Chamber and committees

Are colleagues content with that?

Members indicated agreement.

I read again the response from the petitioner and Mrs Muir—it was not a happy experience. However, the Scottish Government seems resolute in its view. Do colleagues accept Mr Torrance’s recommendation at this point?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2111, lodged by Julie Fraser, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide families with financial support for early learning and childcare when their children reach nine months. The petition was last considered on 30 October 2024.

In its response, the Scottish Government highlights its work with local authorities on a national improvement project that will not only take focused action in five local authorities but seek out and promote good practice to increase uptake of such care for eligible two-year-olds.

The Scottish Government’s work on early adopter community projects has continued, too, with the aim of tackling poverty and helping families give their children the best start in life by expanding access to childcare services. The response confirms that some projects will directly support children from the age of nine months, but firm data will be available only through future grant reporting and evaluation activity.

In light of that response, do members have any suggestions for action?

I sometimes wonder about the implications of the use of artificial sweeteners for people who use them from birth. Nonetheless, the research does not, at the moment, appear to validate demands for the complete exclusion of artificial sweeteners.

In that light, I wonder what Mr Torrance has to say about it.

That is probably the position that we have to adopt, although do colleagues, like me, sometimes wonder what the safety assessments actually are or amount to? What do they do to establish that an issue is not one of concern? Is it some form of monitoring?

Unfortunately from the petitioner’s perspective, if the Scottish Government’s view is that?that is the course of action that it is going to follow, there is really nothing that the committee can do but accept that it is an issue that will continue to command a degree of public attention and which will remain the subject of further discussion. For the moment, are colleagues content to follow Mr Torrance’s recommendation?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2145, lodged by Jillian Brown, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make it compulsory for cats and kittens to be microchipped. The Scottish Government’s “Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats” recommends that all responsible cat owners consider microchipping their pets as the best way of ensuring that they can be reunited with their rightful owners.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission has published a report on responsible ownership and care of cats, recommending that Scottish ministers

“introduce legislation to require the compulsory microchipping and registration of owned cats”.

The Scottish Government’s response to the petition states that it is carefully considering the recommendations in that report and will engage with stakeholders ahead of any decision being made on what future direction the Government might recommend.

The committee has received a written submission from Cats Protection, highlighting the public support for compulsory microchipping in England, which is now in force, and calling for its introduction in Scotland.

Do we have any idea of how many cats there are? I doubt it. My goodness, it could be quite a commitment.

Does anybody else have any observations or reflections?

PE2148 is on improving the transition from child and adolescent mental health services to adult mental health services. Colleagues will be aware that we are already considering a petition asking for a complete review of mental health services, but this petition is quite a focused ask in that wider field. Lodged by Heather Stitt, it calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to improve the transition from CAMHS to adult mental health services by ensuring that national referral guidelines and criteria are adhered to.

The SPICe briefing provides an overview of the work that the Scottish Government has undertaken on transitions. Research in 2016-17 highlighted the need for improvements to training resources, service co-ordination, information access and proactive outreach to vulnerable individuals with additional support needs.

The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport’s submission states that the Scottish Government expects health boards to consider and plan for transitions in services and care. The submission also highlights the 2020 service specification, which sets out an expectation that the transition care planning guidance will be implemented and that CAMHS will have protocols in place to ensure robust transitions. Moreover, the minister’s response highlights the transition care plan guidance and template, which were developed with the Scottish Youth Parliament.

Our colleague Sarah Boyack MSP wished to join us this morning, but she is unable to do so. Instead, we have received a written submission from her, which questions how the Scottish Government monitors adherence to the guidelines and service standards. Ms Boyack states that, without appropriate support or treatment, there is a risk that some young people will be unable to work or contribute to their communities, and she concludes by saying that young people and their families should not feel that they have been abandoned or left in limbo.

Do colleagues have any suggestions?

There is a recommendation from Mr Choudhury to keep the petition open and to explore two specific lines of inquiry. Are colleagues content with Mr Choudhury’s suggestions?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2088, lodged by Emma Keyes, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to help to eliminate cervical cancer in Scotland for women and those with a cervix by introducing at-home human papillomavirus self-sampling to enhance the smear testing programme, helping to increase the uptake and accessibility of smear testing.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 12 June 2024, when we agreed to write to the UK National Screening Committee and the Scottish Government. The response from the NSC highlights evidence on the use of HPV self-sampling within the NHS cervical screening programme, which it reviewed in 2019. Back then, the NSC recognised the value of self-sampling, but it indicated that further work was required to ensure its feasibility in the existing screening programme. Such work is under way, and the NSC has pointed to a variety of projects in the area which, once completed, will inform future recommendations to ministers across the UK.

The Scottish Government’s response states that, beyond engagement with the NSC on self-sampling, it continues to explore alternatives to increase the uptake of the cervical screening programme, including the improved use of digital technology, as well as more personalised communications with eligible participants. In light of that, do members have any comments or suggestions for action?