Scottish Parliament to receive 1,000th public petition
CPET004/2006 | 4 October 2006
History will be made at the Scottish Parliament later today when MSPs take receipt of the Public Petitions Committee's 1,000th petition.
School pupils Dilusha Pathirana, Roisin Craig and James McKee (pictured) from All Saints Secondary School in Glasgow will present a petition to Presiding Officer George Reid MSP and Committee Convener Michael McMahon MSP at Holyrood later today.
The pupils' petition calls for the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to investigate the public health impact of cheaply available alcohol.
It follows 999 other petitions on subjects including greyhounds, birds of prey, the capercaillie, Roman remains, ancient caves, student fees; gulf war syndrome, G8, bus fares, ferry routes and bridge tolls.
Presiding Officer George Reid has been invited by the committee to accept the 1,000th petition. He was part of the consultative steering group which determined the Parliament should have a Public Petitions Committee.
He said:
"Many of the discussions that took place and shaped the Parliament that we now have were difficult.
"When it came to discussing a petitioning system, however, we were united. We were determined that we should be different, that we should be open and inclusive and that we should give the people access to their Parliament in a very Scots way.
"What grew out of those discussions was the Public Petitions Committee."
Michael McMahon MSP has been the convener of the committee since 2003 and has taken the Petitions Committee across Scotland.
He said:
"The Public Petitions Committee has had some tremendous successes in taking forward issues on behalf of the people of Scotland in the form of its first 1,000 petitions.
"It is important though that the committee strives to be ever more accessible so that people from every walk of life and every corner of Scotland have the opportunity to engage with their parliament through the petitions system.
"Over the past three years we have held committee meetings and public participation events in Dundee, Inverness, Ayr, Dunfermline and Jedburgh to let people know how to engage with their Parliament and we look forward to hosting similar events in the future.
"I look forward to the committee receiving its next 1000 petitions and to building on the successes of the past."
The pupils from All Saint's Secondary will give evidence on their petition at the Public Petitions Committee's next meeting which will take place at the school in Glasgow on Monday 30 October.
Background
The handover of the 1,000th petition will take place in Committee Room 2 of the Scottish Parliament at 12 noon today.
Also present at the handover will be past petitioners:
• Chris Daly who petitioned on Institutional Child Abuse in August 2002
• Mark Stevenson from the Scottish Burned Children's Club which petitioned to prevent scald injuries in November 2004
• Diana Johnson from the Blairingone and Saline Action Group who petitioned the Parliament on the spreading of sewage sludge on agricultural land in December 2000
Immediately after the handover of the 1,000th petition there will be a photo opportunity in the courtyard of Queensberry House at around 12.20pm.
For further information, the media contact is :
Richard Holligan: 0131 348 5605
E-mail: richard.holligan@scottish.parliament.uk
For further information, the Committee contact is:
David McGill, Clerk to the Committee: 0131 348 5186
E-mail: david.mcgill@scottish.parliament.uk
For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0845 270 0152 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk
Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk
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