Public Petitions Committee

1. Decision on taking business in private: The Committee will decide whether to take item 4 in private. 2. Consideration of new petitions: The Committee considered the following new petitions— PE1713 by Amy Lee Fraioli MSYP and Kit McCarthy MSYP on behalf of Scottish Youth Parliament on Ban the use of 'Mosquito Devices' in Scotland, and will take evidence from Kit McCarthy MSYP. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and COSLA to seek their respective views on the action called for in the petition. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and COSLA to seek their respective views on the action called for in the petition. PE1711 by Stuart Callison on behalf of St Andrew's First Aid on First Aid Training for All Primary School Children in Scotland. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government and local authorities, inviting their views on the action called for in the petition. 3. Consideration of continued petitions: The Committee will consider the following continued petitions— PE1652 by Irene Baillie on Abusive and threatening communication. The Committee agreed to invite the petitioner to comment on the final report of the Independent review of hate crime legislation in Scotland. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government to seek information on whether the conclusions in the Bracadale review address the call for action in the petition, and if not, whether there is any action it may consider taking to address this. PE1693 by Graeme Harvey on behalf of Lowland Canals Association on Independent Water Ombudsman. The Committee agreed to invite the petitioner to comment on the final report of the Independent review of hate crime legislation in Scotland. The Committee agreed to take evidence from Scottish Canals. PE1701 by Nathan Sparling on Change the law to allow adoption for people over the age of 18. The Committee agreed to invite the petitioner to respond to the submissions received to date. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Law Commission, to seek its views on the action called for in the petition. PE1704 by Duncan MacGillivray on Improve targets and outcomes for autistic people in Scotland. The Committee agreed to seek a response from the petitioner on the issues raised in the submissions. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government seeking further information in relation to— o Providing more detail about its statement that there is “a recognition that varying waiting times across Scotland are too long and should be improved.” o The suggestion that the Scottish Government should commit to recording, publishing and monitoring autism diagnosis waiting times o Whether there enough health professionals involved in the diagnostic process, particularly around the claim by the EIS that “the only university in Scotland due to offer educational psychology training next year has said it will not be running the course, meaning that there may be no new entrants to the profession in 2021.” o Concerns around teacher numbers and workloads which may impact on provision or quality of service to pupils with additional needs o Whether enough training is provided to student teachers around additional support needs 4. Consideration of a continued petition: The Committee will consider the following continued petition— The Committee will consider a draft report on petition PE1319 by William Smith and Scott Robertson on Improving youth football in Scotland.