Minutes: 22 November 2023

Wednesday, 22 November 2023

17th Meeting, 2023

Start time: 10:32am

End time: 12:08pm

Location: T1.40-CR5 The Smith Room

Published: Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Committee Member attendees:

Apologies received from:

Foysol Choudhury (Member)

Also present:

Meghan Gallacher

Minutes

1. Decision on taking business in private:

The Committee agreed to take agenda item 4 in private.

2. Consideration of continued petitions:

The Committee considered PE1947: Address Scotland's culture of youth violence, taking evidence from—

Dr Fern Gillon, Research Associate, University of Glasgow

Dr Susan Batchelor, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Glasgow

The Committee agreed to consider the evidence heard at a future meeting.

and then considered—

PE1854: Review the adult disability payment eligibility criteria for people with mobility needs. The Committee agreed to close the petition under rule 15.7 of Standing Orders and to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice.

PE1931: Improve the R100 rollout by prioritising properties who currently have speeds of less than 5 Mbps. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government and to BT OpenReach.

PE1936: Remove potholes from Scotland's roads. The Committee agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, and the Minister for Transport.

PE1958: Extend aftercare for previously looked after young people, and remove the continuing care age cap. The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise, and the Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum (STAF).

PE1970: Create an online account for parents to manage the 1140 hours of Early Learning and Childcare funding. The Committee agreed to close the petition under rule 15.7 of Standing Orders.

PE1997: Introduce mandatory braille labelling for food products sold in Scotland. The Committee agreed to write to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and Food Standards Scotland.

3. Consideration of new petitions:

The Committee considered the following new petitions—

PE2042: Abolish car parking charges for all Forestry and Land Scotland sites. The Committee agreed to write to Forestry and Land Scotland.

PE2045: Lower the cervical cancer smear test age in Scotland to 16. The Committee agreed to close to petition under rule 15.7 of Standing Orders.

PE2047: Make malicious false allegations a hate crime. The Committee agreed to close the petition under rule 15.7 of Standing Orders.

4. Consideration of evidence:

The Committee considered the evidence it heard on PE1947: Address Scotland's culture of youth violence.