Item 4 is consideration of a proposed schedule of meetings. Following discussion with the clerks, I have tried to identify the main elements of business that we have committed to undertake between now and the end of June and to identify dates when that business could be transacted. Members will note that we are trying to establish a fortnightly cycle of meetings. We might need to have odd additional meetings, but we should aim to stick to a fortnightly cycle. I know from previous conversations with committee members that that would be advantageous.
I welcome that approach, but is there any possibility of us having a slightly later starting time, in the light of the obvious difficulties that many of us have in getting here for 10 o'clock?
It really depends on the content of the meeting.
Today's meeting is a prime example of one that would have been highly suitable for a 10.30 start.
I made that point to the clerk, but we felt that I should not mess about with the meeting times without getting members' agreement. If the agenda allows us to start meetings at half past 10, I will endeavour to do that.
In that case, could the committee agree that you have that discretion and that that should be minuted? If we did that, you would not have to consult members, so long as adequate notice was given when the papers for the meeting were sent out.
Surely you do not want too much power to be vested in the convener?
I assume that members are encouraging me to use that power. Changing the start time of meetings will also depend, in part, on the discipline of committee members in not going on for too long. We shall see how that works out.
We have factored into the schedule that was agreed by the conveners liaison group the business that the committee has to get through. There are one or two things that are worth pointing out and there are a couple of things that the committee may have to take a decision on this morning.
For clarification, might there be problems because we expect a meeting of the Parliament to be held on the Monday? Might there be accommodation issues?
I do not think that any of the meetings of the Parliament will be held on the Monday. However, there might be travel problems if we were in the northern isles on the Monday. The Parliament is scheduled to meet at 10 am on the Tuesday; we will have three full days in Aberdeen rather than the current meeting pattern. There may be problems in getting the committee from the northern isles to Aberdeen on the Monday night, to be there for the meeting of the Parliament on the Tuesday morning.
I thought that you were suggesting that we should not go to the northern isles because the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee is going there.
Orkney would still be an option for the committee, if it wanted to go to the northern isles. However, the committee may decide to stay on the mainland to alleviate some of the travel problems, or to move the meeting to the following week.
Would it be possible to bring the meeting forward by a week, to 20 May?
The purpose of the meeting, following the pattern that we have set so far, is to take evidence on the budget from local organisations in the morning and to hear from the minister in the afternoon. We have found it helpful to hear the minister's evidence after we have considered everything else in relation to the budget. Bringing the meeting forward by a week would pose problems, as we would not have time to consider the subject committees' reports before we heard from the minister.
That makes sense.
Would it be possible to put the meeting back by a week? I support the idea of moving the meeting to an alternative date and location, given the fact that the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee plans to go to Shetland. However, I have no clear view on where we should go. I presume that you have a list of the different places where all the committees have met. We have always attempted to go to places where no committee has been previously.
Moving the meeting back by a week would cause problems, as 3 and 4 June are public holidays.
They are only public holidays in Edinburgh.
No, they are jubilee holidays.
It might be possible for us to hold the meeting in Aberdeen on Monday 27 May. We could go up there in the afternoon.
What about Stonehaven? It is on the rail line and all the trains from Glasgow stop there.
Or Montrose.
Not every train stops there. I am thinking about others who will have to come from a distance. It is easier for those of us who live locally.
In my experience, it is fairly straightforward to travel to one place away from home. However, the minute that multiple journeys in one week are involved, it can become a little difficult logistically. There is, therefore, merit in the idea of holding the meeting on a different day or somewhere where it could be combined easily with a journey to Aberdeen. A number of things will be happening in Aberdeen and it might be nice for members to be there on Monday evening.
We do not need to make a hard and fast decision on that meeting today. We can ask the clerk to consider the two options of holding the meeting in or around the Aberdeen area on the Monday and of setting an alternative date for the meeting and holding it in another part of Scotland. We can decide between those two options at our next meeting. The meeting is sufficiently far away to allow us to do that and to agree the rest of the schedule today. Is that agreed?
The committee's timetable is predicated partly on decisions that we will make under the next agenda item, which will involve members acting as reporters in different contexts. Members will have work additional to the meetings, and if we could minimise the number of meetings, that would be helpful. We have agreed that agenda item 5 be taken in private, so I ask all members of the press and public to leave.
Meeting continued in private until 11:14.
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