Minutes: 06 September 2023

1. Declaration of interests:

Maurice Golden declared an interest in being a fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. 

2. Decision on taking business in private:

The Committee agreed to take items 5 and 6 in private.

3. Consideration of continued petitions:

The Committee considered the following continued petitions—  

PE1905: Public Inquiry into the response of religious organisations to allegations of child sexual abuse since 1950. The Committee agreed to write to the Deputy First Minister.   

PE1911: Review of Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 as it relates to post-mortems. The Committee agreed to write to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Royal College of Pathologists and to delegate authority to the clerks to invite views from other relevant organisations.  

PE1955: Make the provision of public toilets a statutory duty. The Committee agreed to close the petition under Rule 15.7 of Standing Orders and to write to Scottish Government. 

PE1973: End the use of Sheriffs Discretion when ruling on civil cases and provide clear legal guidance on division of assets. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government.  

PE1974: Adopt the A890 as a trunk road, and PE1980: Adopt the A832 between Achnasheen and Gorstan as a trunk road. The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Transport. 

4. Consideration of new petitions:

The Committee considered the following new petitions—  

PE2023: Stop the Deposit Return Scheme. The Committee decided to close the petition under Rule 15.7 of Standing Orders. 

PE2024: Create a national, public information programme to raise awareness of the impacts of steroids, selective androgen receptor modulators, and other performance enhancing drugs. The Committee agreed to write to UK Anti-Doping, Anabolic Steroids UK, the Scottish Drugs Forum, and the Scottish Government. 

PE2025: Improve the support available to victims of domestic violence, who have been forced to flee their home. The Committee 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.  

PE2026: Eliminate Council Tax discounts for second homes and vacant properties. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Shelter Scotland, and Citizens Advice Scotland. 

PE2027: Launch the Changing Places Toilet fund. The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport.   

5. Admissibility decision (In Private):

The Committee agreed that a proposed petition on the confirmation of wills is admissible.

6. Work programme (In Private):

The Committee considered its work programme and agreed: 

• to elevate its scrutiny of petition PE1992 (Dual the A9 and improve road safety) to the level of an inquiry, and to invite Alex Neil, former Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, to give evidence at a future meeting 
• to undertake pre-budget scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s budget on public participation  
• to review its policy on written submissions at a future meeting.