Public Petitions Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, December 8, 2016

Official Report 464KB pdf

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New Petitions

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Recycling (PE1622)

Agenda item 2 is consideration of new petitions. PE1622, by Stephen Duff, calls for the failure to recycle to be made a criminal offence. The petition has collected 10 signatures in support of it.

Members have a copy of the petition and background information in the Scottish Parliament information centre briefing, which also provides information on the progress that has been made on managing household waste in Scotland and how it measures against the Scottish Government’s targets, and on recycling arrangements elsewhere in the UK and Europe.

Do members have any views on what action we should take on the petition?

I just wonder how it would be enforceable.

There is an enforcement issue, but I was quite intrigued. I confess that, when I first looked at the petition, I thought that the failure to recycle could not be made a criminal offence but, as the background information makes clear, different countries have moved to create not just incentives to comply but disincentives for not complying. I found that quite interesting.

The issue is very complex and enforcement would be very difficult. It is really up to the local authorities to address the need to bring recycling in their areas up to the targets. It is not realistic to say that we should introduce legislation in that respect.

I wonder about support with regard to local authorities. We and the local authorities have to meet what are quite significant targets. I presume that, if a target is established, there must be a means of reaching it. I do not know what the answer is, but I feel that the petition at least asks questions that might be worth pursuing.

I think so, too. I live in a flat, and we cannot recycle as we have no recycling facilities. I do not know how these things would be done, because providing that service would mean an enormous change in approach from the local authorities. I am not saying that they should not do so, but I do not think that what is proposed is the way to do it.

I am interested in hearing thoughts on the kind of legislation that can be brought into play and what that would mean for local authority enforcement. I am not particularly knowledgeable on the matter, but I would be interested in finding out where people think that legislation would take us.

We could ask the Scottish Government how it proposes to reach the astonishing target of 70 per cent by 2025 for

“recycling/composting and preparing for re-use ... waste from households”.

The petitioner has said that, with the recent rate of increases in recycling, it would take 42 years to achieve the Scottish Government’s target. I will not be here to see that, but there you go. I will have been recycled myself by that point.

No, convener. You will have been pickled and put in the foyer.

I have five recycling bins in my house, and I pretty much recycle everything. I sometimes find my kids in them—it is ridiculous.

We have to do our own recycling, because bins are not provided to us. Obviously, sorting all of that out is a massive undertaking. There is also an issue to do with deprivation and affluence; more affluent areas are better at recycling than more deprived areas. The issue is huge.

Yes. That is a good point.

Of course, issues such as littering and not using bins properly are sometimes related to antisocial behaviour. Am I right in saying that although we are not convinced that making the failure to recycle a criminal offence is the way to go, the petition raises quite interesting questions, and that it might be worth asking the Scottish Government for its views on the action that is called for in the context of its targets on recycling and the reuse of waste from homes?

That would be worth doing.

Argyll and Bute Council, in which I am a councillor, has just gone through a massive change, and we are now going down the route of giving much better information to all the communities and towns. That approach is beginning to work well, and we have quite a high record of recycling.

For example, we looked at our own household recycling rates. I have one ordinary bin for standard waste—we call it the green bin—and it now has only a quarter of what was in it at the beginning of the year. We can recycle so much more, but the problem is that people are not being told by individual councils exactly what they can recycle.

10:15  

So it might not be about legislation.

No. It is about empowering local authorities. That is what we have done—we have empowered officers to go out and persuade people. If necessary, local authorities can bring in byelaws or regulations at that level. It is down to the local authorities to do it, because they have teams that can go around. We are not quite into photographing bins and warning people, although that happens in some areas. It is an education process. This proposal is really taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut, whereas education and communication could be done. In my area, more things are coming out over the course of the year. I do not know whether the same is happening in other areas, but certainly my council has made a big effort on the issue.

I would just like to know which bin I am supposed to put out each week. That would be really helpful.

I concur with Maurice Corry that this is the responsibility of the local authorities. I am aware that there is a pot of money sitting at Zero Waste Scotland that local authorities can tap into to improve the education of residents on recycling. There is money for that, but it is up to local authorities to tap into it.

The story is not entirely a negative one. People recycle more than they have ever done in the past. I expect that my children’s generation is much more aware of the issue than the previous generation was, which is something.

As well as writing to the Scottish Government, we might also write to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to clarify the issue. COSLA might feel that it needs some legislative support. I note that, according to evidence that we have been given, the idea of giving people incentives—carrots as opposed to sticks—does not work. We could usefully flag up those issues and see what response we get. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Absolutely—COSLA should be brought into the issue.

Thank you. We thank the petitioner for raising the issues.

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Adultery (Definition) (PE1624)

The next new petition is PE1624, by Akri Jones, on the definition of adultery. Members have a copy of the petition and a briefing note. The briefing explains that the issues raised in the petition were considered in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill, which became an act in 2014. The petitioner brought a petition in substantially similar terms in the previous session of Parliament after that bill was passed, and that previous petition was closed on 31 March 2015 on the basis that there was no intention to legislate further in the area in session 4.

The petitioner contends that the current definition of adultery breaches equalities and human rights law. As the issues were considered by the Parliament fairly recently, I suggest that, in the first instance, we write to the Scottish Government seeking its current view on the issue raised by the petition and asking whether there is an intention to consult or legislate on the issue in the current session.

I am happy to hear members’ views.

That is the best course of action. We had clarification in the previous session that there was no intention to legislate, but there is every possibility that that could change.

I agree. I have some sympathy with the petition and I think that there is definitely merit in pursuing it, on the basis of equality.

I agree with Rona Mackay. Times have moved on, and we are where we are with civil partnerships and marriages between same-sex couples. We just have to move forward. I agree that it has to be a Government issue.

In that case, do we agree to write to the Scottish Government, seeking its view on the petition and asking whether it intends to legislate on the issue in the current session of Parliament?

Members indicated agreement.

Brian Whittle and I are named in the petitioner’s comments. We were written to, but that was as far as it got. We did not express views one way or the other on the issue.

I received an email from the petitioner, and I acknowledged receipt of said petition. All of a sudden, my name and that of Maurice Corry appear as names of people whose support has been sought by the petitioners. I just wish to note that—it is slightly misleading.

I think that most people will be aware of the distinction between seeking and receiving support.