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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 7 August 2025
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Displaying 3461 contributions

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Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Jackson Carlaw

PE2013, which was lodged by Neil McNamara, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce, without delay, a national dashcam safety portal, as already agreed by Police Scotland. The petition was last considered in October 2023. Following that meeting, we wrote to Police Scotland and the National Police Chiefs Council. Police Scotland’s response states that its digital evidence-sharing capability programme is fully funded for a period of 10 years. In the light of that, do members have any suggestions for action?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Jackson Carlaw

PE2029, on nationalising Clydeport to bring the ports and harbours on the River Clyde into public ownership, was lodged by Robert Buirds on behalf of the campaign to save Inchgreen dry dock. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to use the powers under the Harbours Act 1964 and the Marine Navigation Act 2013 to revoke the status of Peel Ports Group’s Clydeport Operations Ltd as the harbour authority for the River Clyde and its estuary; to establish a municipal port authority in Clydeport’s place and bring the strategic network of ports and harbours along the River Clyde into public ownership; and to compulsorily purchase Inchgreen dry dock for the benefit of the Inverclyde community.

Again, it is some time since we last considered the petition—it was on 20 September 2023. At that time, we agreed to write to stakeholders, including maritime trade bodies, regional councils and major industrial companies along the River Clyde. I know that Paul Sweeney, our former colleague, had hoped to meet us this morning but was unable to do so. However, he helpfully suggested a number of the stakeholders from whom we were able to gather evidence. In total, we have received 13 new submissions, all of which are detailed in the papers that members have received for today. Those include two submissions from the petitioner, which share their comments on the responses that we have received and their continued concern about the performance of Peel Ports as the harbour authority.

Although the Scottish Government has stated that its aim is to bring more ports and harbours into the ownership of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd where the primary function is the provision of lifeline ferry services, it is also the Scottish Government’s position—this is the difficulty—that nationalising Clydeport would not be appropriate and that it has no plans to take such action.

That is the bold position in relation to the petition’s ask, notwithstanding all the efforts and the considerable number of submissions that we have received. If the Government is saying that it will not do this, what more can we do to try to promote the aims of the petition? There are a couple of potential routes, but I invite comments from colleagues on our best course of action.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Jackson Carlaw

PE2040 is on increasing funding to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to prevent serious cuts to the services that are provided to the public. The petition, which was lodged by Anthony McManus, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review the annual budget that is provided to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and to take action to prevent job losses and the removal of front-line fire appliances from fire stations across Scotland.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 25 October 2023, when we agreed to write to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Fire Brigades Union. I think that the matter was highlighted by the fire that took place at the old Ayr station hotel, where fire appliances were not immediately available.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service response tells us that the temporary withdrawal of fire appliances was based on data and modelling that helped to identify which appliances would have the least impact on its emergency response, while helping the service to meet financial savings. That is in the context of the service requiring to make £11 million-worth of savings in the financial year 2023-24.

The Fire Brigades Union has highlighted that the flat cash budget provided to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has resulted in real-terms budget cuts to the service that it believes risk compromising firefighter and public safety.

As we reflected at the previous consideration, the issues that are raised by the petition were looked at by the Criminal Justice Committee as part of its pre-budget scrutiny work last year. As members may be aware, the Criminal Justice Committee is continuing to look at the area ahead of this year’s pre-budget scrutiny. In view of the direct attention on the issues of the petition by our colleagues in that committee, do members have any suggestions on how we might proceed?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

New Petitions

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Jackson Carlaw

Thank you very much, Tess. The petition raises significant issues. I am sure that the committee will wish to keep it open. Do colleagues have any suggestions about what we might do?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Jackson Carlaw

I thank Monica Lennon, and I thank Karen McKeown for her sustained efforts over the life of the Parliament.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

New Petitions

Meeting date: 26 June 2024

Jackson Carlaw

Are members content to keep the petition open and to write to the First Minister in the terms suggested by Mr Torrance?

Members indicated agreement.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

New Petitions

Meeting date: 26 June 2024

Jackson Carlaw

That brings us to the last of today’s new petitions, PE2096, which was lodged by Eleanor Fraser. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to start a review of the council tax system to consider whether rates could be set per capita, rather than by property value.

In its response, the Scottish Government states that the Scottish ministers have pursued various means of identifying an alternative to the council tax system and highlights the work of the joint working group on sources of local government funding and council tax reform. The submission states that the group is progressing the second phase of its work, which focuses on longer-term reform.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action??

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 26 June 2024

Jackson Carlaw

Our next petition, PE2025, was lodged by Bernadette Foley. Forgive me, colleagues, but there is quite a long follow-up, given the amount of information that we have received.

The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to improve the support that is available to victims of domestic violence who have been forced to flee the marital home by ensuring that access is available to legal aid for divorce proceedings where domestic violence is a contributing factor; that victims are financially compensated for the loss of the marital home, including the loss of personal possessions and furniture that were left in the property; and that victims are consulted before any changes are made to non-harassment orders.

We previously considered the petition on 6 September 2023, when we agreed to write to Scottish Women’s Aid, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, the Law Society of Scotland, the Scottish Law Commission and the Scottish Government. Members will have noted that we have received responses from all those organisations.

The Scottish Law Commission told us that, although its “Aspects of family law” project does not extend to divorce law or legal aid, it will consider whether and how survivors of domestic abuse might be able to obtain remedies against perpetrators, including for the loss of property. The commission is also reviewing the efficacy of non-harassment orders.

The Law Society of Scotland suggested that making legal aid automatically available to anyone who has made an allegation of domestic abuse could potentially open up the scheme to misuse. It also indicated its support for a victim being heard prior to any decision being taken to vary or revoke a non-harassment order, and it highlighted that that should happen automatically in a civil context, as the order would normally have been sought by the victim.

In its response, the Scottish Government noted that, in addition to an implementation board, an operational working group has been established to work through the detail of how the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 could operate. It also noted that there are several challenges to be addressed in implementing part 1 of the act, which gives Police Scotland powers to issue a domestic abuse protection notice and to apply to civil courts for a domestic abuse protection order.

In their responses, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre and Scottish Women’s Aid indicate their support for the aims of the petition and draw our attention to the increase in the number of victims who self-represent due to the lack of available legal aid. Members may recall from previous consideration of petitions related to legal aid that the Government indicated its intention to introduce a legal aid reform bill during this parliamentary session, but we have not yet seen such a bill.

Do members have any suggestions for action?

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 26 June 2024

Jackson Carlaw

We should make that last point in particular, because the Parliament is running out of time to progress any such bill. Are colleagues content with that suggested course of action?

Members indicated agreement.

Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Continued Petitions

Meeting date: 26 June 2024

Jackson Carlaw

To be clear, are we inviting the Scottish Government to work with whoever forms the next UK Government, or are you asking the committee to write on the issue to whomever that next Government is?