PE/S3/08/12/M

12th Meeting, 2008 (Session 3)

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Present:

Apologies were received from Bashir Ahmed, Nigel Don and Robin Harper.

Also present: Jackie Baillie, Fergus Ewing, Karen Gillon, Trish Godman and Gil Paterson.

The meeting opened at 2.00 pm.

1. Consideration of new petitions: The Committee considered and agreed action on the following new petitions—

PE1140 Petition by Alasdair Ferguson, on behalf of the A82 Partnership, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to immediately begin phased improvements to the A82 Tarbet to Fort William road to improve safety and bring this trans-European lifeline route to a standard fit for the 21st century.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government (covering Transport Scotland), Scotland TranServ, HITRANS, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, Road Haulage Association, Automobile Association, RAC, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, NHS Highland, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Argyll and Bute Council, Highland Council, Renfrewshire Council, West Dunbartonshire Council, Scottish Ambulance Service, Strathclyde Police and Northern Constabulary seeking responses to the issues raised in the petition.

PE1148 Petition by Sam Coulter calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure the continued provision of local community libraries and the vital social and educational role they serve within the local community.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, a selection of local authorities, including Renfrewshire Council and City of Glasgow Council, and the Scottish Library and Information Council seeking responses to the issues raised in the petition.

PE1159 Petition by Mrs S Kozak calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide NHS Scotland and other relevant organisations and individuals, including veterans of the Gulf War in 1991, with all necessary information and facilities in order that veterans exposed to nerve agents and their preventative medications are assessed, advised and treated appropriately and fatalities are prevented.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, a selection of NHS boards, including NHS Highland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Royal College of Anaesthetists Board in Scotland, Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, Gulf Veterans Association and Erskine Hospital seeking responses to the issues raised in the petition. It also agreed to draw the petition to the attention of the proposed Cross-Party Group on Supporting Veterans in Scotland once established.

PE1167 Petition by Christine McNally, on behalf of Clydesdale Befriending Group and other supporting organisations, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to recognise and promote the positive impacts that befriending services for adults with learning disabilities have on its Same As You Strategy and to ensure the provision of adequate funding to support befriending opportunities and promote social inclusion.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Befriending Network Scotland, Big Lottery Fund, Enable Scotland, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and a selection of local authorities seeking responses to the issues raised in the petition. It also agreed to invite the Scottish Parliament Information Centre to undertake some further analysis and research into befriending services.

PE1166 Petition by Elaine Ramsay calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Act 2008, due to the unfair financial burden it places on all graduates, particularly those who continued with post graduate study after April 2007 to seek vocational training.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government seeking a response to the issues raised in the petition.

PE1168 Petition by Angus Macmillan calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 to remove local authority powers from national park authorities and establish them solely as advisory bodies and to remove such parts of the act to ensure that residents within the park boundaries have the same level of democracy as elsewhere in the country.

The Committee agreed to close consideration of the petition on the grounds that the Scottish Government is undertaking a strategic review of national park functions which will look at the constitution, powers and organisation of national park authorities. In closing the petition, it also agreed to pass a copy to the Scottish Government for consideration as part of this review.

PE1169 Petition by Margaret Forbes, on behalf of Scottish Women Against Pornography, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce and enforce measures that ensure that magazines and newspapers containing sexually graphic covers are not displayed at children’s eye-level or below or adjacent to children’s titles and comics and should be screen sleeved before being placed on the shelf.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, National Federation of Retail Newsagents, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People and the Scottish Retail Consortium seeking responses to the issues raised in the petition.

PE1170 Petition by Maria Lynch calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to indicate how it ensures that Scotland's colleges and universities deliver, through best value public funding, relevant and quality further education courses as sought by local communities and whether the standards of accountability should be reviewed to encourage better management of financial resources.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council, Association of Scotland’s Colleges, Scottish Trades Union Congress, Educational Institute of Scotland and Learn Direct Scotland seeking responses to the issues raised in the petition. It also agreed to pass a copy of the petition to the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee for information.

2. Consideration of current petitions: The Committee considered and agreed action on the following current petitions—

PE812 Petition by Caroline Paterson, on behalf of ‘Stirling Before Pylons’, calling for the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to acknowledge the potential health hazards associated with long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields from high voltage transmission lines and to introduce as a matter of urgency effective planning regulations to protect public health.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government asking how it will ensure that the principle of precautionary approach is being adopted by local planning authorities when considering application for new developments close to overhead power lines and whether and when it will undertake analysis of the broad conclusions being formed through current and available national and international scientific research.

PE932 Petition by Stella Macdonald, on behalf of CRAG (Citizen’s Rights Action group), calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to review the Supporting People Funding arrangements to ensure that vulnerable adults are in receipt of the responsive services required to keep them healthy.

The Committee agreed to close the petition on the grounds that the Scottish Government and the petitioner have recently met to discuss the issues raised in the petition, which the petitioner has acknowledged produced a satisfactory outcome, and that the Scottish Government has committed to continuing to work with the petitioner.

PE960 Petition by Claire McCready calling for the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to ensure that cranial abnormalities of babies, such as deformational plagiocephaly/torticollis, are properly recognised and treated by evaluating babies at birth and at 6 weeks; that appropriate advice is available to parents, including repositioning advice; and that cranial remoulding therapy is available free of charge from the NHS.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government seeking a response to the petitioner’s letter and, in particular, when a revised version of Ready Steady Baby including information on cranial abnormalities will be published.

PE988 Petition by Ian Macpherson, on behalf of Harvieston Villas Residents, calling for the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to increase the Home Loss Payment.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government formally inviting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change to give oral evidence before the Committee after the summer recess on where matters stand and how the Scottish Government will progress this issue.

PE1048 Petition by Kitty Bell, calling for the Scottish Parliament to alter NPPG19, to correct an anomaly (paragraph 21.4) thus ensuring that the “precautionary approach” also applies to pre-school children, and all children at play, thereby giving them the same protection from telecommunication masts as that of their older brothers and sisters whilst at school.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government seeking a definite timescale for the review of NPPG19 and for information on the guidelines that are available to local authorities on the precautionary principle and which reiterate that no anomaly currently exists between school and pre-school children. It also agreed to invite the Scottish Government to meet with the petitioner on this matter.

PE1080 Petition by Lawrence Marshall, on behalf of the Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG), calling for the re-introduction of local passenger services on the Edinburgh South Suburban Railway.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government and the City of Edinburgh Council to seek a timetable for future action on this issue.

PE1084 Petition by Walter Baxter calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to take immediate action to halt the merger of Scotland’s four neurological units and to give proper consideration to the impact of this for people in the Aberdeen and north of Scotland areas with brain injuries or trauma who would have to travel south for life saving treatment.

The Committee agreed to close the petition on the grounds that the Scottish Government has announced that neurosurgery services will be retained at all four sites in Scotland following the report from the Neuroscience Implementation Group that highlighted the lack of clear evidence to support a single site. Further, that the petitioner will be involved in the work being taken forward in developing the detail of the Managed Clinical Network for national neurological standards and services.

PE1089 Petition by Morag Parnell, on behalf of the Women's Environmental Network Scotland, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to investigate any links between exposure to hazardous toxins in the environment and in the workplace and the rising incidence of cancers and other chronic illnesses.

The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government asking it to consider the evidence that the Committee has received; what action it will take in the light of this; and respond to the specific suggestions of the petitioner about a cancer prevention campaign, toxin reduction legislation and establishing a working group to consider and make recommendations on the issues raised in the petition.

PE1092 Petition by Ronald Mason calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that the long-term sick, elderly and disabled receive care on the basis of need and, in particular, that such care is provided seven days a week.

The Committee agreed to close consideration of this petition on the grounds that local authorities have a statutory obligation to provide services for people who have been assessed as requiring seven day care assistance, that services are being reviewed to meet this demand and that adequate procedures, for example, the Care Commission, are in place to deal with the monitoring and inspection of such services.

3. Notification of new petitions: The Committeenoted the new petitions lodged since the last meeting.

4. Public Petitions Process Inquiry: The Committee considered and agreedits approach to the inquiry. Specifically, it agreed—

1. The following remit—

With regards to petition PE1065 and the public petitions process,—

• investigate, identify and implement measures to improve awareness of, access to, and participation in the public petitions process;
• identify and implement initiatives to assist in the effective and efficient processing of petitions, including what role ICT can play; and
• investigate existing methods of scrutiny of petitions and implement new methods or practices to further improve scrutiny

in order to bring about benefits to key players in the petitions process such as potential and actual petitioners, the Public Petitions Committee, the wider Parliament including its other committees, the Scottish Government and other public bodies.’

2. The following questions in relation to each part of the remit—

Investigate, identify and implement measures to improve awareness of, access to, and participation in the public petitions process

• Are you aware of the existence of the Parliament’s public petitions process?
• How did you find out about it?
• Would you say you found this easy or difficult?
• How do you think we might improve awareness of the public petitions system?
• In terms of the material produced about the public petitions system, do you think this is helpful, understandable and easily accessible?
• What improvements do you think we could make to the information we make available about the public petitions process?
• What other information do you think we should provide and why?
• In terms of information, has anything hindered your access to, or participation in, the public petitions process?

Identify and implement initiatives to assist in the effective and efficient processing of petitions, including what role ICT can play

• How can the processing of public petitions be improved?
• What further methods could the Public Petitions Committee implement to process petitions more effectively?
• What role can ICT play in making the processing of petitions more effective and efficient?
• Do you have any suggestions about what forms of social software we might consider using in broadening participation in the public petitions process?
• (Social software enables people to rendezvous, connect or collaborate through computer-mediated communication)
• How can the Scottish Parliament’s e-petitions procedure be enhanced?
• What additional features would you like to see on the e-petitions website?

Investigate existing methods of scrutiny of petitions and implement new methods or practices to further improve scrutiny

• What are your views on the current methods of scrutiny that are used by the Public Petitions Committee?
• What further initiatives and methods could the Public Petitions Committee use to improve the scrutiny of petitions?
• From your experience as a petitioner, what would you like to have seen done differently?
• What do you think worked well and how do we improve that further?

3.That commissioned research is considered into why petitions are not received from certain areas of the country and parts of the community.

4. The list of organisations to send a targeted call for evidence to as set out in the Annex to paper PE/S3/08/12/4.

5. To commence its inquiry on 26 June 2008 with a call for written evidence and that a further paper to the Committee outlining the approach after the call for evidence has been completed is considered by it in September.

6. The following provisional timetable for the inquiry—

The meeting closed at 4.43 pm.

Fergus D. Cochrane
Clerk to the Committee
Room TG.01, The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
0131 348 5186
fergus.cochrane@scottish.parliament.uk