Chamber and committees

I can understand that. I seem to recall that, when you had responsibility for culture, you and I had a similar discussion about the Pentland film studios—at the end of the day, a single landowner was, potentially, frustrating a major project that could have proceeded at that point.

What is the Government’s current thinking about the mutual investment model as a method for funding trunk road improvements?

I have just a final thought. In response to my first question, you referred to the fact that a large part of the responsibility is the care and maintenance of the existing estate. I am interested in those cases where something goes wrong. For example, there is suddenly a need for a major injection of capital to resolve the issue at the M8 Woodside viaduct, and we have had, and considered, petitions suggesting that it be grassed over and various other things. What impact might that have on the other projects that you are seeking to pursue?

Please pause until the cabinet secretary has finished.

Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting in 2025 of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. In our dry way, the first item on the agenda is for the committee to decide whether to take in private items 5 and 6, which are consideration of the evidence that we are about to hear and of our work programme. Are members content to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Which one?

Thank you very much. It has been a while since I have been up the A82—has the 30-year-old traffic light finally gone?

Having looked at the petition, my own preference was to move to close it. Paying respect to the views of our two colleagues, is the committee content to let the petition run on the basis of the further inquiry to Mr Robertson that has been suggested?

Members indicated agreement.

Our final petition is PE2140, lodged by James Bruce. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a new parking badge to assist women to be able to get in and out their cars—I do not suppose that the parking badge would do that in itself—when they are pregnant and in the initial months after their pregnancy.

The petition’s background highlights that pregnant women often face difficulty getting in and out of their car when the vehicle next to them has parked too close. The SPICe briefing provides us with information on the blue badge scheme, which supports disabled people to access parking bays that are situated closer to where they want to go. Members will likely be aware that the blue scheme applies to on-street parking and does not generally apply in off-street car parks, such as supermarket car parks. The briefing also includes information about the use of parent-and-child parking bays by pregnant women, and insurance companies and organisations such as Mumsnet and Money Saving Expert have said that if you are heavily pregnant and need to park in a parent and child space then you should do so.

In its response to the petition, Transport Scotland states that the blue badge scheme is designed to allow disabled people who experience severe barriers in their mobility to park closer to their destination, and the eligibility criteria is based on functional mobility rather than diagnosed medical conditions. While pregnancy and postpartum recovery would not automatically qualify under the legislation, individuals may still apply if significant long-term complications arise. The Transport Scotland response goes on to say that there are no plans to create separate concessionary badges or widen the blue badge scheme’s automatic eligibility criteria, and decisions to offer alternative parking concessions for off-street car parks are the relevant authority or landowner’s responsibility.

Do colleagues have any suggestions as to how we might proceed?

I have been appalled by an unprecedented series of sectarian attacks targeting St Joseph’s primary school in Busby, which is in my Eastwood constituency, in the past few weeks. The buildings were sprayed with offensive and sectarian discriminatory graffiti and the outdoor play area was set on fire. This past weekend, there was a further arson attack on a children’s area. The school community has been left stupefied and, naturally, distressed, but I pay tribute to Police Scotland and East Renfrewshire Council for the decisive way in which they have intervened to seek to make the community feel safe.

Earlier this month, St Joseph’s received a glowing report from Education Scotland for the exemplary standard of education that the school is providing. Today, of all days, when all of us here are reminded that we live, learn, work and play together, will the First Minister join me in offering a show of solidarity with the St Joseph’s community and make clear that, here in Scotland, faith will not be used as a force for division but that, together, all faiths and those of none must work and come together in order to create the community in which we all want Scotland to live? [Applause.]

I thank Paul Sweeney for his sustained interest in these matters. As a member, he is aware that the Scottish Parliament’s armed forces parliamentary visits programme was established relatively recently, in 2017. Since then, many members, including me, have participated in outward visits to defence bases across Scotland as well as reciprocal visits to the Parliament. I say that as an enthusiastic former member of the Combined Cadet Force.

The current programme is a good fit for the Scottish Parliament and its members, and, although there are no plans to review it at the current time, Mr Sweeney has highlighted some differences between the two schemes. Accordingly, the corporate body has asked parliamentary officials to contact the armed forces parliamentary scheme to inquire whether members of the Scottish Parliament may participate in those programmes. We will update Mr Sweeney and members on that in due course.