Section 1 — Establishment of regional Transport Partnerships

Part of Transport (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 – in the Scottish Parliament at 3:00 pm on 29 June 2005.

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Photo of Bristow Muldoon Bristow Muldoon Labour 3:00, 29 June 2005

Amendments 68 and 69 sensibly seek to give the Executive greater flexibility by acknowledging that some larger local authorities will not only be responsible for bringing to the table much of the funds for regional transport partnerships but, as in Glasgow, will act as a focal point for much of the region's transport network. I welcome the proposal to give such authorities more recognition in the RTPs' voting structure. In amendment 68, Pauline McNeill has included the backstop of stipulating the maximum number of councillors on RTPs to ensure that we do not end up with so many people on them that they become unworkable. I welcome that proposal, and the fact that the minister supports those amendments.

On whether non-councillor members should be able to vote, councillor members are different from non-councillor members because they are elected by the people in the area and come from the appropriate local authorities. Moreover, they are responsible for public resources. The bill already contains a protection in that only councillors will be able to vote on the requisition of local authority funds. However, amendment 10, which seeks to allow each partnership to decide whether to extend the voting powers of non-councillor members, is acceptable because it comes with the proviso that such powers will not apply to requisition of local authority resources. I feel that it would be inappropriate for a non-elected person to exercise such a power.