Stop the use of prisons for punishment and focus them on public protection
- 4 Signatures
Our prison service is running at almost full capacity. We need to rethink who we jail and why. We know that using prison as a deterrence is not effective. We have to go back to the criminal law doctrines of *actus reus* and *mens rea* in establishing when prison is most needed. In most cases of *mens rea* being absent, prison is of little value. This is especially true of deaths caused by driving, whereby there was no intent to cause injury or death, and the standard of driving would not be deemed by the average person of similar ability and experience to lead to death.
Cases such as these pose little threat to the wider public. Thus prison is not being used for public safety. All we are doing is causing people to lose their homes and jobs thus creating bigger issues of unemployment and extra pressure on already stretched housing markets.
I urge the government to consider using prison as a very last resort in all circumstances.
Abolish the General Teaching Council for Scotland
- 24 Signatures
Many concerns have been raised about GTCS not meeting its principal legislative aims regarding:
- handling of safeguarding concerns which GTCS often dismiss as 'frivolous’, evidenced in the Professional Standards Authority’s review of the Fitness to Teach process.
- lack of action regarding credible concerns of potential widespread bullying of teachers by superiors
- concerns that the Fitness to Teach function was allowed to be weaponised unfairly against teachers
- concerns of potential collusion with one or more teacher unions to wrongly prevent or influence bona fide peer to peer teacher referrals
- Scottish Government responses to parliamentary questions, confirming awareness of specific concerns raised.
The GTCS is not supporting teachers’ professional development nor are they helping children to experience improved quality learning and teaching.
The government decided to replace Education Scotland and reform the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Now GTCS, which has presided over declining standards and serious concerns, must be abolished in the public interest to ensure that trust in teaching and their regulator is maintained.
Stop the pavement parking ban for Scottish roads built before 2019
- 26 Signatures
On 22 March 2025, I received my council tax bill, which had a leaflet inside regarding bins and, on reverse, the pavement parking ban.
When I contacted the Community Safety Officer for East Dunbartonshire Council, I was told that the consultation process had completed and therefore I did not have a right to challenge the ban. It was claimed there had been notes put up on lamp posts, in the library, and that information had been made available on the radio and on the council website, which, effectively excluded many local residents from accessing it.
I then contacted all 8 of my MSPs by email. Some of them offered suggestions, none of which I thought were feasible due to the poor quality of ministerial instructions regarding the legislation. One MSP told me to contact the Cabinet Secretary for Transport.
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport then told me to contact the council. This response created a cyclical issue, where, in my view, no one is prepared to be accountable and responsible for the matter.
The response from the Council’s Chief Executive to Pam Gosal MSP, who took forward my issue, offered no solutions and failed to address the lack of transparency in the consultation process, thereby contributing to the cyclical process described above.
For the Palestinian under military occupation, the past 18 months have been an experience of utter barbarity at the hands of Israel, the occupying power. In Scotland pupils are asking the question “why?” The need for context has never been so urgent. Scotland’s pupils and teachers must avoid dependency on internet searches for a balanced, honest, reliable and trustworthy resources to assist understanding and debate. In schools this context is addressed by the educational resource “Palestine & Israel, understanding the conflict”, a basic primer for secondary school pupils, developed and quality assured under Education Scotland in 2015/16. This resource has proven to be important to those school students studying Israel Palestine as part of their Social/Modern Studies/Religious or Peace studies. However, the situation is now such that few would disagree with the urgent need to review and upgrade this resource, now hosted on the EIS website. For this purpose, a Working Group was constituted in June 2024.
Current guidelines stipulate the temperature hot liquids should be cooked to, not the temperature at which they should be served at. This results in inconsistency across establishments, with individual childcare settings being responsible for setting their own safe serving temperatures.
This lack of explicit guidance from the Scottish Government resulted in my daughter being badly injured and scarred for life when soup that had not been cooled was spilled on her at nursery. The Care Inspectorate stated "it is hard to prove that the nursery are at fault because no such guidelines exist as to the maximum temperature that soup should be served at." A lack of government legislation and clarity in existing guidance enabled the nursery to deny liability for my daughter's injuries.
A maximum serving temperature needs to be introduced and enforced; my daughter is proof that the current guidelines are not fit for purpose.
Establish a standardised timeframe for civil proceedings in child custody cases
- 7 Signatures
Over the past six years, extensive experience has revealed the immense challenges faced by courts in handling civil proceedings related to children's custody cases. Not only are courts under significant pressure, but they are often compelled to make decisions based on misleading or false information. This severely undermines the ability to ensure just and informed outcomes for the children involved.
To address this issue, I propose that proof hearings be made mandatory within 14 days of the initiation of any civil action. This provision would facilitate the timely presentation of evidence, enabling courts to make more accurate decisions while reducing opportunities for disinformation to distort proceedings.
Delays in the judicial process cause irreversible harm to children, often leading to their alienation over prolonged periods. False accusations are frequently withdrawn after years of litigation, yet the damage has already been done, leaving children with lifelong emotional scars.
Introduce an energy strategy
- 19 Signatures
As windfarms march across Scotland, sending the energy south, we seem to think that wind is the only answer. We have started to look at other technologies such as solar, but again this is problematic as the solar farms in England take up precious agricultural land.
In March 2024, unable to walk or talk, I was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. We were handed a card with a website, https://neurosymptoms.org, and told I would receive a follow up appointment and "recover in the community". No treatments were offered, no support groups were recommended. My family and I were left to learn and accept a new way of life.
Since then, I've had to take long-term sick leave from work, attended several GP appointments and used ambulances where I have had to explain to them what FND was! My seizures and symptoms have been poorly and rudely handled. I am not alone in these experiences.
There are FND charities with helpful websites, however, nothing Scotland based. Most useful services are based in cities, however, this isn’t always accessible for those who use walking aids or wheelchairs, most of which have been self-purchased due to lack of NHS Scotland support.
Prevent strangers from filming or photographing children in public play parks
- 4,834 Signatures
In recent weeks, there has been a disturbing rise in incidents where children are being filmed or photographed in public spaces, such as playgrounds, parks, and even outside their schools, by unknown individuals. Parents and communities across the country are growing increasingly concerned about the safety and privacy of their children, yet current laws do little to prevent these invasive and unsettling actions.
We believe that children deserve protection from being filmed or photographed without consent in public spaces. That is why we are calling for new legislation to make it illegal for anyone to film or photograph minors in public settings without parental or guardian permission. This change is necessary to safeguard the well-being of our children.
By signing this petition, you are supporting a crucial step toward stronger protections for our children. Let’s stand together and demand action before more children become targets of unwanted surveillance and exploitation.
Victims have to incur great expense for lawyers to seek justice, whilst Police Scotland have access to an army of state lawyers at taxpayers cost. Recent BBC coverage of the Sheku Bayoh case and Angela Constance’s comments stating that legal aid will now be available to families involved in FAIs is too late, people have died and families are seeking justice. I believe that Legal Aid (no means testing) should be made available to all victims and families of medically confirmed "Death or Serious Injuries" not just those involved in FAIs.