Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, 10 Nov 1999

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 10, 1999

Official Report 281KB pdf

---

Inquiries

We will now consider two future inquiries by the committee. The first is an inquiry into differential petrol pricing. The clerks have prepared a draft remit. I seek the committee's agreement to the proposal. I have been reluctant to consider these issues during any of our scheduled meetings. If we want to go down this route, we will need to find appropriate dates. The clerks had suggested the morning of 3 December, but having talked to a number of people, I have not found that date to be suitable. I open up the discussion on the remit of the inquiry and seek suggestions for other dates for the clerks to investigate.

I do not mind meeting on Fridays, but if we are going to do so, we need a longer lead time, as members are booked up on Fridays into January.

That is a fair comment. While Fridays and Mondays are possibilities for meetings, we need to have a wee bit of warning. Being entirely selfish, convener, my parliamentary days are already packed to capacity.

Are we agreed that we will ask the clerks to find the first Friday in January that is convenient for everyone? Elaine, you say no.

The committee is meeting only once a fortnight. A considerable number of committees are meeting every week. I would think that it might be possible to find a Wednesday, so that at least we are meeting within the parliamentary week.

Next week, 17 November, is not a runner. We investigated meeting on 1 December, but because 30 November is a non-parliamentary day, there is enormous congestion on the following day. That takes us to 15 December. Are we in recess by then? No.

If I read the committee correctly, members would like to meet on one of the Wednesdays on which we are not already meeting. We will ask the clerks to arrange that for as soon as possible. We agree the remit of that inquiry with that alteration. The clerks will draw up a list of witnesses. If members want to input to that, they may.

I want to clarify a point about witnesses. As Allan Wilson will recall from the famous public meeting that we attended on Arran, one of the community's concerns was that we should take evidence from the oil distribution company. Is not that correct, Allan? We need to be sure that the list of witnesses includes such bodies.

I support that proposition. We need to get evidence from groups with different viewpoints. Given the work that we have done on Arran, I suggest that we invite the community organisation there that pulled together the various interests to give evidence at the inquiry.

Will we offer to hear evidence from the local community in Arran via videoconference, rather than asking people to travel to Edinburgh?

The clerks will investigate that and provide us with some advice.

I am the former founding chairman of the Association of Scottish Community Councils, which has set up an organisation, with a base in Edinburgh, that regularly takes evidence on various issues from all 1,200 community councils around Scotland. It may be possible to elicit some response by circulating a letter through the association's local secretaries.

I thank members for those suggestions. The clerks will take that forward and bring proposals to us for our consideration.

Duncan McNeil raised the issue of the announcements made by National Semiconductor at Greenock and proposed an inquiry. We have received a letter from the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning which has been circulated to members. We can take the issue forward by hearing what National Semiconductor has to say, perhaps at the end of one of the meetings that is already scheduled. We can then decide whether we want to take any further steps and examine the issues that are raised in more detail.

There appears to be a trend in the communication that we receive from the minister's office. When can we expect the next slump? What will we do when it comes? Do we just pack up these factories and walk away? That is the kind of issue that I want us to explore. The inquiry needs to be broadened out to examine some of the other companies in the field and hear input from other businesses.

Are we agreed that we will do further work on that subject and that we will put together a list of witnesses at a later date?

Members indicated agreement.

The semiconductor industry is a massive employer.

Exactly.

We do not have an agenda item for any other competent business, but I know that Margo Macdonald has something to tell the committee.

I attended a seminar at Napier University last week, at which I met Graham Hills, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Strathclyde. Having heard him speak, I thought that we should invite him to address the committee at some point, as what he has to say about lifelong learning as an integral part of economic development is in a different league from what we have heard so far.

Who is he?

His name is Graham Hills. He is now associated with the University of the Highlands and Islands. Everything that he says pulls the issue together. He would be an excellent person for us to talk to at some point.

Graham Hills wrote to me a couple of weeks ago and supplied me with a load of notes and comments. I will pass them to the clerk for circulation around the committee.

There are many people from whom we will want to hear. We will certainly take note of Margo's point and see how that can be integrated into our work.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Meeting closed at 13:02.