Petitions Briefings

Petitions briefings are written by research specialists in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe). They are intended primarily for use by the members and clerking staff of the Public Petitions Committee (PPC) in the Committee’s consideration of petitions submitted to the Parliament. The briefings are also available to the members and clerking staff of any parliamentary committee to which petitions are referred by the PPC.

Petitions briefings provide a brief background to the subject matter of the petition and give an overview of the main issues with which the petition is concerned. Petitions briefings do not attempt to assess the merits, or otherwise, of a petition but are intended to help the PPC and other committees to make an informed decision on the handling of the petition.

SPICe research specialists are not able to discuss the content of petitions briefings with petitioners or other members of the public. However if you have any comments on any petitions briefing you can email us at spice@scottish.parliament.uk

Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in petitions briefings is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be aware however that these briefings are not necessarily updated or otherwise amended to reflect subsequent changes.