Seòmar agus comataidhean

Well, I have never known you to do that, Jackie—that is certainly true. [Laughter.]

PE1888, which is on full legal protection for hedgehogs and moles, was lodged by Joseph Allan. He has tabled a handwritten submission this morning, which I think members should have received. The petition calls on the Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to grant full legal protection to hedgehogs and moles.

The Scottish Government has confirmed its commitment to enhancing biodiversity and to protecting vulnerable species in Scotland. Its submission confirms that the hedgehog is listed in appendix III of the Bern convention—the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats—and schedule 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to kill or capture them using specified methods. The submission states that there are no plans to extend the legal protection for hedgehogs, or to their breeding sites. It highlights steps that are being taken to halt the decline of hedgehogs, although it states that it does not have any information to suggest that the species is in danger of extinction in Scotland.

Similarly, it states that the Scottish Government does not have any definitive data that shows that mole populations are declining, or on the desirability or otherwise of such a decline. It has asked the petitioner to provide further information to explain the exact nature of his concerns, which the petitioner has done this morning, in that he has identified that moles are particularly vulnerable at one point in their breeding season.

The Scottish Government notes that it will carefully consider any recommendations that are made by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee for potential changes to the animals and plants that are listed under schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

My anecdotal observation—I speak as an old man—is that, when I was younger, hedgehogs were quite a common sight. They are less so, now, and that is as much as anything because neighbourhood hedgerows—the natural habitats in which hedgehogs used to thrive—have decreased in number over my lifetime, although there is now a conspicuous effort to restore hedgerows, to rewild and to reintroduce more of what I imagine are natural habitats of the hedgehog.

Do colleagues have any comments?

A lot of voluntary groups and societies are certainly concerned with the welfare of the hedgehog, although the mole is slightly new to me as a feature of such a petition.

We have agreed to keep the petition open and to proceed on the basis that has been outlined.

It strikes me that, at some point, there will be an inquiry into the pandemic. We have already been told that the inquiry will be fully comprehensive and will look at the pandemic from every conceivable perspective, so we could keep in reserve the petitioner’s submission and any final conclusions that we come to as a committee to submit to the inquiry at a future date, should the opportunity present itself.

In the meantime, I agree that we should write to the Scottish Government because I take the point—and I imagine that the Scottish Government will accept it—that, in this first effort to address issues arising from the pandemic, there will have been inconsistencies. I would like to think that there will be a review or that the Scottish Government will undertake a review of what those inconsistencies were and whether, in hindsight, they were necessary or well judged.

I have my own reservations about whether the Scottish Government could make formal guarantees that nothing similar would ever be put in place in a future pandemic, but it seems sensible to write to the Government on that basis in the first instance. Does that seem sensible? Does anyone have any other proposals? Bill Kidd is indicating that he wants to speak.

I am happy to include that suggestion as well.

At the moment, we cannot anticipate the range of other petitions about issues that are consequential to the Covid pandemic that we may subsequently be asked to consider. I will just paste to the wall the idea that this might be an appropriate thing for us to consider at some stage under deliberative engagement, which is part of the committee’s new remit. We could bring together various groups so that we could take evidence from them through the new deliberative engagement aspect of our responsibility.

At the same time, however, I imagine that the COVID-19 Recovery Committee might be doing work in relation to that, too, so we should perhaps liaise with it to see what its timetable and agenda are.

Are we content to take the actions that have been outlined?

Members indicated agreement.

I do not rule out, at some stage, the committee taking oral evidence on the petition. In the first instance, we will see what formal responses we get.

We will keep the petition open. Are we agreed on the recommended actions that Bill Kidd set out?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1889, by Nikki Peachey, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide tailored financial support to self-employed people in the travel industry whose businesses have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its submission, the Scottish Government outlines the various support measures that have been offered to members of the travel sector throughout the pandemic. It states that a UK-wide approach is required to deal with the issues that the travel sector is facing, and that it has written to the UK Minister for Business and Industry to seek a dialogue on the issue.

In her submission, the petitioner explains that the Covid-19 pandemic has hit such workers hard, that they have not received commissions, due to restrictions on international travel, and that they have incurred increased costs that are associated with booking and refunding travel for clients. In addition, many self-employed workers did not qualify for financial assistance via furlough, the self-employment income support scheme or travel agent grants.

The petitioner advises that although loans have been offered through the UK Government-backed bounce back loan scheme, that has meant starting repayments while still not receiving any income. She concludes by stating that many in the industry report facing bankruptcy and losing their homes and their livelihoods.

I recall that one of the first major post-pandemic representations outside the Parliament, which took place just after we came back from the summer recess, involved travel agents and their representatives.

I invite comments or suggestions from colleagues.

We would formally agree to take evidence when we have received the written submissions that we are seeking to receive in the first instance. Are members content to proceed on that basis and to keep the petition open? I think that that was David Torrance’s proposal. We will write to NHS Highland to seek its views on the petition. We can then combine that representation with any representations that we have received on PE1845. Having done that, we will probably formally agree to take oral evidence on the petition.

Are members content with that approach?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1891, which was lodged by Lewis Alexander Condy, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that all children will have had the opportunity to learn to swim by making it a statutory requirement to provide lessons in the primary school curriculum.

The petitioner notes:

“In 2017, it was estimated that 40% of children left primary school not being able to swim.”

He has pointed out that there is currently no requirement for local authorities to provide school swimming lessons in Scotland.

The SPICe briefing that accompanies the petition notes:

“Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure an adequate and efficient education for children of school-age in their area; what this education should entail is not set out in legislation. In fact, very little of the school curriculum is statutory.”

The Scottish Government has reiterated that point, and it has stated that the curriculum is designed to allow local flexibility and acknowledged that some schools already offer swimming lessons through the curriculum and others offer them through their active schools programme.

Through sportscotland, the Scottish Government works with Scottish Swimming, whose priority is that every child should learn to swim. It is currently in discussions on how to expand its programme.

The petitioner suggests that it is unfair to allow councils to choose whether to provide swimming lessons, as it leads to many children missing out or being forced to take private lessons, which may be inaccessible to lower-income families or those who live in rural areas. He believes that making the provision of swimming lessons in school a mandatory requirement will redress that inequality.

My recollection is that, when I was younger, there was quite an in-your-face public awareness and information campaign on the need to learn how to swim, by whatever means. Maybe it is just because the message is no longer targeted at me, but I am less aware of there being any such campaign now. We are told that the Scottish Government is in conversation with Scottish Swimming on how it can expand its programme, and I would be very interested to find out how that might be done.