Chamber and committees

That seems sensible, Mr Stewart. Does the committee agree with that?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1914, on banning school uniforms in secondary schools, was lodged by Matthew Lewis Simpson. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to remove the requirement for school uniforms in secondary schools.

The committee last considered the petition on 20 April. At that meeting, we agreed to keep the petition open while we wrote to the Scottish Government following the publication of its consultation on school uniforms. We also agreed to write to the Scottish Government to highlight the evidence that we had received and to seek further information on how children and young people have been involved in the consultation process.

We have now received two responses from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, which highlight the timing of the Scottish Government’s consultation on school uniforms—it ended on 14 October—and confirm that the consultation process would include bespoke engagement with children and young people. The cabinet secretary also suggested that the Scottish Government does not intend to take a uniform approach to uniforms and that local authorities and education authorities would also have a responsibility and determination in all of that.

Do members have any suggestions?

That is an invitation for a wish list, gentlemen. I come to Mr Grant first. We are slightly short of time now, so I ask everybody to be a little bit concise.

We can certainly do that. The information is in the public domain, but we can make sure that the minister is aware of it.

Our next petition is PE1856, which was lodged by Pat Rafferty on behalf of Unite the union, on support for the taxi trade. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to protect the future of the taxi trade by providing financial support to taxi drivers; setting up a national stakeholder group with trade union driver representatives; and reviewing the low-emission standards and implementation dates. I am delighted that we are joined this morning by Steven Grant—with audio only, regrettably—on behalf of Unite, representing the petitioner, and by Robert McLean and Murray Fleming on behalf of the Scottish Taxi Federation. Good morning to you all, and welcome to the committee.

We have heard and collated quite a lot of evidence on this subject, so members have a number of questions. If the witnesses are happy for us to do so, we will move straight to those questions. By way of introduction, I will ask a general question. The situation is fluid, as I know from talking to taxi drivers in my local authority, East Renfrewshire; it has moved on even since we last considered the petition a few months ago. Our witnesses might like to outline briefly the main challenges that currently face the taxi industry, given that the situation is now very different from what it was when the petition was submitted in early 2021.

I come to Mr Grant first—because we cannot see you, we will have to hope that you speak up and speak clearly.

I am concerned that we are almost out of time, so I suggest that the clerks liaise with our witnesses on some of the areas where it might be helpful to get more detailed evidence and information. I am sure that they will be very happy to co-operate—I will allow them to confirm that in a second.

My final question relates to something that Robert McLean touched on. We asked all local authorities what the effect of the pandemic had been, and about half of them responded. The general response was that in the wake of the pandemic there had been a 20 per cent reduction in the number of available cabs. I have heard that there has been a bit of a recovery from that in my own local authority area, but Mr McLean said that, in Glasgow, the cars are there but the drivers are not. It has been suggested to me that some local authorities are underresourced when it comes to processing applications from those interested in becoming drivers.

Mr McLean, can you confirm that you are happy to provide further information on that? When you say that you have the cars but not the drivers, is that a question of the attractiveness of the proposition or is it about the time that it takes people who want to enter the profession to get a licence?

Mr Grant, do you have any final comments that you would like to make on behalf of the petitioner?

I will come to the witnesses in a minute, because I want to explore this area, too.

What sort of reception have you had from Glasgow City Council with regard to exploring your arguments? The comprehensive if technical arguments that you have been making about the availability of vehicles relate to specification as well as the structure of the financial support for the alternatives that you think would be best. I say that as someone who spent 25 years in the Scottish retail motor industry and who found from time to time that, with regard to technical specifications—this was a real issue—the associated difficulties and practicalities were not always understood by policy makers, who were keen to drive towards a particular objective. Like Mr Sweeney, I am interested in knowing with whom the discussions are taking place and how you feel the arguments are being received.

Mr Grant, you might want to touch on that and the previous question.

PE1948, which was also lodged by Alex O’Kane, is on improving the way in which unexplained deaths are dealt with. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to encourage Police Scotland to review its practices for dealing with unexplained deaths, from initial recovery through to the support that is offered to family members.

Alex O’Kane stresses that, when a body is discovered with no clear cause of death, there is a vital window of time when decisions are made and evidence can be secured or lost. He says that, because an unexplained death is not considered to be a crime, the same level of resources are not invested to support the person’s family, and victim support is not involved. He also stresses the need for good and supportive police communication with families in such situations.

The Scottish Government’s submission sets out the process that is followed by both Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service when managing unexplained, reportable deaths. Police officers are expected to undertake a range of actions during an initial assessment to determine the response. If at any stage circumstances indicate a “police reportable death”, the assessment must be halted and officers must notify supervisors and the criminal investigation department.

In dealing with unexplained deaths, one of the key principles highlighted by the Scottish Government is that the deceased and any family or friends are treated with respect, dignity and compassion. Guidance states that consideration should also be given to the appointment of a family liaison officer for bereaved relatives.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?

Is the committee content with that?

Members indicated agreement.