I MUST take issue with Dorothy Grace Elder’s claim, which I consider baseless, that Scottish Parliament staff are “systematically” blocking petitions (“Holyrood petitions revamp call after hundreds blocked”, The Herald, August 25). The article also failed to provide proper context for readers, that for a petition to be accepted it must call for action that is within the Parliament’s powers and must relate to a national policy or practice.
Proposals that do not meet these criteria cannot be accepted under Parliament’s rules. In those circumstances committee clerks will work with a petitioner wherever possible to find a way forward, or suggest alternative avenues, but to allege clerks are blocking petitions is a misrepresentation of the true nature of the committee and its work.
John Pentland MSP,
Convener of the Public Petitions Committee,
The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, Edinburgh.
A COUPLE of years ago I tried to elicit from the Scottish Parliament information relating to the performance and management of public petitions.
I asked what I thought were perfectly reasonable, pertinent and sensible questions:
How many petitions have been presented to the Scottish Parliament in the past 10 years?
How many of these petitions have been upheld?
How many of these petitions have been turned down?
How many petitioners were satisfied with the outcome of their petition?
What is the average length of time for processing a petition from submission to decision being made on it by the Scottish Parliament?
The Scottish Parliament moved heaven and earth to try and avoid answering these questions. It took more than a year to get some sort of response. I had to go to the Scottish Information Commissioner ,who eventually issued a damning Decision Notice that was highly critical of the Parliament’s handling of my request for information.
Eventually I was given an official written apology on behalf of the Presiding Officer and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) for the way in which my request was dealt with.
I was then asked to contribute some thoughts and ideas as to how the public petitions committee might better handle and manage the petitions process and public information relating to this. My sensible advice was dismissed out of hand.
It comes as no surprise to me to read Ms Grace-Elder’s update of what is an entirely deplorable and unacceptable state of affairs.
There should be no secrecy in sharing information regarding the performance and management of public petitions.
Rab Wilson,
1 Nursery View, New Cumnock.
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