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They should consider issues on their merits, taking account of the views of others.”By using its majority to force through the bill at breakneck speed, the Government is not allowing members to consider the issue on its merits or to take account of the views of others.
After all, they bring together a range of organisations, each of which has its own accountability; there is the councils’ accountability to the community, the health boards’ accountability to the Parliament, the police’s accountability ...
I was also asked by ministers, as the portfolio accountable officer, to visit Bòrd na Gàidhlig and ensure that I was satisfied that that plan of improvement was being pursued.
There are other factors to be taken account of and that is why we need to continue those discussions, keep the matter under review and ensure, as Mr Gray has highlighted, that we are listening to local authorities and taking account of any specific issues that they raise with us.
We have a high-level accountability structure, a Scottish Enterprise accountability structure, and a conventional accountability structure at Skills Development Scotland.
It would be helpful to have a real quota system at the European level, although it is quite complex to establish, as a number of factors need to be taken into account, such as the capacity of the country, its wealth and whether it can deal with a large number of people.
I take the point that you make in your letter that decisions are usually best made at a local level, with local knowledge and local accountability. However, the reality is that we have not seen any progress.