Committee
Public Petitions Committee, 28 Jun 2005
28 Jun 2005 · S2 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Current Petitions
Mental Health Services<br />(Deaf and Deaf-blind People) (PE808)
I agree with that. It is not good enough that deaf-blind people must travel to the north of England despite all their difficulties. It is difficult enough for people without disabilities to travel to the north of England for treatment, and it is absolutely unreasonable that deaf-blind people should have to do so. The situation is part of the bigger picture of underprovision for deaf and deaf-blind people in Scotland. We lag behind England, Wales and Northern Ireland and we need to push the minister on the matter. In Ayrshire, 46,000 people have a hearing impairment, which is a huge number, and our papers say that 750,000 people in Scotland are affected. The underprovision is almost criminal. The minister needs to do more.I should declare an interest, as I am a member of the Sensory Impaired Support Group in Ayrshire. There are real problems and I would like the minister to address them more seriously.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Our first current petition is PE808, by Lilian Lawson, on behalf of the Scottish Council on Deafness, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scot...
Mike Watson:
Ind
The responses are interesting. Basically, the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care does not accept the case—that is not an unfair way of paraphrasin...
John Scott:
Con
I agree with that. It is not good enough that deaf-blind people must travel to the north of England despite all their difficulties. It is difficult enough fo...
The Convener:
Lab
Do we agree to get back to the Executive to ask for a more positive response to the points that have been made on the petition?Members indicated agreement.