Committee
Enterprise and Culture Committee, 16 Jan 2007
16 Jan 2007 · S2 · Enterprise and Culture Committee
Item of business
Legacy Paper
Thank you very much.The purpose of today's discussion is to try to agree a general framework to which the clerks can work when they prepare a draft legacy paper. Obviously, there are two broad areas that the legacy paper needs to cover. First, it should look at general issues such as issues of process. For example, is there a better way of handling witnesses rather than some of the very formal procedures that we have used? How do we balance the need to get information in public and to be briefed in private? Members might want to make a number of suggestions on process issues that should apply to any successor committee.As Stephen Imrie said, our committee in effect covers five portfolio areas: enterprise, including science policy and aspects of energy policy; lifelong learning; arts and culture; sport; and tourism. Committees tend to reflect—in a general way, rather than identically—the departmental structure of the Executive, but we do not know whether the enterprise and lifelong learning portfolios will remain within the same department and committee. We do not know whether arts and culture will remain alongside tourism and sport. Therefore, it seems sensible to divide our specific recommendations into the five portfolio areas so that any successor committee can follow them through logically within the common framework of our legacy paper.By the way, I point out that the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee in the previous parliamentary session was the first committee to produce a legacy paper. Of course, our idea was copied, as usual, by all the other, more junior, committees. I think that legacy papers are a good idea. Obviously, a legacy paper cannot bind anyone, but I think that it will help any new committees that might be formed after the election. A legacy paper will give people a sense of what our priorities were and provide some degree of continuity in the work of committees for each of the portfolios. Committees are not duty bound to produce a legacy paper but, from the Conveners Group, I understand that most, if not all, subject committee are doing so.Do members have any comments? Can we agree a general remit for the clerks, who will prepare the first draft of our legacy paper?
In the same item of business
The Convener:
SNP
Agenda item 2 is consideration of our approach to our legacy paper. As the clerk has helpfully circulated a paper on the matter, I ask him to introduce the i...
Stephen Imrie (Clerk):
This is somewhat unexpected—
Murdo Fraser:
Con
He keeps you on your toes.
Stephen Imrie:
Absolutely. You can talk among yourselves while I get my papers together.I thought that it would be helpful to provide the committee with a suggested framewo...
The Convener:
SNP
Thank you very much.The purpose of today's discussion is to try to agree a general framework to which the clerks can work when they prepare a draft legacy pa...
Mr Stone:
LD
I have three points—one about the subject area and two about process. First, I might be wrong, but after almost four years I have the impression that we coul...
The Convener:
SNP
I agree with your point about the session in the Edinburgh hotel. One reason why it was so helpful might be the quality of the advice that we got from Wolfga...
Susan Deacon:
Lab
I am not sure that that is true, but the quality of the advice that we got from Wolfgang Michalski was particularly good and our relationship was particularl...
The Convener:
SNP
I encourage all members who have detailed points to feed them in. My attitude—I think that Stephen Imrie's is the same—is that we should put comments in the ...
Christine May:
Lab
I agree with Susan Deacon about our remit. The extent to which we have been able to do anything other than enterprise stuff is an issue. My experience of pre...
Murdo Fraser:
Con
I have just a couple of brief points. In his paper, under the heading "Future ideas", Stephen Imrie refers to the idea of a skills summit. That should be bro...
The Convener:
SNP
Alex Salmond will have only four departments, so there may be only four committees in the whole Parliament.
Murdo Fraser:
Con
And which ministerial office will you hold, convener?
The Convener:
SNP
I call Richard Baker.
Richard Baker:
Lab
I wanted simply to say that we should perhaps flag up in the legacy paper the value of post-legislative scrutiny, which is a good thing that some committees ...
The Convener:
SNP
I do not want to dampen Christine May's idea, because it is good in principle, but I suspect that the business managers may have something to say about it.
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
This is your committee, but as a former business manager I can perhaps give a wee bit of perspective on the idea of refreshing. Having gone through two sessi...
The Convener:
SNP
Coming back to Susan Deacon's point about structure, I think that the Parliament misses an opportunity. Departments tend to work on particular subject areas,...
Shiona Baird:
Green
As a member who has been refreshed on committees—I came from the Equal Opportunities Committee to the Enterprise and Culture Committee—I can say that the dow...
The Convener:
SNP
I have been an ordinary member in a committee with prepared questions and I absolutely hated it. My personal view is that that practice stifles the committee.
Shiona Baird:
Green
I was anxious when I entered this set-up, but I can now see how valuable it is to members to have the freedom to go down whatever avenue suits them.
The Convener:
SNP
At present, some committees use prepared questions and some do not. I personally do not like prepared questions, because the whole point of the process is to...
Shiona Baird:
Green
At the same time, there is an opportunity. The clerks on this committee do good work in providing briefings and outlines, to give us information on which to ...
The Convener:
SNP
We will not have a guess as to what they are.
Christine May:
Lab
They will not include climate change.
Shiona Baird:
Green
The Confederation of British Industry is on to that already.
The Convener:
SNP
I am happy to open a book.
Mr Stone:
LD
I have a point about the non-scripted questions in this committee. It is an incredibly important feature that was part of the dynamic of the committee. I tak...
The Convener:
SNP
The decision on that is really for committees and their conveners. My view is that having questions prepared to that extent takes the life out of a committee...
Mr Stone:
LD
Not having scripted questions has made us think and listen more.