MSPs go back to school today
for 1,000th public petition
CPET006/2006 | 23 October 2006
James McKee, Roisin Craig and Dilusha Pathirana with convener Michael McMahon MSP. |
A group of MSPs will go back into the classroom today, to hear evidence from the teenage students who lodged the Scottish Parliament’s 1,000th public petition.
Dilusha Pathirana, Roisin Craig and James McKee from All Saints Secondary School in Glasgow made history earlier this month, when they presented the 1,000th public petition to Presiding Officer George Reid MSP and committee convener Michael McMahon MSP.
The pupils’ petition called on the Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to investigate the public health impact of cheaply available alcohol.
Now the nine MSPs who sit on the Public Petitions Committee will visit the school this morning to consider the students’ evidence as part of a public committee meeting which begins at 10.30am.
The petitioning students will present their evidence during the face-to-face meeting. The pupils’ evidence was gathered by conducting research in the shops around their school where they found alcohol on sale for less than the price of a bottle of water.
Convener of the committee, Michael McMahon MSP, said:
"The committee is looking forward to visiting Glasgow today to listen to the students’ evidence in person and hear from local petitioners on a range of subjects.
"We believe that it is vital 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 this way.”
The students’ petition will be the first of eight petitions being considered by the committee, all which have been submitted by petitioners from the Glasgow area.
These include a petition on how prepared Scotland’s schools are to deal with nuclear accidents, a petition calling for an inquiry into the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland , and a petition concerning prescribing arrangements for Mesothelioma sufferers.
Also being considered is research on the Public Petitions System commissioned by the Committee which is being published today. Members of the Committee will discuss briefly the issues raised by the independent research.
Copies of the research will be available at the meeting and on the Scottish Parliament website, along with further details of the Public Petitions Committee.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/petitions/index.htm
The school visit marks the fifth in a rolling programme of events aimed at promoting the public petitions system across Scotland. With previous events held in Dundee, Inverness and Ayr, the meetings have been aimed at helping people and groups to get more involved in the political process.
Details of the Public Petitions Committee are available on the Scottish Parliament website at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/petitions/index.htm
Background
The petitions being considered by the Public Petitions Committee are:
PE1000 Health implications of the sale of cheap alcohol
PE996 The preparedness of Scotland’s schools to deal with the consequences of nuclear accidents/incidents
PE995 Inquiry into the number of drug related deaths in Scotland
PE998 A national framework of support for carers of children
PE1006 Prescribing arrangements for Mesothelioma sufferers
PE535 & PE888 Institutional Child Abuse
PE913 To adopt a Play Strategy that recognises the right of all children in Scotland to a safe, accessible and challenging play environment
PE945 & PE955 Inadequacy of the existing legislation for parental consultation over school closures
For further information, the media contact is:
Richard Holligan: 0131 348 5605
E-mail: richard.holligan@scottish.parliament.uk
Public Petitions Committee contact information
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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