The first committee of The Scottish Parliament to meet outside Edinburgh will convene in Inverness next week.

The 11-member Enterprise and Lifelong Learning committee will meet on Wednesday, October 20 in the Town House to take evidence from a number of organisations as part of its major inquiry into local economic development in Scotland.

The committee will also be receiving briefing from the Gaelic development organisation, Commun na Gaidhlig and the Gaelic College, Sabhal Mor Ostaig – the first time that evidence will have been given to the Parliament in Gaelic.

The committee wish to encourage members of the public to attend this historic meeting and a number of public seats will be available by booking in advance from the Parliament’s Visitor Centre (telephone 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)). All tickets must be booked by 5pm on Monday 18 October.

A number of media seats will also be available and those wishing to cover this meeting should call Eric MacLeod at the Parliament’s Media Relations Office on 0131 348 5605.

The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting is as follows:

1. 9.00am - Local Economic Development Inquiry

• evidence from Mr Ian Robertson, Chief Executive; Mr Jim Hunter, Chairman; Mr Ralph Palmer, Director of Developing Skills; and Tracey Slaven, Head of Corporate Planning, Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

10.30am - Local Economic Development Inquiry

• evidence from Mr Gordon Cox, Chief Executive, Ross and Cromarty Enterprise; Mrs Jackie Wright, Chief Executive, Lochaber Ltd; and Mr Donnie Macaulay, Chief Executive, Western Isles Enterprise.

11.30am - Local Economic Development Inquiry

• evidence from Mr Arthur McCourt, Chief Executive; Councillor David Green, Convener; Mr Bruce Robertson, Director of Education; and Mr John Rennilson, Director of Planning and Development, The Highland Council.

1.30pm - Briefing from Comunn na Gaidhlig and Sabhal Mor Ostaig (Gaelic Issues).

2.30pm - Briefing from the University of the Highlands and Islands.

After the meeting finishes (3.30pm), the committee will pay a brief, informal fact-finding visit to Inverness College (3.45 to 5.30pm).

A brief photo-call will be held at the Town House at 8.55am and Members of the Committee will be available to meet the media at lunchtime (12.30pm) for interviews.

The Committee last week unveiled the terms of reference of its inquiry into local economic development services in Scotland.

Committee Convener John Swinney said:

"For some time there has been concern over the potential duplication of delivery of economic development services by organisations such as local enterprise companies, local authorities, enterprise trusts and chambers of commerce.

"This is a concern shared by the committee and the primary objective of our inquiry will be to investigate whether there is scope for better co-ordination or even rationalisation of these bodies.

"I am especially pleased that our next meeting of the committee will be held in Inverness, where we plan to hear from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, three local enterprise companies and Highland Council. By taking the inquiry outside of Edinburgh we should be able to get closer to the people and the organisations that matter most in this process.

"We shall also be calling on anyone with a direct interest in this area to submit written evidence to us. We may wish, at a later date, to invite some of those respondents to speak to the committee directly.

"This is a major inquiry for the Scottish Parliament and it is important that we listen to what people from all over Scotland have to say."

BACKGROUND NOTE

All members of the public who wish to attend must book tickets in advance through the Parliament’s Visitor Centre by calling 0131 348 5000 or the national local rate number below. All tickets must be booked by 5pm on Monday 18 October. No tickets will be allocated after this time and no members of the public without tickets will be admitted on the day.

Further information and the full remit of the inquiry can be found on the committee’s page of the Scottish Parliament’s web site. Written evidence can be submitted directly to the committee via email to enterprise.inquiry@scottish.parliament.uk

The deadline for the submission of evidence is 18 November.

The committee’s membership is as follows: Convener: John Swinney (SNP). Fergus Ewing (SNP), Annabel Goldie (Con), Nick Johnston (Con), Marilyn Livingstone (Lab), George Lyon (LD), Margo MacDonald (SNP), Duncan McNeil (Lab), Elaine Murray (Lab), Elaine Thomson (Lab), Allan Wilson (Lab).