Chamber and committees

Yes. Given that the inquiry is taking place and that it will now be comprehensive, it is perfectly reasonable to find out whether that issue could be incorporated, too. Do we agree to proceed on that basis?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank all members for their consideration of the petitions.

The Scottish Ambulance Service has already made a submission to us saying that it does not feel that there is a demand for body cameras. [Interruption.] The clerk tells me that it was the Scottish Government that made that point. In that case, I am quite happy to write to various organisations, if that is the committee’s view.

As no member wishes to comment further, we will write to those organisations and see what kind of response we receive.

PE1878, which was lodged by Andrew Muir, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to investigate why there have been so few prosecutions under sections 315 and 318 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

The issue was raised in PE1786 from the same petitioner in February 2020. At the time, the Public Petitions Committee wrote to and subsequently received submissions from the Mental Welfare Commission and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice.

The SPICe briefing that we have received highlights that an independent review of mental health legislation is taking place, which will include a review of practice on compulsory detention, care and treatment since the 2003 act came into force.

In its submission, the Scottish Government notes that court proceedings under section 315 were taken in respect of 71 charges that were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service between 2007-08 to 2019-20. Out of those, 38 led to a conviction. One case was reported to the COPFS in 2018 under section 318 of the act but it resulted in no action being taken because there was insufficient admissible evidence.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?

We can do that. It is important to note that the Scottish Sentencing Council is itself reviewing the issue. In some respects, I would have hoped that it has been taking evidence from other parties as part of its consideration of the matter, but there is nothing to stop us writing to those organisations, too.

We can draw that to the Government’s attention.

Thank you all very much. Do members agree to take the course of action that I proposed?

Members indicated agreement.

I will sum up. We should very much keep David Torrance’s suggestion in mind, although I think that he agrees with colleagues that, in the first instance, we should seek information on what the status of all the issues is, as Tess White and other colleagues have suggested.

I would like to frame those questions around asking for a candid assessment of where things were before the Covid pandemic happened and what the pandemic has done. What impact has it had on delivery? If the impact has been prejudicial, what steps are being taken to get back on track? In response to our inquiry, I do not want to be told, “Of course, we’ve had a pandemic.” We all know that we have had a pandemic—I do not need to be told that. I would like to have a candid understanding of the pandemic’s impact and the plans that are in place to resolve that, in relation to all our questions. We could get something back that tells us what we already know; I would rather find out what we are going to do about the situation.

We will keep the petition open. Thank you very much for joining us, Monica. Are you happy with the course of action that we will take?

PE1872 is on improving the reliability of island ferry services—I will be cheeky and say that our last new ferry was launched in 1872. The petition, which was lodged by Liz Mcnicol, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to urgently ensure that all islanders have access to reliable ferry services. In its submission, the Scottish Government outlines action that it is taking in the short term and the long term to add resilience to the ferry fleet. That includes exploring opportunities to charter vessels to add resilience in the short term, and its long-term commitment to securing replacement vessels—several on-going projects are mentioned.

The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing highlights the major inquiry into the construction and procurement of ferry vessels that the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee undertook towards the end of session 5. That committee’s report was published on 9 December last year and made a range of recommendations, including calls for improvements in the strategy for replacing ageing vessels in the ferry fleet. Furthermore, in its session 5 legacy paper, the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee drew the attention of its successor committee to several ferries policy issues.

That covers the submissions and evidence that we have. Do members have comments or suggestions for action?

Is that on the basis that the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee can take the petition into account as part of its on-going review of ferry services?

Are members content that we write to the Scottish Government to seek a summary of the report on progress that has been made against the “Additional Support for Learning Action Plan” once it has been published, which we expect to be in the next few weeks—that will probably be in nice time for us to consider the petition again—and that we write to key stakeholders, including the children that Tess White identified, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the Scottish Council of Deans of Education, Scottish Autism and the National Autistic Society, to seek their views on the petition and the Scottish Government’s submission on it? We will hold the petition open in anticipation of receiving their replies. Is everybody content with that approach?

Members indicated agreement.