Plenary, 19 Dec 2001

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Official Report 407KB pdf

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Committee of the Regions (Membership)

The next item of business is consideration of motion S1M-2555, in the name of Patricia Ferguson, on membership of the Committee of the Regions.

On 24 October, Parliament agreed that two members of the Executive and two members of the Parliament should be its representatives on the Committee of the Regions. The recent appointment of Hugh Henry as Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care altered that balance. The Executive recognises that imbalance and, accordingly, recommends that Irene Oldfather—the new convener of the Parliament's European Committee—should replace Hugh Henry. It is sensible to replace the former convener of the European Committee with the new convener; the remit of that position gives Irene Oldfather substantial involvement in European Union business. Our recommendation will enable Irene Oldfather to use her wealth of experience on Scotland's behalf for the new mandate of the Committee of the Regions. Hugh Henry has served Scotland well for many years on the Committee of the Regions and I take this opportunity to express our thanks for the work that he has put in on Scotland's behalf.

I move,

That the Parliament endorses the Executive's proposal to nominate Irene Oldfather MSP as a representative of the Parliament to replace Hugh Henry MSP as a full member on the UK delegation to the Committee of the Regions for the forthcoming session from 2002 to 2006.

Let me say at the outset that what I am about to say is no reflection on Irene Oldfather. However, the last time that Parliament addressed the issue, Tom McCabe, then Minister for Parliament, told us that the Executive nomination of MSPs to the Committee of the Regions was

"a determined commitment to share power between our national and local authorities."—[Official Report, 24 October 2001; c 3267.]

Iain Smith, for the Liberal Democrats said:

"It is only right that the national Parliament of Scotland should be represented on the Committee of the Regions."—[Official Report, 24 October 2001; c 3271.]

At the time, I made two points that are worthy of repetition. The first concerned the Executive's myth about a determined commitment to share power with local authorities, which contrasts with the reality of its actions to date. The Executive deprived Scotland's councils of their full representation on Europe's regional body. There is no doubt that the Parliament needs more powers, but the powers that we require should not be taken from councils. Those powers are our national right, but they continue to be held at Westminster.

The second, and more fundamental, point highlights the contrast between the poverty of ambition of the Lib-Lab Executive and the aspirations that the SNP has for our nation. Our Parliament is a national Parliament. Scotland is a nation. Contained within that nation are regions. It is right and proper that those who are elected at regional level should be represented on the Committee of the Regions. We have a tier of local authorities and it is logical that councillors are best placed constitutionally to provide regional representation.

As Iain Smith said, our parliamentary representatives are national representatives. It follows that this Parliament should be represented at national level within Europe. This Parliament's focus should be on representation on the Council of Ministers. The Executive should allow our councillors to represent the regions at an appropriate level in Europe, and should focus this Parliament's attention on securing representation at the national level that is appropriate for a national Parliament.

The last time that we discussed this issue, I took the trouble to make the point that it was somewhat disappointing that Scotland had not a single Conservative to represent it on the European Committee of the Regions. However, with regard to today's motion, my inclination is to suggest that it is highly appropriate that we take the opportunity to remove Hugh Henry from the Committee of the Regions, given that he is a minister, and restore the balance by replacing him with Irene Oldfather, who is now the convener of the Parliament's European Committee. The SNP is barking up the wrong tree in respect of the motion.

Tricia Marwick made some predictable points. Irene Oldfather's remit as convener of the European Committee makes her well placed to represent Scotland on the Committee of the Regions and will provide her with the opportunity to build up effective networks of contact for Scotland's benefit. In attempting to block the motion, the SNP is seeking to disadvantage Scotland by delaying the Parliament's second full member from taking up a seat on the committee. Scotland's voice in Europe should be heard through all available means, with the bargaining strength of the UK Government when negotiating in Brussels. There was a classic example of how well that works when Ross Finnie attended the fisheries talks this week.

As I said, the motion proposes a simple change in membership. That change will provide continuity in Scotland's representation on the committee and restore balance to the allocation of seats.