Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, 07 Feb 2001

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 7, 2001

Official Report 228KB pdf

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Item in Private

Simon Watkins will introduce item 5.

The conveners group produced a paper considering the effectiveness of committees and ways in which they could work over the next year or two. Most other committees agreed to discuss the paper in private. We will put it on the agenda for our next meeting, on 13 February. Do members wish to consider that paper in private or in public?

One or two committees have considered the paper in public.

The majority of the committees have considered the paper in private, although I understand that one committee considered it in public yesterday.

The paper has been discussed by the conveners group and is now being discussed by the committees. It is about improving the effectiveness of committees in terms of their work load and whether they should meet more flexibly, for example, in the evenings or on days on which the chamber meets.

Unless there is a compelling reason to take an item in private, my inclination is to take items in public, but I am open to members' views. There is nothing in the paper that is so secret or confidential that it would force us to take it in private.

I agree that as a rule we should not discuss anything in private if we can help it. However, as we do not know what is in the paper, it is difficult to make a decision on it. Frankly, I cannot imagine that members of the public will be interested in how we do our business, so I am very relaxed about whether we discuss the paper in public or private. We should not take the paper in private just because other committees have done so. If we discover next week that we could have a more constructive discussion if the paper is taken in private, I would support doing that, but at the moment I see no reason to take it in private.

The Finance Committee discussed the paper in private yesterday, although Ken Macintosh is right that each committee has to make up its own mind. I suggest that we discuss it in private. There is nothing desperately controversial in it, but it deals with housekeeping issues and we would have a more constructive discussion about it in private.

I think that we should discuss the paper in private. A danger of discussing such issues in public is that members take public positions rather than discussing whether the committee is working right or whether changes are needed.

When does that ever happen?

It used to happen on this committee. We should have a serious discussion in private.

Is it the consensus that we discuss the paper in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Meeting continued in private until 12:56.