Committee
Public Petitions Committee 24 March 2021
24 Mar 2021 · S5 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Continued Petitions
Polypropylene Mesh Medical Devices (PE1517)
I am sorry; I do not appear to be able to make the chat function work. I agree with members that the petition should be passed to the next health committee. I appreciate that we are too late in the session to do anything about it, but I wonder whether a codicil or annex might be added to the Health and Sport Committee’s legacy report, through your good offices and the offices of the clerks, to draw the petition to its attention. It could say that we regret that the petition has not been passed over to it before now but that, nonetheless, this committee as well as a few colleagues who are not members of the committee and, more importantly, the women who are involved, would be grateful if the next health committee would consider it in the next session of Parliament. Such an annex would at least give the next health committee the start of a thought process. As you and I know, convener, the work programme will be decided at the very beginning of the next session. The sooner the thought to look into the petition is put in front of the next health committee, the better. If the matter is mentioned in the Health and Sport Committee’s legacy paper by whatever means, even at this late stage, it might bring about that inquiry more quickly.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Lab
Item 2 is consideration of continued petitions. The first petition, PE1517, which was lodged by Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy on behalf of the Scottish Mes...
Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con)
Con
Thank you, convener, for your engagement with the petition in the course of this parliamentary session. As this is the final day of the session, the final me...
John Scott (Ayr) (Con)
Con
I am grateful to the committee for allowing me to speak at the final meeting of the session of the Public Petitions Committee. Further to what Jackson Carla...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
The work of the Public Petitions Committee has been hugely important and influential during the past eight years and I plead with the committee not to close ...
The Convener
Lab
I thank all three of you, who will I am sure be living in happy coexistence post-election. For my part, I think that the petition is a huge issue. There are...
Gail Ross (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP)
SNP
I thank our family of campaigners, some of whom have joined us today, for all their work. I include Alex Neil in that as well. In relation to everything tha...
Maurice Corry (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I thank the petitioners for keeping going with this long-standing petition. It is immensely important that we get it resolved as soon as possible. John Scott...
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
SNP
As someone who was on the Public Petitions Committee in the previous parliamentary session when the petition was first submitted, I thought that progress wou...
Tom Mason (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I agree with pretty much everything that has been said. These ladies have been let down for so long, and it is so important that we maintain the momentum to ...
The Convener
Lab
Does any of our visiting colleagues wish to add anything?
John Scott
Con
I am sorry; I do not appear to be able to make the chat function work. I agree with members that the petition should be passed to the next health committee....
Neil Findlay
Lab
I thank everyone for their helpful comments. It is of course up to this committee to request that the next health committee takes on the petition and carries...
Gail Ross
SNP
On Neil Findlay’s point, I had not really thought about that possibility previously. We would need to get advice but, if the petition goes from here to anoth...
The Convener
Lab
We are getting a wee bit ahead of ourselves. All petitions come back to the Public Petitions Committee ahead of the end of a session. We get reports back fro...
The Convener
Lab
I again thank our visiting MSPs. It has been an absolute privilege for me as a committee convener to welcome you to so many meetings. The work of the Public ...