A new Woodland Creation Scheme received a grant of over £2.5m from Scottish Forestry within the Cairngorms National Park. At planning stage the agents stated that wooden droppers will be used to mark the new 27km deer fence, which help prevent birds being killed if they fly into the fence. However, bamboo canes, which are cheaper and less effective, were used resulting in black grouse being killed by flying into this fence.
Black grouse are a red-listed bird of serious conservation concern, numbers are declining rapidly.
Scottish Forestry are the regulators for this scheme but do not enforce certain issues which were agreed upon at planning stage. Work was supposed to stop by the end of March to save ground nesting birds from disturbance, but in 2023 and 2024 work continued into May. The list of non-compliance issues with this scheme is considerable, but there's not enough room to list them all here.
Review and restructure Scotland’s flood risk management approach and operations
- 164 Signatures
Climate change is real. Rainfall is rising. Flooding causes loss of homes, income, utilities and infrastructure. There is also irreparable damage to the environment, hidden costs to public services and infrastructure. People are affected by stress, health related issues.
The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act, 2009 and all manuals, guidelines, theories and structures associated with it are archaic and no longer relevant against current and predicted flood threats.
The system of flood risk management and flood alleviation is to approach flooding as a theoretical rather than a live and current threat. Those designing the systems appear distant and unaffected. The system is designed around flood warnings, not flood prevention, management, or alleviation. Communities are excluded from discussions and plans for flood schemes. A complaint is that bureaucrats obfuscate when submitting reports.
Our view is the current system needs a total review and revamp including inclusion of communities.
Run a targeted roadside litter awareness campaign
- 302 Signatures
We are members of various local environmental groups who regularly clear litter in Berwickshire. We have held regular meetings with Bear Scotland, Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and have had representatives of Transport Scotland and East Lothian Council attend. The issue is predominantly on the A1 which is obviously a main tourist route into Scotland. The litter in this area, and many other areas, is mainly caused by uncovered lorries, nearby farms, fast food outlets and landfill. We work closely with SBC and each volunteer has 'adopted' a lay by to try to keep clean.
We believe that companies should be aware of the impact of roadside litter and how their activities may be contributing to the problem. They should be made aware of the penalties for littering through an awareness campaign. The campaign could include signs on the roadside, targeted information letters, and targeted online advertisements.
The National Health Service (NHS), as an organisation, aims to provide comprehensive health services, which includes dental care. However, patients urgently require more choice when it comes to dental fillings specifically in molar teeth. Currently, the most commonly used filling material in the NHS is silver amalgam – a durable, yet aesthetically unpleasing option. Unfortunately, white composite fillings, which blend with the natural tooth colour and preserve more of the tooth structure, continue to be unavailable for back teeth.
[A 2009 World Health Organization report, ‘Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration’] (https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/202500/9789241500647_eng.pdf?sequence=1) acknowledges the aesthetical advantage of composite over amalgam fillings. Furthermore, research published by King’s College London in 2017 indicated that 92% of UK adults prefer tooth-coloured fillings.
It's a major priority to respect patients' preferences and dignity in their healthcare experiences. Thus, we urge the Scottish Government to modify its policy to enable composite fillings on the NHS.
Keep private and work place pensions out of divorce
- Final Signatures: 22
I believe the state pension is on its way to being abolished, and not everyone wants to sign a prenuptial agreement or force their future spouse to sign it.
With the state pension age rising, it is looking likely that a young person is not going to receive a state pension, or retiring in their 90's. Workplaces automatically enrol people into workplace pensions, which are only paid by employees. No contribution is made by the partner. Young people as they get older will be relying on workplace or private pensions to be able to retire or take early retirement. If they marry and have a marital breakdown their spouse is automatically entitled to 50% of this unless there is matrimonial property for offsetting. Matrimonial property is considered as both individuals contribute to that. Why is a pension considered to be matrimonial property when only one person contributes to this?
Ban the use of toxic chemicals along our coasts
- Final Signatures: 38
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency currently licenses these chemicals to kill seaweed on jetties and slipways. In 2022 I discovered Edinburgh council was using a product labelled as "very toxic to aquatic life with lasting effects" to kill seaweed in South Queensferry. The council argued that the practice is required to reduce the slip risk for cruise ship passengers, a lucrative revenue source.
The product is banned by the Royal Yachting Association. When I notified the council thanked me and promised to replace the chemical with a safe alternative.
This year I discovered that the replacement, sodium hypochlorite, has very similar labelling and both carry the "Dead Fish" pictogram graphic.
Sodium hypochlorite is also labelled:
"causes severe skin burns and eye damage"
"may be corrosive to metals"
"contact with acids liberates toxic gas"
A ban is required because SEPA should not be licensing toxic products.
N.B. the Committee should therefore not take advice from SEPA on this matter.
Accelerate the implementation of bus franchising powers
- 4,066 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 new UK Government has announced plans for a Better Buses Bill, to “support every community [in England] to take back control of buses through franchising or public ownership”] (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-kickstarts-bus-revolution-as-she-promises-to-support-local-leaders-to-deliver-better-buses-up-and-down-the-country)
Due to severe delays enacting the franchising powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, Transport Scotland’s failure to support RTPs to use these powers, as well as cuts to RTPs budgets, Scotland now lags far behind England and [Wales in the process of re-regulation] (https://www.gov.wales/bus-reform-wales-our-roadmap-franchising)
We believe the requirement of an independent panel to approve proposals in Scotland is an unnecessary step, which risks wasting many more years and approx. £15million per RTP, if proposals are rejected. The legislation must be simplified to give the democratically-accountable RTP Boards the final say.
Ensure effective regulation and oversight of social care services in Scotland
- Final Signatures: 19
BetterCareScotland's data, based on the experiences of our over 3,000 members, together with publicly available information, indicate that the Care Inspectorate, and the bodies they regulate lack formal risk management, regulatory and analytical expertise to challenge when things go wrong for the vulnerable people in whose interest they have a statutory duty to act; and are not held to account for failing to identify risks to residents in poorly-resourced, commercially unviable independent care homes for older people that operate as 'closed cultures'.
This enables bad practice and encourages risk-taking by owners who are kept in business by their local council, leading to an inevitable decline in the quality of care. It also deters openness and candour when things go wrong.
We envisage an independent oversight body of social care regulation operating in real time to address the country's record of poor social care outcomes. This would also help reduce complaints to the SPSO, allowing the Ombudsman to more closely focus on its own extensive remit.
Conduct an independent review of childcare costs and availability in Scotland.
- 3,623 Signatures
The charity, Pregnant Then Screwed, conducted a survey looking at childcare in Scotland. Over 2600 parents responded, with 83.7% of parents saying their childcare costs are the same or more than their income. 71% of mothers, and 50% of fathers, say it doesn’t make financial sense for them to work. Our survey also found that 4 in 10 women in Scotland who have terminated a pregnancy say the cost of childcare was the primary reason for their decision.
It is time for the Scottish Parliament to look in depth at the early learning and childcare system in Scotland. Until we have a good understanding of why our childcare system is failing families, we will never have effective solutions.
Prohibit mobile phone use in Scottish schools
- Final Signatures: 7,250
There is a greater recognition of the harm of mobile phone use in schools, shown by a growing number of Scottish independent schools and some state schools prohibiting their use.
Government-led guidance prohibiting the use of phones during the school day has been introduced in France and England.
In a May 2024 staff survey in a high school in Moray:
* 79% said phones are a distraction to pupils
* 62% said misuse of phones disrupts learning
* 59% said phones create conflict between teachers and pupils
* 49% said phones are used to film teachers and pupils without consent.
Staff have written of the pull of the online world which is always on in a child’s pocket leading to severe loss in focus, the hostility with which teachers are met when attempting to challenge inappropriate phone use, and also of having to work with the fear of being filmed without permission and the footage uploaded onto the internet.