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We come to agenda item 3, which is the consideration of new petitions. As I always do, I will explain to anybody who might be looking in for the first time that, with new petitions, we take advice from the Parliament’s independent research body, the Scottish Parliament information centre, as well as seeking the Scottish Government’s initial thoughts, so that we can expedite our consideration, rather than meeting simply to determine that those are the first two things that we will do.

PE2139, which has been lodged by Maria Giordano, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce automatic expulsion for children charged on suspicion of committing a crime against another child. The petitioner’s view is that victims are treated worse than perpetrators. She notes that, in some cases, an accused person goes on to share a classroom with the alleged victim.

The Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975, as amended, state:

“an education authority shall not exclude a pupil from a school under their management to which he has been admitted, except where they are of the opinion that the parent of the pupil refuses or fails to comply, or to allow the pupil to comply, with the rules, regulations, or disciplinary requirements of the school”

or

“they consider that in all the circumstances to allow the pupil to continue his attendance at the school would be likely to be seriously detrimental to order and discipline in the school or the educational well-being of the pupils there.”

In its response to the petition, the Scottish Government states that exclusion from school other than in conformity with the regulations has no statutory authority and may leave the education authority open to legal challenge. For that reason, its position is that it would not be lawful to employ a policy of automatic exclusion without considering the individual circumstances of each case. It goes on to state that it has no plans to change the law on exclusions. It also states that where staff are alerted via a multi-agency response that a young person has been charged in connection with an incident involving another pupil, school staff should follow the advice of social work and/or Police Scotland about how to manage the situation while the young people are attending school.

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

If that is the case, what is the issue? You have cross-party support, but not cross-party action.

Mr Bibby, do you have a follow-up question?

Does anybody want to chip in on that?

The last of the road petitions is PE2132, lodged by the Inverness Courier, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to publish a clear timeline for the dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Nairn and the construction of a bypass for Nairn and to ensure that the timeline is made public by Easter 2025—which ended two days ago.

During the evidence session on 2 April, the cabinet secretary confirmed that the procedural steps for the acquisition of land had been concluded, and we understand that Scottish ministers took title to the land in question earlier this week. We also heard that the potential use of the mutual investment model to fund the dualling of the A96 from Inverness to Nairn is currently being consulted on as part of engagement with industry. The cabinet secretary indicated that the timetable for the project will be determined by the type of procurement that the Government decides to progress. She also indicated a willingness to provide a statement to the Parliament on dualling the A96 Inverness to Nairn bypass before the end of the current parliamentary session—that would be a statement, at least.

Mr Ewing raised the issue of the certainty that could be provided to the public and contractors by having a long-term plan for road infrastructure plans, noting the approach that has been taken in Germany over a 30-year period. Although the cabinet secretary acknowledged that constructive suggestion, she also highlighted the challenges involved in adopting such an approach, particularly as we await the outcome of the UK Government’s capital spending review, which will subsequently inform the update to the Scottish Government’s infrastructure investment plan.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action???

Are colleagues content to do that?

Members indicated agreement.

It is an important petition and we thank the petitioners for it, but in the light of the cabinet secretary’s evidence, that draws to a conclusion—for the time being at least—our consideration of it.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action on PE1657?

Are colleagues content to proceed on that basis?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2136, lodged by Fiona Drouet, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make non-fatal strangulation a stand-alone criminal offence in Scotland. As I said earlier, we are joined by our colleague Tess White.

We last considered the petition on 19 March, when we agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, inviting her to give evidence on the petition at a future meeting once a response had been received. The cabinet secretary’s response states that officials have had discussions with operational partners on the petition and will continue to engage with stakeholders, including the petitioner. The cabinet secretary outlines the range of crime types under which a physical attack involving non-fatal strangulation could be recorded, including attempted murder, serious assault, common assault, robbery, rape or attempted rape, and sexual assault. The submission states that, where non-fatal strangulation is present within sexual offending, that will be reflected in the prosecutorial action taken.

The response informs us that there is currently no individual marking used to record and monitor instances of non-fatal strangulation being reported as part of an offence. Similarly, regarding convictions, there appears to be no specific charge code for common assault when non-fatal strangulation is a component of the offence.

We have also been made aware that the Criminal Justice Committee, subject to final agreement at its meeting this morning, is planning to take oral evidence from a number of bodies on the issue of non-fatal strangulation. In the circumstances, a viable option for the committee is to refer the petition to the Criminal Justice Committee, which is planning to take evidence on the issues that it raises.

Before I seek the views of committee colleagues, I invite Tess White to address the committee.