 Mwneud i chi. Fygonwyd, 9.30, ac yn ein jwgoel. Rydyn ni wedi gweithio i'n newid y cadw. Dw i'n gwellwedd y blwyddyn yng Nghymru. Fodd fawr i chi am y gweithreys mwy Llywodraeth, i'n Llywodraeth, i'n Llywodraeth, i'n Llywodraeth. On i, ar ei wneud ddim yn bach oherwydd, pancakes a drafyn, on i, ddim yn fwy hi'n mynd. Mae'r first item on the agenda is decision on taking business in private, and our first item today will be for the committee to agree to take items 5 and 6 in private. Item 5 is made up of two complaint reports from the Commissioner for Ethical Standards and Public Life, and item 6 is a consideration of a draft report, and do members agree to take these items in private? Thank you very much. Item 2 will move on. Decision on taking business in private again is to decide to take future consideration of the reports from the Commissioner and the committee's draft reports on the complaints in private at a future meeting. Do members agree to take these in private? First business of today, agenda item 3, and that relates to cross-party groups. This is to take evidence on the proposed cross-party group on St Andrew's Day, and I'd like to welcome Tom Arthur MSP to the meeting. Tom is the convener of the proposed group, and I'd like to invite Tom to make an opening statement about the purpose of the group, please. Thank you very much, convener, and good morning to the committee. Having served in this committee for two years, it's a pleasure to be back here, and I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, convener, on your appointment. By means of introduction of this proposed cross-party group, I would like to give a bit of background. Dennis Canavan, who was an independent MSP up until 2007, was able to secure unanimous support in the Scottish Parliament for the passing of his St Andrew's Day bank holiday bill, which became an act at the beginning of 2007. That act has made provisions for public bodies and businesses to recognise the 30th of November, or, if the 30th of November falls on a weekend, the Monday following, as a public holiday. However, it does not compel business-eater banks, for example, to recognise it as a bank holiday, but it gives that provision in lieu of the local holiday. I was approached by Dennis Canavan, who has had a long-standing interest in this area, and has been pioneering and spearheading efforts to get greater recognition of St Andrew's Day, both as a holiday and as a cultural event through the St Andrew's Day campaign committee. I was approached by Dennis shortly after summer recess. He had been working on establishing this cross-party group with Christina McKelvey, but Christina McKelvey was appointed as a minister before summer recess. Consequently, I was asked by Christina and Dennis to take forward this cross-party group. We had our first meeting some weeks ago, which was well attended, and it was a great deal of enthusiasm and energy, and clear cross-party interest, as is illustrated in the range of MSPs who have agreed to join the proposed cross-party group. The purpose of the group, as outlined, is firstly to promote the celebration of St Andrew's Day more generally, as Dennis Canavan has very eloquently stated many times in public. Unlike in other countries such as France, where Bastille Day seems a pivotal celebration, or in the United States, where Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day seems a pivotal celebration, or indeed closer to home in Ireland, where St Patrick's Day is, St Andrew's Day does not have the same status and recognition in Scotland as the other respective national holidays do in their home countries. It was a clear aim and desire to promote St Andrew's Day as a public holiday to encourage more businesses and public bodies to take it up and to encourage greater participation. As a view in doing this, it is a chance to bring people together to celebrate Scottish culture, heritage history and Scottish diversity, to celebrate our international connections in Scottish diaspora and to celebrate the immense contribution that all new Scots make. I refer to the range of members in the group that is an international component. St Andrew's Day is not a figure solely celebrated in Scotland, a patron saint of other countries such as Ukraine, and is a clear interest internationally as well. In encouraging the celebration of St Andrew's Day, it helps to connect Scotland globally and celebrate that shared link. That will be a key aspect of the group. I highlight some of the key themes that we will be looking to work on within the group. Clearly, there is the Winter Festival programme, which is bookmarked by St Andrew's Day and Bunsnight. There is a Glasgow Recaring City event, which many will be familiar with, with the huge congas that occurred in Hamden Park and around schools. It is a great opportunity for families and communities and schools to come together, again celebrating Scotland's diversity. In an inclusive manner, there is the St Andrew's Fair Saturday celebrations. That is a nice counterpoint to a small business Saturday in some regards, in celebrating fairness and communities and diversity. There is a desire to recognise St Andrew's Day as a school holiday. As I have stated previously, I am promoting Scotland's international connections through St Andrew's Day. I conclude by saying that this is a topic, a theme and a cause that has consistently gained and sustained cross-party support across this Parliament since the act was passed in 2007. I would be happy to answer any questions that the committee may have. Thank you very much for that, Tom Arthur. Just before we go on, I should have mentioned, as Tom started speaking, I remember, to turn the sound off on my phone so that I am not interrupting anything. If anyone else is in the same position, please do so just now. We will move on to any questions that members may have for Tom Arthur. There are two things that I wanted to highlight. One is really a question and one is more of a looking for a solution. There are 104 cross-party groups now, all competing for time, MSPs, time, space, etc. How confident are you that people will continue to be able to attend the group going on? I am obviously saying to Andrew's Day that, unlike a lot of the groups, it is a specific time of the year, a specific day of the year. Will it be more popular close to that time rather than perhaps further away? I appreciate a lot of the work that has got to be done ahead. How confident are you that you will be able to keep the interest of MSPs in attending and find time for it? Thank you very much. That is an excellent question and I am aware that the committee has been considering for a long time. I would respond by saying that there has been a sustained interest in this area. There was an Andrew's Day campaign committee led by Dennis Canavan and that has sustained interest in this area both within and out with Parliament for some considerable time. With regard to the second point, there will clearly be a focus of interest around St Andrew's Day. However, as we are all aware, in preparation for these events and in highlighting them, that is an all-year task. While the campus APG approved by the committee would clearly gain more interest in the autumn as we approach St Andrew's Day, I believe that it would have sustained interest throughout the year from those members and communities looking to explore ways in which they can plan for St Andrew's Day in their particular areas. I have a couple more questions, but Jamie is going to follow up on them. It was a second one very quickly. Cross-party groups are one of the main reasons to inform MSPs. Is the responsibility of promoting something like St Andrew's Day, which I think we would all agree with? Could that not be covered by a number of public bodies, including Visit Scotland events, Creative Scotland, etc? Would you hope to have them involved? Are you looking to create an overarching committee campaign to do that? Does that need to be a cross-party group effectively? Again, it is a very fair point. Clearly, we want the group to be as diverse and inclusive as possible and we will look to reach out to those bodies. Part of the purpose of the group is in allowing a range of stakeholders to perhaps have access and contact to come together. It gives communities and the grass roots an opportunity to contribute ideas and to share their vision of how St Andrew's Day could be celebrated. As well as having that campaigning purpose, it provides a forum for the generation of ideas and approaches towards St Andrew's Day. Maureen Watt, and then Tom Mason. I got an impressive list of non-MSP members of the group. When you were introducing the topic, you mentioned a lot of the Winter Festival programme, which I think is a bit central belt centric. I am absolutely in favour of this group. It is a pity that we have to have one that St Andrew's Day is not celebrated more within our own country. The work that Dennis Canavan has done on this really needs to be taken forward to the next level. What steps will you take to make sure that this is a truly national festival and not just perhaps Glasgow centric or central belt centric? It is a very good question and a very fair point. I think that there are two aspects to that. There is the work of the cross-party group itself and the ideas that it promotes. Clearly, with cross-party groups meeting most often and most commonly in Edinburgh, that can present challenges of accessibility for people from rural communities, be that in the borders of the north of Scotland or in our island communities. So we would, as a cross-party group, clearly be very open and welcome to exploring means to be as inclusive as possible, whether that be through people being able to dial in to the meetings or indeed taking the CPG on the road and meeting in other towns and cities. I think that that extends to the second point, to make St Andrew's Day as national and as inclusive as possible, not concentrated in the central belt. It is vital that we get those voices in those other communities and in the diverse ways in which they may choose to celebrate St Andrew's Day. The cross-party group provides a forum for many of those individuals and communities in groups right across Scotland to contribute and in so doing so they will help to shape the strategy to make St Andrew's Day celebrations more inclusive that truly reflect all of the rich tapestry of Scotland. In some ways you have answered my question, but I am still a bit concerned that by having a cross-party group it rather takes the wind out of the possibility of developing all the events and activities for St Andrew's Day more outside, as it is more a make the country do something as opposed to informing the Parliament. We know what St Andrew's Day is and what can be done. In fact, in some ways having a cross-party group would not restrict the activities of other people and rather divert the activities of other people and take the power out of them. It is a fairly made point and I am addressing that concern what I would say is that the CPG is but one tool in the toolbox. It is one of the available options that people have. Communities across Scotland will choose to celebrate St Andrew's Day in their own way and clearly there will be some thematic commonality right across the country. What the cross-party group does is providing a forum for the stimulation of ideas for how St Andrew's Day can be celebrated and the proposals and strategies to be put forward. It gives communities access to a range of MSPs and as we all know in our respective constituencies and regions, MSPs can leverage that status to help to promote certain outcomes. I think that it was an opportunity for MSPs to become more informed and to become more understanding of how St Andrew's Day is celebrated and that can be particularly useful. For example, MSPs from one part of the country may be exposed to ideas from another part of the country through the cross-party group but otherwise they would not be and consequently they will be able to share those ideas with groups in their own constituency region and therefore helping to promote proliferation of those ideas about how St Andrew's Day can be celebrated. It is also very fundamentally to encourage networking as well and to build up relationships and contacts. How would you measure success? Taking my criticism that might take the authority out of other organisations. At the end of the day, how would you measure success with the group? I think that that was clearly going to be a grassroots element. This is not going to be simply reliant upon public bodies having officially sanctioned events. This will be about communities, charities, the third sector and various other organisations coming together, both within their communities and nationally to work together. On how we would measure success, that is a key question. Clearly we are now almost 12 years on from the passing of the St Andrew's Day holiday act. Success could be measured across a number of ways. It could be measured by how many public bodies and businesses recognise and take use to St Andrew's Day holiday. It can be measured by the number of events taking place. I think that more generally it can be measured by public perception and attitudes towards St Andrew's Day and how that is for businesses who do not celebrate St Andrew's Day by taking a holiday. In a way, for example, we think about our bar and restaurant sector, which will often give a great deal of attention to St Patrick's Day. Perhaps one indicator, for example, would be that level of attention being paid to St Andrew's Day. In terms of any thematic events that occur within businesses as well as businesses taking use of the holiday would be one indicator, for example, of an uptake of interest in the St Andrew's Day holiday. I think that that is an excellent point, convener, and I would agree wholeheartedly that that will be the ultimate measure of success for the endeavours of this group and those across Scotland who want to promote St Andrew's Day to the level of recognition that it truly deserves. Well, thank you very much. Any other questions at all? No. Well, thank you very much, Tom Arthur, and thanks for attending. The committee will consider whether to approve the application for a St Andrew's Day cross party group, and we'll inform you of the decision thereafter. Thank you very much. Agenda item 4, as you will see on your agenda, will have a discussion in terms of whether to accord recognition to the proposed cross party group of St Andrew's Day. Has anyone had any comments they would like to make, whereas the group should be brought into existence in Agil Patterson? I didn't pose a question myself, but my observation is clearly that there's a need to promote St Andrew's Day. I don't think there's any question about that in the work that is needed to be done. I can't think of a body out there that would take this on board and run with it and give it the energy and the exposure that it needs. I've got a lot of time for Dennis Canavan himself and the way that he's proceeded so far. It's been a long shift for him, but I do believe there is a need for it. It's not a one-day event that we're talking about here. It's all the work leading up to that one-day event. It's getting into the Scottish psyche. I think that to celebrate the achievements in Scotland and maybe recognising some of the things that's not just the things that you would highlight normally, there's all ways to make a country. I would fully support and wish it well. The point that you made at the end, convener, was very apt that the success of this group will be that this group doesn't need to exist in the future. I think that probably our bodies—Vent Scotland was one of the ones that I mentioned—should be doing more with this. Until we get to that stage that it is promoted a bit more, I have no issues with the group going ahead. Members, do we agree that the St Andrews Day cross-party group should be allowed to continue? On-balance, yes. We will inform Mr Arthur about the decision there. We will move into a private session. I will let all the members of the public who have gathered.