Chamber and committees

Our next continued petition is PE1961, which was also lodged by Edward Grice on behalf of the Scottish Private Hire Association. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to expand the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 to include private hire car and taxi drivers by creating a specific criminal offence for assaulting, threatening or abusing private hire car or taxi drivers while they are engaged in private hire car or taxi work, and considering such offences as aggravated when the offence is committed while the driver is enforcing a licensing or operational condition.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 31 May 2023, when we agreed to write to the Scottish Government. We have received a response from the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, which notes that the provisions of the 2021 act complement a range of general criminal laws that protect everyone from abuse and violence, with the penalties for those offences being greater than the maximum penalties that are available under the 2021 act. The minister confirms that the Scottish Government is not considering legislation to extend the provision of the 2021 act to include private hire car drivers, taxi drivers or transport workers in general. Given the Scottish Government’s clear position, do members have any comments and suggestions?

Do members of the committee agree?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you, Mr Eagle. We last considered the petition at our meeting on 14 June 2023, when we agreed to write to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport and to sportscotland. Sportscotland responded with further detail on the support that it is providing to the Scottish swimming facilities project that is being taken forward in three phases by Scottish Swimming, which lodged the petition.

The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport confirmed that the Scottish Government received Barnett consequentials of £1.939 million in resource funding and £3.877 million in capital funding following the UK Government’s announcement in spring 2023 of a swimming pool fund. As Barnett consequentials are not required to be allocated to the policy area that they have resulted from, and as the minister has not offered any indication of where the money was allocated, it remains unclear whether that additional funding was, in fact, used to support swimming facilities in Scotland.

We have received a submission from the petitioner that includes a link to a report on the future of swimming facilities in Scotland and notes the number of pools that have closed since the petition was lodged and the impact of that on local communities.

Our colleague Liz Smith is unable to join us in person today but has provided a written statement in support of the petition, and Mr Eagle has already given his statement. Do members have any comments or recommendations?

Thank you, Mr Ewing. Are there further comments from members?

We will write to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport to ask what additional funding is being given and to see whether the Barnett consequentials have been passed over for swimming pools. Do members agree?

Members indicated agreement.

Do members agree to close the petition?

Members indicated agreement.

I remind the petitioner that, if Glasgow City Council and Transport Scotland do not make progress as fast as he would like, he can bring the petition back to the committee after a year.

Our first new petition is PE2063, which is on increased funding for local authorities to enable better management and protection of conservation areas. The petition, which was lodged by David Walsh of Park Preservation Patrons, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide additional funding to all local authorities in Scotland, enabling them to better manage and protect the character and appearance of designated conservation areas.

Paul Sweeney has remained with us for the consideration of this new petition.

The petitioner notes that historic conservation areas throughout Scotland are falling into disrepair, and although he recognises the financial challenges facing both national and local government, he requests that the Scottish Government addresses a specific concern regarding funding for conservation areas.

The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing provides information on the planning process that applies to conservation areas, while noting that the responsibility for upkeep of land and buildings within conservation areas rests with the owners.

The Scottish Government refers in its response to the local government settlement and the policy of allowing local authorities financial freedom to allocate the resources that are available to them. The response goes on to note the support and guidance that are available via Historic Environment Scotland to help promote and protect the historic environment.

Before I go to the committee for recommendations, I ask Paul Sweeney whether he would like to make a statement.

Thank you. Do members have any suggestions for actions?

Thank you for that. Is the committee agreed with all those recommendations?

Members indicated agreement.