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The final item relates to the annual seminar with the Scottish Trades Union Congress, on which the clerk has produced a paper outlining various proposals. Do members have any comments?
It is a good paper. I simply wonder whether, given the events of the past week or two, the seminar's title, "Trade Unions and the Arc of Prosperity", should be changed to something more appropriate—"Trade unions and our nearest European neighbours", perhaps.
We will certainly consider that.
On that note, to ensure that we are not living in some parallel universe come February, I suggest that we ask SPICe for a background note on the current economic performance of the nations under consideration in the seminar. That would be a good way of contextualising and informing the discussion on the current state of their partnership relationships.
We will request that from our good friends in SPICe.
At our previous joint meeting with the STUC, I felt that there was a very strong view that productivity should be the main issue at the next joint meeting. Indeed, the witnesses this morning pointed out that, although Scotland's employment rate is high, our productivity does not match that of other European countries. When did we decide that the seminar should focus on "Trade Unions and the Arc of Prosperity"?
The suggestion has been made by the trade unions.
Surely we should also have an input into the matter and not base our ideas purely on what the trade unions want to discuss. How long ago did the unions make this suggestion? Was it well before the worst effects of the credit crunch became apparent?
I do not have those details. I am sure that the clerk can provide them in due course.
I should say that I have no problem with the current suggestion. It is just that, at last year's seminar, it struck me very forcibly that productivity was the subject of a lot of discussion. Indeed, after the meeting with the STUC, the committee discussed the fact that it was a major issue and that it should be examined. I am surprised that it seems to have been ditched.
As I say, the suggestion has been made by the trade unions themselves.
I support the STUC's suggestion that it would be very useful to examine this issue. As Gavin Brown has said, we might learn a bit about weaknesses as well as about prosperity and strength. I would certainly find it extremely informative to consider the different models used in smaller economies such as Ireland and Norway, and a trade union perspective on the matter would be particularly valuable.
Taking into account Dave Thompson's points, are members content with the proposal?
I am certainly happy to agree to the proposal, because we will get a lot of useful information from both sides of the coin.
I am sure that the key part played by productivity in prosperity will be discussed during the seminar.
The STUC is certainly interested in finding out about systems of training, for example. It might be too much to get involved in yet another economic autopsy.
As the programme builds up, the clerk will discuss the various details with the committee to ensure that the seminar covers topics that members and the STUC want to talk about.
Meeting closed at 12:01.