2 Reports
4. During Session 2005-06 we produced four Reports,
all of which were published during calendar year 2006 and two
Special Reports, one of which was published during the year.[3]
In addition, during 2006 the Committee published the oral evidence
we had taken on The Potential Benefits for Scotland of the
2012 Olympics and on the Scotland Office Annual Report
2006. We also published one free-standing memorandum, Spring
Supplementary Estimate 2006: Explanatory Memorandum by the Scotland
Office.
5. Whilst in the past we have expressed some concern
over the delay in the Scotland Office responding to our Reports,[4]
we are pleased to report that there have been no such delays
in 2006, and the Government has responded to our Reports, which
needed a reply, within the requisite amount of time.
6. Our First Report, published on 24 January, Work
of the Committee in 2005, did not require a Government response.
The Committee's Second Report, Meeting Scotland's Future Energy
Needs: the Westfield Development Centre, published on 29 March,
was a record of an informal meeting held at the Centre's advanced
fuel technology and gasification plant, and although it did not
require a Government response as such, we understand that the
Government took up the Committee's suggestion that it meet with
the people at Westfield to discuss the innovative work being undertaken
at the site.
7. The Third Report, Putting Citizens First: the
Report from the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting
Systems, was published on 16 May. Essentially, this was an
information report, but we made a formal request that a Scottish
Grand Committee be held to consider the matter of Putting Citizens
First: Boundaries, Voting and Representation in Scotland,[5]
and recommended that such a meeting of a Grand Committee be held
before the Government made any substantive response to that report.
The Secretary of State for Scotland responded positively to our
request, and a Westminster Hall debate was held, in Government
time, on 20 July.[6]
8. Our Fourth Report, The Sewel Convention: the
Westminster perspective was published on 19 June; the Government's
response was received on 20 July and published on 17 October.
3 Details can be found in the Annex , p 10. Back
4
See, for example, Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report, Session
2005-06, Work of the Committee in 2005, op cit,
paras 6-7.
Back
5
Published by The Stationery Office, Edinburgh, January 2006, ISBN
0 10 888179 2. Back
6
Official Report, 20 July 2006, cols. 141WH-190WH. Back
|
