Public Petitions Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Official Report 376KB pdf

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Work Programme

Item 4 is our work programme. The clerk has presented a paper to the committee, and I invite comments on it. The business schedule is tight at the moment, and members have been involved in lots of frenetic activity, so should we reconsider the external meeting that is planned for 17 May? We will reschedule it for later in the calendar year.

I am conscious that, as of the coming Thursday, it will be one year until the Scottish Parliament elections; every soul around the table is aware of that. We are coming into the final year of the current committee and there are still some pressing issues and a backlog that we need to sort out. I am keen that the committee that succeeds us does not inherit the backlog that we inherited and felt was a burden. Does the committee agree not to proceed with the external meeting?

Members indicated agreement.

We will revert to holding a meeting at Holyrood on Tuesday 18 May. We could aim to hold the external meeting on 20 September in Arran, weather permitting.

As convinced by the clerk’s paper and members’ experience, we are considering entering into partnership with the Scottish Youth Parliament conference and holding a young petitioners event on 29 October. We will schedule that in as well, with the committee’s approval.

I endorse the view that I took from the clerk’s paper that we need to give serious thought to our legacy to the next committee. That is not because I particularly want to be kind, although that is always a good move, but because I am very aware—

Kindness is a worthy emotion.

Indeed. We have worked our way into the petitions and gradually got to know them. Rhona Brankin commented on one that came to us before she got here, and I am sure that we all remember when we started. We should do our level best to tie up as many petitions as we can so that the ones that get carried over are the ones that need to be carried over and not just ones that we have failed to deal with. That would be a kindness and it would be worth while.

You are gladdening the heart of the committee clerk with those words. I am aware that we have just considered a couple of petitions that we want to keep open for good reason, but we might have to be clearer. Ultimately, our judgment should be about whether we can still add to a petition. If that is our judgment, we can decide to continue with a petition.

If there is nothing else on that item, we are now at the end of the meeting. I thank members for their participation.

Meeting closed at 15:45.