Finance Committee,

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Official Report 174KB pdf

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Convener's Report

We are now back in public session, and we will go on to agenda item 4. Subsequent to last week's evidence-taking sessions by this committee and by the European Committee, Callum Thomson and I met Stephen Imrie, clerk to the European Committee, and Hugh Henry, the convener of the European Committee. Elaine Thomson was there as deputy convener of this committee.

We made the point that we were concerned that there seemed to be a move away from the arrangement that we understood to have been quite clear, with regard to the remits of the two committees in this inquiry. We reached agreement that there was no question of the European Committee going into the Barnett formula, or into areas that were exclusively the remit of the Finance Committee. That is the basis on which we will move forward from here. I hope that I have members' agreement on that. To make this absolutely clear, it will be key that the reports that both committees eventually produce do not duplicate, and do not stray into areas outwith, the remit.