Committee
Public Petitions Committee 08 March 2016
08 Mar 2016 · S4 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Continued Petitions
Youth Football (PE1319)
Unlike Angus MacDonald, I do not think that we should close the petition, although I agree that we should write to the Scottish Government to seek its views regarding regulation. The Children and Young People’s Commissioner has indicated that there are concerns. Having listened to some of the evidence from the SFA and the SPFL, it is clear that they do not seem to be taking the issue as seriously as the general public and the petitioners do. It is only right that we write to the Scottish Government seeking its views on the matter and that we include that as part of our legacy paper for the next committee. There are still issues that need to be addressed. Hopefully our successor committee will get some response from the Scottish Government about what action it will take. Too often we hear about self-regulation not being regulation at all. If organisations such as the SFA and the SPFL are not prepared to regulate or accept and acknowledge that there are some issues out there in relation to youth football, we must consider a form of regulation that encompasses and protects those young people and their families from what could be seen as abuse by unscrupulous agents or clubs.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Lab
The first item of business is consideration of continued petitions, the first of which is PE1319, by William Smith and Scott Robertson, on improving youth fo...
Chic Brodie (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Thank you for allowing me to attend and to speak on the petition. Before I do so, I would like to comment briefly on the letter from the Scottish Professiona...
The Convener
Lab
Thank you for an interesting speech, Chic. Do members have any comments?
Angus MacDonald (Falkirk East) (SNP)
SNP
Thanks to the petitioner, the SFA and the SPFL have taken the issues concerning youth football reasonably seriously. The petitioner has stated that the petit...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (Ind)
Ind
Unlike Angus MacDonald, I do not think that we should close the petition, although I agree that we should write to the Scottish Government to seek its views ...
The Convener
Lab
I am also minded to keep the petition open and include it in our legacy paper. The SFA and the SPFL are entities in their own right and like any other commer...
John Wilson
Ind
Convener, Mr Brodie will be able to testify that the SFA and SPFL resisted the first attempt to get them to a meeting of the Public Petitions Committee. They...
Chic Brodie
SNP
I had meetings at Hampden Park with the SFA and the SPFL. Some encouraging things are happening in Scottish football. For example, fans’ involvement in the r...
The Convener
Lab
It would be for the next committee to determine what to do but we can certainly suggest that it considers such an action if we keep the petition open. I take...
Angus MacDonald
SNP
If the general consensus of members is to keep the petition open and to include it in the legacy paper, I am content with that, so long as John Wilson’s sugg...
Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I reluctantly concur with the consensus to keep the petition open. It has been going since 2010 and I am not sure that we will make any significant further p...
The Convener
Lab
That is a fair enough point to make. I think that there is a consensus that we will try to keep the petition open and try to pursue it a bit further. I thank...
Chic Brodie
SNP
Thank you for allowing me to speak, convener.