European Committee,

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Official Report 119KB pdf

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Convener's Report

The response from the Executive on the progress of the Highlands and Islands special transitional programme is available. Do members have any comments on what is before them? Do members wish simply to note the response?

I am concerned about the negotiations around the information and communication technologies network, which people in the Highlands and Islands feel is extremely important for the development of business infrastructure. I believe that negotiations are continuing and I wish that exercise every success. We will see what we get out of it, but I know that the Commission seems to think that the area is more one for commercial sector involvement than for the Commission itself and that our team has been doing its best to persuade the Commission otherwise. Let us hope that we get something from the exercise.

Thank you, Maureen.

There is a response from the Scottish Executive on our concerns about the changeover period between the old and the new programmes, and the consequential impact on the voluntary sector and vulnerable groups. We must respond as soon as possible if we think that weaknesses remain. Before I ask for comments, I advise members that a number of voluntary organisations have contacted me to thank the committee for our work, which has been noticed, as has the fact that it has had an effect. Our work has been well received by the voluntary sector.

I understand that most of the organisations that were at risk believe that the Executive's response is helpful. A number of people have been in touch with me, too, to thank the committee for pursuing the issue. I had not been aware of any organisations that felt that problems remained, but I understand that Sylvia Jackson has concerns about an organisation in her area. We may have to go back to Jack McConnell to highlight that.

I will raise a point on which I would be grateful for clarification. If the amount of European social fund award is greater than £50,000, does that mean that an organisation would get no support, or would it receive support of up to that amount? The position is a little unclear, but perhaps I have not understood it correctly. How do you interpret the situation, Cathy?

I reread the response from Jack McConnell, which suggests that, after consultation with the voluntary sector, it was proposed that organisations that received awards of less than £50,000 could make applications. I do not see it suggested in the response that other possibilities do not exist, although he says:

"I am not prepared to go any further than this given other competing pressures on budgets".

I imagine that that means that he would be unlikely to consider putting all available resources into one project and that there would be an emphasis on sharing resources around. The best thing for Sylvia to do would be to raise the situation as an individual case, if it is the only one of which we are aware—I am not aware of any others.

When I have checked the situation, how should I proceed, convener, if I find that there are difficulties and that the amount is, say, just over the £50,000?

I suggest that you should take up the matter directly with the Executive. However, if a procedural issue exists that might have consequences, by all means feed that back through Stephen Imrie as quickly as possible, as we could either put it on the agenda or send a letter on behalf of the committee. In other words, you should raise with the Executive directly the case of the specific organisation, but you should bring it back to the committee if there are wider implications.

We have received an invitation to meet Sir Stephen Wall, the UK permanent representative to the European Union, on 8 June. I think that that meeting is to take place between 1 pm and 2 pm but we will get back to members if we receive more details. As members know, Sir Stephen was helpful to the committee and I am sure that we would welcome an opportunity to have further discussions with him.

For the record, I should add that our meeting will be at 2 pm next week. I hope that we will get back into our usual sequence and cycle.

I want to raise an issue on which Stephen Imrie may be able to give more details. The Scottish Executive is arranging a stakeholder meeting on the sixth environmental action plan, which follows on from the area on which I acted as rapporteur. Tavish Scott and Robin Harper worked with me on that and they may be interested in attending the meeting, although I have not yet spoken to them. Perhaps Stephen Imrie could investigate the possibility of getting two additional invitations.

I ask members to raise such issues with Stephen in advance, as they should not be held back for our meetings. We are constrained in what we can discuss; if an item is not on the agenda, technically we should not discuss it. However, by all means let Stephen pursue that matter.

The next item of business will be taken in private.

Meeting continued in private until 14:25.