Chamber and committees

Mr Torrance has offered a suggestion as to how we might proceed. Are colleagues content to proceed on that basis?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2079, which was lodged by Martin James Keatings, calls on the Scottish Parliament to ask the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to provide for exemptions in paying medical facility parking charges and to create a new classification of parking badge for care givers.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 15 May 2024, when we agreed to write to Disability Equality Scotland, COSLA, Carers Scotland and the Scottish Government. We have now received responses from all those organisations, which are detailed in our papers for today’s meeting.

In its response, COSLA stated that it is

“fully committed to supporting unpaid carers”,

and that it supports the local implementation of the cross-Government carers strategy. It goes on to note the importance of parking charges as a source of income for local authorities, and it suggests that further work would need to be undertaken to quantify the cost of the petition’s proposed policy and how potential lost revenue could be reimbursed to local authorities.

In its response, the Scottish Government highlights that the blue badge scheme is designed to allow disabled people who experience severe barriers to their mobility to park closer to their destination, and that it applies only to on-street parking. The Government suggests that a separate concessionary scheme, such as a carers badge, would present significant challenges for administration, resourcing, enforcement, and measures to prevent fraud and misuse.

The Government also offers information on the introduction of the carer support payment, which became available across Scotland in November 2024. Further benefits, including the carers allowance supplement, might be available to carers who are on low incomes, and unpaid carers are encouraged to contact their social work department or local carer centre to find out what support it might be able to offer them.

Disability Equality Scotland has provided information about the financial challenges that disabled people experience and expresses its support for the introduction of legislation to provide for exemption from paying medical facility parking charges for disabled people, and for the creation of a new classification of parking badge for those who provide transport to disabled people for medical reasons.

Similarly, Carers Scotland has shared information from its 2023 state of caring survey, which found that 29 per cent of unpaid carers supported the person or persons they care for with 10 or more medical appointments in the previous year, while 69 per cent of unpaid carers visited community pharmacies to collect prescriptions on behalf of the person they care for.

Carers Scotland also draws our attention to work that City of Edinburgh Council is undertaking to develop a carers permit, which would be limited to those who can provide evidence that they are in receipt of the carers allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions, which is now Social Security Scotland’s carer support payment, or carers credit. It is Carers Scotland’s view that the petitioner’s proposal to introduce a carers permit has merit and warrants further exploration by the Scottish Government.

Do colleagues have any suggestions on how we might proceed?

Mr Ewing, do you have a follow-up to that, or has that answered your question?

I am conscious of time—

Are colleagues content to close the petition?

Members indicated agreement.

We come to a series of petitions that relate to road infrastructure. At our previous meeting on 2 April, we heard from the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop, and from Transport Scotland officials on a number of road infrastructure-related petitions. That provided an opportunity to explore general issues that affect the trunk road network as well as to get updates on the individual petitions that we have been considering throughout the parliamentary session.

PE1610, lodged by Matt Halliday, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to upgrade the A75 Euro route to dual carriageway for its entirety as soon as possible. PE1657, lodged by Donald McHarrie on behalf of the A77 action group, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to dual the A77 from Ayr’s Whitletts roundabout south to the two ferry ports located at Cairnryan, including the point at which the A77 connects with the A75.

When the committee considered the petitions with the cabinet secretary on 2 April, we heard that £64 million has been spent on the completion of five major improvements to the A77, including the Maybole bypass, and that more than £50 million has been spent on six major road improvement projects on the A75. We also heard that work is progressing to design and assess options for creating a bypass at Springholm and Crocketford.

The Scottish Government held an initial meeting with the petitioners in March and has set regular six-monthly meetings between the campaign groups and Transport Scotland. The cabinet secretary stated that, given the existing promises to dual other roads, it would not be realistic to commit to new dualling projects.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action on PE1610?

On that basis, are colleagues content to close the petition?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2024, which was lodged by Cael Scott, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to create a national public information programme to raise awareness of the impacts of using steroids, selective androgen receptor modulators and other performance-enhancing drugs. According to the petition, that programme should have a particular focus on the impact on young people between the ages of 16 and 25; should work with community learning and development practitioners, gyms and community coaches to raise awareness; and should develop a public health campaign to highlight the negative impacts of PEDs and encourage regular health check-ups for users, and a screening programme to allow users to test the safety of their PEDs.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 29 May 2024, when we agreed to write to the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy. Our late colleague Christina McKelvie, the then minister, responded to the committee on 27 June 2024. As this is the first opportunity that the committee has had to do so, I offer my condolences on behalf of the committee to all those who continue to mourn her loss.

In her response to the committee, the minister confirmed that the focus of the early interventions for children and young people working group has been on the treatment service in general, and it has not considered image and performance-enhancing drugs specifically. She also mentioned work to develop a framework that would include treatment standards for children and young people who are supported for any drug or alcohol problem, which was expected to support the introduction of the charter of rights for people affected by substance use that was launched, as our paper notes, in December 2024.

In her response, the minister also stated that the Scottish Government’s policy on IPEDs remains that it will continue to support Police Scotland in tackling any criminality, and to support local treatment and recovery services to provide help for people who have been impacted by drugs of any kind, including IPEDs.

We have also received a submission from the petitioner that responds to the minister’s submission and draws our attention to the mortality risks that are associated with IPED use, such as an estimated death rate of more than 550 people per year in Scotland. The petitioner also highlights that many IPEDs are legal and available to purchase online, and they suggest that the Scottish Government’s position of working with Police Scotland to tackle criminality, as well as a lack of local advice services, will result in no action being taken to address the risks, including death, of IPED use in Scotland. So, the petitioner is not terribly impressed.

Do members have any suggestions about what we should do in the light of the information that we have received and the petitioner’s submission?

That draws to a conclusion our consideration of the petition in this session of Parliament.

Our colleague Liz Smith has a member’s bill before the Parliament, which is about the right to outdoor learning in the general sense. That could be related, too.

Finally, since her daughter Darcey is at the heart of all that we have been discussing this morning, we will hear from Kirsty Doig.