| Present: |
|
| Brian Adam |
Mr Richard Baker |
| Chris Ballance |
Susan Deacon |
| Christine May |
Alasdair Morgan (Convener) |
| Brian Monteith (Committee
substitute) |
Mr Jamie Stone |
| Mike Watson (Deputy Convener) |
|
Apologies were received from Murdo Fraser.
The meeting opened at 2.02 pm.
1. Scottish Solutions Inquiry: As part of
the Committee’s consideration of this item, Brian Monteith
declared a interest relevant to the remit of the Committee in
that he is a non-remunerated Director of the ‘2000 &
3 Estaites Ltd’ drama company.
The Committee took evidence from-
2. Budget Process: The Committee considered
an options paper on its procedures for scrutinising the Scottish
Executive’s annual expenditure proposals and agreed to:
- appoint an adviser for the budget process and request
SPICe to provide an initial list of potential candidates;
- endorse a specification for the appointment of an adviser,
and to authorise the Convener to agree a period over which
the adviser will be contracted, following a decision on
the Committee’s approach to the budget process;
- invite the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
and the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport to appear
before the Committee to give evidence on Stage 2 of the
2004/05 budget process;
- focus its evidence session for Stage 2 of the 2004/05
budget process on the ‘Other’ category of spending
within Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, and to invite appropriate
Scottish Executive officials to give evidence on this category
of expenditure, and to consider a detailed process for scrutiny
of future Scottish Executive budget proposals at a later
date.
3. Work Programme: The Committee agreed to
undertake inquiries into the following areas during 2004:
- Business Growth in Scotland;
- Renewable Energy in Scotland.
As part of its programme the Committee also agreed to seek
oral evidence on Information Technology Institutes, and oral
evidence from the Bank of England on interest rate policy.
The Committee further agreed to give more consideration to
appropriate areas for investigation in the arts and culture.
4. Petitions PE493; PE559; PE564: The Committee
considered a paper on petitions –
PE493 from Ms Marilyn Henderson on the installation of
wind farms in North Argyll;
PE559 from Mr John B P Hodgson on a Strategic Environmental
Assessment of Scotland’s Renewable Energy Programme;
PE564 from W R Graham on the development of a national
strategy for wind farms and related planning issues.
The Committee agreed to accept the referred petitions and
to consider them as part of its forthcoming inquiry into
Renewable Energy in Scotland.
5. Petitions PE380; PE307: As part of the
Committee’s consideration of this item, Mike Watson declared
interests relevant to the remit of the Committee in that he
was formerly the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport who
oversaw the establishment of Supporters’ Direct in Scotland,
and that he is currently a member of the Arab Trust (Dundee
United FC Supporters’ Society).
The Committee considered a paper on the following petitions
PE380 from Mr David McNab on the participation of football
supporters in the decision making processes within senior
football.
The Committee took evidence on this petition from James Proctor,
Development Office of Supporters’ Direct in Scotland.
The Committee agreed that no further action on this petition
should be taken, and to write the petitioner to this effect.
The Committee further agreed to include the issues raised
in this petition as part of its scrutiny of the Scottish Executive’s
budget proposals.
PE307 from Mr Dougal Carnegie on the promotion of the traditional
arts in Scotland.
The Committee noted that the Education, Culture and Sport
Committee of the Parliament (Session 1) had received a report
on this petition. The Committee agreed to take no further
action on this petition and to write to the petitioner to
this effect. The Committee further agreed to include the issues
raised in this petition as part of its scrutiny of the Scottish
Executive’s budget proposals.
The meeting closed at 4.08 pm.
Judith Evans
Clerk to the Committee (Acting)
