Chamber and committees

PE1985 is on evaluating garage to home developments and has been lodged by Darren Loftus. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to commission an independent evaluation and provide national guidance on garages to homes developments.

The Scottish Government’s response to the petition notes that the proposed garages to homes project meets the Scottish Borders Council’s local housing strategy objectives and is supported by both the Scottish Borders Council and South of Scotland Enterprise. It states that the buildings will be permanent, high-quality homes, designed for wheelchair users and/or people with limited mobility.

On the issue of community engagement, it highlights a public consultation that was held in November 2022 and plans for consultation events in the future. The submission concludes by stating that the

“Scottish Government does not prescribe, nor enforce, particular housing solutions, but rather it provides the planning framework against which developments are tested.”

The petitioner’s recent submission asks:

“Is the aspiration of the Scottish Parliament to move their citizens, specifically older adults and people with a disability, into housing units converted from garages?”

His submission questions the quality of the feasibility study for the project, stating that no social factors or identifiable local housing needs were factored into the study.

Do members have any comments or suggestions???

I am sure we can find that out, Carol. Do we agree to take forward Alexander Stewart’s recommendations?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 3 is consideration of new petitions. I will begin this item as I normally do by saying that, before the committee considers a new petition, we send it to the Scottish Government to request an initial view on the petition, as well as asking for a briefing from the Parliament’s impartial research service, the Scottish Parliament information centre.

Our first new petition today is PE1969, on amending the law to fully decriminalise abortion in Scotland, which has been lodged by Gemma Clark. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to fully decriminalise abortion services in Scotland and make provision to ensure that abortion services are available up to the 24th week of pregnancy across all parts of Scotland.

Gemma highlights that, although the Abortion Act 1967 sets out criteria making abortion permissible, such as the requirement for two doctors’ signatures, it does not explicitly decriminalise abortion. Gemma believes that that leaves women open to the risk of prosecution if they choose to end their pregnancy.

In responding to the petition, the Scottish Government makes clear its view that all women should be able to access abortion services, as set down within the limits of the law, where they wish. The Government’s response refers to work being undertaken with national health service boards to ensure that services up to 24 weeks are established in Scotland. It also makes reference to the support that is being provided to Gillian Mackay in drafting her member’s bill on safe access zones for abortion services.

The Scottish Government has indicated that, although it may be open to reviewing the law on abortion in the future, it has no immediate plans to amend the Abortion Act 1967.

The committee has also received a submission from the Scottish feminist policy and advocacy organisation Engender, which briefly sets out its argument in support of decriminalising abortion.

Members should also be aware, as highlighted in both the briefing we received from SPICe and the Scottish Government response, that the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 mentioned in the petition does not apply in Scotland.

Do members have any suggestions or comments??

Our next new petition is PE1987, on amending the Scotland Act 2016 to automatically trigger a by-election if an MSP or councillor leaves their party, which has been lodged by James Cassidy. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the Scotland Act 2016 to automatically trigger a by-election by compelling an MSP or councillor to resign if they leave the party that they belonged to when they were elected.

The Scottish Government’s response to the petition states that the terms of membership of the Scottish Parliament are a matter for the Scottish Parliament. On the issue of councillors, the Scottish Government states that it has no current plans to change the electoral system in the way that is called for in the petition.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?

Thank you for that, colleagues. Do we agree to take that approach?

Members indicated agreement.

Just take your time. It is okay. Do not worry. You have as much time as you want.

The next item is petition PE1896, on providing every primary school child in Scotland with a reusable water bottle, which was lodged by Callum Isted. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to replace the disposable water bottles that are provided with primary school lunches with sustainable, reusable metal bottles.

We previously considered the petition at our meeting on 23 November 2022, when we agreed to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport to give evidence to the committee. We have instead the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater, giving evidence on the petition this morning. I thank the minister for coming.

Members have a number of questions that they would like to explore, but first I believe that you have an opening statement, minister.

Thank you, minister. Several members have questions. I will start.

Has there been any further engagement with local authorities’ directors of education following the cabinet secretary’s letter regarding the issues raised in the petition?

Do we agree with those recommendations?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1934, which was lodged by Craig Scoular on behalf of Greenfaulds high school rights and equalities committee, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to work with Education Scotland to develop an educational resource on gender-based violence for all year groups in high school. The resource should educate on the causes of gender-based violence and ensure that young people leave school with the tools to help them to create a safer society for women.

At our previous consideration of the petition, the committee agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and to COSLA. We requested information from COSLA on the current provision of gender-based violence lessons across local authorities. COSLA’s response details a number of on-going workstreams that schools are delivering in partnership with local rape crisis centres and Rape Crisis Scotland.

The submission from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills states that recording and monitoring of incidents in schools is essential, emphasising the importance of a consistent and uniform approach. SEEMiS, which is a local authority-owned tool, provides a function to record instances of sexual harassment. An evaluation was due to take place in 2022 to assess the success of the system. The submission also highlights upcoming reviews of personal and social education and prevention practices.

Does any member have any thoughts?