Radio 4 piece on public petitions

Good piece on BBC Radio 4World Tonight on Wed 24 June which discussed Scottish Parliament's public petitions process. You can listen again through BBC i-player http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00l560j/The_World_Tonight_24_06_2009/
Any thoughts on this?

Scottish Parliament annual report

Scottish Parliament published its annual report today. Several references to the input public petitions have had over last year and a few photos. The PPC has an entry on p21 of the report
http://http//www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/anrep-accts/spar/ar-09/SPAnnualReport09English.pdf

Committee to meet in Alness

The Public Petitions Committee will meet on Monday 21 September at Alness Academy, Alness (about 20 miles north of Inverness). No time yet for when mtg will start but we will post up more details on to the blog.
This will be a 'proper' committee mtg and will give people from the local area the opportunity to come along and watch the committee at work. The meeting will be in public.

Future committee meetings

The Public Petitions Committee had its final mtg on 16 June before the Parliament goes into summer recess at the end of this month. Future mtg dates are 8 and 21 September, 6 October, 3 and 17 November and 1 and 15 December. All mtgs at Holyrood except 21 September which will be at Alness Academy, Alness (north of Inverness).

Public Petitions Committee archive footage

Watch the archive of the meeting (16 June) of the Public Petitions Committee on the video player below.

Watch petitions committee media launch!!

On Tuesday 16 June at 12.15 pm the Public Petitions Committee launched this blog, its new public petition video: Petitioning the Scottish Parliament: Making your voice heard (a great feature if we say so ourselves!) and the report of its year long inquiry into the petitions process.

The live programme is now finished, however you can watch an archive of the event on the media player below.















Let us know your thoughts by posting a comment.

Launch of the Public Petitions Committee's blog and video

On Tuesday 16 June the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament launched this new blog page. Gulp! It also launched its new video about the public petitions process.

Petitioning the Scottish Parliament: Making your voice heard.

Why not gives us your thoughts on our blog page. What info would you like to see? What about the layout, the language we use? Did you find the blog OK and did you find it useful?

We are also publishing the report of our year long inquiry into the public petitions process. A very good read if we say so! You can get a copy below

We are very proud of the public petitions process here in the Parliament. But let us know what you think.

Ryan's McLaughlin's petition on vitamin D and MS

The Committee will consider a petition from Ryan McLaughlin at its meeting on 16 June (2.00 pm). Ryan, who is 14 and from Drumchapel in Glasgow has brought this petition to his Parliament on the back of his campaign to raise awareness of MS. His petition is about the provision of Vitamin D for children and pregnant women.

You can see Ryan's petition on the Public Petitions Committee webpage.

Why not have a look at Ryan's Shine on Scotland website or watch his video below.

John Muir - Petition PE1171 on knife crime

John Muir, West of Scotland, submitted a petition on tackling knife crime.

You can see John's petition on the Public Petitions Committee webpage.

John said: “I think that the public in Greenock and surrounding areas did recognise that the situation that Damian found himself in could have been their son or their daughter…something’s got to change.”

Tina McGeever - Petition PE1108 on process for accessing cancer treatment drugs on NHS

Tina McGeever, Highlands and Islands, submitted a petition on the process for accessing cancer treatment drugs on the NHS. You can see this petition on the Public Petitions Committee webpage.

“We decided that we were going to start a campaign, although the word campaign didn’t really come into it at the time. Michael wote a letter and I fired it off to everyone on my email and asked them to send it to their MSPs, so that was the start.”

Through the petition page above you can read the report of the inquiry held into her petition and the government's response.

Walter Baxter - Petition PE1084 on merging neurology units

Walter Baxter, North East Scotland, organised a petition objecting to the merging of specialist care for people suffering a brain haemorrhage.

You can see Walter’s petition on the Public Petitions Committee webpage.

Walter said: “Having a brain injury is a very difficult scenario to go through, not only for yourself, but for the people who are looking after you. There is very little aftercare for people with brain injuries.”

Bob Reid - Petition PE1100 on provision of motorcycle facilities

Bob Reid, South of Scotland, submitted a petition to establish off-road motorbike facilities. You can see Bob's petition on the Public Petitions Committee webpage.

Bob said: “I am a great believer that there is a key to every young person, no matter what their problems are… give them a new challenge, something they can relate to, something they can belong to.”