Seòmar agus comataidhean

The next item is consideration of continued petitions. The first continued petition is PE1853, which has been lodged by Councillor Donald Kelly and Councillor Douglas Philand and calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide a lifeline all-year-round freight and passenger ferry service between Campbeltown and Ardrossan.

We last considered this petition at our meeting on 1 September, when we agreed to write to the Scottish Government. In the Scottish Government’s initial submission to us, we were told that it was not operationally possible to extend the current operating period of the Ardrossan to Campbeltown service as there were no available vessels. It was noted that the Scottish Government has committed to securing two new ferries, which are currently under construction. Subject to a robust business case and funding, it might be possible to use one of the new vessels to provide a year-round Campbeltown service. The MV Sannox is due to be delivered between July and September of next year.

The petitioners themselves had also explored whether it would be possible to use an available vessel that was not currently part of the Caledonian MacBrayne fleet to provide the service. In its most recent submission to the committee, the Scottish Government suggested that suitable second-hand vessels were rare but that the recent purchase of—and I hope that I say this correctly—the MV Utne indicated a willingness on its part to consider this as an option. The Scottish Government also highlights the creation of the islands connectivity plan, which will be prepared as the successor to the 2013 to 2022 ferries plan.

The Government also states that determining the long-term future ferry requirements for Campbeltown will involve a community needs assessment, which will be carried out with communities and other stakeholders throughout 2022 for all Clyde and Hebrides ferry services and northern isles routes as part of the islands connectivity plan. It is expected that the plan will be published by the end of 2022.

Bearing in mind the subsequent submission from the Scottish Government, do members have any comments or suggestions?

PE1856, which has been lodged by Pat Rafferty on behalf of Unite the union, 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.

When we last considered the petition on 1 September, we agreed to write to the Scottish Government to raise concerns highlighted by the petitioner and to highlight his suggestions that funding be extended and incentive levels increased for drivers to upgrade their cabs; that there be greater clarity on exemptions to the low-emission zones and for taxi cabs to be considered exempt from LEZ charges in line with other forms of public transport; and that the Energy Savings Trust should increase the current £10,000 grant for liquefied petroleum gas retrofit by £2,500. We also sought further details of the national stakeholder group and the timescales associated with establishing it.

In response to the committee’s most recent correspondence, the Scottish Government states that, in relation to increasing the grant offering to taxi drivers, funding and budget plans have already been set for the current fiscal year, and future funding rounds will be subject to the usual spending review process. The Scottish Government also provided further information about LEZ exemptions, noting that LEZ-compliant taxis are

“an important and valued part of the urban transport mix”

and stating that funding is available in the current fiscal year for operators wishing to take up the support on offer.

Finally, the committee might wish to note that the petitioner has been put in touch with the relevant officials at the Scottish Government to discuss engagement between Transport Scotland and the taxi sector.

In light of the Scottish Government’s most recent submission and further contact from the petitioner, do members have any comments or suggestions for action?

I think that I am right in saying that taxi drivers operate under licences from local authorities, so we could write to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities for an audit of the number of licence holders prior to the pandemic and the current number. That would indicate the strength of licence holders on the ground, which I think would be helpful.

I take Paul Sweeney’s point, so I think that we will take evidence on this matter. It would be quite nice to get some geographical representation; I do not know whether the taxi associations will be able to give us a steer on this matter, but it would be useful to hear from the wider country. I realise that we cannot hear from every local authority, as that would make things quite busy. We will write to people in the first instance, but I think that we will end up taking evidence directly.

Marie, did you hope to come in as well?

Thank you.

The next petition, PE1863, which was lodged by Michael Campbell, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide mandatory annual cancer blood tests to people from the age of 55. When the petition was previously considered on 1 September, we agreed that we would write to various stakeholders to ask for their view on the petition. Those stakeholders included the United Kingdom National Screening Committee, which is the independent scientific advisory body that advises ministers on matters of population screening, including any proposal to consider a single blood test to detect cancers. The UK National Screening Committee’s submission notes that it

“has not looked at the evidence to screen for cancers using a single blood test.”

However, its call for topics to consider runs from September to December each year.

Cancer Research UK notes that there are currently no blood tests that can

“reliably detect the early signs of cancer in people without symptoms”,

and it suggests that a “lot more research” would be required before such a test could be used in cancer screening. Cancer Research UK also provides information about a large screening trial on a single blood test, which it believes will be “crucial” in answering whether such a test can find cancer, whether it can do so at an earlier stage and whether it can avoid causing undue levels of harm. Cancer Research UK concludes:

“Regrettably we cannot endorse this petition, but we hope that it will not be too much longer before a general cancer blood test suitable for use in cancer screening becomes available.”

It looks as though the petitioner’s aims might be feasible at a later date, but we cannot find any advisory body that wishes to pursue the matter at the moment. On the basis that there is no such test at this time, I am minded to suggest to colleagues that we close the petition under rule 15.7. In doing so, we could say to the petitioner that there is an expectation and a hope that such a test might be possible in the not-too-distant future. We could also write to those in the national health service who are running the Galleri trial, to see what information they have for us to consider.

The final continued petition is PE1875, which was lodged by Jordon Anderson and calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to order a public inquiry into the actions of the Scottish Qualifications Authority during the academic years 2019-20 and 2020-2021.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 22 September 2021, when we decided to write to the Scottish Government to clarify whether the remit of the public inquiry into Covid-19 will include consideration of the SQA’s actions. The Scottish Government has now responded. It states that there was public engagement earlier this year on a draft aims and principles paper for the inquiry. That will help to inform the terms of reference for the inquiry, which will be agreed between ministers and the inquiry’s chair, once they have been appointed. The Scottish Government concludes by saying that

“decisions about the scope of this Scottish public inquiry are yet to be taken”

and that

“this includes matters raised in this petition.”

It therefore makes sense to leave the petition open until we have some clarification of whether the inquiry will take into account SQA review as part of its work. We will keep it open on that basis.

Members indicated agreement.

It is that aspect of the petition that I think we would seek to explore, given that the legal position with regard to the procurator fiscal having to seek permissions and so on is not likely to proceed.

I would like to write to those organisations on the basis that it appears that the anomaly exists. We would be interested in their confirming that that is the case and what they see as the potential risk to justice arising from that. We could add the Faculty of Advocates and the Scottish Law Commission to the list of organisations that we will write to.

Are there any other comments?

Yes. Although the word “estrangement” sounds quite formal and technical, it is perhaps not legal. Therefore, it could mean different things to different people. It would be useful to obtain evidence on that.