Chamber and committees

Are colleagues minded to support that proposal?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank Gemma Clark for both of her petitions but, in view of the response that the committee has received, we feel that appropriate work has been taken forward and that there is no further role that the committee can usefully perform.

Agenda item 2 is consideration of new petitions, the first of which is PE2036. I am happy to say to Rebecca Smith, who lodged the petition—as I say to all those who might be tuning in to hear consideration of their petition—that, ahead of the committee’s first consideration of the petition, we seek the view of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament information centre, SPICe, which is the Parliament’s independent research service. The committee does that so that we can have an informed initial discussion, rather than postponing a discussion until we have sought that information.

The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to write off student loan debts incurred by paramedic science students before the current bursary was introduced. The SPICe briefing notes that student loan repayment conditions are set out in the Repayment of Student Loans (Scotland) Regulations 2000 and the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009, as amended. The briefing explains that, under current legislation, student loan debt can be cancelled in the following situations only: 30 years after the loan holder became eligible to repay it, if the loan holder dies or if the loan holder becomes permanently unfit for work.

The Scottish Government’s position is that students who commenced their paramedic science degree before the introduction of the bursary will still need to pay back any student loans that they have received. The response states that there are no plans to write-off previous student loans for that cohort of students. That seems to be a fairly clear direction. Do colleagues have any suggestions?

Mr Torrance, is there anything that you would like to come back on?

Our next continued petition is PE1859, which was lodged by Barry Blyther, who I see is with us in the public gallery—he is a faithful attendee when his petition is being considered.

The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 to allow mountain hares to be hunted for the purposes of falconry. We last considered this petition at our meeting on 18 January 2023.

As the committee will recall—well, some of our committee will not, as certain members have changed over time—we took evidence from the petitioner and the Minister for Energy and the Environment. Following those evidence sessions, we had some questions for the minister, Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and our friends from NatureScot. A summary of the issues raised, replies received and additional submissions from the petitioner has been provided by the Scottish Parliament information centre and is available in the meeting pack.

As I said, the petition asks for legislation to be changed to allow mountain hares to be hunted for the purposes of falconry, and we have received representations from the petitioner to reiterate that he is asking that falconers be exempt from any risk of prosecution for actively hunting mountain hares.

As members will see from the minister’s—I think disappointing—response and recall from the evidence session that we held, the Government does not intend to make such a change. That is a disappointing position for us to be in at this stage. Do colleagues have any comments on the issues or suggestions for how we should respond and proceed?

PE1867, which was lodged by Scott Macmillan, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to encourage the Scottish Qualifications Authority to establish a national qualification in British Sign Language—BSL—at Scottish credit and qualifications framework level 2. As with previous considerations of the petition, a BSL interpretation of our discussion will be available on the Parliament’s BSL channel following today’s meeting.

We last considered the petition on 8 March, when we agreed to write to the Scottish Government. We have received a response from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, which provides details of the engagement and consultation that have taken place to inform the development of the BSL national plan for 2023 to 2029.

Members will have noted in our papers that the Scottish Government consultation on the new BSL national plan ran over the summer and closed on 3 September 2023. Given the progress that we have made and the responses that we have received, do colleagues have any suggestions?

PE1918, which was lodged by Kate Freedman, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to reform sex education by updating guidance and implementing clear teaching rules, focusing on topics such as menstruation and related illnesses, puberty, LGBT sex including asexuality, fertility, pornography and other things that are deemed useful.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 18 January this year, when we agreed to write to Education Scotland. The committee has now received a response to its request for information from Education Scotland. Education Scotland does not monitor or evaluate the implementation of relationships, sexual health and parenthood teaching resources, noting that it is for local authority officers and schools to monitor and evaluate learning and teaching through their internal policies. However, Education Scotland has delivered webinars for practitioners to guide them in using the website where the teaching resource is held.

In view of the response that we have received from Education Scotland in respect of the Scottish Government’s position, do colleagues have any comments or suggestions?

Thank you for that, Mr Torrance. Do colleagues support that?

Members indicated agreement.

—that has fallen to you this morning, Mr Torrance. I fear that you are going to suggest that we close the petition.

Our next petition, PE1934, which was lodged by Craig Schooler on behalf of Greenfield’s high school rights and equalities committee, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to work with Education Scotland to develop an educational resource on gender-based violence for all year groups in high school. The resource should educate on the causes of gender-based violence and ensure that young people leave school with the tools to help them to create a safer society for women.

We last considered the petition on 22 February, when we agreed to write to COSLA, Rape Crisis Scotland and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. COSLA has provided information on the mentors in violence prevention—MVP—programme, noting that 31 local authorities are at the delivery stage, with the final local authority having planned to undertake professional learning earlier this year. Estimates from the national MVP team indicate that more than 6,000 sessions have been delivered, reaching more than 47,800 younger learners.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has indicated that the gender-based violence in schools working group is expected to publish its national framework, which will help schools to tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence. Additionally, the gender equality task force in education and learning is establishing what educational resources already exist that cover gender inequality.

Rape Crisis Scotland has highlighted on-going work to address gender-based violence, including its sexual violence prevention workshops in schools. The submission acknowledges the issues that the petitioner raises, and highlights that, although the Government cannot prescribe specific measures in the curriculum, there is a duty to ensure that educational outcomes are met and that the required systems and resources are in place to assure that.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?