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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 22 May 2025
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Displaying 3543 contributions

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Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

I am sorry—when was that? Is that a new development, or was the committee previously aware of it?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

Okay. Thank you. That probably strayed slightly beyond the parameters of the petition, but I can see its relevance to it. Obviously, we are coming to the issues as a new committee, and they are continuing petitions. I do not know whether those issues were previously explored or whether Mr Sweeney has identified issues that we could seek further opinions on from the Scottish Government. However, we can do that.

I should clarify that we will ask the Scottish Government—not the UK Government—for a view on the UK Government’s proposals in relation to the A75.

Are members happy with that?

Members indicated agreement.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

I also welcome to the meeting Elena Whitham, who is engaging with the committee for the first time. What are your thoughts on the petition?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

Do we know whether the round-table event took place?

The clerks are not sure. We want to confirm whether that event took place. If it did, it would be sensible to establish any outcomes from it.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

That meets with the general agreement of the committee.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

There was a members’ business debate on the issue in session 5, which, from memory, was led by Alexander Burnett.

Do members agree to take that approach?

Members indicated agreement.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

Now that we have heard from Christine Grahame and read the submissions, I turn to colleagues for their comments.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

I was struck by Emma Harper’s advocacy of holding off a round-table discussion until we see a little more about where things are going. However, we can still reserve the right to come back to that. We should be clear that we will write to the UK Government about the A75. Do committee colleagues agree to that?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

The next continued petition is PE1662, on improving treatment for patients with Lyme disease and associated tick-borne diseases, which was lodged by Janey Cringean and Lorraine Murray on behalf of Tick-borne Illness Campaign Scotland. The petition calls on the Scottish Government

“to improve testing and treatment for Lyme disease and associated tick-borne diseases by ensuring that medical professionals in Scotland are fully equipped to deal with the complexity of tick-borne infections, addressing the lack of reliability of tests, the full variety of species in Scotland, the presence of ‘persister’ bacteria which are difficult to eradicate, and the complexities caused by the presence of possibly multiple co-infections, and to complement this with a public awareness campaign.”

When the petition was considered previously, in February 2021, the session 5 committee took evidence from the then Minister for Public Health and Sport, Mairi Gougeon, who was supported by Scottish Government officials Dr Gill Hawkins, the senior medical officer for health protection and public health, and Professor Tom Evans, the chief medical officer’s specialty adviser on infectious diseases. During the session, the minister stated that the Scottish Government was

“committed to supporting people with Lyme disease, finding new and better diagnostic and treatment tools, and trying to prevent it in the first place.”—[Official Report, Public Petitions Committee, 24 February 2021; c 2.]

It was revealed that the Scottish Government would soon be holding a round-table event that would bring together clinicians, patient representatives and public health experts to discuss testing, treatment and raising awareness. The minister confirmed that the Scottish Government was keen to develop an infectious diseases managed clinical network and that consideration of Lyme disease would be included in its workstream. The minister and her officials also agreed that more research was needed to underpin the development of better treatment options, particularly for people with longer-term symptoms.

Do colleagues have any comments or suggestions that they would like to make?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

New Petitions

Meeting date: 8 September 2021

Jackson Carlaw

I do not think that we do that with any great pleasure.