Plenary, 09 Dec 1999

Meeting date: Thursday, December 9, 1999

Official Report 826KB pdf

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Scottish Parliament Thursday 9 December 1999

[THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at 09:30]

On a point of order.

So early in the morning.

In view of the continuing French ban on British and Scottish beef, will the Presiding Officer ask the Minister for Rural Affairs to give an emergency statement in the chamber this afternoon to outline what further action he proposes to take?

I have had no requests for an emergency statement, but we have open questions this afternoon, and I would be surprised if the subject were not raised then.

On a point of order.

Is it the same one?

No, it is a different one. My point of order relates to draft ministerial statements. There is a convention that ministerial statements are provided timeously to Opposition spokesmen. I was advised yesterday that Sarah Boyack's statement was not available, but that it would be delivered at 8.30 this morning. I duly arrived at

8.30 and awaited a copy of the statement, which was eventually delivered at 10 to nine. I understand that a copy was delivered to my friend Robin Harper at the same time. I appreciate that we had 40 minutes before the minister made her statement but, as the outside of the statement says, it contains approximately 1,600 words. If ministerial statements and the questions that follow are not to be simply a game of charades in which spokesmen and others have to pre-guess what the minister will say, there should be a ruling as to how much time should be provided prior to statements being made.

That is not a point of order. How ministerial statements are distributed is not a matter for the chair; it is a matter of agreement between the parties. You will have to pursue the issue outside the chamber.

We have two ministerial statements this morning and an important debate, so I am anxious that we get started.