Chamber and committees

PE1861 is on using teacher-assessed grades to award national qualifications in 2021. I flag up that the petitioner has requested that the petition be removed from the petitions process, given that results have now been awarded for 2021 and work is under way to reform the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Education Scotland. Given that, I am inclined to close the petition under rule 15.7. Do members agree to that?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1857, which was lodged by Stephen Leighton, calls on the Scottish Government to regulate the role of curator ad litem—I am sorry, but I am not sure how to pronounce that. I did O level Latin, but I am afraid that it deserted me there—no doubt, I will be suitably reprimanded. The petition calls on the Scottish Government to regulate the role of curator ad litem and ensure that historical claims of malpractice by curators ad litem in Scotland are investigated.

The Scottish Government notes that the curator ad litem’s first responsibility is to ascertain whether in fact a person has capacity to give legal instruction, which is similar to the situation in which a client has to have capacity to instruct a solicitor, because otherwise the solicitor cannot legally act. That decision is evidence based. In order to properly fulfil the role, the curator must be able to undertake full and relevant inquiries and to commission or prepare reports where necessary.

The Scottish Government notes that it does not regulate curators ad litem. Instead, there is general regulation of the legal profession and of social workers. Given that the number of curators ad litem is very small and that most of them are either solicitors or social workers, they will be regulated under their professional regulatory body if concerns or complaints are raised about their conduct. The submission advises that the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland can investigate property or financial matters and the local authority or the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland can investigate welfare matters.

The petitioner advises that changes to the rules of court were made in 2017 as a result of someone complaining about a curator ad litem, but he believes that the law change has increased the risk of potential malpractice in the curator ad litem role, as its regulation is now overseen by curators ad litem themselves. There is no oversight by regulation of the role, yet there are claims of malpractice by curators.

The petition raises quite a complicated issue in respect of a position that I had not heard of. I note from the information that we have obtained that there are only a few curators ad litem in place—maybe as few as a dozen.

Do colleagues have any comments, having reflected on the issue?

Welcome to the second meeting in session 6 of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. We are in Holyrood for the first committee meeting since the start of lockdown at which we will consider new petitions. I am joined by my colleagues David Torrance, Tess White and Bill Kidd. We are joined remotely by our colleague Paul Sweeney.

The only item on our agenda this morning is the consideration of new petitions. Obviously, there is something of a backlog of those, as many were received towards the end of the previous session and during the election. We therefore have a considerable number of new petitions to consider.

The first new petition is PE1850, which was lodged by Les Wallace. The petition calls on the Scottish Government to make the use of natural flood prevention methods a condition of obtaining a grouse moor licence. The Scottish Government submission highlights that it commissioned an independent group to look at the environmental impact of grouse moor management, which was prompted by a NatureScot report in May 2017 and was part of a package of measures that were aimed at tackling the on-going issue of wildlife crime.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s role in examining and mapping areas where natural flood management could be put to best use, in conjunction with responsible authorities, is highlighted as an area of importance in relation to the issues that are raised in the petition. The submission highlights that, following that analysis, plans include a total of 104 actions with a natural flood management element. The submission concludes that the Scottish Government does not believe that it would be appropriate to make the inclusion of natural flood management methods a condition of obtaining a grouse moor licence.

The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing refers to research that was commissioned by the Government and published in 2018 that sets out that it is difficult to demonstrate the role or potential role of grouse moors in flood risk mitigation due to a lack of studies assessing those areas.

The petitioner’s submission emphasises the importance of flood management from an economic, environmental and human perspective. The issues highlighted include loss of life, damage to homes and businesses, soil washing, chemical pollution and solid waste contamination in rivers.

In the light of all the information that we have received, do colleagues have any comments or suggestions for action?

We are very grateful.

PE1858, which was lodged by Alex Wallace, calls on the Scottish Government to provide free face masks for everyone in Scotland during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government’s submission highlights that it advocates the use of reusable face coverings and has provided guidance on how to make them using widely available household products. In respect of affordability, it notes that the Scottish Government has committed over £1 billion of additional investment to help local communities and build resilience in public services, some of which has been used by local partners, including in the third sector, to provide face coverings free of charge to people on low incomes and, in particular, vulnerable groups such as homeless people.

The Scottish Government notes that, although it is not providing face coverings centrally to the general public, local authorities and schools consider how to address any equity concerns arising from the use of face coverings. It also advises that many homelessness outreach teams provide disposable face coverings and that, as I think most of us will be aware, a number of supermarkets and other retailers provide free disposable face coverings.

Do colleagues have any comments?

The next petition is PE1852—I am tempted to pronounce that as the year 1852, as the petition relates to increased planning protection for Scottish battlefields, although I am not sure whether we had a battle in 1852. The petition was lodged by George Kempik on behalf of the group to stop development at Culloden. The petition calls on the Scottish Government to designate historic battlefields with a heritage status and to implement a stricter planning framework to protect them.

The submission from the Scottish Government states that current legislation, planning regulations, national policy and related guidance already set out the recognition and protection principles for battlefields. It explains that Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating nationally important battlefields and adding them to the register. Those battlefields are then given additional consideration in the planning system in terms of local development plans and individual planning applications.

The submission states that safeguards were strengthened in March 2019, when the Scottish Government

“issued a notification direction requiring authorities to alert us to new planning cases for non-householder development that may affect any of our designated historic battlefields.”

Although the petitioner appreciates that there are already substantial measures in place, he is concerned about the persistent nature of developers. He doubts that the measures that are in place are sufficient to provide protection to such historic areas as the Scottish battlefields in the face of such persistence.

I am happy to hear comments from colleagues.

We have had two suggestions, the first of which is that we invite the petitioner to consider the Scottish Government’s response, outlining the process of granting a pardon. Normally, that would happen by exception and individually in response to the case that was prosecuted. Secondly, Paul Sweeney is advocating that we ask the Scottish Government the broader question of whether there is a process by which it could make a political decision on the matter.

Paul, do you want to clarify your suggestion?

PE1856, on support for the taxi trade, was lodged by Pat Rafferty on behalf of Unite the union. It calls on the Scottish Government to protect the future of the taxi trade by providing financial support to taxi drivers; to set up a national stakeholder group with trade union driver representatives; and to review low-emission standards and implementation dates.

In its submission, the Scottish Government acknowledges how acutely difficult the Covid-19 pandemic has been for taxi and private hire drivers. It confirms that, at the time of its submission—do we have the date of the submission, just out of interest? I cannot see one. It confirms that £29,000—is that right? Sorry—£29,125,500 had been paid out to 19,417 drivers. I thought that £29,000 was not right—that would not go far.

The submission confirms that

“Transport Scotland will explore with trade unions and other stakeholders the best forum for engagement with the taxi trade.”

It also explains that it is for local authorities to design their low-emission zones and make decisions about timelines.

In their submission, the petitioner welcomes the national funding from the Scottish Government but expresses the view that it is not sufficient. The submission continues by explaining that many drivers still report takings of less than £20 for a 12-hour shift. The petitioner believes that the taxi trade will be one of the last sectors to recover, given its reliance on tourism, hospitality and business travel, and asks that pre-Covid plans are adjusted to take into account just how severe the taxi trade has been impacted by the pandemic.

Since the publication of the meeting papers, the committee has received a further submission from the petitioner, which has been circulated ahead of today’s meeting.

In the submission, the petitioner notes that Unite members

“report business presently at 50% of pre-pandemic levels”,

and reiterates that the impact has been felt from, as previously suggested, sectors such as travel, tourism and hospitality.

The submission calls for

“greater clarity on exemptions to the LEZ”

and for taxi cabs to be considered exempt from LEZ charges, in line with other functions of the public transport network. It also raises concerns about council proposals to introduce an age cap for vehicles on the road, noting that some taxi drivers finance vehicles over a longer period and that that could result in their investment becoming non-compliant, meaning that they are required to finance another new vehicle.

The submission welcomes the informal engagement that has taken place with the Government but emphasises that formal consultation arrangements are required to protect the future of the taxi trade.

I am interested to hear colleagues’ views.

The final new petition today is PE1864, which was lodged by Aileen Jackson on behalf of Scotland Against Spin. We have our first special guest of the new live proceedings from Parliament in our colleague Oliver Mundell MSP, who has attended for the petition.

The petition calls on the Scottish Government to increase the ability of communities to influence planning decisions for onshore wind farms by adopting English planning legislation for the determination of onshore wind farm developments; empowering local authorities to ensure that local communities are given sufficient professional help to engage in the planning process; and appointing an independent advocate to ensure that local participants are not bullied and intimidated during the public process.

In its written submission, the Scottish Government highlights that it is reviewing Scotland’s national planning policies and expects to publish a draft national planning framework 4 in the autumn of this year. It states that it consulted on the NPF4 position statement, and it will carry out extensive public consultation following its publication. The Government’s submission also notes that, in preparing NPF4, the Scottish Government is considering priority policy changes to support a spatial strategy for net zero, which includes strengthening its support for repowering and expanding existing wind farms.

The petitioners have provided two submissions. The issues raised in those submissions include the costs that are involved in challenging planning applications, including the financial costs and the time and expertise required, and the disparity between planning application fees in Scotland and England. The fee to apply for a 50MW to 100MW onshore wind farm in Scotland is less than half of the fee for the equivalent in England.

The committee has also received more than 100 additional submissions, most of which are from people living in rural communities. Many of the issues that they raise echo the points that the petitioners made in their petition and submissions. Issues raised consistently across the submissions include people and communities feeling overwhelmed by the volume of information and the planning process; the fact that the advice that is available from organisations such as Planning Aid Scotland is general and there is a lack of capacity to deliver it to all who need it; and the cumulative impact of wind farms not only on the environment but on the ability of individuals and organisations such as community councils to repeatedly respond to applications. Across the majority of submissions, there is a consensus on the need to act to avert a climate emergency. However, the submissions highlight that, in the main, it is Scotland’s rural communities that are burdened with the adverse effects of producing wind energy.

Since the publication of our meeting papers, we have received a submission from Dr Rachel Connor in support of the petition. In her submission, Dr Connor raises several of the concerns that are highlighted by the petitioner and throughout additional submissions that the committee has received.

Finlay Carson was hoping to join us today, but he has a prior commitment, as he is convener of the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, which is meeting now. He has therefore sent a message asking that the petition be continued with further information sought. He suggests that it could be referred to the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, but I note that, as the petition relates to the planning system, the relevant subject committee in the first instance would be the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.

I am minded to bring in our colleague Oliver Mundell, unless anyone wishes to speak ahead of him. As nobody does, I will bring in Oliver Mundell.