 I welcome members to the fourth meeting in 2017 of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee and remind everyone to switch all electronic devices to silent. The first item for the committee is to take evidence on two proposed cross-party groups. The first group that we have to consider today is a proposed cross-party group on dementia and I would like to welcome Richard Lyle of MSP to the meeting and Richard is the proposed convener of the group. I would like to invite Mr Lyle to make an opening statement. Thank you convener and good morning to members of the committee. I won't take up much time this morning with my remarks but I wanted to cover two broad areas. One being the reasons why the cross-party group on dementia didn't re-establish itself in line with the deadlines and secondly the general purpose of the CPG moving forward with the committee's approval. On the first area, the reasons why the CPG and dementia did not re-establish itself in line with the Parliament's guidelines are due to the fact that, with one exception, there were no members of the Scottish Parliament remaining in office following the elections to the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament in May 2016, who were previously on the group. The only exception was one returning member who declined the invitation to act as a secretariat to the group and to continue as a member. Therefore, in essence, the support organisation Alzheimer Scotland was required to carry out additional work to meet with MSPs to gather the required cross-party support for the group. Unfortunately, that was not possible within the deadline for re-establishment as a previous existing CPG. I can inform the committee however that we held a very successful incredibly well-attended meeting of the CPG on 31 January 2017. I am excited that the prospect of being involved with such a fantastic mix of individuals and organisations—41 people attended that night. Moving on with your permission, convener, I would like briefly to highlight some of the key areas that will make up the purpose of the CPG on dementia. This year we will see the publication of the Scottish Government's third national dementia strategy. I am sure that members will agree that re-establishment of the group is time to provide a forum to discuss this work in the years and session ahead. The group will also look to work together with other CPGs in relevant areas to avoid duplication. For example, there is a tentative agreement to hold a joint session with the cross-party group on palliative care, which I believe demonstrates the benefits of our group in recognising interdisciplinary engagement. There are, of course, other strands of work that are taking place in relation to dementia, which will be useful for colleagues in Parliament and wider stakeholders to be aware of. I believe that the group will be an excellent conduit to discussing those issues. I will end my remarks by thanking the committee once again for its time today. I am happy to be guided by you, convener, on questions. Thank you very much, Mr Lyle. Are there any questions from members of the committee? None at all. I thank you very much, Mr Lyle. I am sure that many of the cross-party groups will have an interest in this area and be able to work with you on what is a very worthwhile CPG, but we will be making a deliberation on that shortly and you will be informed of our decision as quickly as possible. The next item for discussion by the committee is the proposed cross-party group on beer and pubs. I would like to welcome Patrick Harvie, MSP, to the other side of the table this morning, who is the proposed convener of the group and I would like to invite Mr Harvie to make an opening statement. Thank you very much, convener. It is lovely to see you all from this angle. Scotland has had a huge resurgence of independent brewing and that is something that many members right across Scotland recognise happening in their constituency, changing parts of the way that the alcohol industry operates and changing many people's patterns of consumption. There is obviously a range of concerns and issues that are raised in relation to the alcohol industry, but I would like to hope that many members feel that there is a focus on quality rather than on volume consumption and a focus on the kind of businesses that make their living from providing and producing quality rather than from volume sales has got a lot of merit. There is a need, I think, to discuss among members the impact of pubs as well and in particular well-run community-owned and community-operated pubs and licensed venues, the role that they play in communities, the value that they have in the social life of a community and the importance of ensuring that they are well run and operated responsibly. The campaign for real ale has had an annual reception in Parliament for several years now. I have been privileged to be the host of that event. At those discussions and others, it has been recognised that a cross-party group bringing together members with their interests in beer and pubs with a focus on the independent sector has got real merit. The camera has offered to its services as the secretariat for the group. I should just make one comment about the form. There is one wee typo in there in that the additional external members who have been noted towards the end should be said that they have been invited. There is a note on external membership on the form pointing out that the Scottish Licent Trade Association, the Independent Brewers Association and Plunkett Scotland have all been approached and have given positive indications that they would like to take part. That has happened since the initial discussion, the initial meeting between members, so that has not been formally agreed. Toward the end, it should be noted that they have been approached to take part as members and that they have shown some interest, but it has not been formally signed off by the MSP members of the group yet, the camera being the only external member at the initial stage. I know that the committee has got an interest in ensuring that on-going CPGs keep in touch with the standards clerks about additional external members. That is something that we will certainly be keen to do. There is no doubt that, as you have indicated, we have a quality product. That is recognised across the sector within the trade. It is good to focus on that. I am pleased that you have engaged with the Licent Trade Association and others, because they have a role to play in promoting. How do you see yourself promoting the industry within the Parliament and the cross-party group? It will obviously be up to the members to set the agenda. Some of the issues that we have talked about as potential discussion points in the initial phase include pub co-reform, as well as community ownership. Anytime licensing issues are debated at a legislative level by Parliament, it will be important to ensure that a wide range of voices are heard in that, so that it is not only the impact on the multinational producers and on big chain pubs and that sort of thing, but we see the impact and discuss the impact on the smaller and independent sector. At a smaller level, one of the things that I have been keen to ensure is that we celebrate good quality Scottish-produced beer in Parliament, more than just on that one day a year when camera is here for their reception. I would like to see that as something that we have a bit more confidence in in showcasing. I just wanted to ask about why the focus was specifically on beer. In Scotland, we have other alcoholic beverages that are produced in small batches. Perhaps some of the gin has been a booming industry in Scotland recently. Why would you focus specifically on just one alcohol product? There has already been in the past a cross-party group on the Scotch whiskey industry, so we did not want to overlap with that group or do too much in the way of duplication. Gin is a very interesting product, because there are whiskey distilleries that are diversifying into producing gin and breweries that are diversifying into producing gin. In terms of the production end of the industry, it occupies a bit of a space in the middle. I am sure that those are issues that we would want to discuss, but in particular the resurgence of small independent breweries deserves some recognition in its own right and celebration in its own right. That is a particular group of businesses that have had access to a forum for parliamentary discussion, particularly among members who represent constituencies in regions with independent breweries in their local areas. There is a bit of a lack there, and that is why we have taken that focus. Mr Johnson, you have a very interesting area, not least because of the nature of the product. We all take an interest in beer, but commercially there are some key issues. It is an industry that is marked by some particular commercial practices around tenanted pubs. There are also issues around the way that the rate system works for this particular sector. Are those issues that you are looking to take up? I would be interested to know more about what you are proposing for your agenda. In particular, have you got any plans to engage with the Barclay review looking at rates reform for the pub sector? Those are two issues that come up at the initial exploratory discussion between members, including the non-domestic rates issue. We have seen recent announcements around the hospitality industry on that. I know that Daniel Zone's party colleagues have a member's bill, and he is a member of the CPG as well. We will not seek to duplicate the work of the relevant committee in scrutinising that bill when it is introduced, but I think that having that opportunity for a forum that brings together independent brewers, independent pubs and those who represent them with members will hopefully provide a useful extra forum for discussing those issues and any other issues that come up on the formal agenda of Parliament in the future as well. I thank Mr Harvie for his attendance at the committee this morning. We will be making our deliberations at agenda item 2, but thank you very much for your time this morning. Thank you very much. Suspended to agenda item 2. We will be considering the two proposed CPGs this morning. The first round is the cross-party group on dementia. Do I have any comments from members? I am content to approve the CPG. The second round is the proposed CPG on beer and pubs. Are there any comments regarding that one? I am content to approve that one. We can now move into private session.