Public Petitions Committee, 15 Nov 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Official Report 308KB pdf

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Current Petitions

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Trust Law (PE817)

The first current petition today is PE817, from Elaine Black and Ewan Kennedy, calling on the Scottish Parliament to reform the law of trust to ensure that, where a trust has been set up for the benefit of any local community, that local community is formally consulted by any party seeking to change the operation of the trust and the view of each member of that community is accountably considered before any change is made.

At its meeting on 8 March, the committee agreed to write to the Scottish Executive and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. Responses have now been received and circulated to members, together with comments from the petitioners on those responses. In addition, members should by now have received correspondence from sportscotland dated 9 November 2006.

I do not think that we can take the petition any further. That is a shame. Pauline McNeill and I and other members supported the petition and the efforts of Ewan Kennedy and Elaine Black over a long period. I note the response from the petitioners. They are absolutely right, in a way. The law does not work in their favour; it works in favour of developers. As things stand, given what the law is at the moment, we can only close the petition, unfortunately.

Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

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Railway Infrastructure and Services (Inverness, Thurso and Wick) (PE894)

Petition PE894, from the association of Caithness community councils, calls on the Scottish Parliament to consider investment in infrastructure, rolling stock and timetabling as part of a strategic root-and-branch review of the provision of rail services between Inverness, Thurso and Wick, with unrestricted thinking on how best to shorten journey times and ensure the continuing future of the railway to those destinations. Thought should also be given to ensuring that the communities of the Lairg loop are provided for.

At its meeting on 8 March, the committee agreed to invite the views of the petitioner on the responses received. That response is now with us and has been circulated. Should we write back to the Executive, asking for its views on the specific needs of the far north rail line and on how it will consider those as part of the work that is continuing? Once we get that response, we can pass it to the petitioner and ask for a comment. Are members happy with that?

Members indicated agreement.

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Skin Cancer (PE931)

PE931, from Helen Irons, on behalf of Skin Care Campaign Scotland, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to review its policy on tackling the skin cancer epidemic in Scotland. At its meeting on 8 February, the Committee agreed to write to NHS Health Scotland, Cancer Research UK, CancerBACUP Scotland, the Sunbed Association, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the Scottish Dermatology Society, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Executive. Responses have now been received and circulated. Do members have any suggestions?

It would be useful to get the views of the petitioner on the responses that have been received. I am particularly interested in the response from Cancer Research UK, which has stated:

"Scotland is experiencing a skin cancer epidemic."

Cancer Research UK strongly supports the petition.

Should we write back to the petitioner, asking for comments?

Members indicated agreement.

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Swords (Ban on Sale or Possession) (PE893)

Petition PE893, from Paul Macdonald, on behalf of the Save Our Swords campaign, calls on the Scottish Parliament to oppose the introduction of any ban on the sale or possession of swords that are used for legitimate historical, cultural, artistic, sporting, economic or religious purposes.

At its meeting on 22 March, the committee agreed to invite the views of the petitioner on the responses that had been received. The petitioner's response has now been received and circulated. Do members have any ideas about how to take the matter forward?

We should refer the petition to the Justice 2 Committee, which is considering the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Bill, on which I recently made a submission. The Executive has proposed, in effect, to ban the sale of swords but to have exemptions in cultural and historical situations, which may meet the petitioner's requirements. The Justice 2 Committee is the appropriate arena for the petition.

It was certainly worth while for the petitioner to lodge the petition. If the Executive takes his points on board, I hope that he will regard it as a success.

Do members agree that we should refer the petition to the Justice 2 Committee?

Members indicated agreement.

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Information Literacy (PE902)

Petition PE902, from Dr John Crawford, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to ensure that the national school curriculum recognises the importance of information literacy as a key lifelong learning skill.

At its meeting on 31 May, the committee agreed to invite the views of the petitioner on the responses that had been received, which have been circulated. Do members have any suggestions on how we should progress the petition?

All the responses seem to support the petitioner. The responses from the Scottish Executive, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, the Educational Institute of Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority in particular clearly support "A Curriculum for Excellence" as the way forward. The petitioner has therefore been pushing at an open door and no further action on the petition is needed.

Are members happy with that proposal?

Members indicated agreement.

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Fish Farms<br />(Protection of Rivers, Streams and Lochs) (PE941)

Petition PE941, from Frank M Buckley, on behalf of the Society for the Protection of Salmon and Sea Trout, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to ensure greater protection for the rivers, streams and lochs of Scotland, such as Loch Broom and Gruinard river, from fish farm developments.

At its meeting on 22 March, the committee agreed to write to the Scottish Salmon Producers Association, the Scottish Anglers National Association, the Fisheries Research Services, the Scottish Association for Marine Science, the institute of aquaculture at the University of Stirling and the Scottish Executive. Responses have been received and further correspondence from the petitioner has been circulated.

We have received many positive and helpful responses. In the light of those responses, it would be entirely appropriate to send the petition to the Environment and Rural Development Committee for consideration during its scrutiny of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill. The issue has been an on-going problem for many years and it has still not been addressed. I hope that the most up-to-date information that has been received from the respondents will help consideration of that bill.

Are members happy with that proposal?

Members indicated agreement.

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Judicial Proceedings (PE759)

Petition PE759, from Robbie the Pict, on behalf of the Scottish Peoples Mission, calls on the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to ensure that the names of judges who serve on a judicial bench are displayed and that a full tape recording or shorthand record is kept of court proceedings and made available to any party involved.

At its meeting on 22 March, the committee agreed to invite the views of the petitioner on the response from the Minister for Justice. Those views have been received and circulated. Perhaps we can consider the two issues separately. The first issue is the display of judges' names.

The request appears to have been successful. I am sure that Robbie the Pict will be pleased that at least part of his petition has been successful and that it has been agreed that judges on the bench should be named.

On the second issue, we should note the current statutory provision and agree that no further action should be taken.

Are members happy with that proposal?

Members indicated agreement.

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Roads, Pavements and Footpaths (Maintenance) (PE855)

Petition PE855, from Leslie Morrison, on behalf of Kirkside area residents, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to review the performance of all local authorities in Scotland in maintaining and repairing roads, pavements and footpaths.

At its meeting on 22 March, the committee agreed to write to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and to invite the views of the petitioner on the responses that had been received.

We should now seek the views of the petitioner on the responses received. Everyone is well aware that one of the big problems facing Scotland is the lack of road maintenance. We probably need to send the petition to be considered elsewhere, but in the first instance we should seek the views of the petitioner.

I am informed that the petitioner's views were sought and he had nothing to add. That is why there is no response from him. He has had the opportunity to see the comments that have been made on the petition. We cannot do much more.

I am surprised and disappointed that no response came in from COSLA. I beg your pardon if I am wrong.

You are perhaps referring to an earlier briefing. The response from COSLA was made available and the petitioner did not comment on it; he did not want to add anything.

We got a response from COSLA, but the petitioner did not have anything further to say.

I have sympathy with the petitioners, particularly about pavements and footpaths. In both transportation policy and health policy, there is a hierarchy. The hierarchy as far as transportation is concerned is that pedestrians should be number 1, cyclists should be number 2, public transport should be number 3 and so on down the line. If we do not provide first-class footpaths, we are in some difficulty as a nation when it comes to promoting the health message.

I mention that because I am sympathetic to the petitioner. Whether people can do more is another matter, but clearly the evidence that we got from the Scottish Executive on the performance of Scottish councils showed that in 2003-04 around 45 per cent of the road network either was in need of repair or required further investigation. It is important to have that information. We ought to pass it on to the Local Government and Transport Committee.

The Local Government and Transport Committee needs to investigate the issue in depth. I know that historically there has been underspending on road and footway maintenance. The petitioner could perhaps argue that elected councillors have made choices to spend money that might have gone into such maintenance on other services, such as education or social work.

COSLA rightly highlights the arguably unsatisfactory situation with regard to the activities of what we usually call the public utilities, most of which are now privatised. COSLA will also point to what it regards as historical underfunding of this element of local government funding. The most appropriate course of action is to refer the matter to the Local Government and Transport Committee.

I agree.

I have no difficulty with that suggestion. As I am a member of the Local Government and Transport Committee, I know that this issue comes up. We have had regular meetings with the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland, so there is an on-going discussion. It would do no harm for that committee to get sight of the petition and the information that is contained in it.

At the Local Government and Transport Committee, could you make the important linkage with the health aspect, especially in relation to footpaths? If a number 1 priority for the Executive is that we get out of our cars and get on to our bikes, take public transport or walk, it will obviously be more encouraging if people have good footpaths to walk on.

We will send the petition to the Local Government and Transport Committee and see what happens from there.