Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank the petitioner for lodging the petition, but we had a vote in Parliament on the matter not long before the summer recess, when Parliament once again expressed its view.

PE2101, which has been lodged by Peter Earl on behalf of Troqueer primary school, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide primary and secondary schools with automated external defibrillators—AEDs. The petition explains that Troqueer primary school pupils discovered that their local defibrillator is, in fact, too far away to have a positive impact if someone were to suffer cardiac arrest at the school.

The SPICe briefing notes that, in January of this year, data that was obtained through freedom of information requests submitted by the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party showed that approximately four in 10 Scottish schools do not currently have a defibrillator. It is thought that that figure could be an underestimate, because six of Scotland’s 32 local authorities did not respond to the freedom of information requests.

The UK Government provided AEDs to state schools in England that did not already have one on site to ensure that all state schools had a defibrillator by the end of the 2022-23 academic year.

The committee has received a response to the petition from the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, which highlights the existence of “Scotland’s Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021-2026” and points out that one of the strategy’s aims is to increase the percentage of OHCA cases in which a defibrillator is deployed before the arrival of the Ambulance Service to 20 per cent. The response also points out that decisions on the installation and maintenance of defibrillators in schools are matters for local authorities to consider at local level.

Members will know that our colleague Finlay Carson has expressed an interest in the petition. Although he is unable to join us today, he has submitted a written submission.

The provision of defibrillators is an issue that we have come round to before. It seems something of a no-brainer that defibrillators should be in place in schools. Other parts of the country have already moved to ensure that that is the case. The response that we have received is a bit lacking, I think, in that nobody appears to be taking a lead. It is all just being farmed around. Do colleagues have similar thoughts? Does anyone have any suggestions on how we might proceed?

We come to PE2102, for our consideration of which Fulton MacGregor MSP has expressed an interest in joining us. I understand that he will be with the committee shortly.

The petition, which has been lodged by Anna-Cristina Seaver, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to abolish the option of an absolute discharge in cases where the accused is found guilty of rape or sexual assault and to introduce a statutory minimum sentence for such offences that includes the convicted person being registered as a sex offender.

The Scottish Sentencing Council’s information on absolute discharge states that

“Reasons for an absolute discharge can include, for example, that the crime is very minor, that the offender has been previously of good character, or that the offender is very young or old.”

The Scottish Government’s statistics show that there were two absolute discharges for rape and attempted rape and nine for sexual assault in 2021-22.

The petitioner feels that, even though the numbers are low, there is no circumstance that is exceptional enough to allow a person who is found guilty of a sexual assault to go unpunished. In its response, the Scottish Government notes that, in assessing a case, the court will consider the appropriate sentence for each offender before them,

“taking account of all the relevant facts and circumstances of the particular case.”

That includes consideration of the fact that absolute discharge will remove the requirement for notification—that is, for the person to be registered as a sex offender.

In her recent submission, the petitioner argues that the current framework has a loophole that excuses those with an absolute discharge from being subject to notification requirements. That is because the length of an individual’s notification requirement is set by the length of their sentence. When no sentence is set when an individual receives an absolute discharge, that equals a period of “no duration” in which they are subject to notification requirements.

I will use my discretion to briefly suspend the meeting, because I understand that Mr MacGregor will be with us shortly, and I know that the committee would want to give him an opportunity to comment on the issues raised by the petition.

Given that we know that the Scottish Sentencing Council is undertaking a consultation—and we respect the fact that it is—it would be helpful to the committee, in trying to understand on behalf of both the petitioner and others who might be looking at the issues that are identified in the petition, if the council was able to give us some understanding as to how an absolute discharge might arise as an appropriate sentence. We are not asking for any breach of confidentiality in a specific circumstance, but we would like to understand in a more general sense how that could happen. On the face of it, it seems unpardonable.

We will keep the petition open. Thank you, Mr MacGregor, for your contribution.

Are colleagues content that, in addition to Mr Torrance’s and Mr Ewing’s suggestions, we proceed on the basis that we have identified?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2104 was lodged by Sophie Molly. I notice that Maggie Chapman, who I think has an interest in the petition, is in the gallery. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ask the relevant health boards to reassess the decision to pause the prescription of puberty hormone suppressants and gender-affirming hormones for children and young people with gender dysphoria in Scotland, and to ensure that it is still possible to provide new prescriptions while a review of the decision takes place.

The petitioner tells us that the health and wellbeing of trans and gender non-conforming children will be adversely affected by the decision to pause new prescriptions of puberty hormone suppressants and gender-affirming hormones to young people. The decision to pause that treatment option is linked to the outcomes of the Cass review of gender identity services for young people in England. As members might be aware, the Scottish Government has confirmed that it accepts in full the Cass recommendations, with work under way to implement them.

In its response to the petition, the Scottish Government has stated its commitment to the improvement of gender identity healthcare in NHS Scotland for all who need it, and draws our attention to a grant that has been awarded to the University of Glasgow to administer a programme of research into the long-term health outcomes of people accessing gender identity healthcare. The response also highlights the engagement with NHS England on its planned study into the use of puberty blockers in young people’s gender identity healthcare.

We have also received a submission from the petitioner highlighting concerns about the quality of data and evidence that was used to inform the recommendations of the Cass review, which, in their view, suggests that the resulting decision to halt prescriptions of puberty blockers was ideologically rather than clinically driven.

Members might also be aware—this is an important consideration for this committee—that our colleagues on the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee have been hearing evidence on the independent review of gender identity services for children and young people. The fact that another committee of Parliament is considering the issues that are raised in the petition might dictate what options we feel are open to us.

Do colleagues have any thoughts or comments?

I am slightly concerned that this is a minefield and we should perhaps try to get a little bit more understanding and information in relation to the issues raised. Are colleagues content to proceed on the basis of Mr Golden’s suggestion and others that followed to ensure that we understand what is happening?

Members indicated agreement.

That is reasonable. We have agreed to close the petition on that basis. We will send a letter to the Royal Conservatoire explaining that we appreciated the depth of its response, which allowed the committee to close the petition. Nonetheless, we will say that there is still unease about the relatively low number of Scottish students and that we hope that it will continue to review the situation and encourage the best possible talent to apply from within Scotland, with the entry criteria being satisfied, so that more Scottish students can be accommodated.

PE2106, which was lodged by Adam Csenki, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to update guidance on mobile phones in schools to require all schools to prohibit the use of mobile phones during the school day, including at interval and lunch time.

The SPICe briefing highlights that decisions on the use of mobile phones in schools are a matter for local authorities or schools themselves. Indeed, I know from examples in my constituency that practice is variable. In August, the Scottish Government published new guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools aimed at empowering headteachers

“to take the steps they see fit to limit the use of mobile phones in schools, up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day, if that is their judgement.”

Responding to the petition, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills tells us that she shares the petitioner’s concerns about the impact of mobile phone use on children and young people’s learning but states that the Scottish Government cannot unilaterally ban mobile phones in schools. The cabinet secretary added during her statement to Parliament earlier this month that

“the updated national guidance goes as far towards a national ban as I am currently able to go”.—[Official Report, 3 September 2024; c 70.]

We have received a submission from the petitioner that welcomes the updated guidance but raises concerns that leaving the decision up to individual headteachers risks creating an unequal experience for pupils and their teachers across Scotland.

Do members have any comments or suggestions?

Unless members have any alternative or additional suggestions, are we content to close the petition on that basis?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank Pat Rafferty and Unite and I hope that the action and the pragmatic approach that have been taken offer the taxi trade in Glasgow the comfort and support that it requires.