Contents
- Attendance
- Interests
- New Petitions
- Continued Petitions
New Petitions
Primary Hyperparathyroidism (PE1726)
Agenda item 2 is consideration of new petitions. The first new petition for consideration is PE1726, on primary hyperparathyroidism, which was lodged by Fiona Killen. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to raise awareness, particularly among general practitioners and other medical practitioners, of the symptoms, diagnosis and effective treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism caused by adenoma; to provide access to minimally invasive surgery in Scotland for the treatment of the condition; and to provide funding for research into PHPT caused by adenoma.
In May 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance on the condition, which aims to improve its recognition and treatment, reduce long-term complications and improve quality of life. The guidance recognises that primary hyperparathyroidism is an underrecognised condition among the general population and healthcare professionals.
In a debate on thyroid and adrenal testing, diagnosis and treatment in December 2018, the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, Joe FitzPatrick MSP, stated that the deputy chief medical officer had met with NHS Education for Scotland to discuss the development of a learning module for GPs that would set out helpful steps to diagnosis and pathways of care.
Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?
This is another petition that asks for education of GPs on a condition. We have had quite a few such petitions. In the first instance, we should write to the Scottish Government to seek its view on whether the petition should be taken forward.
I have never heard of the condition, despite the fact that we have done a lot of work on thyroid issues—I do not even know whether those are connected issues. There is a theme of people having a debilitating condition who see that there are things that could be done to help, but there is a sense that people do not know what the condition is, so perhaps people do not get a diagnosis early enough, which might have consequences. I was struck by that point. It looks as if some quite practical things could be done in that regard.
The petition raises a broader question about the extent to which GPs, who we know are busy, are properly supported to keep up to date with diagnoses and conditions. That is another area for exploration in itself.
I think that we agree to write to the Scottish Government. Is there anything else that we could do? We might also want to contact other key stakeholders. The petitioner has suggested that we contact Hyperparathyroid UK Action4Change and our paper suggests that we may wish to contact the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Society for Endocrinology and Hypopara UK. We may get a sense of where their expertise lies and the extent to which they recognise the issue. Is that agreed?
Members indicated agreement.
We will seek those views. When we receive comments, the petitioner will be able to respond to them. We are grateful that she contacted us to give us suggestions of people to contact.
Crime (Duty to Report) (PE1727)
The next new petition for consideration is PE1727, on reporting crime in Scotland, which was lodged by Frances Nixon. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce legislation that would ensure that all citizens in Scotland have a legal duty to report any crime that they have witnessed. With some exceptions, there is currently no blanket legal duty imposed on individuals or other bodies to report a crime that they have witnessed or that they suspect has taken place.
The paper for the petition outlines various reasons why the aim of the petition could be problematic. For example, the reporting of domestic abuse cases could be difficult, due to victims perhaps feeling unable or fearful to report that crime. From the perspective of authorities that are tasked with investigating crime, mandatory reporting of less serious criminal behaviour such as littering could lead to a strain on resources and divert resources from investigating more serious crimes.
Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?
It is an interesting petition. Every day is a school day for me, because I thought that people had to report crimes, which shows that I do not know much. I totally understand from the paper how difficult the proposal is, especially with things such as domestic abuse, which you mentioned, convener. However, the situation of people not reporting a crime where harm happens to others is an interesting area to explore.
I would like us to write to some of the stakeholders. Perhaps we could write to the Law Society of Scotland, the Crown Office and the Scottish Law Commission, because the replies could be interesting.
We should write to the Scottish Government. A strong case has been made as to why the proposal would be problematic. I am not sure that we should write as broadly as you suggest, but we could ask, “If not this, then what?” That would be a matter for another petition.
I agree that the petitioner’s motives are interesting and thought provoking. The committee has in the past dealt with the idea of mandatory reporting where there is a suspicion of child abuse, and we recognised that there was a difficulty with that. The petitioner talks about our sense of responsibility as citizens not to walk by on the other side, which is challenging. However, could the system cope with creating a crime of not reporting crime? I do not know the law particularly well, but in some areas there is an idea that someone can be an accomplice in some way if they have colluded with something, although that is maybe a different area.
It is a difficult one. As the paper points out, the proposal could take up more police time with investigations and, therefore, something more serious could slip through the net. We have to be careful about that balance. It is important to talk to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to see what it feels, because it is at the front line and it handles whether cases should go forward. We should certainly have a chat with it.
We could at least get the views of the Scottish Government.
I agree. It is a difficult area.
We could ask the Scottish Government how it responds to what is behind the petition, rather than the practical solution that is proposed. We could ask how the Government encourages the idea of the responsibility of citizens around crime prevention.
Absolutely. We need to be clear on what the law is at the moment. As Brian Whittle said, he was under the impression that it is obligatory to report crimes. We need to be clear on what the law is before considering whether it could be changed.
There are a number of things that can be progressed. Once we have had submissions, the petitioner will have an opportunity to respond to them.
Crime (False Allegations) (PE1728)
The final new petition for consideration today is PE1728, on making false allegations a hate crime, which was also lodged by Frances Nixon. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to consider legislation to ensure that false allegations are considered as a hate crime and are dealt with as such in law. Our paper on the petition provides a recent definition of hate crime in Scotland, which is that it is offences
“which adhere to the principle that crimes motivated by hatred or prejudice towards particular features of the victim’s identity should be treated differently from ordinary crimes”.
Under that definition, a false accusation of criminal behaviour could amount to a hate crime if it is motivated as described.
The paper goes on to explain protected characteristics that would fall under the protection of hate crime legislation, which include race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. Current criminal offences relating to false allegations of criminal behaviour include false reporting, false accusation, perjury and defamation.
In recent correspondence with the clerks, the petitioner explains that this petition and her previous petition, PE1727, are a direct result of what she has endured. The petitioner indicates that she wants to turn a negative experience into a positive one by raising her concerns to the attention of Parliament, Police Scotland and the public in order to “inform, provoke thought” and
“change minds and certain aspects of Scottish Law.”
Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?
This is another really interesting petition. I am struck by the idea that, if someone is in a trial and wilfully gives false evidence, that is a criminal offence—it is perjury. I understand completely where the petitioner is coming from but, frankly, I am not sure what we do. I would again like to get the Scottish Government’s response in the first instance. The petition opens up a whole train of thought. I have a certain amount of respect for what the petitioner is trying to do.
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The Scottish Government is currently working up new hate crime legislation so, in the first instance, we need to write to it to ask whether it has considered the issue or if it would consider it.
It is not the case that false allegations are never taken seriously. There are examples in which people making false allegations are breaking the law, and that has been broken down effectively for us. The issue is whether that is sufficient to cover all aspects of whether the proposal would assist in any way.
We are minded to write to the Scottish Government. Perhaps we could cover the petitioner’s two petitions in one piece of correspondence, because they are clearly related—they wrestle with an issue that many people have dealt with in their experience of the criminal justice system. We will write to the Government to ask for its reaction to the suggestion in the petition and what it is doing on the issue. We will also ask the Government to comment on the broader issues that underpin the petition. Is that agreed?
Members indicated agreement.
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