Seòmar agus comataidhean

Perhaps the committee would like to write to the Lord Advocate seeking an update on the review of diversion from prosecution for sexual offences and make reference to issues raised in this petition as part of any letter to the Minister for Community Safety on PE1947.

Would the committee consider writing to Transport Scotland to ask how Scotland’s active travel vision to 2030, the national transport strategy and the road safety improvement fund will work to directly address street clutter, and to ask whether it has considered a national approach to improving the visibility of pedestrian crossings? Perhaps the committee could also consider writing to COSLA to seek information about the capacity of local authorities to widen pavements, reduce street clutter, improve the visibility of pedestrian crossings, enforce the pavement parking ban and implement safe system measures through the road safety improvement fund, and ask how it intends to share best practice on measures to improve pedestrian safety across local authorities.

Please bear with me, convener, because my response will be quite lengthy.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Minister for Victims and Community Safety seeking clear information on what a whole-system approach to youth offending looks like in practice when addressing repeated incidences of violence perpetrated by a young person.

We could ask for that to include details of the varying pathways for responding to repeat perpetrators and what investigation, charging, sentencing, rehabilitation and diversion look like in those pathways; how a history of violent behaviour is considered when addressing youth offending; and how policies and processes across the mental health, education, social care and justice systems work together to put perpetrators on a positive path while protecting victims in their communities.

We could also ask for reflections on whether the minister recognises the challenges to reporting that the petitioner has noted; an indication of whether she recognises the petitioner’s concern that recorded crime statistics may reflect low reporting rates rather than giving an accurate picture of levels of youth violence; information on what victims can expect by way of transparent communications and trauma informed support at each stage of the process; and, finally, information on what the Scottish Government is doing to address young people using social media to threaten violence or encourage participation in violence.

Would the committee consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, as the SQA described the appeal process that operated in 2022 as an emergency response for a single year and based its approach for 2023 on the outcome of a full review of the 2022 approach? Also, the use of alternative evidence and appeals raised issues of equitable access, fairness for absent candidates and the volume of work that the service generated for the wider system. Responsibility for the appeals process rests with the SQA, which operates independently from ministers.

Perhaps the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders on the basis that the Scottish Government is setting up a working group on child welfare reports to inform any changes to current practice and longer-term policy on child welfare reporters. However—this is key—we will ask the working group to consider the petitioner’s ask in relation to the recording of interviews.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy to ask for an update on the work of relevant health boards in obtaining controlled drug licences and on implementing written policies on access to prescribed medication. We could also ask how the minister intends to monitor the progress of work by NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland.

The committee should consider writing to the Scottish Government to ask whether it will work to create specialist autonomic clinics in Scotland and, if not, how it can be confident that the expertise in local and regional clinical services is sufficient to treat those with autonomic dysfunction.

Would the committee consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders as NICE guidelines state that, for women aged 40 to 45, HRT can be offered without the need for blood tests when other menopausal symptoms are present? There is now a specialist menopause service in every mainland NHS health board with a buddy system in place for islands health boards. Also, NHS Education for Scotland has been commissioned to create an online learning package on menopause and menstrual health, with resources expected to be available for free to GPs and medical practitioners by the end of March 2024.

Perhaps we could consider writing to the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain to see what difficulties it has had, because it is probably the organisation that hires land from local authorities more than anybody else in Scotland.