Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 10 Sep 2002
Meeting date: Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Official Report
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Work in Progress
Revised agenda item 2 is an update on work on progress.
I want to update members on the children's commissioner bill. It is our intention to have a briefing tomorrow on what progress has been made to date on the bill. A series of interested organisations will attend the briefing to ensure that they are kept up to speed with developments and are on board on the process.
I also want to indicate to members that our meeting must conclude by 4 o'clock, because I have had notice that today's meeting of the conveners liaison group will consider committee business for 25 September. We had understood that that day had been set aside for consideration of our second report on the need to establish a children's commissioner, but I now understand that the Justice 2 Committee is seeking to use that day for a debate on its report on prisons.
I therefore ask the committee for its support in pursuing with full vigour 25 September as the day for debating our proposal for a children's commissioner bill. If we lose that day, we will be unable to introduce a bill into Parliament in the required time scale and that would render useless all our work to date.
Convener, you will have my support and the support of the SNP on that matter. I would be surprised if, depleted though it may be, the committee is not unanimous about that matter. We have worked hard on the children's commissioner bill and have had strong indications that the Executive wishes the bill to succeed. That is a happy set of coincidences across the parties in the Parliament.
It would be an absolute tragedy if any other committee prevented the children's commissioner bill from happening. If the bill is lost, my concern is not so much about the committee's feelings but about the damage that may be done to the children and young people of Scotland.
Is Jackie Baillie in agreement?
Absolutely.
I will relay our feelings to the conveners liaison group at 4 o'clock.