Well done Arran High School

Well, Arran may have had horizontal rain yesterday but the High School did the PPC proud with a memorable external meeting. Piped into the school on arrival and then, after a few words of welcome from the head teacher, Douglas Auld, young Struan Robertson recited some Burns. Now it isnt everyday (or in fact ever!) that you have some Burns at a committee meeting.

Katy Simmons and Scott Currie prsented their petition to the PPC members and then spoke informatively and confidently about the travel costs and problems faced by young people in remote and rural areas.

After the formal meeting, the PPC members held a 'lively' Q&A session wtih the 5th and 6th year pupils. A quick lunch and then the afternoon ferry back to the mainland. Decided against going on to deck as I may have been blown back to Arran (or beyond).

This was the last external PPC meeting but a really good one to end with so thank you to everyone at the school who made it work so well.

Arran committee meeting on 13 September.

The PPC will be visiting Arran on 13 September as part of its commitment to meet people throughout Scotland.
The meeting will start at 9.30 am at Arran High School to which you are welcome to participate and attend. Below is a link to a news release about this meeting. As you will see, the MSPs are very much looking forward to this meeting and certainly hope that you are able to come along and watch a meeting of your Parliament at work.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-comm-10/ppc10-s3-001.htm
The agenda for the meeting will be published next week but it will largely be split into the consideration of new petition and current (those that are ‘in the system’). Some of these may be of a particular interest to you for example the petition from the RSPB on the illegal killing of birds of prey. Pupils at the High School are also working on a petition which they will present and speak about at the meeting. This will give the meeting a particular local flavor.
We hope you will be able to attend and if you have any questions do get in touch by phoning Fergus (Clerk) on 0131 348 5186.

1st Committee meeting after recess

The summer recess ends today which means that official business in Parliament resumes on Monday. The PPC has had a very busy summer with around 40 new petitions coming. Some of these will be considered at our next meeting on Tuesday 7 September. Here's a link to the agenda . As usual we will start at 2.00pm and the Committee will consider 13 new petitions (8 of them are identical and relate to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) and 16 current petitions.
We will be hearing evidence on 2 new petitions, PE1336 about saving West Highland wild salmons and trouts and petition PE1340 on giving greater protection to Scotland's trees.
We hope to see you on the day but if you can't you can always follow the proceedings on your computer by logging onto Holyrood TV.

Meeting with Malawi delegation

PPC members Robin Harper MSP and Nigel Don MSP meet with the Hon Jones Chingola MP, First Deputy Speaker of the Malawi National Assembly this morning. The FDS is visiting the Parliament this week for a series of meetings with MSPs and officials. He is also attending the Festival of Politics event at lunchtime on Malawi .
The meeting this morning follows up previous discussions held on the Scottish public petitions system with Malawi MPs and officials. The FDS is interested in learning more about the public petitions process as a positive method of encouraging people to make their voice heard. I had the very real pleasure of going to Malawi two years ago to work at the Assembly so it's good to see some of the issues discussed then moving forward. Since visiting I have become hooked on the lovely Mzuzu coffee. You must try it!
Fergus, Clerk to the PPC

What are we doing?

Parliament of course in recess but work goes on. Proposed petitions continue to come in for us to look and and consider. We liaise with the petitioners over the wording and information they have set out in their draft petition to ensure that it is in the best shape possible before it goes before the PPC. Is the purpose of the petition clear enough? is more information needed? Obviously we want to ensure a full and informed consideration of the petition so it is important that all the information is there.
Of course with no committee meetings it means that we can get a wee bit of a backlog of new petitions but we forward plan to ensure that we then get these before the committee ASAP after the recess ends. First meeting is 7 September and the agenda for that is agreed (and its a big one!). Papers will go out as usual the week before (Wednesday 1st) so watch this space to see what is coming forward for that meeting.
Of course you can see some of the new petitions on the e-petition site

Meeting in Arran

The PPC will be meeting at Arran High School on Monday 13 September and will start at 9.30 am. It will consider new and current petitions and it is hoped that some of these petitions will originate from the Arran / North Ayrshire area.

What characterizes the PPC is that it is a public facing committee and that it is committed to furthering the opportunities for engagement with the public. Once the formal business is finished, part of the proceedings will be turned over to a Q&A session (around 11.30 am).

Anyone in the audience will have the opportunity to discuss the work of the Parliament with the nine MSPs on the PPC, but also learn more about public petitioning, how to engage with the Parliament, what is the relevance of the Parliament to community groups, voluntary bodies, associations, etc.

The success of the meeting does, to an extent, depend on getting people to come along and participate. That is why the Committee hopes you will be able to attend on the 13th September. More details on the actual petitions the Committee will discuss on the day will emerge nearer the time (the Committee's meeting agenda is published on http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/petitions/meetings.htm).

PPC mtg Tuesday 15 June

Agenda and papers for next Tuesday's meeting now published on PPC webpage. You will see that committee is back to more 'traditional' format with new and current petitions, including one oral presentation. In CR1 if you want to watch via Holyrood TV.
This is the second last committee meeting before the summer recess (final meeting on 29 June).
Fergus, Clerk to PPC