Nuisance Hedges (PE497)
Petition PE497 calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive, following its consultation exercise in 2000, to implement legislation at the earliest opportunity to alleviate the nuisance caused by hedges.
The petition has been around for a long time.
It has indeed.
Does Scott Barrie definitely intend to introduce a bill?
Yes, according to his response.
The committee's additional papers include an e-mail from Scott Barrie, in which he says that he hopes to issue the consultation document later this month.
He has been working on the document and intends to issue it soon.
I have received numerous complaints from constituents about the matter. I always tell them that Scott Barrie is going to introduce a member's bill, but I have been saying that for four years and it is wearing a little thin. I am pleased to hear that he will do so, but I hope that he gets on with it.
Scott Barrie says in his e-mail, in relation to the consultation document:
We are hedging our bets.
That was worth a try. Do members agree to close the petition? That would save us from more such jokes.
NHS Prescribed Drugs<br />(Effects on Children) (PE639)
Petition PE639 calls on the Scottish Parliament to investigate the storage and dispensing of national health service prescribed drugs in schools.
I was surprised that the EIS said that it was
I was concerned by the fact that the SPA said that it does not agree that the medicines should be stored in schools. If that is the case, what happens to the children who need the medicines? There is no doubt that an arrangement is needed. We do not have a neat solution to the concerns that the petitioner has raised. Perhaps we ought to ask the Executive whether it is satisfied that the guidance that was issued on 4 September 2001 is working in practice. The petitioner brought to us a legitimate concern and I am sure that every parent in Scotland would want to be satisfied that the drugs, which are essential, are administered properly.
Are we happy to write to the Executive? Mike, do you want to get back to the EIS?
I am just rather surprised that it gives us a rather equivocal answer. It simply says that it is not in a position to respond, although it has guidance. Perhaps we should get some views about whether the guidance is effective. It seemed odd that the EIS did not state one way or the other.
Do you want us to write back to the EIS and ask it again?
Let us see what other committee members think.
That is a reasonable suggestion. The question is whether the matter was put to the EIS's executive committee or whether a researcher just wrote back because they did not have time to deal with the petition. If the EIS researchers do not have time to deal with it, the matter needs to be put to its executive, as it is important. Last week, I was out with a school and saw an auxiliary whose job was to administer all the medicines. That reminded me that the petition was coming up and made me think that, if I was a patient, I would like to be absolutely sure that all such medicines were properly stored and administered.
We will write to the EIS and seek further clarification, but that need not hold us back from asking the Scottish Executive how effectively it thinks the guidance is being implemented.
Tax Collection (Legislation and Procedures) (PE766)
Petition PE766, by James Mackie, calls on the Scottish Parliament to investigate the financial implications on businesses of the Inland Revenue's current system of collecting taxes and to change the legislation so that businesses have prior notification and the opportunity to address issues in front of a sheriff before a warrant is issued to collect alleged overdue taxes.
It would be fair to ask Mr Mackie for his views on the responses that we have received. As I said when the petition was first lodged, I am not sure that the problem is huge but, were it to arise, it would be a matter of concern to the CBI and the FSB.
Shall we pass on the responses to Mr Mackie and ask him to reply to us?
Historic Scotland (Remit) (PE703)
Petition PE703 calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive, as part of its review of Historic Scotland, to amend the organisation's remit to ensure that it is accountable for its decisions and responsive to communities' views.
The minister's response is clear and there is not much more that we can do. It is a fairly definite letter from Patricia Ferguson and we should probably let the matter rest at that.
Are committee members happy to close the petition?
Scottish Opera (Funding)<br />(PE715 and PE777)
Our next petition is PE715, which is linked with PE777. PE715 calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to ensure that Scottish Opera has adequate resources to maintain a full range of operatic provision; PE777, which is by Lorne Boswell, on behalf of Equity, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to safeguard the future of Scottish Opera by ensuring adequate funding to allow maintenance of a full-time chorus.
The Cultural Commission is undertaking a review of all aspects of arts and culture in Scotland and is due to report soon. That report will certainly include Scottish Opera, but we could still write to the minister.
Are members happy to send the responses to the minister for comment?
Local Government Finance (PE754)
Petition PE754, which is by Christine Grahame MSP, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to accelerate the review of local government finance and to ensure that the review takes into account the ability to pay. In the meantime, the Executive is asked to consider a means of reducing the impact of this year's increase in council tax for those who have no matching increase in income to meet the additional charges.
I suggest that we close the petition. As the minister's letter states, the review is independent of ministers, so we should send the petition directly to the review group, if we have not already done so.
The minister's response states that the petition has been passed on, as we requested.
Fine. We should just close the petition then.
There has been a consultation on the issue, which closed on 16 March.
I hope that the MSP in question has responded directly to that consultation.
She will not be able to use this committee any longer.
Building Regulations<br />(Thermostatic Mixing Valves) (PE786)
Petition PE786 is by Alan Masterton, on behalf of the Scottish Burned Children's Club. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to include in the Scottish building regulations a mandatory requirement for thermostatic mixing valves to be installed in the hot water systems of all new-build and renovated properties.
Perhaps we could write to the Scottish Building Standards Agency to ask for an update with regard to the working group that it said it would establish early in 2005 to review section 4 of the technical handbooks for the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
I agree. We might do this as a matter of course, but we should also pass on the correspondence to the SBSA, because we have received worthwhile letters from the SNIPEF and other bodies, which have moved on the discussion in a sensible and worthwhile way.
The petition is worth while. The committee was unanimous that we wanted to pursue the issue vigorously. If we pass on the correspondence, we can be said to be doing that.
Yes. I am certainly concerned about the danger of legionella. A sensible solution must be found at minimum cost, but the petition is a good one.
Complementary Medicine (PE571)
Our final current petition is PE571, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to introduce legislation to require health boards in Scotland to integrate and implement within the NHS the recommendations of the National Medical Advisory Committee's 1996 report, "Complementary Medicine and the NHS".
I am delighted by the response from the minister. He makes it clear that the expectation is that complementary and alternative medicine can be provided based on an assessment of local needs. That helps to move forward the situation for those who campaign and argue for complementary or alternative medicine. It is very good that the minister will address the issue in the context of the consultation on improving our access to herbal medicine and acupuncture. I thank the minister and also thank the petitioners for bringing forward a very important petition.
The minister's letter to the committee was written on 1 April. Is it possible to find out whether the letter to health boards has been sent? That letter was to be sent within two months and it will soon be six weeks since 1 April. Thereafter, I suspect that we should close the petition.
We can close the petition, but get confirmation that the letter has gone out. Is that okay?
Previous
New PetitionsNext
Equalities Report