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Here we have, slightly, the nub. I will allow other colleagues to come in after this.

You have identified a number of criteria, the last one of which appeared to be that there could be discretion of consideration in respect of parents not having given proper consent. We have been unable to understand why, given that these survivors were sent to Fornethy without true consent from their parents, the criteria did not allow for their applications to be considered.

However—this is the bit that we are finding tricky—the Scottish Government has said, “That’s your decision, not ours,” which almost suggests that it would not have held you to account if you had come to a decision that you wanted to give consideration to Fornethy survivors. If consideration cannot be given, we seem to be circling round, but not quite landing on, who would validate that.

Given that the survivors were sent to Fornethy without demonstrable parental consent, why is that criterion not sufficient to allow them to be considered to be within the scheme’s scope?

Okay. I will let David Torrance pursue that point.

If an application bounces about a bit, would the same core panel consider it?

Perhaps we could also seek a bit more information on the assertion that all primary and secondary schools in Scotland can access school nurse services. I would like us to quantify what the level of that resource is across Scotland and to what extent it is being accessed, as it would be useful to have an understanding of that.

Are colleagues content with the suggestions that have been made?

Members indicated agreement.

This is a petition that attracted our attention when we first heard it. Are agreed on the proposed follow-up action?

Members indicated agreement.

That brings us to PE2088, our next new petition, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to help eliminate cervical cancer for women and those with a cervix in Scotland by introducing at-home human papillomavirus self-sampling to enhance the smear test programme, helping to increase the uptake and accessibility of smear testing. The petition was lodged by Emma Keyes, and I believe that she and supporters of the petition are present in the public gallery.

We are also joined by one of our faithful attendees from among our MSP colleagues, Monica Lennon. Good morning, Monica. I will invite you to address the committee in a moment.

As referenced in the SPICe briefing, the Public Health Scotland cancer incidence report notes that the drop in early detection of cervical cancers in 2020 is most likely due to the pause in screening services during the pandemic. The briefing also highlights that women from deprived backgrounds are less likely to participate in screening, and notes that self-testing is seen as a way of getting around some of the barriers to smear testing, and that self-testing has been trialled in some areas of England and in Dumfries and Galloway.

In response to the petition, the Scottish Government states that it relies on advice from the United Kingdom National Screening Committee. Although that committee recognises the potential benefits of self-sampling, it has previously concluded that there is insufficient evidence to recommend implementation. The Scottish Government notes that studies that are under way to gather further evidence are expected to conclude shortly, if they have not already done so.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the potential of self-sampling to increase uptake levels and reduce barriers to cervical screening. As such, a working group has been convened to assess potential models and understand any changes to the screening programme that might be required to support an initial roll-out of self-testing, following emerging evidence from global studies, including the one that took place in Dumfries and Galloway.

Monica Lennon, I welcome any comments that you might want to share with the committee.

Thank you very much to the petitioner and to Monica Lennon. Are members content with the suggested action, and for the petition to be held open and for the committee to advance its aims?

We will incorporate that into the request of the Scottish Government and see whether it can give further insight into the best body to ask for that information. With the addition of Mr Choudhury’s suggestion that we seek to establish what barriers people face, are members content to proceed as suggested?

Members indicated agreement.

We will close petition on that basis. I thank Maria Aitken for having raised the issue with the Parliament.

PE1976, which has been lodged by Derek James Brown, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to require council tax discounts for dementia to be backdated to the date on which a person was certified as being severely mentally impaired, when they then go on to qualify for a relevant benefit.

We discussed the petition last autumn, on 20 September, and we agreed to write to the Scottish Government. The response states that a draft severe mental impairment application form was presented to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in an effort to encourage

“all 32 local authorities to adopt a common approach to administering a disregard for persons suffering from Severe Mental Impairment.”

Officials are now continuing to engage with COSLA on that issue.

Alzheimer Scotland’s submission states its view that the requirement for applicants to be eligible for a qualifying benefit is “unfair and unnecessary”, and it advocates for the Scottish Government to remedy the issue. Do members have any suggestions about how we might proceed on the petition?