Chamber and committees

PE2070, which was lodged by Lorraine Russo, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to stop general practitioner surgeries from allowing only same-day appointment bookings and to enable patients to also make appointments for future dates.

The SPICe briefing highlights the 2021-22 health and care experience survey, which reported a sharp drop in the percentage of people finding it easy to contact their GP practice in the way that they want to. The briefing also notes that NHS England amended the 2023-24 GP contract to make clear that patients should be offered an assessment of need, or signposted to an appropriate service, at first contact with the practice. Practices will therefore no longer be able to request that patients contact them at a later time.

In 2023, the Scottish Government published the general practice access principles, which state that people should have a reasonable choice about how they access services, and that the method should be clear, understandable and transparent. The Scottish Government notes that the Healthcare Improvement Scotland primary care access programme has worked with more than 100 general practices to improve access arrangements.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?

Thank you, Deputy First Minister. We will move to questions now, and I am happy to open. Can you expand on the aims and findings of the research into Fornethy house?

Mr Mundell, let the Deputy First Minister finish. Other members would like to ask questions.

Our next continued petition is PE1960, which was 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 formally recognise private hire cars and taxis as modes of public transport and to enshrine such recognition in law.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 31 May 2023, when we agreed to write to the traffic commissioner for Scotland. The Office of the Traffic Commissioner’s response notes that the legislative definition of “public service vehicle” is set out in the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, which generally includes vehicles that are designed to carry eight or more passengers for hire or reward. Holders of taxi or private hire licences can apply for a special restricted operator licence if they intend to use their vehicle for the provision of a local bus service. The response notes that there are 34 holders of special restricted operator licences in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has previously suggested that there is no universal legal definition of “public transport”. Different transport modes are subject to their own specific legislation, meaning that there is no obvious route to enshrine a definition in law. Do members have any comments or suggestions?

Thank you, Mr Sweeney. Do members have any comments or recommendations?

Agenda item 3 is consideration of new petitions. Before I introduce our first new petition, I begin by highlighting to those who are following today’s proceedings that a considerable amount of work is done in advance of the consideration of a petition. Before a petition’s first consideration, an initial view is sought from the Scottish Government and a briefing is provided from the Parliament’s impartial research service.

If you are not willing to withdraw, I will have to go to a vote, Mr Choudhury.

That concludes the public part of the meeting. Our next meeting will take place after recess, on Wednesday 17 April 2024.

We now move into private session to consider agenda items 4 and 5.

My question has been covered: it was exactly that question.

I go back to silent prayer. One of the witnesses who gave evidence last week had been arrested twice by the police and questioned by them. They openly admitted that they were in silent prayer and there was no prosecution. If Police Scotland will not be asking people whether they are in silent prayer, will we get any convictions at all?