Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Official Report 428KB pdf

Deputy Convener

Thank you, Bill. I begin by paying tribute to the immediate past conveners of the committee—Johann Lamont, Michael McMahon and David Stewart—all of whom I had the pleasure of working with in different ways.

I look forward to taking on the convenership of the committee. Having served on the Public Petitions Committee in the session before the previous one, I can say that I greatly value the work of the committee. Inherent and essential to that work is the free-flowing exchange of views and the working relationship that we all have on the committee as we seek to do our best on behalf of the petitioners whose petitions we will be considering.

I look forward to the coming session and to the work that we will do. In many respects, we have no idea what that will be. There are some outstanding petitions, as a consequence of the deadline by which petitions could be considered in the previous session. However, the new work that will come our way will be the challenge and the joy of the committee in the months ahead. I look forward very much to the task and to working with colleagues.

Item 3 is the choice of deputy convener. Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish National Party are eligible for the position. I believe that David Torrance is that party’s nominee; I am pleased to invite Bill Kidd to nominate him.

I have great pleasure in nominating David Torrance.

David Torrance was chosen as deputy convener.

Congratulations on your appointment, David. You are a continuing member of the committee. I remember serving with you on the Public Petitions Committee in a session that feels like 100 years ago now. You were also a member in the session before this one. I know that you will bring your huge experience to bear in your new post, to the benefit of us all.

Thank you, convener. I look forward to the petitions that will come to us. As you say, we do not know what they will be, so it will be interesting to see what they are. We should highlight the good work that the committee does. That is really important.

As you said, this is now my third session on the committee. I am really looking forward to it.

I also welcome all the other members of the committee: Bill, who, it turns out, is older than me; Paul; and Tess. I hope that we have a successful parliamentary session.