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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 1 July 2025
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Displaying 3441 contributions

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Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

I would certainly be willing for the committee to try to tease out an explanation. Transport for London deals with tens of millions of people using the system. The Glasgow pilot is referred to as being useful but not necessarily cost-effective on a commercial basis, which may reflect the numbers involved in relation to the cost of setting it up. I do not know. Any citizen of Glasgow who travels abroad is surprised at how far behind the smart technology is in the largest city in Scotland. There is more that we could tease out in relation to that.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

It strikes me as peculiar that we have introduced barrier technology at a series of stations but that we cannot programme the barriers to be pay as you go. I would not have thought that that was impossible.

Who should we try to pursue these issues with? Meanwhile, we should write to the Scottish Government to clarify whether Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd is covered by the consumer duty legislation. If it considers that SRHL is not covered, we should ask what action it proposes to take to ensure that it is. It would be a deficiency if it is not.

I was also struck by what Mr Eckton said in his latest submission about how easy it is to miss the advertising on fares. We should ask SRHL about the action that it is taking to ensure that people can easily identify that. I would be very interested to know what advertising it does and how it evaluates whether that advertising has been successful.

Are there any other thoughts or comments?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

That is a perfectly fair observation. The actions that we have discussed can be linked back to the actual aim of the petition, but I agree that we have to be careful. Although I welcomed everything that Monica Lennon had to contribute, it invited us to stray slightly beyond, in a number of areas, the specific ambition of the petition.

We are always willing to receive an additional petition from another party on all those other matters. If we opened up an inquiry in the broadest possible terms in relation to every petition, we would—to extend your metaphor, Mr Ewing—be trawling very deeply.

Are members content to proceed on the basis of the various recommendations that we have had?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

We can see if that works. Ultimately, the project would have to be taken forward by others, but I take the point that it would have to include a much wider range of views to be certain that it was viable, in addition to any capping proposal that might proceed.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

Quite a bit of the evidence that we have heard was not so much about the ambition around the delivery of various principles. Alexander Stewart will ask a couple of questions in relation to that.

I go back to the medication-assisted treatment standards and the importance that you attach to their being embedded—I refer back to that word. To what extent did the work that you did suggest how far adrift we were from the delivery of that principle?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

Thank you.

10:30  

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

Does Carole Hunter have anything to add before I bring in Alexander Stewart, who will pursue that point?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

That was one of the most striking parts of the earlier evidence that we heard in the consideration of the petition. From the committee’s point of view, it took some time before we were able to get the Government to accept that there seemed to be a breakdown in how it could be demonstrated that a prescribed drug had reached the individual for whom it was intended. It was not that the intention was not there or that the process was not happening, but it was impossible to demonstrate that it had actually happened because of the lack of a national standard. As a committee, we felt that that was a significant deficiency. The petitioner’s experience, which was tragic and sad in its ultimate conclusion, made that clear. That is the reason that we continue to pursue the points that the petition raises.

10:45  

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

PE1887, which was lodged by Nicola Murray, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to create an unborn victims of violence act, creating a specific offence that enables courts to hand down longer sentences for perpetrators of domestic violence that causes miscarriage.

Members will recall the evidence session that we held at our last meeting, with stakeholders, who raised many important issues in relation to the petition. We have also heard directly from the petitioner, Nicola Murray, about her personal experience and her desire to see a change in the current system.

In advance of the meeting, we had a chance to reflect on the evidence. Today affords us an opportunity publicly to give some thought to what we have heard and how we might take matters further forward. This is one of the more important petitions that we have heard. We have all been very struck by the evidence as we have listened to it.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 23 November 2022

Jackson Carlaw

PE1906, which has been lodged by Peter Kelly on behalf of @ReplacetheM8, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to commission an independent feasibility study to investigate scenarios for reducing the impact of the M8 between the M74 and Glasgow cathedral, including, specifically, the complete removal and repurposing of the land.

When we previously considered the petition on 23 February, we agreed to write to stakeholders seeking their views on the action that the petition calls for. Glasgow City Council has highlighted its commitment to address the aims of the petition as part of its “Strategic Plan 2022 to 2027”. It has committed to

“Commission research on and explore options to reduce the impact of the M8 on the city centre, and review opportunities to re-engineer other roads infrastructure to become more people-friendly including options for long-term replacement.”

It also states that funding and collaboration with stakeholders such as Transport Scotland is required to take forward the research.

We have also had submissions from Professor Richard Williams, who provided information on a recent project in São Paulo, and from Dr Wood, who supports the petition. Dr Wood’s submission highlights relevant traffic reduction projects in other parts of the UK, and the related economic development opportunities.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action? I recall that Mr Sweeney has a particular interest in the petition.