Present:
Brian Adam	Mr Richard Baker
Chris Ballance	Susan Deacon
Christine May	Alasdair Morgan
Mike Watson

Apologies were received from Murdo Fraser and Mr Jamie Stone.

The meeting opened at 2pm.

1. UK Legal Deposit Libraries Bill: The Committee took evidence from -

Mr Frank McAveety MSP, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport;

Mr Bob Irvine, Head of Sports, Arts and Culture Division, Scottish Executive;

on the UK Legal Deposit Libraries Bill.

2. Subordinate Legislation: The Committee considered the following negative instruments-

the Education (Student Loans) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2003, (2003, No. 285)

The Committee took evidence from Chris Graeme from the Scottish Executive. The Committee agreed to make no recommendation to the Parliament;

the Stevenson College (Change of Name) (Scotland) Order 2003 (2003, No. 297)

The Committee took evidence from George Reid from the Scottish Executive. The Committee agreed to make no recommendation to the Parliament.

3. Scottish Solutions Inquiry: The Committee took evidence from Professor Arthur Midwinter.

4. Scottish Solutions Inquiry: The Committee considered a proposal on witness expenses and agreed to delegate authority to the Convener to authorise any witness expenses claims necessary in connection with the Scottish Solutions Inquiry.

5. Scottish Solutions Inquiry: The Committee considered a proposal for members to participate in a workshop event organised by the Scottish Council Foundation. The Committee agreed that any member who wished to participate in the event should do so and authorised the Convener to seek agreement from the Conveners' Group for any associated costs. The Committee requested the Clerk to circulate details of the proposals for the event to members for comment.

6. Committee Work Programme: The Committee considered its work programme and agreed to rank those topics identified in order to arrive at the two priorities for inquiries to undertake, beginning in early 2004.

The meeting closed at 3.29 pm.

 

Simon Watkins

Clerk to the Committee