Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 22 Mar 2000

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 22, 2000

Official Report 134KB pdf

---

Committee Business

Although a couple of members have yet to arrive, we should make a start. Item 1 is an update on work in progress. However, before we begin, I ask the committee to agree to take item 5—consideration of statements on the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Bill—in private. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

I also ask the committee to agree to take two items on next week's agenda in private. Those items are the consideration of the draft report on the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Bill and the special educational needs inquiry. Members will remember that Julie Allan, who has been appointed adviser, will attend that meeting, at which we shall consider some of the written evidence and committee briefings. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

When is next week's meeting?

It is on Tuesday afternoon.

I take this opportunity to introduce a new face at the table. Ian Cowan has joined us as the assistant clerk to the committee. Ian is replacing Alistair Fleming, who has moved on to greater things. Welcome to the committee, Ian.

Mike Russell has suggested that, when we hear evidence on Gaelic at stage 2 of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Bill, we should try to go out of Edinburgh, possibly to Inverness or Portree. The committee clerks are considering those options and I have e-mailed Mike about the idea. It will not be easy, but I think that it is a good idea. We are considering it positively and will report back to the committee as soon as we have some ideas.

The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee met in the Highland Council chamber, which is a good venue. The purpose of my suggestion was to get a date for the stage 2 consideration, so that we can alert the organisations that are likely to give evidence and give them time to prepare themselves. One of the organisations suggested that we might have a simultaneous interpretation, which is possible in the Highland Council chamber and for which a budget exists in the Parliament. That would be the right thing to do in the circumstances. If we are to take evidence on Gaelic in schools, we should allow Gaelic organisations to avail themselves of that facility.

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig could give us all those facilities.

I agree. Like Fiona, I would not like Inverness to be considered as the only venue that would be suitable for a meeting of that kind. It would be good to investigate other possibilities.

Perhaps Sabhal Mòr Ostaig should be put on the list as a possibility. Fiona is right to say that it has the appropriate facilities and would be able to help with translation.

The clerks will continue to look into that. I hope to report back as soon as possible, and I know that we must give people plenty of notice.

There is one more matter that I would like to report to the committee. I attended the ChildLine conference on Monday to listen to young people's responses on issues of sex and bullying in relation to our consultation on the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Bill. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, with lots of role-playing and drama, but some of the messages from the young people were very potent. I hope that they got as much out of it as I did.

Three or four clear points came out of the workshop on sexuality. The first was that, until the recent deliberations, the young people were fairly unaware of what section 28 or 2A was or purported to be and did not see it as particularly relevant. Secondly, they believed that sex education was taught by teachers who were not always as well trained as they might be. One of the views that emerged from the young people's conference in Birmingham, and from some of the submissions that we have received, was that teachers need better training to deal with the whole issue of sexuality and sex education in schools.

Thirdly, young people wanted teachers to be able to address all the issues that were raised in classes. They felt that it was unhelpful to have any kind of restriction or perceived restriction on what could be discussed. Finally, they were asking the important question of exactly what family relationships meant. Even among the small group of eight young people who were discussing it, there were many different interpretations of that phrase. They quickly got to the nub of the issue and it was useful to hear their debate. That is something that we may want to add to our deliberations on consultation with young people. The ChildLine conference involved young people in putting forward their views.

There were two bullying workshops, as there were many young people who wanted to handle the issue and they did not want the groups to be too big. Both groups came out with the same response. They concluded that bullying can affect anybody, but that it is frequently the result of someone being perceived as different in some way—questions around sexuality are often important, particularly for teenagers.

I found the conference useful. We will be receiving a written report from ChildLine on the workshops that took place during the day that I was not able to attend.

Are there any other items that I have not covered?

Is there any point in asking about the financial position of Scottish Opera and in finding out how it is getting on? We might be told that everything is wonderful now and then find out in three months that it is not, or the other way round. I just wondered what the situation was; we should not forget about it.

I shall be meeting Adrian Trickey later this morning, at his request, and I am glad that I am doing so. Ian Jenkins will have seen the press cuttings. As I understand it, discussions are taking place with the trade unions with a view to possibly going dark from October this year until March next year, because there will be no money left in the budget after the Ring cycle is finished. I lodged a question for Sam Galbraith last week, but it was not reached during oral questions. The written answer that I received indicated that there were no plans to provide any more resources to Scottish Opera this year, which is what we would all expect.

The oral evidence that we took last year describes the previous regime and the expenditure plans that were in place. I had a response from Ruth Mackenzie and Adrian Trickey that indicated that there was a real possibility that Scottish Opera would not able to operate throughout this year. Many of us are concerned about the people who work in the organisation. I know that the management is trying to find a way forward that will ensure that the minimum damage is done and that the company is held together, but the Theatre Royal may not be open. That is not yet confirmed but, when we have confirmation, I shall update the committee and we can discuss whether there is anything else that we want to do.

That is helpful. The new regime is now in place, with the joint management between Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet, and it would be helpful to find out how that is working. As Mike says, the lead-in time for Scottish Opera means that before the company got into financial difficulties things were planned from which it is difficult to withdraw. We would all be concerned if the theatre were to go dark for a number of months; that is not how we want the companies to progress. It would be helpful if Mike could give us any feedback that he has. We can also ask the Scottish Executive for an update on the situation.

That is what I wanted. I do not want us to get involved in too much detail.

The report from the Scottish Arts Council to the Executive has not yet been published. Perhaps we should ask when it will be published, as it would be germane to our considerations.