PE1179 calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a separate and distinct health and community care client category of acquired brain injury to ensure that people with acquired brain injury and their carers get the services and support that they need, and to ensure that agencies can plan and deliver services more effectively.I invite observations from members.
Members will note that we have received from the petitioner the suggestion that we suspend our consideration of the petition, given that in the continuing correspondence involving the petitioner, the Government and other interested parties, points are being repeated. In the petitioners’ view, that would allow time for the Scottish Government and the Association of Directors of Social Work to further consider these serious matters. The petitioner is suggesting that, at that time, we could more productively come back to the main content of the petition. If members are minded to suspend our consideration, we should write to both the Scottish Government and the ADSW to tell them of the committee’s decision.
I think that it is with some disappointment that we will suspend the petition for so long. As the petitioners have indicated, they are extremely disappointed by the responses that they have received on the matter from the Scottish Government and other agencies.I have to put it on the record that I am disappointed, given the seriousness of ABI, that it has taken so long and that we seem to be at an impasse. I support Bill Butler’s recommendation that we suspend our consideration of the petition at present, but I would like to think that as a committee we could urge the Scottish Government and other agencies to try to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and not to allow it to drag on for too long, because clearly we need to get these issues resolved for sufferers and carers and to take forward delivery of services for those with ABI.
I assume that we are agreed that we write in the terms described to say that we are disappointed by the lack of progress and to note that this does not mean the end of progress on the issue by the committee as we would expect our successor committee in the next session of Parliament to take up the matter. There is a history of a few other petitions being kept going in the face of adversity in the hope that we eventually get the result that the petitioner would like.
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