Official Report 232KB pdf
The next item is the committee's annual report. Does everybody have a copy?
Yes.
Martin Verity will say something about the procedure of annual reporting.
Under the standing orders, all committees are required to produce an annual report. It is hoped that we can finalise the text of the report by September. The conveners liaison group agreed to the overall structure of the report at its previous meeting. Each committee is asked to produce a draft text of approximately 350 to 400 words, which is based on the Official Report of the meetings of the full committee, and of the reporters' sub-groups, over the past year.
We could have a brief discussion about the report now, but I am aware that some members must leave to attend another meeting at 1.30. I would like us to finish on time, if possible.
On the first page of the draft report, on the subject of the census, the phrase "proposals from the committee" is used. A stronger term should be used, such as "representations".
We could change the wording to indicate that there was a motion on that issue.
We could put in "threats". [Laughter.]
I am concerned that the forward work programme seems to cover more of what we have already done. If the number of words in the report is a constraint, we may be unable to change that. However, an extra paragraph to indicate the other areas that we have covered could be included, and reference could be made to the session that we had with the Rape Crisis Network, as that reflected quite a lot of the work of the gender sub-group.
I may have had a memory lapse, but I am sure that at some of the earlier meetings we discussed the Act of Settlement. That led to a full-blown debate in the Parliament, but it is not mentioned in the draft report. It was one of the first issues the Equal Opportunities Committee took up. Will there be a sentence in the report to acknowledge that?
We did not raise that issue. Mike Russell lodged a motion and we discussed it.
That was referred to in our forward work programme, but it is not included in the committee's draft annual report.
The debate was not initiated by this committee.
Because more than half the members signed Mike Russell's motion, it led to a full debate.
How many words have we used in our draft report already?
We have enough words, although I cannot remember exactly how many we have used.
We could probably stick in a few more, as single sentences describing what we have done.
The debate on the Act of Settlement emerged out of discussion with the Scottish Trades Union Congress, which raised issues of inequality. Bill Speirs made a comment about religious inequality. The motion was not supposed to be debated, but SNP time was used to debate it in the Parliament. The debate did not arise out of committee business.
We should be able to incorporate those comments into our draft report. After the recess, we will also have to have a team photograph, which will be included in the annual report.
Oh good. Is that before we get relegated?
Aye, maybe.
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