A paper has been prepared by the clerks on my behalf suggesting a timetable for dealing with the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill at stage 2. Do members have any comments on the timetable?
How many sessions are we scheduling for stage 2?
At the moment, just two: one at our last meeting before the Easter recess and one at our first meeting after Easter. In fact, we will probably manage to do everything in one meeting, but we wanted to allow extra time for the information on head teachers to come in.
I am pleased to see that we will not start on section 14 until we have a response from the Scottish Executive on the appointment of head teachers. Ordinarily, we would have moved on to stage 2 quite quickly, but the point has been made and we can proceed accordingly.
I am not aware that there will be a large number of amendments, so two sessions should do it. Obviously, if we find that there are more amendments than we have scheduled time for on 26 March, we can hold some of them over until the second meeting. At the moment, however, the intended timetable is as set out in the paper.
That makes sense.
I would like to make a small point. I think that the Executive has pledged to send us a response on the complex and detailed question of insurance. I hope that it will do so before stage 2.
I hope so.
Could the Executive be tactfully reminded of that?
Yes. After this meeting, the Executive will be aware of the intended timetable and will, I am sure, try to give us the information that it agreed to provide before stage 2.
I remind members that the closing date for lodging amendments to be considered at the second meeting is Thursday 30 March, which is before the recess. There is not a great deal of time available, but I hope that the time allowed will be sufficient to allow us to take account of the Executive's proposals on head teachers.
Meeting continued in private until 10:44.
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