Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning. Over the past 18 months, the pandemic has led to pressures and difficulties for the social care sector. What lessons can be learned from the social care sector’s experiences during the pandemic?

I have sympathy with the petition. Everybody would like access for all to be provided at stations. However, because rail accessibility is a reserved matter, on which the Parliament cannot legislate, I think that we should close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders.

Considering the evidence from the Scottish Ambulance Service, the trade unions, and the Royal College of Nursing that they do not want bodycams, and given that the Scottish Government says that providing them would not be value for money and that there is no appetite for them, we should close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders.

I agree with Bill Kidd. I was a member of the previous petitions committee and heard evidence about the matter. I would like to see whether there is any new evidence before we make a decision.

I would like us to keep the petition open. We should write to the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to seek his views, especially on the clinical trials, and to find out what progress is being made. People say that whole plant cannabis oil helps them with a range of health complications. If it improves their quality of life, I would like to know whether it is going to be made available.

I agree with my colleagues. We could also ask the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee whether the issue will be included its work programme, as that committee might be best suited to take the petition forward. I agree that we could write to and get information back from all the different organisations that have been mentioned. However, if that committee is to dedicate time to the issue, there is no point in two committees doing so. If the petition is to be pursued, I would like it to be passed on to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee.

Yes.

The planning system already contains robust legislation to deal with the matter. In any case, planning is down to local authorities—they are the ones who have the knowledge. I do not know how we would ever enforce a 5-mile zone around a cathedral or any other religious place of worship. In Kirkcaldy, there are loads of churches and there is also a gun range at the back of the town—a 5-mile zone would take you to Kinghorn.

It is an impossible ask from the petitioner, and I am minded to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders. Enough legislation is in place to allow the local planners to make such decisions.

I agree with my colleague Paul Sweeney. We should write to the Scottish Government to see whether we can make it easier for families who have travelled to have all their costs reimbursed. It is difficult enough to go through that experience, and many families will probably not be able to afford it, so the Scottish Government should make it easier for families to be reimbursed for the costs of travel, accommodation and so on.

Considering that the Scottish Government cannot change the law because decisions have to be made case by case, there is not much that we can do. A precedent has been set by the European Court of Human Rights. Therefore, I think that we have to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders.