Committee
Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 14 Jan 2003
14 Jan 2003 · S1 · Education, Culture and Sport Committee
Item of business
McCrone Agreement
From the language that you are using, convener, am I to assume that, in your view, we should not even consider the possibility of examining the McCrone settlement until the milestones have not been reached or that we should assess progress only in five years' time? I cannot believe that you are saying that—I hope that you will correct any misapprehension on my part.Clearly, people are saying that difficulties are being faced at the moment. If we are to investigate those difficulties, we must consider the progress that has been made towards reaching the milestones. We must look back to define the McCrone settlement, the point that we have reached and how we have reached it. We must then identify any difficulties that exist. The committee could suggest additional work that may be required or changes that would benefit all parties. It would be impossible to provide a report, either from the committee or from a reporter, without examining the past. I did not feel that I needed to make that point in detail in my letter.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
I ask Brian Monteith to introduce the correspondence that members have received from him.
Mr Monteith:
Con
The purpose of my letter was to give the committee the opportunity to consider how to deal with continuing communication to members, through e-mails and tele...
Michael Russell:
SNP
I have some sympathy with Brian Monteith's request—the McCrone agreement is central to the future of Scottish education. However, time is against us. The com...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
There is little to disagree with in Mike Russell's remarks. In the short time available before the election, the committee could not do the McCrone agreement...
Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab):
Lab
I agree with Jackie Baillie and Michael Russell. It would be valuable to look at the McCrone agreement, but it is still being implemented and much work remai...
Ian Jenkins:
LD
I agree. The issue merits something better than we could manage in the time available. The committee could only do something superficial, which is not the ri...
Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
My views are similar to those of other members. I understand that the Auditor General for Scotland has an investigation of McCrone as part of his work progra...
The Convener:
Lab
I have done some background work on the agreement, and Irene McGugan is almost right: the Accounts Commission for Scotland has the agreement in its proposed ...
Mr Monteith:
Con
I am rather disappointed with members' unanimous view that we should not proceed with my request. In a sense, the rationale seems to be that it might have be...
The Convener:
Lab
With all due respect, the letter that you have submitted does not seek a report on the current situation. As I understand it, we have reached all the key mil...
Mr Monteith:
Con
From the language that you are using, convener, am I to assume that, in your view, we should not even consider the possibility of examining the McCrone settl...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
Far be it from me to defend the convener, who is probably big enough—although certainly not ugly enough—to do so herself. However, it is entirely unjustified...
The Convener:
Lab
In fact, there will be only six meetings of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee before dissolution. There will be three meetings of the ad hoc committ...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
I stand corrected—there is even less time than I said there was.
The Convener:
Lab
We have a tight timetable. If, for example, the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill is agreed to at stage 1, the Parliament will require the committee to conside...