Scottish Parliament Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee Wednesday 8 May 2002 (Morning)
[The Convener opened the meeting at 10:05]
Good morning and welcome to the 15th meeting in 2002 of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee. I would not normally start a meeting with only a quorum of three, but we have received five apologies this morning. Tavish Scott, Andrew Wilson and Rhona Brankin, who is ill unfortunately, cannot make the meeting. Brian Fitzpatrick will be late and Ken Macintosh is at a meeting of the Standards Committee, but he will join us if we require him. Before we get on to the agenda item on the lifelong learning report, the members who are here might want to make a judgment about how far we can take the report with so few members present. We can perhaps deal with that later in private.
This is the first meeting of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee since Wendy Alexander resigned as the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning. I put on the record the fact that I, as convener of the committee—and I am sure that I speak for the whole committee—had a very good working relationship with Wendy Alexander. She was extremely helpful and worked well with the committee. We did not always agree—Wendy and I do not always agree politically—but there was a good relationship between the committee and the minister. I am sure that that will continue now that Iain Gray is the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning. We should put on the record our gratitude to Wendy for the way in which she worked with the committee.
I support that view entirely.