Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you. Are we content to close the petition on the basis that has been suggested, but to make sure that the petitioner is aware of the offer to engage and to draw to their attention the suggestion that they maintain close links with their MSPs in order that the aims of the petition can be pursued and achieved?

Members indicated agreement.

Good morning and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2022 of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee.

Agenda item 1 is a decision on taking business in private. Do we agree to take in private item 3, which is consideration of the committee’s 2021-22 annual report?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 2 is consideration of continued petitions, the first of which is PE1804, which has been lodged by Alasdair MacEachen, John Doig and Peter Henderson on behalf of Benbecula community council. As those who follow our affairs know, the petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to halt Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd’s air traffic management strategy project and to conduct an independent assessment of the decisions and decision-making process of the ATMS project.

I welcome to the meeting Inglis Lyon, managing director of Highlands and Island Airports Ltd, who joins us remotely. I very much appreciate his making time available in his schedule to participate in this morning’s discussion.

Members have a number of questions to ask. As we are quite familiar with the ground, having had various evidence sessions with various people, I am very happy to move straight to questions, but if there is anything that Mr Lyon would like to say in advance of that, I am very happy for him to do so.

That is great. I will put the first question to you and then various members of the committee will ask theirs.

I should also say that we have been joined this morning by Liam McArthur and Rhoda Grant. I am very happy to invite them to say something after committee members have asked the principal questions.

The petition was lodged before a change in HIAL’s strategy, and a number of people who have given evidence to us have been suspicious of the motivation underpinning all of that. After five years of pursuing the ATM strategy, Mr Lyon, you have now changed your mind about it. Was that wholly or principally driven by financial considerations, or is there a wider basis for the change of position?

I am grateful, Mr Lyon. Is there anything that we have not covered that you would like to address in a final observation or comment?

Thank you for your evidence this morning. We appreciate very much the time that you have given and the comprehensive way in which you have answered questions from committee members and our visiting colleagues.

Members, are you content to consider the evidence that we have heard today at a future meeting?

Members indicated agreement.

The committee agrees, in which case I will suspend the meeting. Thank you, again, for your participation.

The second continued petition for consideration this morning is PE1855, which was lodged by Claire Mitchell QC. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to pardon, apologise and create a national monument to memorialise those people in Scotland accused and convicted as witches under the Witchcraft Act 1563.

At our last consideration of the petition on 23 February 2022, we heard evidence from the petitioners, Claire Mitchell QC and Zoe Venditozzi, and agreed to consider the evidence at a future meeting. As members will be aware, following that meeting, during the parliamentary debate on international women’s day, the First Minister gave an apology to those people in Scotland accused and convicted as witches under the 1563 act.

Since our last consideration of the petition, we have received a response from the petitioner welcoming the First Minister’s apology and the work being undertaken by Natalie Don to take forward a member’s bill in relation to the pardon. Unfortunately, Natalie Don is unable to join us this morning, but she provided a brief statement in advance of today’s meeting, which indicated that she is consulting on her proposed bill, which focuses on a pardon. It will be published imminently. However, she says that it does not deal with the issue of a national memorial.

Unfortunately, I was not at the February meeting to consider the evidence, although I have obviously read the Official Report carefully. Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?

Our next continued petition is PE1860, which was lodged by Jennifer Morrison-Holdham. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 to allow retrospective claims to be made.

Our last consideration of this petition took place on 2 February, when we agreed to write to the Minister for Community Safety. We have received new responses from the Scottish Government, which include a copy of the response that the minister received from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

From the information provided, it appears that information on the use of judicial discretion under section 19A of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 to disapply time limits for bringing legal proceedings in certain actions, is not currently collected in a way that allows for it to be easily analysed or interrogated.

Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?

I am inclined to agree although it is very clear from the evidence base that, although the problem is acknowledged, the resource does not currently exist to do anything about it. It might be sensible to identify in that correspondence whether, if it is not something that can happen immediately, it is something that could happen in due course.

Are members content with that recommendation?

Members indicated agreement.