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This was a particularly complex and detailed matter that at one point could have gone either way. We have moved the issue forward and improved the situation.
I seek a ruling on the matter, either from the clerks or from you, convener, to guide the committee in the future. It is an important point. We cannot talk about equality and then go off along different lines.
If there are problems, I suggest to Mr Home Robertson that he take them up with the First Minister so that we can get the changes that he wants. Points of order should be addressed to me.
I will try to get guidance to you as quickly as possible and will make the point that we are not able to scrutinise documents properly if we get them at the last minute.
The SHRC would provide a good starting point for that. We will have to have a briefing at an open formal meeting—it is getting difficult to fit in extra meetings between our formal meetings.All the business has been dealt with.
I believe that the Executive has a key role in working with councils to assist in that process, helping to establish the benchmarks for the best performance and helping to facilitate improvement.