Official Report · Committee
St Margaret of Scotland Hospice (PE1105)
Our next petition is PE1105, by Marjorie McCance, on St Margaret of Scotland Hospice. I welcome Gil Paterson to discuss the petition. He has a constituency interest in it and has pursued it for the duration of its consideration by the committee.
Gil, would you like to make some comments before we deliberate on the petition?
Yes, convener. Thanks for allowing me in.
I thank the committee again for the decision that it took the last time that the petition was before it. The fact that the two parties will sit down to discuss the matter vindicates that decision.
I remind members that the Government had recommended that the petition be closed, but I asked that it should not be and gave some reasons why. The committee had its own views. I wonder and worry what would have happened if the committee had closed the petition, but the fact is that the words that the committee used and the view that it expressed have resulted in the action that is being taken. We do not know what will happen as a result of any discussions that take place, but the fact that people are sitting down and talking about the matter is a very positive step.
I have lost track, but I think that I have attended every meeting of the committee at which the petition has been discussed, apart from one in Dumfries, which I could not get to because I had business in the Parliament. However, I put it on record that people from the hospice have attended every one since 2007, which is a tremendous record. In the public gallery we have Jean Anne Mitchell, who has taken over the petition, Clare Murphy, who is from the hospice, and another great supporter of the hospice: the former provost of West Dunbartonshire Council, Councillor Denis Agnew. They have put in a lot of time and have always been at committee meetings to lend support to the petition and hear what the committee has to say. When I speak to them, they tell me that they are grateful for how the Public Petitions Committee handles petitions, particularly this one.
We all appreciate the fact that the petition has been going for a long time, but, to be frank, it has had to. We are not there yet and I hope that the committee will decide yet again not to close the petition. To do so would be premature. The committee might need to consider closing it at some point, but this would not be the right time to do that.
I agree with you. We cannot know whether it is right to close the petition until we know the outcome of the discussions that came about after the last time that we discussed it. We need to wait to see what the discussions bring about. If we can get a report on them, we can consider it at a future committee meeting and decide at that point whether we will need to be party to further discussions. Do colleagues agree with that?
I agree that we must keep the petition open. I think that I have been on the committee for every meeting at which it has been discussed. The Scottish Government’s position is the same as it was when we last considered it, which is to set up a meeting between all parties—the Government, the hospice and the health board. I am concerned about the delay in organising that meeting. As well as keeping the petition open, I would be keen to write to the Scottish Government and impress upon it the urgency of organising a meeting as soon as possible. It should not let the issue drag on. It has dragged on for eight years and we need to try to get some early round-table discussions with all the parties concerned so that we can consider how to take the petition forward.
Are we happy to write to the cabinet secretary on that?
I understand that there is a suggested date for the meeting, and that it is very early. However, it would not be for me to say that you should not write to the Government.
We could write just to confirm that that is the case.
I was about to suggest that. It might give you some comfort to know that a date has been scheduled.
We can establish whether that is the case.
I would be delighted with that.
I recall that we requested that the Government deal with the issue as a matter of urgency. I do not know whether we had a response. Can we check exactly what we asked for and whether we have had a reply?
We can check that out. The important thing is that we keep the petition open, ask for confirmation of the date of the meeting and await the outcome before we deliberate any further. Is that agreed?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you.
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