Transition the Scottish Welfare Fund to Annually Managed Expenditure Financing
- 2 Signatures
SWF is broken. Councils systematically sabotage emergency aid via arbitrary restrictions. Authorities ration help through punitive "priority tiers", ensuring constant rejections. When approved, councils award insultingly low, derisory amounts, stripping people of dignity.
Under the Scotland Act 2016, social security is fully devolved. Holyrood has absolute power to reclassify SWF into a centralized, demand-led Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) framework. We demand the Government apply this non-capped model, legally prohibit councils from using budget-driven criteria and repeal the three-grant annual limit.
Crucially, the law must mandate that final financial awards are determined strictly by the applicant's self-assessed crisis costs, ending the power of councils to slash grants or issue insufficient sums. Holyrood must permanently establish a demand-led welfare delivery that protects every single citizen across Scotland with absolute dignity throughout our sovereign nation today.
Abolish Student Debt and Replace SAAS Maintenance Loans with Living Cost Grants
- 3 Signatures
Scotland's free tuition claim is a myth. While tuition is covered, higher education has become a predatory debt engine. SAAS forces working-class students to borrow up to £10,400 annually just to survive, while maximum non-repayable bursaries are capped at a derisory £2,000 under humiliating means-testing. Extortionate private rents and living costs inflict severe financial distress and mental trauma on young adults. Forcing the next generation to mortgage their futures for a degree while local councils and landlords exploit them is a catastrophic systemic failure. Higher education finance is 100% devolved.
I demand the Government immediately:
1. Abolish the SAAS loan framework, converting all living-cost support into non-repayable grants.
2. End parent means-testing; aid must be an unconditional individual right.
3. Raise maintenance grants to match the full National Living Wage, with dedicated accommodation cost coverage.
Stop exploiting youth; secure a debt-free future now.
Reinstate the Minister for Women’s Health
- 497 Signatures
Women make up more than half of Scotland’s population, yet too many face unacceptable barriers to healthcare. It now takes an average of over 10 years for an endometriosis diagnosis, despite the 2021 commitment to reduce this to under 12 months. Women also face long waits for gynaecological care, inequalities in cardiovascular healthcare and gaps in reproductive health services.
Scotland’s Women’s Health Plan recognised these inequalities and has made important progress, but many of its ambitions have yet to be realised. Continued ministerial leadership is essential to ensure commitments become meaningful improvements in care. Removing the role risks reducing visibility, accountability and momentum at a time when significant challenges remain.
A dedicated Minister for Women’s Health would provide clear leadership, drive delivery of Scotland’s Women’s Health Plan, ensure accountability for progress, work across government and the NHS to tackle health inequalities and ensure women’s voices are heard in decisions about healthcare.
Open the Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme for Ukrainians to new applicants
- 1,017 Signatures
Scotland issued 32,601 visas under the Ukrainian Super Sponsor Scheme, claiming moral leadership. However, the "three-month pause" of July 2022 has lasted over four years. Sponsoring utilises fully devolved powers over housing, integration, and local funding; the UK merely provides the visa framework. Leaving the scheme paused while vulnerable individuals are forced to seek private hosts on unregulated social media platforms creates severe safeguarding risks. The Scottish Parliament must compel the Government to resume its institutional sponsorship role rather than using constitutional excuses.
The petition calls on the Scottish Government to:
1. Immediately open the Super Sponsor Scheme to new applicants under the existing Homes for Ukraine framework.
2. Allocate adequate devolved funding to sustain safe welcome accommodation and long-term housing integration.
3. Establish clear, permanent operational criteria for state-sponsored refugee resettlement.
We must secure the safety of displaced families and a future for their children.
Accelerate the implementation of bus franchising powers
- 1,174 Signatures
There is widespread consensus across the UK that the policy of bus deregulation (implemented in 1986) has failed to deliver the integrated and affordable public transport urgently required to meet climate targets and reduce inequalities.
The bus franchising powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 were meant to enable transport authorities to bring local bus networks back under public control, so that they can be planned and coordinated in the public interest.
However, the Scottish Government has severely delayed the implementation of bus franchising - taking over 6 years to publish required statutory guidance. It has created the most complex and time-consuming legislation in the UK, with the additional requirement for franchising proposals to be approved by the Traffic Commissioner's panel, which will add a year to the process as well as the risk of rejection. This means it may be 2031 before bus franchising is implemented anywhere in Scotland.
Refund legal expenses for those acquitted of a crime
- 18 Signatures
Someone who has been acquitted in any criminal legal action should be put back in the same financial position as if they had never been arrested. This covers cases with and without legal aid.
Legal expenses should be reimbursed by the Scottish Government, who may wish to seek payments from third parties depending on the circumstances of the legal action.
Although someone may have lost earnings due to the legal process and experienced the distress of being wrongly accused of a crime, the reimbursement of legal fees would be a major factor allowing them to move forward.
The process of reimbursement would also act as a brake on further injustices happening to people who have had false accusations made against them.
My own scenario was that I was arrested in 2023. I was not entitled to any legal aid due to my employment and savings and was not permitted to represent myself. I was acquitted but there is no route for me to claim back my legal expenses of over £8,000.
Economic abuse can continue after separation when one party controls money, assets, disclosure, housing, or legal funding. In family proceedings, this can prevent the other party from getting advice, challenging non-disclosure, seeking protection, or negotiating a fair settlement.
UK evidence shows 1 in 7 women has experienced economic abuse from a current or former partner, and specialist evidence reports economic abuse in around 95% of domestic abuse survivor cases. Laws alone are not enough if financial control prevents survivors from accessing justice.
Legal aid may not provide a practical route to representation, and public funds should not be the default where family resources exist but are controlled by one party. A Legal Services Payment Order, as is used in England and Wales, would give courts a discretionary, evidence-based and proportionate tool to prevent financial control from blocking justice, while protecting children, families, courts and publicly funded legal support.
Stop prison overcrowding by changing how prisoners are released or sentenced
- 18 Signatures
Long-term prisoners make up roughly 66% of Scotland's overall prison population, which is why previous emergency measures targeting only short-term inmates failed to resolve the overcrowding crisis.
To address this gap, the Scottish Government has launched an open consultation to legally change the rules for long-term prisoners. Under the current system, long-term prisoners are typically held until six months before the end of their sentence.
The new Scottish Government proposal would change this so that long-term prisoners serving more than five years would be automatically released after serving two-thirds of their sentence, serving the remaining third under strict community supervision and license conditions.
The petition is intended to support and encourage the same direction of reform proposed in the Scottish Government consultation, particularly the proposal that long-term prisoners serving more than five years should be automatically released after serving two-thirds of their sentence under strict licence conditions and community supervision.
The Public Petitions Committee can close any petition, regardless of signatures, without external review. This risks proposals being dismissed administratively rather than on merit, undermining public trust.
Scotland faces major challenges in health, climate and economy where citizen ideas could help. We propose a more robust process:
1. Before closure, publish assessments from three independent experts (legal, policy, deliverability) stating why action is outside devolved powers or unworkable.
2. Give petitioners 28 days to respond in writing.
3. Refer petitions with 1,000+ verified signatures, if within competence, to the relevant committee with a recommendation to develop as a Member’s Bill.
This ensures evidence-based decisions, ends arbitrary dismissal, and provides a clear route for supported ideas to reach debate, while preserving Parliament’s final authority.
Guarantee NHS Shared-Care Pathway for Accredited Private ADHD Diagnoses in Scotland
- 394 Signatures
People waiting years for NHS ADHD assessments are often forced to seek private diagnosis, but many struggle to return to NHS care due to inconsistent GP and health board policies.
ADHD assessment and treatment waiting times across Scotland have increased significantly, with some patients waiting years for diagnosis through NHS services. During this time, many experience worsening mental health, difficulties in education or employment, financial hardship, and reduced quality of life.
Because of these delays, many patients seek private ADHD assessments from qualified specialists. However, after diagnosis, many face difficulties accessing ongoing NHS care, including GP prescribing and shared-care arrangements. Policies vary between GP practices and NHS boards, creating inconsistency across Scotland.
We want a national ADHD shared-care pathway and clear guidance for NHS Scotland and GP practices allowing accredited private ADHD diagnoses to transfer safely into NHS treatment and prescribing across Scotland.
A national approach could reduce pressure on NHS waiting lists and improve continuity of care.