I welcome everyone to the seventh meeting in 2019 of the Public Petitions Committee. There are two items on this morning’s agenda: first, consideration of one new petition and secondly, consideration of three continued petitions. I intend to begin with agenda item 2, which is consideration of the continued petitions, and then go back to the new petition once we have dealt with them.
PE1678, on a national strategic framework for countryside ranger services in Scotland, has been lodged by Ranger Robert Reid on behalf of the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association. The clerk’s note provides a summary of the submissions that we have received since our consideration of the petition in October 2018. The Scottish Government repeats its acknowledgement of the services that Scotland’s rangers provide, but its position has not changed in so far as it still believes that it is a matter for local authorities to decide how to distribute funds. Moreover, in response to the committee’s specific question on the use of returns and reports from local authorities to provide an overall picture of the level of ranger services throughout Scotland, the Government says that, although such reports can be “useful”, local authorities are under no obligation to gather and collate such information.
In its submission, Scottish Natural Heritage provides a full note of the meeting of the ranger development partnership held in January 2019. It refers to that meeting as
“positive ... with much lively discussion”,
and it adds that, at a subsequent meeting with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, there was agreement on
“the need to raise awareness ... of the profile of ranger services in local authorities”.
It considers that, rather than focusing on
“the impact of individual budget decisions”,
the profile of ranger services can be improved by looking at the benefits of those services
“across a range of local authority activity”.
Scottish Natural Heritage also refers to a positive meeting held between its chair and the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association that concentrated on ways to move rangering forward. That includes a “2030 vision” to look
“beyond the current period of significant change/budget uncertainty”
with a further meeting to be held early next year to review progress. SNH states that, during the next 12 months, it will work with the SCRA and the ranger development partnership to refresh
“the policy framework for rangering in Scotland”;
review
“options for reporting on ... ranger services and the benefits they provide”;
co-ordinate
“the development of a training and development programme”;
and support
“the establishment of new junior ranger programmes.”
The petitioner, on behalf of the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association, has provided a further submission that, as the clerk’s note identifies, sets out the SCRA’s aspirational outcomes from the petition, including setting up a working group to identify any reasons for what it refers to as
“the significant decline in Ranger Service posts”;
updating the strategic framework, which is at the core of the petition; and securing
“the future funding of Ranger Services”.
The submission makes it clear that the SCRA does not consider SNH to be
“a suitable agency to lead”
any working group, and adds that it believes that the ranger development partnership
“does not carry sufficient authority and lacks the clear leadership required to look objectively at the various issues.”
Paragraph 12 of the clerk’s note identifies other issues of concern highlighted by the SCRA. Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?