Chamber and committees

It is really important that the letter should belong to Scotland, but there does not seem to be any harm in loaning it to England. It seems as though negotiations are already in place for that, but I would be minded to keep the petition open and write to the National Archives and the NRS to seek their views on the action that is called for.

I have a lot of sympathy with the petition, but, unfortunately, I do not think that it is in our gift to be able to do anything about it. Our pay is worked out independently, which is how it should be. We do not have control over that.

I think that we need to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders because, given the SPCB’s response, there is nothing further that we can do about it. However, I say that with a heavy heart.

It is important that we keep this petition open. I would like to refer it to the Social Justice, Housing and Local Government Committee, but it is probably worth getting in touch with the committee to see whether it is able to take it on board in its work plan.

We also need some clarity about how the pause on planning decisions is being implemented by the Scottish Government. I do not know whether it is worth us getting in contact with it or whether we should leave that to the Social Justice, Housing and Local Government Committee if we are referring the petition to it.

I agree with getting in touch with the Government and the stakeholder groups. It seems as though there is a gap in regulation around beehives, but it is important that we think about our ecosystems when dealing with bees.

This issue is complex and affects a very small group of people. We should keep the petition open and seek more input from the likes of the Association for Real Change Scotland, the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection—CELCIS—at the University of Strathclyde, the National Social Work Agency, the Fostering Network and the talking about tomorrow project.

It seems sensible to me that we get some more information about the issue. People who can afford another property will have more money and may be able to pay the tax, so it is worth finding out more about it. I would also be interested in hearing from islanders who feel that they need another home on the mainland because of ferry services, so I wonder whether we could include that.

This is a very important petition. We need to recognise that childcare is not the same as schooling; parents often need to be very close to their very young children, particularly if they want to maintain breastfeeding or maximise their time with them. It would be really useful to move this forward.

I note the Scottish Government’s commitment to exploring cross-boundary provision with COSLA as well as the context of wider reform, so it would be useful to write to the Scottish Government to request that the issues raised in the petition be considered as part of the reform process.

It would be useful to keep it open and to write to the Scotland’s Towns Partnership to seek an update on the work of the strategic group on BID operational effectiveness.

As an adult who is resident in Ayrshire and Arran, I have not bothered asking for an assessment because I know that they are not doing them for adults. Waiting times are too long for young people, and Ayrshire and Arran has among the longest waiting times.

Parents need to fight for their kids to get the help that they need in schools. The schools recognise that many neurodivergent young people will be undiagnosed and they aim to be helpful, but they have a lack of guidance and resources to provide the support that those young people need.

The petition’s request is not an unreasonable ask; childhood is not long, and the time that is spent waiting matters a huge amount. Although I recognise that the issue will take effort to address, and that many things are in train, I would like to see an update on how the Government has worked with children, parents, schools and medical professionals to significantly reduce waiting times.

Therefore, I would like to keep the petition open and write to the Scottish Government to ask what steps it is taking to reduce waiting times and whether it has considered creating a risk-based pathway, particularly for children who display significant risk behaviours. We should also ask for an update on the interim report of the cross-sector task force that was established to support the delivery of the national neurodevelopmental specification for children and young people. I would also like us to write to relevant organisations such as the Donaldson Trust, the National Autistic Society Scotland, Scottish Autism and the national autism implementation team to get their views on the petition.

I am also interested in finding out why GPs are not doing the research. Do they not have the time to do it? Do they have the facilities in place so that they can get on with it? It would be worth asking that question, too.