Audit Committee, 12 Jun 2001

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 12, 2001

Official Report 241KB pdf

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Consultative Steering Group Principles

In regard to agenda item 2, the Procedures Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the extent to which the consultative steering group principles are being implemented in the Parliament. Committees are invited to make submissions on the matter, should they consider it appropriate. There is no obligation on individual committees to do so, and all MSPs and their staff will be asked for their views individually. I remind the committee that any written submissions should be made by 26 June.

I am asking whether the committee wants to make such a submission. If so, it would be sensible for us to nominate one member to undertake that. Members should remember the time pressures that the committee and the clerk will be under between now and the recess. Do members have any comments on that suggestion?

Our next meeting is on 26 June. If we decide to make a submission, we will have to schedule an extra meeting to go through it.

That would be quite difficult to arrange, as our next meeting has been scheduled.

We could e-mail the submission to each other. If I might repeat what I said in private, it might be helpful if I read the CSG report again, as I have not read it for a while. It would also be helpful if the clerks gave us details on which aspects impact on the Audit Committee. I do not want to steal Mr Quinan's thunder.

I do not want to repeat myself, as Keith Raffan has successfully managed to do that.

I suggest that the clerk e-mails to members any specific references to the Audit Committee. That would be helpful.

We can make our own submissions, in view of the short time scale.

Okay, thank you.