New Petitions

Okay. We will ask for the relevant minister's response to the comments on the record today about the apparent discrimination. We will also urge the Deputy Minister for Justice to meet Calton Athletic Recovery Group. Are members agreed?Members indicated agreement.

I now call Alasdair Russell to speak to petition PE234, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to create a regulation to ensure that all councils publish an annual one-page summary of councils' allowances and expenses in the respective council magazine. I apologise for skipping past you, Alasdair; please take a couple of minutes to present your petition.

Thank you. I invite brief questions to Alasdair Russell on the petition.

It is helpful for us to know that. You are the first person of whom we have asked that question. Perhaps we should ask more people that.The petition is quite clear. It seems reasonable and sensible. It has been suggested that we pass it on to the Local Government Committee for further consideration. Are we agreed?Members indicated agreement.

No, but members can attend the Local Government Committee meeting.I want us to finish by 1 o'clock, as another committee is meeting at 2 o'clock. We will try to speed through the next petitions. We may have to defer consideration of item 2, as we cannot continue beyond 1 o'clock. Would that be okay?Members indicated agreement.

Petition PE225 is from William Ackland, on noise and environmental pollution. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to take steps, including the introduction of legislation if necessary, to protect the human rights of residents in homes that are adjacent to quarrying from vibration, noise and environmental threats. It is suggested that we write to the Minister for Transport and the Environment and ask for her comments on the protection that is currently available for residents. Depending on her response, we may refer the petition to the Transport and the Environment Committee. Are we agreed?Members indicated agreement.

I think that they must follow national guidance, but we can ask for that information from the minister.The next petition, PE228, is from the Anderston Tenants Association. I declare an interest, as I have been involved in this issue. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to examine Scottish Homes and its double-glazing programme in the Anderston area. We have written to Scottish Homes, requesting its comments on the matter, and it is suggested that the petition be considered only after that information has been received. We want to know what Scottish Homes has to say before we decide what action we can take. Are we agreed? Members indicated agreement.

Petition PE229 is from Lawrence Stewart and calls on the Scottish Parliament to introduce legislation to require financial institutions to place investors' money in the highest-bearing account when account types are changed by financial institutions. You will know that such issues are reserved matters, so we do not have any powers to legislate, but we could send the letter to the relevant UK Government minister so that the point is not lost.

We will write to the UK minister and we will add in the letter that we think that it is a good point for them to address. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.

The next petition, PE231, is from Desmond Divers and is on car parking charges in Dunoon. We have an additional paper on that, which contains comments received from Argyll and Bute Council on the issues raised in the petition. We have written to Argyll and Bute Council, which is why we got that reply. We can now decide what we want to do with the petition.Argyll and Bute Council is saying that, following statutory notification and full statutory consultation, a hearing was held on the car parking proposals. It heard nine objections, including one objector representing those who had signed a petition. After hearing what was said, it modified the scheme. The local area committee will receive a report in September or October and there will be an opportunity to consider whether further modifications are required.We know that car parking in Dunoon is an issue for the council to consider, but it seems to have acted responsibly in taking into account points made by the objectors, including our petitioners. I think that we should close the matter at that.

I am sure that they will pick that up with this committee if they feel that the matter is not finished. Is it agreed that we follow the suggested course of action?Members indicated agreement.

Petition PE236 is from the Solway Shellfish Hand Operator's Federation and is on suction dredging in the Solway. It calls for the Scottish Parliament to consider the employment and environmental implications of permitting the reinstatement of suction dredging for shellfish in the Solway.It is suggested that we write to John Home Robertson to request his comments on this issue. We must understand the technical nature of these methods.

I am not against that. I would be interested to hear what John Home Robertson says, so that we understand the points. We should note the petition to Alasdair Morgan.

We should send it for information to both Alasdair Morgan, as the MSP for that area, and to the Rural Affairs Committee.

A consultation is under way.

We will ensure that all the MSPs for the area get a note of what we have done at this committee, so that they can pick up on it. We should make the point to the minister that we know there is a consultation exercise and that we would like a response before the consultation finishes.

We will send it for noting to the Rural Affairs Committee.

We will send it to the MSPs in the locality, as we know that Alex Fergusson and Alasdair Morgan have an interest in this. Other members can come to the next committee meeting, if we are picking it up.Members indicated agreement.

Petition PE238 is from Mr James A Mackie on behalf of the Forth Fishery Conservation Trust and is on environmental issues in relation to salmon and sea trout.The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to investigate a range of environmental issues relating to salmon and sea trout fishing stocks. The petitioner has asked that the issues that he has raised be considered as part of the Parliament's consideration of PE96, from Mr Alan Rennie. That would seem to make sense.

My apologies to the official report.

I am sorry. That was my impersonation of someone whom I cannot mention on record.The suggested action is that PE238 should be passed on to the Transport and the Environment Committee.

The Rural Affairs Committee has already passed it on to the Transport and the Environment Committee. I do not think that the Rural Affairs Committee asked us whether it could do that, but that is what has happened.

We have a commitment from the Transport and the Environment Committee to keep the Rural Affairs Committee informed of any developments.

The Transport and the Environment Committee is conducting an inquiry and it might not be appropriate to ask the minister for comments at this stage. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.

PE239 comes from Donald Easton and is on the subject of the NHS pay review body. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to direct the Scottish Executive to take action to include bio-medical scientists working in the NHS in that pay review body.

Some lab technicians and scientists are dealt with at a UK level. For historical reasons, some groups are not included in the pay review body. Everyone wants to be part of the pay review body because it is the only one to which the Government pays any attention.

Perhaps we could ask the health department why bio-medical scientists are not included in the NHS pay review body, so that we are clear on that. John Scott is right, we should do a bit of work before we pass the petition to the Health and Community Care Committee—I know that that committee is rather overloaded. I, too, would like the reason why bio-medical scientists are not included to be put on record.

In the spirit of the written answer procedure, we can ask the minister for a speedy response to allow us to act on the petition. We could also ask the minister to specify any other health service groups that are not included in the pay review body. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.

George Lyon MSP and Ray Michie MP have submitted a petition on rural sub-post offices, calling on the Scottish Parliament to do everything in its power to secure a viable future for Argyll and Bute's rural sub-post offices.Previous petitions on this subject have been passed to the Rural Affairs Committee and the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee for further consideration. Consideration of the previous petitions by the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee resulted in the petitions being noted and forwarded to the Rural Affairs Committee.I will read out a note that George Lyon sent. He apologises for not being here and explains that he is unable to attend due to the time of the meeting changing. He says:"I would like to point out to the committee how important rural post offices are to a constituency such as Argyll and Bute with large numbers of small rural communities and approximately 26 inhabited islands. There are 118 rural post offices in the area, many of which are virtually the only shop left in the community. They therefore provide an absolutely vital service to these very small rural communities and the people who will live in them. I hope the committee will support this petition and recognise the strength of feeling in Argyll and Bute, as demonstrated by the large number of signatures that we received in support of the petition."What do members feel the suggested action should be?

The Rural Affairs Committee, because it is conducting an inquiry into the matter.

Yes. We have done that with about six of them already. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.

Petition PE241 is from Jim Douglass, on behalf of Better Government for Older People in the Scottish Borders, calling for the Scottish Parliament to ensure that rural fuel suppliers in Scotland are able to offer a pricing structure similar to that in urban areas and to urge the UK Government to take action to ensure that fuel duty policy does not discriminate against rural populations and older people.The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee is conducting an inquiry into fuel prices and it would seem appropriate to let them see this petition as well.

The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee is driving this issue forward.

Are we agreed to send the petition to the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee?Members indicated agreement.

Petition PE242 is from Action of Churches Together in Scotland, the Scottish Refugee Council and Amnesty International and calls for the Scottish Parliament to give asylum seekers rights of access to various support services and to amend legislation to restore the entitlement of asylum seekers to accommodation and cash-based support.It has been suggested that the petition should be copied to the Minister for Communities and that she should be asked to comment. We might want the Minister for Health and Community Care to comment, given that asylum seekers also get support from the health service.

Perhaps the best thing would be to ask the Minister for Communities to deal with all the aspects of support and indicate that we would be grateful if she spoke to other departments.

Yes. That concludes our consideration of the petitions. Do we want to finish off the agenda? How do members feel?

Less than.

Are we all agreed?Members indicated agreement.