Committee
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 11 March 2026 [Draft]
11 Mar 2026 · S6 · Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Continued Petitions
Child Sexual Offenders (Data Collection) (PE2208)
Our penultimate continued petition under consideration today is PE2208, lodged by Joanna Kerr, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to place a statutory requirement on public bodies to collect statistics on the nationality, ethnicity, immigration status and religion of child sexual offenders and to collate and publish that data annually.We last considered the petition on 21 January, when we agreed to consider the petition as part of an upcoming work programme item on the committee’s on-going work. As with the previous petition, the Scottish Government’s commitment to launch a public inquiry into group-based child abuse and exploitation is a significant development. At our last consideration of the petition, we also highlighted the fact that work is under way to align Police Scotland recording systems to capture the ethnicity data for suspects.Given that that is the case, do colleagues have any suggestions as to how we might proceed?
In the same item of business
The Convener
Con
Our penultimate continued petition under consideration today is PE2208, lodged by Joanna Kerr, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Go...
David Torrance
SNP
In the light of the evidence, I wonder whether the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that Police...
The Convener
Con
Colleagues, are we content with that suggestion?Members indicated agreement.
The Convener
Con
These matters might well resurface in the next parliamentary session, as things progress.
Davy Russell
Lab
I would also point out that, when the chief constable was here about six or seven weeks ago, she said that she was working to improve all data recording, reg...
The Convener
Con
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, to borrow the cliché. Should that not be the case, there will be an opportunity for a fresh petition to be su...