Chamber and committees

Item 2 is consideration of new petitions. As always, I say to anyone who is following our proceedings and has lodged a petition that we are considering that a considerable amount of work is done in advance of the consideration of petitions. The Scottish Government’s views are sought on every petition in order to help to inform members as we consider petitions for the first time, together with other briefings that we have received.

We will consider together two new petitions that focus on upgrades to the road network in Highland Scotland. PE1974, which was lodged by Derek Noble, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to adopt the A890 as a trunk road and to resolve the safety problems that are associated with the Stromeferry bypass. PE1980, which was also lodged by Derek Noble, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to adopt the A832 between Achnasheen and Gorstan as a trunk road, connecting the route into the existing trunk road network.

I note again that we are joined by Rhoda Grant this morning. I will set out a little of the background before I invite her to speak to the issues that have been raised. On PE1974, Derek Noble tells us that the A890 is mainly single carriageway but that it frequently reduces to a single track with passing places along the stretch between Attadale and Ardnarff. He highlights a history of rock falls, which have occurred since the road was opened and which continue to pose a risk to the road and its users.

Derek informs us that Highland Council has undertaken feasibility studies into two alternatives to the Stromeferry bypass, with the cost of pursuing those alternatives being estimated at between £23 million and £60 million. He believes that that level of funding should come from central Government, and it is for that reason that he calls for the road to be adopted as a trunk road.

In relation to PE1980, Derek tells us that the A832 links the previously mentioned A890 to the A835, helping to complete the west-to-east road network. He highlights that, if the Scottish Government was to adopt the A890 as a trunk road, the A832 should also be adopted, because that would provide a trunk road connection between existing trunk roads the A87 and the A835. There is now a complicated map in our heads. Derek believes that that provision could transform connectivity between Scotland’s east and west coasts and bring social and economic benefits at local and national levels.

In responding to both petitions, Transport Scotland indicates that

“the Scottish Government has no plans to trunk the A890”

or the A832. Its response also states that there are currently

“no plans to undertake a formal review of the trunk road network”

but that ministers

“keep the trunk road network under continual review with the issue last considered following publication of the Strategic Transport Projects Review”.

That was all quite complicated and technical. Before I ask members whether they would like to say anything, I invite Rhoda Grant to speak to both petitions.

PE1976, which was lodged by Derek Brown, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to require council tax discounts to be backdated to the date on which a person was certified as being severely mentally impaired, if they then go on to qualify for a relevant benefit.

Derek Brown submitted a freedom of information request and found that 22 of the 32 Scottish local authorities backdate council tax discounts to the date when a person received their first qualifying state benefit payment rather than the date from which they were certified as being severely mentally impaired. The SPICe briefing highlights the requirement for someone applying for attendance allowance to have needed support for at least six months before being eligible for the benefit, potentially creating a gap of six months between diagnosis and receipt of a qualifying benefit. The briefing also notes challenges in navigating benefit application processes and accessing post-diagnostic support.

The Scottish Government states that local authorities have the ability to backdate applications to the later date of either the medical certification or the date of application to a qualifying benefit. Because of that, the Scottish Government has no plans to amend the law in relation to council tax discounts.

Derek Brown’s submission details his personal experience and that of his wife, Margaret, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, in England. He explains that they only became aware of his wife’s entitlement to attendance allowance months after her diagnosis and then her entitlement to a council tax discount the following year. The council applied the council tax discount from the date on which Margaret received attendance allowance, ten months later.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action? It is an interesting petition.

I am also interested to know whether the Scottish Government is aware of the variation that is being applied to assessments by different local authorities. It would be useful for us to draw the situation to the Government’s attention along with the consequential issues that arise for individuals as a result.

As there any no other suggestions, are colleagues content to proceed on that basis?

Members indicated agreement.

We will keep the petition open and progress it as suggested.

I know that all the members were impressed by the petition and I think that we were troubled by some of the evidence that we received. We have had an opportunity to reflect on that. A number of issues arise from it, and I think that the committee’s likely direction of travel is clear but, in pursuing that journey, are there suggestions as to what we might reasonably do now? It would be good to hear from colleagues in relation to that.

PE1902, which was lodged by Maria Aitken on behalf of Caithness Health Action Team, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to allow an appeal process for community participation requests under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

At our previous consideration of the petition, we identified that work is on-going to identify the possibility of an appeal process as part of the Scottish Government’s review of the 2015 act. The Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth has informed us that the Scottish Community Development Centre’s working group continued its work through 2022 to explore the potential for an appeal or review process for participation requests and it will bring its findings to the Scottish Government for full consideration.

As I mentioned earlier, we have Rhoda Grant with us this morning. Rhoda, is there anything further that you would like to suggest to the committee, given that information?

Our final new petition, PE1978, which was lodged by Cristina Rosique-Esplugas—I apologise if that was not the correct pronunciation—calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to allow raw drinking milk to be sold in Scotland, which would bring it in line with England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and allow farmers the opportunity to sell unpasteurised drinking milk.

Cristina Rosique-Esplugas highlights in her submission that the sale of raw drinking milk is permitted in the rest of the UK, as well as in most European countries. She believes that it is time for raw milk to stop being considered a public health hazard, and notes that measures can be put in place to control food safety, as is the case with many other food products.

Responding on behalf of the Scottish Government, Food Standards Scotland states that raw drinking milk has historically been recognised as high risk to public health due to its association with a number of food poisoning outbreaks in Scotland. It notes that mandatory pasteurisation of cows’ drinking milk was introduced in 1983 and was extended to drinking milk from all farmed animals in 2006. It suggests that, since then, illnesses linked to the consumption of raw milk in Scotland have virtually disappeared.

Food Standards Scotland also highlights the report of the UK Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food in 2018, which concluded that there had been an increase in the microbiological risk associated with the consumption of raw drinking milk in the UK. As a result, there are no plans to lift the ban on direct sales of raw drinking milk in Scotland.

Do members have any comments or suggestions as to how we might proceed? There seems to be very clear guidance from the Scottish Government in this instance.

How do colleagues feel about that? Obviously, we could explore the matter further with Food Standards Scotland, but the direction in relation to Scotland seems to be pretty clear, so I am not sure that that would lead to a productive route forward.

For the record, I should say that we are joined by two of our parliamentary colleagues—Foysol Choudhury and Rhoda Grant, who has so missed us that she is joining us in relation to three petitions, two of which we will consider jointly. Foysol Choudhury joins us in relation to the petition that we now move to consider. PE1891, lodged by Lewis Alexander Condy, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that all children will have had the opportunity to learn to swim by making it a statutory requirement to provide lessons in the primary school curriculum. I will invite Mr Choudhury to comment in a moment.

We last considered the petition a year ago, on 19 January 2022. As a committee, we offer our sincere apologies to the petitioner for not bringing the petition back for further consideration in our schedule before now. However, at our last consideration, we agreed to write to the Scottish Government, and I am pleased to say that we have now received a response from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. In her response, she restates that

“there is no mandatory curriculum in Scotland therefore local authorities and individual schools have the flexibility to decide upon the content of their own lessons at the local level.”

However, the cabinet secretary goes on to offer information about Scottish Swimming’s national learn to swim framework and the delivery model pilot schemes that are taking place over the course of 2022-23

“to help educate and provide opportunities for children across Scotland to experience the water in a fun, safe and inclusive approach.”

The cabinet secretary has also highlighted the launch of the Water Safety Scotland and Education Scotland educational resource for schools

“to provide a consistent level of learning across Scotland’s educational institutions”.

I welcome Mr Choudhury. As is normal practice when colleagues join our meetings, I am happy to offer him the opportunity to comment on the petition and to speak to the committee.