under item 7, the committee will consider its approach to the Auditor General for Scotland's report "Performance management in Historic Scotland". Under item 8, the committee will consider the content of its report on the evidence that it has taken on the Auditor General's report "Scottish Enterprise: Special audit examination". Under item 9, the committee will consider a draft report on its inquiry into the Auditor General's report "Scottish Further Education Funding Council—Performance management of the further education sector in Scotland". There are various papers to consider and it is quite normal that such deliberations are taken in private.
Is the committee agreed that we should take those items in private?
Members indicated agreement.
Also under item 2, I intimate that we will take evidence as part of our inquiry into the report "Overview of the National Health Service in Scotland 2002/03". We need to consider whether we will subsequently deliberate on that evidence in private. Given the circumstances of that inquiry, in which we are examining not so much the actions and responsibilities of individuals but the performance concerns of local health boards relative to the national scene, I suggest that we should hold our deliberations on that evidence in public. I flag up that issue to the committee at this stage.
I also mention that, as intimated in the paper on the committee's work programme, it is my intention that we take evidence from Trevor Jones on 27 April. Given the likelihood that the Auditor General's further reports on the health service will be published a good deal later than we had anticipated, if we were to hold off hearing evidence from Trevor Jones until then, the evidence that we had taken from the various health boards would not be fresh in members' minds. In my view, we should hear from Trevor Jones as soon as possible after hearing the other evidence, so I propose that we take evidence from him on 27 April. If we need to take further evidence from him when the Auditor General's reports are published, we can do that later.
I also suggest that, although we have not yet been briefed on the Auditor General's recently published report on managing medical equipment, we can put any questions that we have on that subject to Trevor Jones while he is before us on 27 April.
Is the committee agreed on that?
Members indicated agreement.
I thank members for persevering with that and I thank Mr Grice for his patience.