New Petitions

The final new petition is PE1321, by Lynne Tammi, on behalf of the Young Gypsy/Travellers Lives Project, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to remove the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865 from all future guidance on the management of Gypsy Traveller temporary and halt sites. A number of individuals came to the committee today but, because of the lengthy nature of committee business, a couple have had to return home to Oban. I thank them for making the time to come down. It was a long journey, and it is unfortunate that this petition clashed with a number of others that required considerable discussion and detail. I know that there are supporters of the petition in the public gallery.We have seen the papers, and comments from members on how this petition should be addressed would be useful.

We should continue this petition. We should write to the Scottish Government asking whether and when it will remove the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865 from all future guidance on the management of Gypsy Traveller temporary and halt sites; if not, why not; and whether there is a case for it to remain. That would be a good starter.

I will take Robin Harper and then Anne McLaughlin. I certainly do not want to risk getting a red card from Anne.

We should also ask about the progress that the Government has made on meeting its commitment to review guidance on site management for local authorities in consultation with Gypsies and Travellers, including children and young people in the Gypsy Traveller community.

I was about to make the same point. A review is being carried out at the moment, and I would be surprised if the Government were not willing to remove the references to the 1865 act. We certainly should find out when the review will be completed.

There is broad consensus that we should explore the petition. I should say to those who have waited patiently for two and a half hours for this item that the brief amount of time that we have spent on it does not reflect our appreciation of its importance. If I were sitting where the petitioners are sitting, I would be thinking, “I’ve been here for two and a half hours and that’s the petition dealt with.” I want to reassure you that we will keep the petition open and that we will explore the issues that you have raised. We want to get satisfactory responses and, as you will have heard, members are keen to keep up the pressure in that respect.

We should also seek the views of local authorities, which, after all, enforce the 1865 act. I should also say that we have dealt quickly with the petition because we expect it to be successful; however, just in case it is not, we have to seek views from a wide variety of people.

It might also be helpful to get a policy and cultural history perspective on the rights of Gypsy Travellers from the Scottish Gypsy Traveller Association and the Scottish Gypsy Travellers Law Reform Coalition.We will keep the petition open and bring it back to the committee in due course. I hope that the two young people who have had to go back to Oban accept my explanation and that we are trying to resolve the issue.