Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 03 Nov 1999

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 3, 1999

Official Report 172KB pdf

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Invitations

The final item on the agenda deals with two invitations that the committee has received. The first is from Friends of Scottish Rugby and the Caledonian Club. Members will see from their papers that the club wishes to become the Scottish Parliament's rugby side. It has been suggested that my friend, Karen Gillon, should be our representative, as she knows so much about rugby.

There was some confusion—

She is a formidable front row. I am not unhappy about this invitation, but should a London-based club be the Scottish Parliament's rugby side? Should we not put that out to tender to Scottish-based clubs?

Does the Caledonian Club allow women to join?

Good point.

That is a good point. Shall we continue to ask it questions? I am a bit confused.

Can we consult a rugby expert, to get some advice?

Surely, given all the people that we employ—perhaps not the MSPs, apart from Mike—we could put out our own rugby team. I am quite serious. The House of Commons and the House of Lords do that, and I bet that the National Assembly for Wales has a rugby team.

Would any team be mixed?

I would not mind it being mixed. Rather than jump at this issue, we should think about it.

Frankly, I do not think that this is appropriate for us.

The sad thing is that this is the only matter on which I can see the journalists in the room writing down every detail, although it is the least important item on our agenda. I think that we should seek information on what we should do and leave it at that.

If we are going to do things, we should try to do them by our own hand. I make that plea, be for it football, rugby, darts or beer drinking. I am not volunteering to be a forward, by the way.

It is okay, we have our front row. Seriously, I think that there are points that need to be considered further.

The second invitation is from the European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education. It follows a letter from Donald Gorrie MSP, who has been contacted and asked whether we would like to be involved.

Can we refer this to Reverend Graham Blount, the Scottish Churches parliamentary officer, for his advice? We do not know the body—it may or may not be fine—and we should have some information.

I am happy with that suggestion.

Before we finish, the committee has also been invited—the invitation was received only yesterday—to an event that is being organised for 19 November by Save the Children. It is to mark the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Save the Children wants to hold a reception at the Parliament. The Executive was originally going to organise it, but unfortunately the ministers are not available. That is why Save the Children has come back to us at this late date. It has invited children from all over Scotland to the Parliament to talk to MSPs.

Yesterday, I agreed that I would attend the function, but I am keen to ensure that members of this committee know about it as well. I will circulate the details, if members are happy for me to do that. I know that this is very short notice, but I would be happy if members of the committee could attend.

The event is to be on 19 November—a Friday—from 2 to 3.30. I have warned Save the Children that it will be difficult, but if members of the committee can attend, they should let me know. Save the Children is keen to hold a question-and-answer session with MSPs, and it would be useful if we knew which members were likely to be present so that we could supply them with questions beforehand.

This is the first I have heard about this event and my diary indicates that I will not be able to come. At a recent meeting, I suggested that we should take steps to inform MSPs. That would have meant our being in control of the date—being pro-active and saying to young people in Scotland, "Your children's committee wants you to come and we want to listen to you." We now have to respond to someone else's invitation, and some of us will be unable to attend. I am upset about that, because this is a very important issue. Two or three meetings ago, we could have taken a lead on it and publicised it.

As I said, I did not progress this matter because I thought the event was being organised by the Executive and that we would be given some notice. Unfortunately, because we had a meeting about it only yesterday I have not been able to get details to members before now. I know that many members will not be available and will be unhappy about that. On the positive side, all I can say is that next year we should be able to organise things so that we do not end up in the same situation.

Are members happy for me to circulate the details for information?

Alistair Fleming has copies of the information here. At the end of the meeting he will give them to any member who wants them.

Can the clerks send a note as soon as possible to each member of the committee who has taken on an obligation or responsibility, so that we are aware of it? I know that, through no fault of the official report, there will be a delay in the publication of the Official Report of this meeting. I should add that I do not always receive a copy of the Official Report of our meetings. Will the clerks check that every member gets a copy of the Official Report of this meeting?

I want to return to the consulting of MSPs. As we are not doing anything as a committee, can I urge members to give up a surgery or a good bit of a surgery in November and to publicise the fact that they will be available to listen to the views of children in their constituency? It is important that we say that.

I am happy to do that. Thank you for your time this morning.

Meeting closed at 11:00.