Opposition Leader Kim Swan said yesterday there was cause for optimism that parliamentary committees would hold their meetings in public in the future.

The St. George's West MP said a decision by the Rules and Privileges Committee of the House of Assembly — of which he is a member — to allow the Joint Select Committee on Education to meet in public on a trial basis was a "giant step forward".

Speaker Stanley Lowe announced what he described as the "landmark decision" on Friday night and said the Rules and Privileges Committee was considering allowing the same for all parliamentary committees.

Mr. Swan said: "From my point of view I thought it was a huge step forward. To do it on a trial basis gives us the opportunity to see how these things work and what needs to be put in place to make sure it works efficiently and effectively going forward. "I think the fact that the committee concurred, certainly we have to look at it with optimism. I think the decision itself on Friday is sufficient to provide a bit of optimism. I think the committee was very much on board. It is something very positive."

This newspaper's A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign has called for all parliamentary committees to meet in public, as has the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. The Rules and Privileges Committee is chaired by Mr. Lowe. Its members are Premier Ewart Brown, Mr. Swan, former Premier Jennifer Smith, Government Whip Glenn Blakeney and Opposition Chief Whip John Barritt.

They agreed last Thursday that the cross-party Joint Select Committee on Education could meet in public on a trial basis after a request from chairman Neletha Butterfield.