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LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE (LGFRC)

MINUTES OF TENTH MEETING: 25 MAY 2005, EUROPA HOUSE, GLASGOW

Present:

Committee
Professor John Baillie, Acting Chair
Peter Daniels OBE, Member
Janet Lowe CBE, Member

In Attendance:
Kenneth McKay CBE, Specialist Adviser to the Committee
David Milne, Secretary to the Committee
Stewart Barrie, Assistant Secretary to the Committee

1. Apologies
1.1 Apologies were received from the Chairman, Sir Peter Burt.

2. Minutes of Previous Meeting
2.1 The draft minutes of the meeting on 12 May were agreed, with minor modifications.

3. Matters Arising
3.1 The Committee discussed revised arrangements for the meeting on 9 June, since it had been necessary to postpone the planned courtesy meeting with the President of COSLA to 23 June. It was agreed that the 9 June meeting should start at 10:15.

4. Consultation
4.1 The Committee noted that the Secretariat had received few further submissions since the previous meeting. The Committee agreed that the formal consultation should now officially be considered closed. However, it would continue to welcome any further submissions and would take account of these as far as it reasonably could.
4.2 With the consultation now closed, the Secretariat could draft a Summary Analysis Document briefly describing the nature of replies to the consultation and outlining what the Committee intends to do next. This document will be sent to all respondents as well as being available to the public. In addition, a copy set of consultation responses (other than those marked as confidential) will be made available for inspection in the Scottish Executive library in due course.

5. Sources of Data requested by Committee
5.1 The Committee considered further its economic and statistical data requirements. It identified further information needs which it asked the Secretariat to pursue.

6. Organisation of Oral Evidence Sessions
The Committee considered the detail of proposals regarding the structure and format of oral evidence sessions. It agreed that a series of meetings should be held across Scotland in the Autumn. A wide range of stakeholders would be invited to give evidence, although the Committee was clear that it would not invite any stakeholder that had not already provided evidence to it in a written submission. The sessions would not be open to the public. However, the Committee hoped that it could record verbatim transcriptions of evidence given, and that these transcriptions might be published in due course as part of the supporting evidence that would accompany the final report.

7. Quantitative Survey - Proposed Questions
7.1 The Committee considered a range of questions for possible inclusion in a quantitative survey of public opinion. Members offered their comments and suggested possible modifications and additional questions.

8. Any Other Business
8.1 The Committee considered an initial list of stakeholders to invite as witnesses to forthcoming oral evidence sessions. The Secretariat would produce a paper for the next meeting on the practicalities of these sessions.
8.2 Delegations from the Scottish Assessors Association and the Department of Work and Pensions are due to attend the 9 June meeting of the Committee, for informal discussions on detailed factual matters. It was also planned to have a courtesy meeting with the President of COSLA at the same meeting. The Committee considered issues to raise with these bodies. The Secretariat would provide the bodies with advance notice of these issues.

Summary of action points:

• Committee to meet on 9 June at 10:15am.
• Secretariat to draft a Summary Analysis Document following in light of the recent consultation exercise, and to make a copy set of consultation responses available for public inspection.
• Secretariat to pursue information needs identified by Committee members.
• Secretariat to set in hand arrangements for organising Oral Evidence sessions.
• Committee to finalise/submit final questions to for quantitative public survey

Local Government Finance Review Committee
Secretariat
June 2005