Seòmar agus comataidhean

If our committee writes to Westminster and is ignored, what do we have to do?

I suggest that we write to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, seeking further details on the anticipated timetable for progressing the draft road orders and statutory consultation. I would also suggest that Transport Scotland be invited to give evidence on why the STAG appraisal has not been carried out.

Yes.

Yes—it is on Mr Torrance’s last point. At our previous session, Police Scotland said that a lot of social media companies are based abroad, which makes it difficult for Police Scotland to engage with them. Can the Scottish Government do anything or ask questions if there is something that it wants to get involved with?

I would be very happy if we could organise a camper van. [Laughter.]

I think that we should write to the British Menopause Society seeking its advice.

No, I do not—not one with those big mirrors. If you watch the old cowboy movies, you can see the big wing mirrors sticking out.

That is one thing that I have been asking you guys to organise for me, but I have not been in a camper van yet.

I have a constituent who wrote to me on the pavement parking issue that we were talking about earlier. Some local authorities have already banned parking on pavements, and there have been a lot of issues. Is there any data on the councils that have banned pavement parking? If so, can we request it?

Good morning, panel. I have a couple of questions. I want to stick with social media first.

So many fake accounts have been opened. If an account has been opened in my name and I report that to the police, the response from the police is, “Sorry, we cannot do anything,” but that fake account can put up loads of stuff. Recently, I have been getting quite a lot of complaints from ethnic minority people that fake accounts have been opened for young people but, when it has been reported to the police, the police have just walked away. Do you have anything to say about that? The police say that you have to write to the social media company. Do you think that social media companies are not taking responsibility, as it is quite easy to open an account in anybody’s name without any background checks?

Thank you.

I will ask about another thing. I have a lot of constituents, mostly from Leith, who have shops or education centres that have been targeted by youngsters—12, 13, 14-year-olds—kicking at the windows and the doors all the time. It is the same people. When the police have been called, they have said that the young people are under age and that they cannot do anything. If the shopkeepers or the business owners go out and talk to the kids, their parents will come and start jumping on them. What response should I give to my constituents who are going through that sort of trouble? Those things are happening more or less every single day in Leith—on Ocean Drive and so on. I constantly get emails from the shop owners.