Chamber and committees

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care again, to highlight the petitioner’s submissions and ask whether the Scottish Government will provide a dedicated team leader to support the recommendations that are set out in Kidney Research UK’s “Chronic Kidney Disease: An Action Plan for Scotland”; what assurances the Scottish Government can provide that specific actions to improve the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease will be included in the long-term conditions strategy; and whether the cabinet secretary and the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health will commit to attending Kidney Research UK’s summit on chronic kidney disease.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Scottish Government to seek clarification on the funding that it has provided through the delivery of the equally safe fund or local government settlement, and to ask what specific contribution it has made to the provision of women-only homeless services and efforts to ensure that a consistent gender approach is taken to the allocation and supply of temporary accommodation.

I wonder whether it would also consider writing to the Government to ask when it expects the temporary accommodation standards framework to become legally enforceable.

I wonder whether the committee will consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, because the Scottish Government considers the existing provisions to be appropriate, it is up to local planning authorities to determine applications case by case, and because Outsmart—the trade association for the out-of-home advertising industry—also considers the existing provisions to be proportionate and appropriate.

I wonder whether the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, given that the Scottish Government does not promote the Lullaby Trust as a baby loss support organisation and provides grant funding to the Scottish Cot Death Trust to deliver its sudden unexpected death in infancy simulation and awareness training. Further, the Scottish Cot Death Trust aligns with and supports most of the Scottish Government’s safer messaging, but was unable to support the final messaging relating to bed sharing and how to do so more safely.

In closing the petition, I wonder whether the committee could write to the Scottish Government to encourage it to review its safer sleep messaging and, in doing so, to engage constructively with the Scottish Cot Death Trust to ensure that Scottish families have access to the most robust infant safer sleeping messages.

In the light of the Scottish Government’s response, I wonder whether the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders on the basis that an inside-out approach is taken to sequencing works, whereby build begins from the primary exchange location, where the main fibre controls unit is located, out into communities, and on the basis that the Scottish Government has given no indication that it intends to prioritise properties with internet speeds of less than 5 Mbps.

In the light of that evidence, I suggest that we close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that the Scottish Government has confirmed that proposals for highly protected marine areas will not be progressed and that NatureScot is not progressing any work related to highly protected marine areas.

As somebody who represents some of the areas of highest deprivation in Scotland, I am a bit taken aback by the figures that Dianne Breen gave that almost 100 per cent of children go to those classes as first-time swimmers. That highlights how important it is for children to learn to swim at primary school.

On funding for that, how can the Scottish Government help to ensure that primary school children learn to swim? I am a member of the governing party, so I am asking how we can ensure that every primary school kid learns to swim. It is so important. In areas of deprivation, levels of health and wellbeing are very low, so if we can increase that through sport and activity, it will help us.

Thank you, convener. My question is on opening facilities that have been closed. We all know that swimming pools have huge costs, especially running costs, and that heating the water is probably the biggest cost that such facilities will have. There is modern technology out there and there are new ways of heating pools and using energy. Why are local authorities not embracing that as quickly as they could? Would facilities be more viable if they embraced the new technology that is out there to reduce costs?

In the light of the evidence from the cabinet secretary, perhaps the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders for the following reasons: a preferred route for a permanent solution to the landslip risks on the A83 Rest and Be Thankful has now been identified; draft orders for both the medium-term and long-term solutions were published in December 2024, and the period for submitting objections ended on 7 February 2025; and Transport Scotland is now in the process of considering representations on, and objections to, the draft orders.

Perhaps the committee would consider writing to the Scottish Government to seek its views on whether, in the interests of safety and parity with formal campsites and areas, landowners who allow overnight motorhome habitation should be required to obtain a licence for that activity.