Convener's Report
We now move to the convener's report. I want to report back to the committee on my meeting with the chairs of the European committees from the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The meeting was followed by a meeting with the UK's representatives on the future of Europe convention, in order to see both sides of the matter.
At the first meeting, we made a very good start to our work on governance and the future of Europe. I understand that the House of Commons committee will take further evidence on the matter today and tomorrow, and will publish its report quite soon. We published our report on the same issue very early, which is a great credit to the committee. Obviously, it is being used as background for other reports, which is a useful public relations exercise for us.
Other Administrations are considering similar issues. For example, the Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee of the Centre has just completed its report; indeed, the committee visited Scotland and conducted a public session, taking evidence from me and the clerks. Furthermore, after taking evidence from the House of Commons Select Committee on European Scrutiny, the Committee of the Centre is about to reform both the way it works and its role within the Assembly. The report is now complete and I think that it has been circulated to all members. Again, it is encouraging to know that the committee came to Scotland to take evidence from us, which we found to be a very useful exercise. The Committee of the Centre is now undertaking a major inquiry into public administration and we look forward to seeing how it develops. The committee has already completed some reports on waste minimisation, which we can use as part of our inquiry into the subject.
As I said earlier, the House of Commons is completing a report on democratic accountability and governance. The National Assembly for Wales has examined the issue of waste minimisation. We have areas in common and we share common themes. One of those themes is the convention and our approach to it. It was helpful that convention members came to the group meeting yesterday. Gisela Stewart was present at the meeting. She is a full member of the convention and of the ruling presidium, which meets fortnightly and whose president is Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It was good to be able to tell her about some of the work that the European Committee has done.
David Heathcote-Amory, who is also a full member of the convention and is from the Conservative party, and Lord Maclennan, who is a substitute member of the convention and is from the House of Lords, were also present. The session was useful. It enabled me to ask how the European Committee could enter into dialogue with representatives of the convention.
It was clear that it is early days, even for the convention members, who are working out many of the detailed practicalities of the meetings. They have not, as yet, set up the working groups that will examine various areas, including subsidiarity. I issued an invitation, on behalf of the committee, to convention members to come to Scotland to talk to us about our work. The convention accepted the invitation. We now have to finalise a date for the visit.
The other useful aspect of the meeting was that I was advised that Jean-Luc Dehaene, one of the vice-presidents of the presidium, has been appointed to engage with civic Europe. The appointment will ensure that the convention takes account of the views of citizens. There are no firm proposals about how consultation will take place across Europe. I propose that we decide how we would like to do that in Scotland. Once we do so, I propose that we try to involve the convention and Mr Dehaene in what we do.
With the committee's agreement, I suggest that we set up a conference or convention in the autumn. We could ask the clerks to prepare a paper, setting out the details, for our consideration. We could invite representatives from Scotland's youth parliament, as it would be good to get young people involved if possible. We should also invite someone from the convention to attend so that they can hear first-hand the views of civic Scotland.
I confirm also that places are available on a youth convention. I am not sure how they will be allocated, but I would like us to promote the youth convention in Scotland to try to get a young Scottish person to attend as a representative of young people in Scotland. I am happy to take comments from members to see whether that is a useful way to proceed.
I turn to the committee's report on governance and the future of Europe, which is fairly weighty. I suggest that we examine some of the key conclusions that are relevant not to scrutiny of the Executive but to the future of Europe. I suggest that we ask the clerks to present those conclusions in a separate paper to the committee. We could use that document to talk to members of the convention. We could submit it formally to the presidium as an input to its discussion on the future of Europe. Is that a useful way to proceed?
Members indicated agreement.
I would like to reassure the convener that the proposal is quite exciting and worthwhile. She should not look so dejected about it.
Good. I am glad that members are in agreement. It is unusual for everyone to agree right away.
That brings me to the letter that we have received from Ross Finnie. The subject of waste minimisation is involved again, but this time the letter refers to the disposal of fridges. In the convener's recommendation report, the clerks have detailed a series of actions that we could take in replying to the minister. I assume that members have read the correspondence and that members agree that a number of unanswered questions remain and that it would be helpful for us to receive answers to inform our future actions and further inquiry.
Do members agree to proceed on the basis of the recommendation?
We should all be alive to one aspect of the disposal of fridges: fly-tipping. That happens when everything is expensive and complicated. There is already evidence that people are dumping fridges on roadsides, which creates a problem for local authorities. The Executive ought to address that.
John Home Robertson is right. We can include a comment on that.
I support what John Home Robertson said. When I was on a train at the weekend, I noticed that fridges had been dumped at the side of the railway track at the gateway to Fife.
They are everywhere.
That is the responsibility of Fife Council.
The third item on the convener's report is a letter on the common fisheries policy, which we have received from Ross Finnie in response to our letter of 25 March. Do we agree to note the letter and thank the Executive for its comprehensive response?
Members indicated agreement.
We have sent the letters on the euro and the curriculum that arose from our previous meeting and we have received a reply from the Minister for Education and Young People, which was circulated today. If members agree, they will have an opportunity to read that and I will report on the letter at our next meeting. We await a reply about the euro and will report on that at the next meeting.
We are moving at speed, and I would like to return to Ross Finnie's reply about the decommissioning scheme for fishing boats. Everybody has heard anecdotes about people collecting the money, allegedly surrendering their vessels, then going straight back to fish in the sea. I have a hunch that such stories may relate to vessels that are under 10m long, which the licensing scheme does not cover or which may be subject to a less restrictive licensing scheme. I do not suggest another letter, but a phone call might be worth while, to nail down the source of such anecdotes about decommissioned fishing vessels being reincarnated and continuing to fish. As long as such reports circulate, the European Union and every national Government are left wide open to serious criticism.
I recall that we heard that from Struan Stevenson when we were in mainland Europe.
Apart from the conservation issues, such behaviour would be misappropriation of public money.
I have received answers to questions that I lodged about the number of vessels that have been decommissioned, the number that the Executive had expected to be decommissioned and the enforcement regime. I do not remember the exact figures, but the number of vessels that had been decommissioned was lower than the expected number. I think that the Executive had expected about 13 out of 100 vessels to decommission.
It would be helpful to refute such reports. Would tasking the clerks with speaking to officials and reporting to us be satisfactory?
In anything to do with the sea fishing industry, life is always phenomenally complicated. I say that with feeling.
Thank you for raising the issue.
I repeat that we have just circulated the Minister for Education and Young People's response and that we have agreed to discuss that, if necessary, when members have had a chance to read it.