Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you. I will bring in the first of our virtual contributors: Claudia Rowse from NatureScot.

If there are no other suggestions, we will take forward the petition on that basis.

Thank you very much, Callum. It has been an absolute pleasure to have you here. I hope that you will have a great day. We will take forward the petition and, after you have met the First Minister, we will ask her to honour whatever commitments you can get out of her and we will see what we can do to put your petition into practice.

I suspend the meeting briefly.

Doug Howieson.

I am letting people know who is speaking. There can be confusion about voices. It is not always clear who will speak.

Can I come back to you in a moment, then?

We will continue with the balance of item 1, which is the consideration of continued petitions. PE1856, on supporting the taxi trade, was lodged by Pat Rafferty on behalf of Unite. Members will recall that the petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to protect the future of the taxi trade by providing financial support to taxi drivers, setting up a national stakeholder group with trade union driver representatives and reviewing low-emission standards and implementation dates.

At our last consideration of the petition, we agreed to write to key stakeholders and to seek information directly from people in the sector. In particular, the committee sought figures on the number of taxi licence holders prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the current number.

So far, we have received responses from 12 local authorities and the Scottish Taxi Federation. Five of those local authorities provided details of taxi and private operator figures, which indicated that there were 3,748 operators before the pandemic and that the number has now fallen to 3,258 operators. That illustrates a reduction of 490, with four out of the five local authorities seeing a reduction in the number of operators in the area.

Twelve local authorities provided details of taxi and private driver licences, which indicated that there were 11,436 licences before the pandemic and that there are now 9,348 licences. That is a reduction of 2,088, or nearly 20 per cent, which is pretty significant, with 11 out of the 12 local authorities seeing a reduction in the number of driver licences.

The Scottish Taxi Federation’s response highlights a number of issues for its members, including an ageing workforce—I think that I read that taxi drivers tend to be in their mid-50s or, increasingly, older still. Other issues include low-emission zones and their possible impact on the viability of the taxis that many owners have invested in and the high cost of low-emission zone-compatible vehicles. I imagine—although it has not been suggested in advance of today’s meeting—that a very immediate challenge could well be the price of fuel, which we know will be affected by the current international situation.

In the light of all that, I certainly found the reduction in the number of taxis in my local authority quite significant, given the post-pandemic challenges in relation to the restoration of bus and rail services. With a 20 per cent reduction in the number of available taxis, they could become an increasingly difficult to obtain and even more expensive option. There are some really serious issues underpinning all of this.

Do colleagues have any comments or suggestions on how we might proceed?

I would still like to hear from some of the other local authorities that we have not yet heard from, because there are some big local authorities involved in all of that as well.

Do members agree to let the clerks sound out whether there is any indication that one of the appropriate subject committees might be able to take on the petition and do more work with it?

The next continued petition is PE1870, lodged by Edward Fowler. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce legislation requiring teachers of autistic pupils to be appropriately qualified to improve educational outcomes.

The petitioner points out that special conditions apply to the employment of teachers of hearing impaired and visually impaired pupils, noting that those teachers are required to obtain appropriate qualifications. The petitioner suggests that the same principles should be applied to teachers who work with pupils with autism.

At our previous consideration of the petition, on 1 December 2021, we agreed to write to teaching unions, and we have since received responses from the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers and the petitioner. The NASUWT notes that initial teacher education is just one element in supporting the wellbeing of pupils and that improved initial teacher education on additional support needs

“will not provide a quick fix on its own to guarantee that appropriate ASN support is available to all schools, teachers and learners across Scotland.”

It notes that initial teacher education already covers a wide range of issues and, in order to add in a new topic, consideration would need to be given to the question of which existing topic to remove.

The submission highlights pressures on teachers arising from an on-going reduction in specialist support for pupils with additional support needs, including in relation to managing challenging behaviour in the classroom. In his submission, the petitioner points to a wider issue: he believes that pupils are becoming overwhelmed in mainstream classrooms and are unable to cope. The petitioner explains that many teachers are not sufficiently trained to manage children with autism and co-occurring conditions and that, without the right supports and strategies, that can trigger challenging behaviour.

The petitioner believes that, at the moment, the system is failing both the teachers and the children.

Do any members have comments to make?

I see that members have no other comments or suggestions to make. We could write to the Scottish Government to ask whether it intends to undertake a child rights impact assessment of initial teacher training and the continuing professional development for teachers to ensure that the needs of all children with additional support needs, including those with autism, are being met, and to produce guidance for teachers along the lines mentioned by Alexander Stewart. Do colleagues agree to that approach?

Members indicated agreement.