I open the second meeting in 2004 of the Audit Committee and I make the usual announcement about mobile phones and pagers—I am pretty certain that my phone is switched off. I welcome members of the public, the press and others to the meeting, although the first public part of the meeting will be rather brief. We have received apologies from Susan Deacon, who is in Campbeltown with the Enterprise and Culture Committee, and from Kenny MacAskill, who has to leave before the end of the meeting. Marlyn Glen is with us as a committee substitute for Susan Deacon, and we are pleased to welcome her along. When we are back in public session, before item 3, we will take her declaration of interests. We are pleased to welcome the Auditor General for Scotland and his team.
Members indicated agreement.
Under item 1, we must also consider our approach to lines of questioning for the Parliament's accountable officer. I seek the committee's agreement that before Paul Grice appears before the committee—the date for that is still to be decided—we should consider our lines of questioning in advance in private session, so that we can determine what questions can most usefully be put. Do members agree that we should do so?
Members indicated agreement.
Before we move on, I can inform the committee that we have had a brief discussion with Paul Grice, and we will probably have him before us for evidence at the meeting on 2 March. We will confirm that soon.
Meeting continued in private.
Meeting continued in public.