Minutes: 04 October 2023

1. Decision on taking business in private:

The Committee agreed to take item 6 in private. 

2. Pre-Budget Scrutiny:

The Committee took evidence on the 2023-24 Budget from  George Adam, Minister for Parliamentary Business, and Doreen Grove, Head of Open Government, Scottish Government.

3. Inquiry into A9 Dualling Project:

The Committee took evidence from Alex Neil, former Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, and agreed to consider this evidence at a future meeting. 

4. Consideration of continued petitions:

The Committee considered the following continued petitions—   

PE1902: To allow an appeal process for Community Participation Requests. The Committee agreed to write to NHS Highland. 
PE1975: Reform the law relating to Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The Committee agreed to take evidence from the petitioner, the Anti-SLAPP Research Hub, the Law Society of Scotland, Graeme Johnston and the Minister for Community Safety at future meetings.  
PE1979: Establish an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing officer to investigate concerns about the alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries by public bodies. The Committee agreed to invite the petitioners, and whistleblowers, to a roundtable discussion and to delegate authority to the Convener to work with the clerks on the most appropriate format for the discussion. 
PE1984: Introduce the C100 form for child arrangement orders in Scotland. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government.  
PE1986: Provide testing kits for drugs in public spaces. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government. 

5. Consideration of new petitions:

The Committee considered the following new petitions—   

PE2013: Implementation of a National Dashcam Safety Portal. The Committee agreed to write to Police Scotland and delegated authority to the Convener to write to relevant organisations about how similar systems work in England and Wales.  
PE2032: Improve the support available to injured soldiers and veterans in Scotland. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Armed Forces and Veterans Community, the Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans Joint Group, Veterans Scotland, the Armed Forces Charity SSAFA, and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. 
PE2033: Introduce a full ban on disposable vapes. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Action on Smoking and Health Scotland, Forest, the UK Vaping Industry and other vape manufacturers, and COSLA. The Committee also agreed to ask the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) to explore the availability of additional data and research on the prevalence of vaping among children and young people.  
PE2034: Stop the current proposals for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HMPAs) in Scotland. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government.  
PE2038: Commission suitable NHS services for people with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hyper mobility spectrum disorders. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government and the NHS National Services Division. 

6. Public Participation Inquiry:

The Committee endorsed a recommendation by the Parliament's Participation and Communities Team to approve the application by the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee for a People's Panel to contribute to its planned post-legislative scrutiny of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. The Committee also agreed a draft motion for the 26 October Chamber debate on its report.