Seòmar agus comataidhean

I do not think that we have any alternative but to close the petition. The residents of Seil island have made their point. It is all very well saying that Ofcom and all the authorities are committed to doing something about it, but that falls short of their actually doing anything about it.

The petitioner, Timothy Bowles, has raised a very fair point, which must apply to other islands, although there cannot be that many islands that will be in this predicament. The Scottish Government points out the considerable expenditure on the reaching 100 per cent—R100—broadband programme, which has laid 16 undersea cables that have assisted communications in many islands. It is not as if nothing has been done—a lot has been done. That means that there can be relatively few places left that are in this predicament. It is not beyond the wit of man for Ofcom and the Scottish Government, with all the mighty resources that they have, to find out which ones are left and sort them out. I hope that the petitioner perseveres.

I suppose that the number of signatories would, in itself, justify taking that somewhat unusual step.

The Government has provided quite a long response, but it does not seem to be much more than a patchwork of random actions and fairly modest grants for small pieces of work here and there. It does not really address the point that the petitioner stressed in her written submission of 5 January, which is that,

“Despite affecting at least 1 in 10 women and people assigned female at birth”—

females—

“Scotland does not collect national outcomes data for endometriosis. As a result, clinicians lack reliable evidence on:

• treatment effectiveness,

• treatment-related harm,

• complications and disease progression,

• and which patient groups are at highest risk of treatment failure.”

I noticed recent press coverage of the issue, in which it was pointed out that females who suffer from endometriosis suffer horrendously—they suffer years and years of unremitting pain.

Given the numbers involved, the Government’s apparent unwillingness to establish a database of outcomes is hard to understand. So determined is it to avoid doing so that it has pointed to all sorts of other things that seem to me to be inadequate substitutes.

There is just no time left. I hope that the ladies in the room and those outwith the Parliament who are interested in and affected by the matter will understand that, if the petition had been presented to us 12 months ago, we would certainly have taken evidence from the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health. She would have been here answering questions within a couple of weeks.

That is what should happen, and the petitioner can secure that by lodging a similar petition in the next parliamentary session. I am perfectly sure that the issue must be considered for the sake of women who suffer, as I understand it, unbelievable and unbearable pain.

I think that we should close the petition. However, in saying that, I am mindful that Laura Hansler, as the petitioner, has achieved an extraordinary number of things, and that shows the committee’s value in our Parliament as a voice for ordinary people to come here with something that they wish to see achieved.

In paying tribute to Laura Hansler, I want to run through some of the things that are unlikely to have happened were it not for the work that she—and she alone—instituted. First, she paved the way for evidence to be heard from Mr Grahame Barn of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association Scotland, which is the representative body of most of the civil engineering companies—or the large ones, at least. He said that Transport Scotland was

“the worst client to work for in the UK.”

Mr Barn also pointed out, in a forensic display of knowledge of procurement policy, that the particular mode of procurement employed by Transport Scotland had the effect of deterring bidders, which meant that the Tomatin to Moy tender was abortive because there was only one bidder, which was rejected because its bid was too high, at £170 million. Then, later, Transport Scotland retendered that, and I believe that the total cost is £308 million. It may be that the Auditor General for Scotland will wish to examine that, and it may be that I will be inviting him to do so.

It is clear that Transport Scotland then changed its contract to the new engineering contract, which Mr Barn referred to in his evidence—I think that that was in January, early in the inquiry. The evidence that the committee took and Laura Hansler’s efforts led to a major change in Transport Scotland’s procurement policy. Transport Scotland might say that it would have done that anyway, but if it did, I am not sure that I would be too quick to believe it and swallow that.

Secondly, when the committee began the investigation, which became a formal inquiry, there was no revised timetable. However, due to the pressure that was in part exerted by the committee, time after time, meeting after meeting, a revised timetable was produced in December 2023.

The Beatles wrote the song “The Long and Winding Road”, and the A9 is the long and winding road of the Highlands. It has been a long and winding tale, which was supposed to have been concluded by 2025 but will now not be concluded until 2035—and many of us doubt whether it will be concluded by then. Be that as it may, the revised timetable was extracted only because of the work that this committee has done.

The petitioner has pressed for a memorial garden, and she informed me informally that she had had discussions with one of the contractors, which was willing to carry out that work. It is abundantly clear that Transport Scotland has blocked that. I have no doubt that it will redact and conceal the advice that it has given to ministers, as it has frequently done, but the truth will out eventually, and I think that that will have been the case. It is ludicrous for the minister to say that it is up to the community, because the community has not got assets to carry out a contract of hundreds of thousands of pounds—that is for the birds. That issue will have to be revisited.

Lastly, the committee suggested in its report, and I think that this was substantially your idea, convener, that one of the problems since 2011, when Alex Neil first made the promise—he gave a very effective statement of his evidence, as the late Alex Salmond did in his last public appearance in the Parliament before he died—has been slippage. The scrutiny by the Parliament has been sporadic, intermittent and insufficient. That is why I hope that the committee—if it agrees with the convener’s suggestion and with the one that I am repeating now—will write to the incoming Presiding Officer of the next parliamentary session to suggest that there should be a bespoke committee, given the scale and importance of the contract. Its scale is bigger than that of any previous construction contract ever in Scotland. Such a committee would mean that the scrutiny was not sporadic and intermittent; it would be consistent, thorough and forensic, and there would be no hiding place.

I have a personal interest, because I hope to be around for some more terms yet as the representative of the good people of Inverness and Nairn, if they feel that that is a good idea. I am determined to be there at the cutting of the red tape ribbon when the dualled A9 opens. I would prefer that to be in the next session than in the one thereafter.

We would need to also stress to the signatories of the petition that its not being closed does not mean—

I suggest that we close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that legal access rights and the outdoor access code were designed to apply only to non-motorised access to land. The Scottish Government believes that infringements of the code are best tackled in that way.

Before making that proposal, I read the Scottish Government’s response. I must say that it seems to be sitting on the fence. For some strange reason, the Scottish Government shows a strange propensity for being reluctant to say anything at all about camper vans. I cannot imagine why that could possibly be the case.

Those remarks aside, lay-bys are not meant for overnight camping for recreational purposes, but they can be necessary to allow drivers of heavy goods vehicles to take a break. Those drivers may have to do so because of tachograph rules that are designed for vehicle safety. It is not entirely straightforward, but I think that a distinction could be drawn for commercial business employment use for protected lay-bys, which are the only ones that should be used for overnight parking. We should distinguish between that on the one hand and camper vans on the other.

The petitioner has a serious point to make and I thoroughly back up what the convener has said, but we have no alternative but to close the petition.

I was struck by the background information to the petition, which pointed out that Scotland continues to have one of the highest cancer mortality rates in western Europe among children under 18. That is a shocking statistic.

I was not aware of many of the issues that Jackie Baillie has eloquently set out. Although it is heartening that some progress has been made on points 1 and 2, she is absolutely right to focus on point 3 and seek a specific answer from the Scottish Government. However, I see no reason why we should not at the same time write to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to see what it says about the issue. Plainly, the Scottish Government refers regularly to advice, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and everything else from the royal colleges, so it might be worth while to do that—there would be no harm in it.

I absolutely endorse what Maurice Golden said, but I want to add a few things. The petitioner’s account of what happened to his mother is a heart-rending and very sad story of actions being taken that were completely opposed by the family. There are always two sides to every story, I guess, but, on the face of it, it is a tragic case.

I was also struck that, in their submission of 3 January 2026, the petitioner pointed out that the local authority “ignored all concerns”, that the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland was “unable to do anything” and that the Office of the Public Guardian said that the power of attorney role “was not overseen”. All the public bodies that are supposed to be providing help provided absolutely no help whatsoever.

I have to say that the Scottish Government did not answer the petition’s specific asks in its response. It simply said that there was going to be law reform, but it carefully avoided making any substantive comment on the petition, which is about protecting vulnerable adults from abuse of the use of power of attorney.

I hope that, if we close the petition today—there is no alternative—the petitioner will bring back the petition for the reasons that Mr Golden set out, so that the new committee can consider these things anew—de novo—early doors.

I just want to say one more thing, on the euthanasia bill, or the right to die bill, that is being taken through the Parliament. Should that pass—my goodness me, if there are problems with power of attorney now, we ain’t seen nothing yet. I will not be voting for that bill, but if it is passed, I think that the number of serious issues that will arise will be far greater and that will be profoundly sad.

I am happy to do that. Laura Hansler might well be back before us in the next parliamentary session.

I agree with what you and Mr Golden have said, convener, but I note in passing that it is our understanding that the Scottish Government does not intend to amend the 1981 act to remove the power to grant licences, so it is not doing anything—it is just allowing things to go ahead. NatureScot has indicated that it is bound by the 1981 act, although I have to say that I do not quite understand that, because I think that it gives it some discretion.

I am struck by NatureScot’s determination to allow the guga hunt to proceed while preventing the control of seagulls in my constituency, which is causing huge problems as well as lacerations and injuries to people. However, that is really for NatureScot to explain. Given the number of signatures that the petition has received, I think that the issue needs to be explored further, but that is probably for the next Parliament.

Finally, I would note the written submission that we have received from an islander. I am sure that any committee will want to ensure that the voice of the islanders is heard. They are making the case that this is part of their tradition and heritage. They want to be heard, and they are entitled to be heard, but I think that some of them feel a little bit browbeaten by the tone of some of the criticisms that have been made of them. I hope that the debate can be conducted in a civilised and rational way, even if people have very strong emotions about the matter.