The engineering degree tier list for 2023 and this video we are going to be ranking the best engineering degrees from S tier which is the best to F tier which is the worst. And if you appreciate these types of videos go ahead and slam that like button like I slam way too much coffee on a day to day basis. Nice. And let's jump into it. So I'm gonna have to go through these very quickly because of course there's a lot of engineering degrees and I don't want this to be like an hour long video. So number one on the list is going to be systems engineering. Now one thing that I'm adding into this year's list that I didn't have in last year's that is an improvement in my opinion is I'm going to be talking about the amount of demand at the entry level right so in the last year I've become a big fan of using LinkedIn to determine the demand of the career at the entry level and that's what I'm going to be adding onto this year's list and then I'm also going to be adding glass door as well because you're able to kind of separate things a little bit better than BLS. Alright so when you look at the early career pay for systems engineers you're going to see $72,000 a year mid-career pay is $130,000 that comes out to a salary score that according to my degree ranker is a 99.53 which is excellent. Now a few years ago when I made the college degree ranker the demand score for systems engineering was actually pretty low but we have seen an incredible increase in the last few years. So the demand score is 14 but we'll get to the change here in a moment and the meaning score is 55%. If you're not familiar with these scores just watch any one of my you know is a degree worth it videos and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. So according to glass door systems engineers make $111,000 a year and if you look on LinkedIn at the entry level you type in systems engineer you're going to see 70,151 results. That is really really good especially for an engineering career but you have to remember the degree is different than the career this is incredibly important this is key. So this is one of those very niche degrees right when you look at the degree ranker you're going to see 987 graduates per year so that's very niche but there is a lot of demand for systems engineers. So what this typically tells me is it's a pretty good degree it's not terrible by any means but you would probably be better off by getting a little bit more of a general degree and the reason for this I've explained it in many other videos is because employers are going to recognize the degree more often right it basically has a brand name built in and so getting something like a software engineering degree would probably be much better in this case and I just realized that I spent way too much time on that first one so I'm really going to try to speed up after this and of course I know I'm going to get people in the comments section oh you didn't spend enough time explaining but then if I'm detailed I'm going to get other people in the comments section saying oh this video is way too long you need to speed things up so you can never make everyone happy but I'll do my best. So last year systems engineering was b-tier this year I'm actually going to go ahead and put it into a tier. Next one on the list is agricultural engineering early career pay here is $59,000 mid-career pays 98,000 salary score is 65 which isn't great the demand score is 48 which also isn't great the meaning is going to be 62% which is good and the total amount of graduates is 1,063 per year agricultural engineers make $75,000 a year according to glass door and according to link then there's about 1,600 results at the entry level which isn't great so overall I'm going to have to put this one into D tier. Next one on the list is one of the best degrees out there and that is going to be software engineering so early career pay here is 69,000 mid-career pay is 112,000 salary score is 86 number of jobs available is an incredible 77,000 that means the demand score is off the charts at 127 but the meaning score is 39% so a lot of people don't find their jobs very meaningful. The total amount of bachelor graduates is 1,060 per year according to glass door software engineers make $105,000 a year and according to link then at the entry level there is a whopping 432,000 results mind-blowing so yeah I've talked about this before software engineering software development one of the best careers you can possibly go into just an insane amount of opportunity I actually interviewed Antoine on my channel recently who is somebody who started off at kind of like an entry level position in tech and then he moved into different positions until he ended up in tech sales and from tech sales he was able to actually make over 540,000 dollars a year and the cool thing about tech is once you've broken in it's really easy for you to actually move around to different positions this one is going to go into S tier so if you're somebody who wants to break into tech as fast as possible you want to make money really quickly you don't necessarily want to go through the whole engineering curriculum which takes like five to six years on average definitely check out that interview with Antoine and we both recommend doing it through a company called course careers course careers helps people get into entry level tech careers and they don't require a college degree and they don't require any experience there's literally so many people getting jobs with course careers that I can't even interview all of them I was trying to interview them and is just way too much for me but I do have a bunch of interviews on this channel I also post daily testimonials on the community tab as well because we're just getting people results left and right so if you want to check out their free training I'll put that down in the description as well as the pen comment below and if you choose to use their paid product which will have some advanced training as well as getting you guaranteed interviews with their partner companies you can use my coupon as well Shane 50 I'll put that down there as well next on the list is going to be aerospace engineering so early career pay is 69,000 mid career pays 118,000 salary scores 89 that's pretty respectable the demand score is 100 the meaning is 58% which is decent and there are 4,000 bachelor grads per year according to glass store they make about $95,000 a year and on LinkedIn you're going to see about 15,000 results which is pretty decent so overall this one is going to go into a tier architectural engineering is next on the list and with this one you see an early career pay of $61,000 a year mid career pay is 97,000 salary score is relatively low for an engineering degree at 67 the demand score is 98 pretty good and meaning is 57% but there are only about 672 bachelor grads per year if you look up architectural engineering on glass store you're going to see $86,000 a year and if you look it up on LinkedIn you're going to see 14,400 results so this is one of those where there's not that many graduates but there's a lot of jobs and what that tells me is people are able to get these jobs by getting more general degrees so it's another one of those that's it's not bad by any means but you know especially engineering degrees most engineering degrees are pretty good but with that being said there's probably other engineering degrees that are better to get so this one is going to go into D tier biomedical engineering is next on the list and this one you're making $66,000 early career pay mid career pays 114,000 salary score is a respectable 83 demand score is 100 meaning is really good at 71% I believe that's actually the highest meaning score on the entire list and every year there's about 6,900 graduates according to glass door biomedical engineers make $84,000 a year and if you look up biomedical engineering on LinkedIn you're going to see 6,500 results now something that's not as clear in the data but it's actually a really big problem when you investigate it and look into it is that you can actually get into biomedical engineering with just a mechanical engineering degree right so you don't have to get a biomedical engineering degree to get into this so that's kind of a huge problem because you can get a mechanical engineering degree and get into this but if you get a biomedical engineering degree you're not going to be able to do as much stuff as mechanical engineers can do but with that being said biomedical engineering is one of my dark horse careers there's just so much cool stuff that you can do with it and I could see it really getting big in the future a lot of it does have to do with things that are outside of our control like regulations etc but there's a lot of really cool stuff happening in the biomedical industry so biomedical engineering is going to go into B tier next on the list is chemical engineering early career pay here is 72,000 mid-career pay is 127,000 salary score is 97 demand score is 101 meaning is 56% and there's 10,700 bachelor graduates per year according to glass door chemical engineers make a hundred thousand dollars a year and according to LinkedIn there is 23,000 jobs available so overall chemical engineering is very solid it's more flexible than a degree like petroleum engineering for instance but it's not nearly as flexible as electrical engineering or mechanical engineering so for that reason I'm going to put it into A tier next one on the list is going to be civil engineering and the early career pay here is 60,000 mid-career pays 102,000 number of jobs available is 11,000 demand score is a very healthy 103 meaning score is 65% and the bachelor grads per year is 13,000 according to glass door civil engineers make 78,000 a year and according to LinkedIn there are 73,000 civil engineering jobs available at the entry level so this is one of those that's good but not great civil engineering isn't going to be super flexible like mechanical engineering is the pay is relatively low for an engineering degree as well but overall it's still pretty good I'm going to put this one into B tier next on the list is computer engineering and this is another really good one early career pay is 72,000 a year mid-career pay is 120,000 salary score is a very healthy 93 demand score is off the charts at 107 meaning is 46% so a little bit low there and there are 7,200 bachelor grads per year according to glass door computer engineers make 73,000 a year and according to LinkedIn there is a whopping 109,000 results available when you look at computer engineering now keep in mind sometimes when you see the salaries for different tech industries there's so many different positions in tech so when you look at 73,000 for computer engineer it's not that impressive but there's just so many different positions that you can move into so I can almost guarantee you that after a few years you're going to be making more than that so yeah computer engineering very very good this one is going to go into S tier next one on the list is going to be electrical engineering early career pay here is 70,000 mid-career pays 119,000 a very healthy salary score of 91 the demand score is off the charts at 109 the meaning is 54% so even a little bit better and there are 16,000 bachelor grads per year according to glass door electrical engineers make 87,000 a year and according to LinkedIn it's even better at 149,000 results at the entry level so electrical engineering makes a little bit less than computer engineering but there's also more demand overall and I think it's just more flexible you can go into a lot of the same jobs with electrical engineering that you can go into with computer engineering so this one also goes into S tier next one on the list is going to be environmental engineering early career pay here is 58,000 mid-career pay is 100,000 so salary score is relatively low at 65 the demand score is 100 but you have to realize that this is engineering degrees versus all other degrees and engineering degrees are just much better than almost any other type of degree meaning score is 63 so meaning score is relatively high according to glass door environmental engineers make 98,000 a year and according to LinkedIn environmental engineering has about 23,000 results at the entry level so there is actually a massive amount of opportunity popping up in the energy industry as well as sustainability venture capitalists which in my opinion are the smartest people in the entire world are absolutely pumping money into the green energy and sustainability industries so I do think this one is actually on the rise and I'm actually going to put this one into B tier next one on the list is industrial engineering early career pay is 67,000 mid-career pay is 110,000 salary score is 81 the demand score is 101 and meaning is 46 the total amount of bachelor grads per year is 5200 according to glass door industrial engineers make 86,000 a year and if you look them up on LinkedIn you're going to see 28,000 results at the entry level so yeah another really solid one industrial engineering is one of my personal favorites I think it's a great combination of business skills and engineering skills you're basically learning logistics and operations management and then combining that with you know practical problem solving engineering skills so overall this one is going to go into a tier I also interviewed another person on this channel Joshua who is going through industrial engineering he realized it's probably going to take him five to six years and the only reason he was doing it was to make money and so he decided to go into tech sales instead you can check out that interview right here next on the list is marine engineering so early career pay here is 72,000 a year mid-career pays 123,000 salary score is a healthy 95 the demand score is very low for an engineering degree at 37 but the meaning is 63 and the total amount of bachelor grads per year is 439 so that's not very good according to Glassdoor they make around 107,000 a year and on LinkedIn you're going to see 2,600 results at the entry level so yeah this is another one of those where you can probably get a lot of the same jobs with a more general degree like mechanical engineering so I'm going to have to put this one into D tier next one on the list is going to be materials engineering early career pay here is going to be 69,000 a year mid-career pays 106,000 salary score is a pretty good 82 demand score is 53 and overall there's 1,500 bachelor grads per year so that's okay according to Glassdoor material engineers make 84,000 a year and according to LinkedIn there's 26,000 results at the entry level so overall this is another one of those where you can probably get a lot of the same jobs with something like a chemical engineering degree but it's still pretty good and it's a little bit more specialized and there honestly is a lot of opportunity in materials engineering I mean there's this place called Silicon Valley for a reason so yeah this one overall I'm going to put it into C tier next one on the list is mechanical engineering this is one that's very general a jack of all trades can be a really good one if you're not sure what to go into early career pay is 66,000 mid-career pays 110,000 salary score is 81 demand scores 105 meaning score is 51 and bachelor grads per year is 32,000 according to Glassdoor mechanical engineers make 80,000 dollars a year and according to LinkedIn mechanical engineering has 109,000 results so definitely one of the best ones overall mechanical engineering very solid across the board this one goes into a tier mechatronics engineering is next on the list this is one that everybody wanted me to talk about the problem with this one is I couldn't even find it on the national center of education statistics because it's so new so I'm not even able to get all that data that I usually talk about but yeah mechatronics engineering is super cool if you look up the salary score on Glassdoor friends since you're going to see 90,000 dollars a year and if you look up mechatronics engineering on LinkedIn at the entry level you're going to see 1100 results so this is one that I do see growing a lot in the near future it's just super useful the way that they're doing stuff and the way that automation and AI is going I see this being incredibly useful but with that being said right now the statistics is the data is just not available so I know everybody wants me to do like a very detailed video on this and I really can't because the data is just not there but with that being said I'm going to put this one into a tier but with an asterisk that the data is not there and it's really just my opinion so truly take this with a grain of salt network engineering is next on the list and with this one early career pays 56,000 mid-career pays 90,000 salary score is a paltry 57 for engineering degrees anyways demand score is 100 if you look it up on Glassdoor you're going to see network engineers make 90,000 dollars a year and if you look it up on LinkedIn you're going to see 36,000 results so yeah this is one where salary score is kind of low but there's a lot of demand overall you know it's pretty good I'm going to go ahead and put it into C tier next one on the list is nuclear engineering early career pay is 72,000 mid-career pays 122,000 salary score is 95 demand score is 40 meaning is 63 percent which is relatively high if you look up nuclear engineer salary on Glassdoor you're going to see 92,000 dollars a year and if you look up nuclear engineering at the entry level on LinkedIn you're going to see 4,300 results so I really have mixed opinions on this first of all the subject of nuclear engineering is one of my favorite subjects I think that 100 years from now and maybe someone will find this and clip it and then they'll watch it 100 years from now after I'm dead but I think that 100 years from now without a doubt there's literally zero doubt in my mind that nuclear engineering is going to be the number one energy source I would absolutely bet the house on this but with that being said right now nuclear engineering I have to be honest with you I can't be biased about this the numbers are not amazing first of all anything in the energy industry is always going to fluctuate a lot you're probably going to end up getting laid off like five times throughout your life and then there's just a lot of things that are outside of our control like government regulations public stigma and all kinds of things like that so overall I have to put nuclear engineering into C tier but I am very bullish on it in the long run next one on the list is petroleum engineering so with this one early career pays 94,000 mid-career pays 176,000 the salary score is a very good 100 the demand score is 34 which isn't so great but the meaning is 72% so people who go into petroleum engineering really enjoy it and there's about 2,100 bachelor grads per year according to glass door petroleum engineers make 92,000 a year and according to LinkedIn there is 1,600 results at the entry level so this is another one that has gotten crushed recently there was a lot of layoffs of course and again energy industry this is what you have to expect but with that being said petroleum engineers can make really really good money it's extremely lucrative the demand it can be up sometimes down other times and another downside with petroleum engineering is a lot of the time you can get into the same exact jobs with a chemical engineering degree but you also have a lot of other options so overall I'm going to put this one into C tier all right so definitely check out that interview with Antoine from Black Heights I'll put that right here as well as a playlist of other interviews gently tap the like button hit the subscribe button ring the notification bell and comment down below any thoughts comments criticisms etc that you have on the video and I will see you next time


What's up everybody? Jason here for jazby'scasebrakes.com. We just sold out Jatsby's two box tops definitive plus Dynasty mixer, one definitive 2021 box and one 2022 Dynasty box guys. Very high end stuff, high risk but a very high reward if you do hit in these breaks guys. So good luck everybody. Again guys, dirty spots, all teams in. Here's the dice roll over the customer names and the teams. Let's click roll. It's a six and a one seven. Good luck. One, two, three, four, five, six and seven. Six and a one seven. Brian down to Jose. Six and a one seven, seven. One, two, three, four, five, six and seven. And seven. Yankees down to the Cardinals. Five, seven, seven. All right Brian with the Yankees. Adam with the White Sox. Jose with the Angels last ball manager. Anthony with the Blue Jays. Tristan with the Dodgers. Brian with the Orioles. James with the Twins. Chad with the Nationals. Ed with the Reds. Alan with the Astros. Gary with the Guardians. Jose with the Phillies. Adam Coverham with the Red Sox. Ryan Pressna with the Rangers. Brett, sorry with the Mariners. Alexander with the Giants. Brian with the Marlins. Mark with the Diamondbacks. Joe, you have the Braves. Brandon with the Brewers. Joe with the Padres. Michael with the Rays. Tristan with the Tigers. Tana with the Rockies. Cassandra with the Pirates. Brett with the A's. Brian with the Royals. Chad Wright, you have the Cubs. Brian with the Mets. And then Jose with the Cardinals. So I'll give you a quick another minute to see your teams guys. And I think I'm gonna start off with Dynasty. I know it's a high end product, but it's only one card. I mean, I feel like I kind of want to savor the definitive. All right, guys, anybody want to make a trade-off? Nah, I'm gonna close it right now. Once I reorganize this category really quick.  All right, once that guy's almost done here. Yeah, that probably would never happen. All right, here we go guys. Good luck then. All right, so like I said, I'm gonna go with the Dynasty first. It's just a one card break. I mean, I kind of want to slowly savor that definitive. So let's go with this first guys. But again, high risk, high reward here guys. Thank you guys for getting in. Obviously it hits out of Dynasty. You can just be freaking monstrous in Spain. It's even thinking for definitive, but kind of want to do definitive last. Honestly, this one feels a little heavy, but I mean, I guess they all kind of feel heavy because they're in case, but I don't know, maybe a nice relic here? I don't know, it looks pretty thick. Not, is that a Blue Jays patch? Oh, it looks like a Blue Jays patch. And it's a one out of five, Hunjin Ryu. For the Blue Jays. I was hoping for a Latty Junior, but hey, Blue Jays though on the board, Anthony got that from a filler. Think he's actually a free Asian right now, right? There we go. Not the craziest hit, but hey, like I said, never know until you open it, but you are on the board. Like I said, it's a quick break, but just like that, we're moving on to the second box. Let's get some nice ones right here. There we go, here we go. And we have our first one. It's another Blue Jays, although Roberto Alomar out of 50. Blue Jays, baby. We have for the Yankees, Clark Schmidt, number to 50. Yankees that's going to Brian. And we got a frame here of Mike Schmidt, 21 out of 30 for the Philadelphia Phillies going to Jose. And we got a Patch autograph of Matt Chapman, four out of 25. Oakland 80s going to Brent, or Bretts are, Bret S. I don't know, it looks like we have a redemption. Maybe we'll save that redemption, I don't know. Maybe we'll save it, I don't know who that might be. And we got a John Smoltz, one out of five. Atlanta Braves going to Joe Lawson. Two more hits here, guys. We have a Jock Peterson for the Dodgers, nine out of 50. Tristan with the Dodgers. And then the last one, I think this dude was forced to retire, right? Steven Strasberg, nice three color patch, five out of 15 for the Washington Nationals that's going to Chad Coleman. All right, and last one here, looks like it's going to be a redemption, guys. Let's see who this is. You're due to receive a dual autograph collection, dual autograph collection of, looks like Chicago teams. Ooh, how about a little Eloy Hemenes and Luis Robert for the White Sox. So Eloy Hemenes, White Sox, Luis Robert, White Sox going to Adam Kuperman. Now, let's say it expired last year, but sometimes I always do hear that if you can get it within the year, you might still be able to redeem this and honestly, definitely still within the year since it just expired in March of 31st of last year. So hopefully you can still redeem that, man. So I kind of hate redemptions. I hope, I wish one day they just made redemptions never expire, or you can still honor them, but there you go, Kup. Hopefully you can still get that, man, within the same, since it's been within a year. There you go, guys. Thank you guys so much. Like I said, I know it was a big hit or miss, but still some nice hits though, for some of the customers that hit. But again, guys, it is a promo break and I'm really confident we can get this promo break done, guys. So I'm going to put you guys' name in the list like always, right? So put you guys right here. And like I said, this definitive dynasty mixer, we got that break sold out now. So honestly, guys, looks like that Bowman draft is going to sell out. So we got this one done too. Bowman draft is about to sell out. Number Pikachu, number three, so we're going to do that one next probably. And then honestly, guys, just some NT, which is close to selling out. Two prison breaks and two Bowman draft ages, and then we're in the money, giving away some money, guys. So check out those promo breaks that are still remaining, guys. There they are right there, jaspyscasebreaks.com.


Welcome, Myself, Mr. Vishal Angeere, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, Vulture Institute of Technology. Today, we are going to study communication technology used for IoT and that is ZigBee. Learning outcome, at the end of this session, students will be able to explain ZigBee module. So, before starting with ZigBee technology, students should know what is wireless sensor network. Now, we will start with what is ZigBee technology? ZigBee communication technology is specifically used for controlling and wireless sensor networks on IEEE 802.15.4 standard for wireless personal area network and it is the product from ZigBee alliances. So, ZigBee module is basically used for controlling of the devices as well as for wireless sensor networks. ZigBee module works on the frequency of 868 MHz, 928 MHz and 2.4 GHz. Now, we will see ZigBee architecture, so the figure shown, ZigBee system structure, so generally there is two type of connections, one is wired connection and another is wireless connection. So, there is one existing network with that one ZigBee coordinator is to be connected and that ZigBee coordinator is connected with ZigBee routers as well as ZigBee end devices. So, in this example of ZigBee system structure, you can see existing network is connected with one ZigBee coordinator which will act as a master and that master is to be connected with ZigBee routers, so that routers can transmit or receive data to or from a slave to master or from master to slave and ZigBee which is to be used at end devices. Now, we will see ZigBee architecture, so in this ZigBee architecture, it will have ZigBee protocols and it is less, so generally there are five layers, first one is physical layer, second one is MAC layer which is also called as a media access layer, next one is network layer and after that application support sub layer and after that application framework. So, generally physical layer is to be used for modulation as well as demodulation while transmitting or receiving the data. Next media access layer is to be used for sending or receiving the data packets or data frames. Network layer is to be used to handle network related issues like configuring the devices, setting the network between master as well as slave. Next application support sub layer is to be used to handle issues related to ZigBee device object and application object and next is application framework, so that application framework will consist of application object 240, application object 1 and ZigBee device object. So, the security service provided in this ZigBee architecture by network layer as well as application support sub layer, now we will see ZigBee operating modes and its topologies, so the diagram is of ZigBee communication operation, so ZigBee will operate in two different modes, one is back on mode and second one is non-back on mode. In back on mode coordinator as well as router are active and they will continuously monitor the data which is transmitted or received, so in this type of communication mode of ZigBee there is a power consumption or energy is required more and in the second mode that is non-back on mode the coordinator as well as router will go into sleep mode and when it is required to send or receive data at that time only the coordinator as well as router are to be activated, so power consumption is less in this second mode of communication. Now we will see ZigBee topologies, so three different type of topologies are to be used that is network topologies, one is star topology, second one is mesh topology and third one is cluster tree, in star topology there is one ZigBee coordinator and number of ZigBee devices, so devices will have one ZigBee module and those devices are to be connected to one ZigBee coordinator, so in star topology all the devices can contact or are to be connected to ZigBee coordinator, so such type of star topology is to be used in industries in which all the end devices can directly connect to ZigBee coordinator. Next is mesh topology, so in mesh topology there is one ZigBee coordinator, number of routers as well as number of ZigBee devices, so each device will have a ZigBee module and there are number of routers as well as one ZigBee coordinator which will act as a master and there are number of slaves, so in this type of topology all the ZigBee devices can communicate with each other because of the routers and mesh topology is to be generally used in wireless sensor network because if any one ZigBee device is damaged in that case data is to be transferred to another ZigBee device, so like that there will not be any loss of data. Next one is cluster tree, so you can see that there is one ZigBee coordinator and that ZigBee coordinator is connected to ZigBee router and ZigBee router is to be connected to many ZigBee devices, so the structure is like cluster tree, so these are the three different ZigBee topologies, first one is star, second one is mesh and third one is cluster tree. Now we will see application of ZigBee technology, first one is home automation, so in case of home automation number of devices are to be connected to ZigBee and those devices are to be controlled, as an example you can control tubes, bulbs as well as fans which are present in home with the help of ZigBee you can control these appliances or devices you can turn on and turn off fans regulators with the help of ZigBee module. Second application is industrial automation, so in industries there is a requirement of monitoring the process which is going on in the factories or industries, so for the monitoring of those machines which are present in industry a ZigBee modules are to be used. Next application is smart grid monitoring, so in smart grid monitoring the temperature is to be monitored continuously with the help of ZigBee modules. Last application is smart metering, so in smart metering the energy is to be calculated or monitored continuously with the help of ZigBee module as well as energy theft is to be monitored with the help of ZigBee module, so in case of smart metering energy calculations as well as energy theft is to be monitored with the help of ZigBee modules. So the ZigBee modules are very much useful in wireless sensor network as well as controlling of the devices and ZigBee modules are very much effective low cost and it requires very much low power, so ZigBee modules are efficient as compared to its other competitors like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID as well as NFC. While preparing this video lecture I have used internet of things architecture and design principles by Raj Kamal, Internet of Things for Architects by Peri Lee. Thank you.


Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting in session six. I should say that we've actually got six MSPs with us this morning, so it's six-six-six of the Citizens, Participation and Public Partitions Committee. Joining us in the hybrid format this morning is Paul Sweeney MSP, and all of our agenda this morning is going to be the consideration of new petitions. To those petitioners who might be following our proceedings this morning, I'll just say that it's a first step. We do write to the Scottish Government to get and seek their views on the petitions that we're considering. All of the members of the committee have had an opportunity to consider the detailed submissions that we've received in advance of our consideration of the petition this morning. Our first petition, petition number PE1883, open all toddler and baby activities within tier 3 of Covid-19 future pandemic lockdowns, which has been lodged by Katrina Clarke. I'm very pleased to welcome our colleague Jackie Baillie MSP, who is going to be speaking in support of this petition shortly as well. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to allow baby and toddler activities to be considered equally with other indoor activities in tier 3 of any future lockdowns. In its response, the Scottish Government states that guidance was available from September 2020 for unregulated organised children's activities and was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders. Softplace centres in level 0 and level 1 areas began to reopen from 2 November last year, and all centres were able to reopen on 19 July this year. The Scottish Government highlights support from families during the pandemic, including in relation to play and wellbeing. The Scottish Government notes that, due to the fluid nature of the pandemic, it is not in a position to rule out further Covid-19-related restrictions or advise on what those might be. The petitioner's response pointed out that, even though guidance was in place from late 2020 onwards, the general consensus from parents on social media was that baby and toddler groups were not available until March, April and May of this year. Comparisons are drawn between the reopening of pubs and cafes with baby and toddler groups, with the petitioner suggesting that age groups were not treated equally. The impact on speech and language is also highlighted by the petitioner. Having said that, and before members' comments are considered, I wonder if Jackie Baillie would care to say anything in support of the petition. I have never known a politician refused to speak, Convina. Well, I have never known you two, Jackie. That is certainly true. Thank you very much, Convina, for your kind comment. Can I thank you and the committee for the opportunity to speak? Katrina Clark is my constituent, and I think that you certainly miss having petitioners here, because we as MSPs are very much second best to them. Let me try and do her petition justice. She is obviously wanting baby and toddler groups to be open, should we ever be in a position that we are in tier 3 again. First, I think that we are all thankful that we are no longer operating under those restrictions, but secondly, I think that we should also recognise the guidance that was produced at the time, the levels of restrictions that were put in place were developed at pace, and that did lead to some anomalies, and it did lead to some inconsistencies. I think that at the heart of this petition is an understanding that perhaps we should review what we did, learn from it and ensure that if we are ever in the position of having to impose restrictions again, that we can do so in a proportionate way. Now, Katrina Clark makes the point, and it is her principle aim, and I think that it is one that we all share, is that she wants to limit any detrimental impact on babies and on toddlers, so that they are not unduly disadvantaged. She acknowledges the importance of play as we all would do and which the Scottish Government addresses in its response, but she is also concerned about socialisation and that kind of missing opportunity for a year for mums and babies to interact with each other, to get mutual support from each other, and that is something that the First Minister herself recognised in relation to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of both the mother and the baby. I guess that it is about weighing up the threat posed by Covid and the loss of that socialisation and play for mothers and babies at a very critical juncture in their lives. Some of the contradictions, which we are all aware of, are things like soft play not being allowed at all between levels 2 and 4, but you can go 10 pin bowling if you are an adult, you can go to the pub, you can go to restaurants, and it is that inconsistency that people do not understand and would like reviewed.  I would hope that that is something that committee would support and the general notion that we should be reviewing the restrictions that were put in place to see if they were indeed fit for purpose. Thank you, convener. Colleagues, would any colleagues like to contribute or comment? David Torrance? Thank you, convener. I have every sympathy with a petition. We should write to the Scottish Government to seek the views of a petitioner, but I do not think that, whether it is a Scottish Government or a UK Government, it could give guarantees depending on how the pandemic goes in the future. Let's see what the Scottish Government has got to say on the views of a petitioner. I am quite happy to do that. Okay. Anybody else? Any other colleagues? It does strike me as well that, at some point, there will be an inquiry into the pandemic, and I imagine that we have already been told to be fully comprehensive and look at it from every conceivable perspective. I suppose that one thing that we could always do is have this petitioner submission and any final conclusions that we come to as a committee in reserve to submit to that inquiry at some future date should the opportunity present itself. In the meantime, I think that we should write to the Scottish Government, because I take the point and the Scottish Government, I imagine, will accept themselves that, in this first effort to try to address the issues arising from the pandemic, there will have been inconsistencies. I would like to think that there will be some review or that they would undertake some review of what those were and whether or not, in hindsight, they were necessary or whether they were well judged. I mean, I've got my own reservations too about whether you can get any formal guarantees that nothing can ever be put in place in the future pandemic, but it does seem sensible to write to the Scottish Government on that basis and in the first instance. Does that seem sensible? Any other proposals? Bill Kidd? No, not on our proposal. I'd just like to re-emphasise some of the points that were made by Jackie Baillie and the petitioner and concur that when lessons are there to be learned, we should be in a position of putting them forward to make sure that they're included in any development of future proposals for pandemics, and that may happen again. I wonder whether it would be possible, in addition to writing to the Scottish Government, to maybe look at writing to Place Scotland or organisations that represent mother and toddler groups or, indeed, educational psychologists to see if there is any impact in terms of socialisation. I'm very happy to include that suggestion as well. I agree with Jackie Baillie on that point, convener. I think that getting the submissions from the organisations that have an impact would be very useful. The Scottish Government obviously has the review opportunity, but those organisations are living through and had to live through what took place, and I think it's important that we get their views and opinions because that will then give us a steer from the organisations and individuals that were most impacted. What we can't anticipate at the moment is the range of other petitions that might arise as a consequence of issues that are consequential to the Covid pandemic that we may subsequently ask to consider. I would just maybe paste it to the wall the idea that this might also be a deliberative engagement as part of the committee's new remit. At some stage, it might be an appropriate thing for us to consider, which we've brought together in various groups so that we could hear and potentially take some evidence from in that deliberative engagement aspect of our new aspect of our responsibility. I imagine that, at the same time, the Covid committee might be doing work in relation to all that too, so maybe we should just be liaising with them to see what their timetable and agenda actually is. In which case are we content? We are. Our next petition is petition number 1887 to create an unborn victims of violence act, and this has been launched by Nicola Murray. The petition calls on the Scottish Government to urge the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to create an unborn victims of violence act, creating a specific offence that enables courts to hand down longer sentences for perpetrators of domestic violence which causes miscarriage. The SPICE briefing provided tells of the current legal framework and explores how various criminal offences may apply to instances of domestic abuse during pregnancy. This information is summarised in the clerk's note, and it is noted that women are at increased risk of physical abuse and particularly domestic violence during pregnancy and early maternity. The Scottish Government provides information on the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act 2018, stating that it enables physical, physiological and controlling behaviours to be prosecuted at once. That includes certain forms of psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour that were previously difficult to prosecute. However, in her response, the petitioner shares her experience with domestic abuse, which sadly led to the loss of her child. In one story, she explains that she was hit with a car, causing her to miscarry due to her injuries. That led to the individual taking a plea deal of reckless and culpable conduct with a domestic abuse aggravator. The sentence was a payment of just £300 compensation. The petitioner explains the impact of this incident, including permanent left-side weakness, difficulty walking and long-for-long periods or distances, complex post-traumatic stress disorder and grief. The petitioner conducted a study in 2018 with 40 female domestic abuse survivors, and the main findings of that are provided in the clerks note. A serious petitioner, are there comments from any colleagues? Bill Kidd. Thank you very much. It is a sad thing that we have to be discussing such issues in a petition, but it is very good that it has been brought to us. I think that it is of such importance that we should take it forward, possibly by writing to key stakeholders such as the Procurator Fiscal Service, the Law Society of Scotland, the Scottish Law Commission, the Scottish Sentencing Council, listening to what was said about the sort of sentence that was handed down in that instance, Scottish Women's Aid and Victim Support Scotland, that range of organisations with something beneficial to put forward. If we can seek their views in the action that is called for in the petition, I think that we would be doing a necessary duty in this instance. Thank you. Any other colleagues? I do not rule out at some stage as maybe taking oral evidence on this. I think that let us see in the first instance what the formal responses that we see in relation to all of this, in which case we are keeping this petition open and we will take forward the recommendations that is made by Bill Kidd. I think that we are. Thank you very much. Petition 1888, the full legal protection for hedgehogs and moles, which has been lodged with us by Mr Joseph Allen, who has also tabled, I think that you should have received, a handwritten submission just this morning. The petition calls on the Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to grant full legal protection to hedgehogs and moles. The Scottish Government confirms its commitment to enhancing biodiversity and to protecting vulnerable species in Scotland. The submission confirms that the hedgehog is listed in Appendix 3 of the Berne convention and Schedule 6 of the 1981 act, which makes it illegal to kill or capture them using specific methods. The Scottish Government also states in its submission that there are no plans to extend the legal protection of hedgehogs or to their breeding sites. It does, however, outline steps that have been taken to halt the decline of hedgehogs, while stating that the Scottish Government does not have any information to suggest that the species is in danger of extinction in Scotland. Similarly, the Scottish Government does not have any definitive data that shows that the mole population is declining or that the desirability of this is otherwise and has asked the petitioner to buy further information to explain the exact nature of their concerns, which the petitioner has done this morning in that he has identified that moles are particularly vulnerable at one point in their breeding season. The Scottish Government also notes that it will carefully consider any recommendations made by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee for potential changes to the animals and plants listed under Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife Countryside Act 1981. My own anecdotal observation as an old man is that, when I was younger, hedgehogs were quite a common sight. They are less so now, and that is as much because the neighbourhoods, hedgerows and the natural habitats in which they used to thrive have been lessened over my lifetime, although there is a conspicuous effort now to restore hedgerows, rewild and reintroduce what I imagine are many of the natural habitats. Any comments from colleagues? It looks like David Torrance. I think that we should write to stakeholders, including the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Hogwarts Scotland and the Malum Society, to seek their views on what the petitioner is asking for. We could take a petition from there once we get the relevant information back. I mean, it is not coupling. Sorry, that is probably an unfortunate suggestion, but the combining of the hedgehogs and moles that struck me is almost a bit random. Nonetheless, I think that, while we consider the petition together, there will be representations from different organisations. I imagine that moles and hedgehogs both live under the ground at certain points. Therefore, in particular, when there is large-scale construction and when we are talking about COP26 and care for the environment, that might be a petition of the moment. I mean, there are certainly an awful lot of voluntary groups and societies that have been concerned, certainly with the welfare of the hedgehog. The mole one is slightly new to me as a feature of the petition. Anyhow, we have agreed to keep the petition open and to proceed on that basis. Petition number 1889, financial support for self-employed people in the travel industry. The petition has been lodged by Nicky Peachy. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide tailored financial support to self-employed individuals working in the travel industry whose businesses have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government's submission outlines the various support measures that have already been offered to members of the travel sector throughout the pandemic. The Scottish Government states that a UK-wide approach to dealing with the issues that the travel sector is facing is required and it has written to the UK Minister for Business and Industry seeking a dialogue on the issue. The petitioner explains that the Covid-19 pandemic has hit those workers hard, they have not received commissions due to international travel being restricted and they have also incurred increased costs associated with booking and refunding travel for clients. In addition, many self-employed workers did not qualify financial assistance via furlough or travel grant schemes. The petitioner advises that loans have been offered through the UK Government-bound back loans, but that has meant starting repayments while still not receiving any income. The petitioner concludes that many in the industry report facing bankruptcy, losing their homes and their livelihoods. Indeed, one of the first post-pandemic major representations outside the Parliament, as I recall, just after we came back from the summer recess, was from travel agents as well and their representatives. Again, I open this up to colleagues for any comments or suggestions. Are you waving a hand? I wasn't sure if you were. You're both waving a hand. David Torrance. Thank you, convener. Somebody who has met my local travel agents and asked the First Minister a question on this subject, I think that we should write to the Scottish Government for an update to see how our correspondence and our dialogue is going with the UK Government on this matter. Alasdair Stewart. I would agree with that. There is no doubt that individuals in this sector have suffered. I'm sure that others, such as myself, have many who have corresponded to indicate that they did seem to fall through the gaps that were set up to ensure that others in the sector were being supported. The self-employed really did have a problem here, and I think that the petitioner has given us quite a lengthy indication as to the difficulties that they face. I would certainly wish to see progress in some way and to take some views from the Scottish Government, and the UK Government, depending on how things are managed, because they say that they certainly suffered. We need to learn some lessons from this for the industry themselves, because without the opportunity for them to be involved in the travel sector, as I've said, they were very much falling between a rock and a hard place. I think that that's important that we do support them here. Thank you. Paul Sweeney. Thank you, convener. I share the sentiments of the rest of the story. I think that this is an example of an area where Covid economic resilience measures were put in place very rapidly. They were somewhat blunt in their design by the nature of the pace at which things were having to move, and certainly there are key parts of the industry across the UK that were affected as a result that fell through the cracks, if you like. That is a good example where we need to respond clearly to create a countermeasure. We all want to try to avoid economic scarring and permanent financial distress caused by the pandemic. Even if it is a retrospective scheme to try to assist people who have obviously been dealing with financial detriment over a long period of time in the past year, that is a worthwhile endeavour. I would further recommend contacting industry representatives to gather more evidence about what they think in response to the petition and whether we can work in collaboration with the Scottish Government and the economic development agencies such as the Scottish Enterprise Business Development Scotland to design a scheme that might be able to assist people who have obviously suffered a significant detriment and continue to face severe financial hardship. I think that that seems very sensible. It occurs to me that, in writing to these professional bodies, it would also be useful to get some sort of impression of the current status of the industry as well. How many independent, self-employed travel agencies may no longer be operational? Have they any industry knowledge on the status of that? Also, what is the current status of the industry itself? Travel is resuming. I know that people are starting to make plans and are booking again for immediate and for future travel, but it would be interesting to get some idea of where they see the status of that recovery. Potentially, just what the fear might arise from any further restrictions that might find themselves being proposed or imposed in the future months ahead. All those suggestions, are we agreeable to take brightness, receive that and proceed? Thank you all. Petition number 1890 to find solutions to recruitment and training challenges for rural healthcare in Scotland. This has been lodged by Maria Aitken on behalf of the Caithness health action team. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to find ways for localised training, recruiting and retaining healthcare staff in difficult to recruit positions in Scotland. Members will know that they will also have received a late submission in relation to this petition from our colleague Edward Mountain MSP, which was circulated yesterday. The committee is currently considering a petition that explores similar issues in relation to rural healthcare, which is petition number 1845, agency to advocate for the healthcare needs of rural Scotland. The committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, the remote and rural general practice short-life working group and rural health boards. We have already received some submissions and are expecting the remainder later this week. The Scottish Government's submission begins by stating that it recognises the training, recruitment and retention issues that are faced by health boards operating in rural areas across Scotland. The submission details a number of training and recruitment initiatives for doctors in difficult to recruit areas, including remote and rural settings. Wider initiatives are also highlighted as contributing to the improvement of rural healthcare or tackling employment challenges specific to rural areas. NHS Highland funding is highlighted, including recovery and renewal investment, which allocated £2.2 million to NHS Highland in 2021-22 and funding of £54,625 for the recruitment of a full-time director of psychology. The petitioner's views, however, is that the Kithness community does not appear to benefit from funding provided to NHS Highland, believing health services are centralised to rig more hospital. Mr Mountain has written in support of the petition, I am sure that he would otherwise have wished to be with us today, and he would ask us to pursue the issues that are raised within it. Comments from colleagues. David Torrance Thank you, convener. Considerer's petition PE1845 is near enough exactly the same. I think that we should take them both together and wait on the evidence that is coming from that petition. I would like to take evidence on that. I think that we should wait until all the evidence is in and we should just take both petitions alongside one another. I noticed that Mr Mountain very much encouraged us to potentially take evidence after we have received submissions in relation to both those petitions. Alexander Stewart Thank you, convener. Yes, I think that it is vitally important that we have the opportunity to take evidence on that petition, because the initiatives and the training that is in place is once again an initiative that works, but maybe in some situations we will find it from taking evidence that there are still once again some loopholes, and I think that would guide us as to how we might vanish it. I would be very supportive of the committee taking evidence for this petition and very much on the case of Edward Mountain, my colleague who has put forward that. David Torrance I think that we would formally agree to take evidence when we have received the written submissions that we are in the first instance seeking to bring to us. Are we content on that basis? Can the petition open? Yes. I think that that was the proposal that came from David Torrance. We will write to NHS Highland to seek its views on the petition and then combine that representation with any representations that we have received to petition 1845. Having done that, I think that we will probably formally agree to take some oral evidence in relation to this petition. We are all content. Petition 1891 is to make sewing lessons a statutory requirement in the primary school curriculum. The petition is lodged by Lewis Alexander Conde and seeks to make sewing lessons a statutory requirement in the primary school curriculum. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that all children will have had the opportunity to learn to swim by making it a statutory requirement to provide lessons in the primary school curriculum. The petition notes that in 2017 it was estimated that 40 per cent of children left primary school unable to swim. He points out that there is currently no requirement for local authorities to provide school swimming lessons in Scotland. The SPICE briefing accompanying this petition notes that, although local authorities have a statutory duty to secure an adequate and efficient education for children of school age in their area, exactly what this education should entail is not set out in legislation and very little of the school curriculum is statutory. The Scottish Government reiterates this point stating that the curriculum is designed to allow local flexibility and acknowledging that some schools do already offer swimming lessons through the curriculum, while others offer swimming lessons through their active schools programme. Through Sports Scotland, the Scottish Government also works with Scottish swimming, whose priority is that every child learns to swim and is currently in discussions on how to expand their programme. The petitioner suggests that allowing councils to choose whether to provide swimming lessons is unfair, leading to many children missing out of being forced to take private lessons, which may be inaccessible to lower-income families or those living in rural areas. He believes that making swimming lessons in school and mandatory requirement will redress this inequality. I suppose that I begin by observing that my recollection when younger was a really quite an in-your-face public awareness and information campaign on the need to learn how to swim by whatever means. Maybe it's just because it's not targeted at me now, but I'm less aware of that. Therefore, when they say that the Scottish Government is in conversations with Scottish women swimming as to how they expand their programme, I'd be very interested to know how that might be done. Paul Sweeney. I think that the intent of the petitioner is very sound, particularly if we note some of the tragic incidents that took place over the summer. There were significant numbers of deaths that could have been prevented had people had proper education in swimming, and I think that we underestimate the impact that swimming lessons have as a life-saving measure. I think that it's often framed in terms of sport or physical education, as opposed to being a critical life-saving measure. I noted that the SPICE submission indicated that the Scottish Government had a whole data on how many schools provide that as part of their curriculum, whether in a voluntary or more integrated basis as part of the PE curriculum. I would be really interested in the very first instance to gather that information from local authorities as to what provision they have and perhaps using that as a basis to then consider further actions if the committee colleagues are so minded. That seems like an admirable suggestion. Any other thoughts or comments? I take it that we would write to the key stakeholder organisations. I would be glad that the Royal Society for Preventive Accidents, picking up on the life-saving aspect that has just been suggested there. Would we write to local authorities at COSLA? Probably to COSLA on the first instance, if that is acceptable. Mr Swin, I think that that makes sense. I am actually quite interested to know from Scottish swimming where they are in this discussion to expand their programme and what actions are currently being proposed. I quite like to get some understanding of what public information initiatives are under way in relation to encouraging people to swim for the very reasons that Mr Swinney was suggesting. Are there any other suggestions from colleagues? No, we are content to keep the petition open and to proceed with further information gathering on that basis. We all agree. Petition number 1892, to introduce a law that makes a tax by one dog on another dog, a crime. That has been introduced by Evelyn Baginski. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make a tax by one dog and another dog, a crime, and subject to a penalty requiring the owner to pay a fine and reimburse any expenses related to the incident. The Scottish Government states that an offence can be committed under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. When a dog is deemed to be dangerously out of control or if there is reasonable apprehension that it will injure a person or an assistance dog. The Control of Dogs Scotland Act 2010 also provides for a civil regime in respect of dog owners who allow their dogs to be out of control. The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2006 relates to the offences of causing unnecessary suffering in animal fighting. In its submission, the Scottish Government states that, depending on the exact circumstances, certain conduct relating to the behaviour of a dog attacking another dog may fall within the scope of the offences in this act. The petitioner suggests that the Control of Dogs Scotland Act 2010 does not fully legislate for attacks by one dog and another and states that the act does not consider the financial effect on owners who have lost a dog in this way. To address the issues raised in the petition, the petitioner suggests financial penalties to provide compensation to dog owners who have lost a dog as a result of an attack by another dog. The petitioner believes that this compensation could cover veterinary fees and funeral expenses. I invite colleagues to comment. I realise looking at this that Mr Kidd, Mr Tones and I must all have passed the dangerous control of Dogs Act 2010. However, I cannot recall the detail or the deficiencies that the petitioner might be seeking to identify. Do any colleagues wish to comment? David Tones? Thank you. I think that we should write to the Scottish Government for an update on the recent consultation on the act, to see where it stands. On both the acts? Yes, on both the acts, yes. Fine. And do we want to just see whether they are considering any further offences or whether because I think that we are interested to know what their position is or not? Mr Kidd, are you trying to intervene? No, I am not trying to. You are trying to be tactless. Okay, thank you. Are we content to write in the first instance to gather that further information on where we stand in relation to the existing acts on a contemplated updating or legislation? Should we also write to the British Veterinary Association to seek its views on the issues raised? I mean that they make specific reference to the veterinary fees that arise of an attack by one dog and another and I don't know what typically they amount. I mean actually I am not a dog owner so I don't know what the cost of those might actually be but I think it would be interesting for us to have some idea of that too. Yeah and give us some idea of you know how many occasions they feel they are seeking to treat animals who have been attacked in this way. Okay so we'll hold the petition open and take those further actions. Petition number 1893 is to introduce legislation to protect Scotland's war memorials. This has been introduced by James Watson on behalf of Friends of Deniston War Memorial. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce legislation which recognises desecration or vandalism of war memorials as a specific criminal offence. The Scottish Government notes in its submission that this petition is identical to our previously closed petition number 1830, which must have been towards the end of the last Parliament. Its position on this matter remains unchanged. The Scottish Government therefore refers to the previous submission for its full response and that spot submission advised vandalism is a crime regardless of the motivations for it and condemns all acts of malicious vandalism and graffiti. The submission notes that there is legislation currently in place to deal with the vandalism and desecration of statutes of memorials including war memorials and the Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce new legislation for this specific purpose. I think that the sentiments of the petition are well founded. We've seen a number of alarming and distressing incidents of war memorial desecration take place in Scotland in recent years. I think that measures and protocols are certainly worth while considering and reviewing in light of those incidents. It might well be appropriate to defer the petition for further submissions. It might be appropriate to consider perhaps looking at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, for example, to say what are their views about the protocols in place across the country for maintaining and ensuring that war memorials are appropriately kept in good order. If there are any improvements or opportunities for improvements that could be made, perhaps that could be considered short of legislation in light of what the Scottish Government's position is. It might also be something that a member might want to consider bringing forward as a member's bill, but I think that this statement perhaps is appropriate to at least defer the petition for further submissions. I concur with Mrs Winnie's comments on that. The anti-social behaviour that has been experienced in a number of locations across Scotland with vandalism and graffiti has been on the increase. I think that it would be good for us to continue to see and seek some more. I think that the idea of contacting the War Graves Commission and their policies and procedures would be useful because they continue to look after and maintain many of those across our towns, cities and villages. I think that it is vitally important that we acknowledge that they are a lasting memory and that they should be protected. They are protected, but it would be useful to, as I say, continue the process to find out further information going forward. We will hold the petition open and proceed on that basis. Petition number 1894, to permit a medical certificate of cause of death, an MCCD, to be independently reviewed. This petition has been brought forward by Mr Kenneth Robertson, who I should say is the MSP for Eastwood as a constituent of mine, who has previously corresponded with my office on this issue. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to change the Certification of Death Scotland Act 2011, to permit a medical certificate of cause of death, to be independently reviewed by a medical reviewer from the death certification review service, where the case has already been reviewed by the Procurator Fiscal, but not by a medical professional expert. That is quite a technical issue. The petitioner states that the 2011 act does not allow for an application for review of a medical certificate of cause of death by an interested party where the cause of death of the deceased person has been investigated by the Procurator Fiscal. He notes that anyone can refer a death to the Procurator Fiscal, however, there is no obligation to investigate. An investigation may also only involve asking the certifying doctor if they are willing to certify the cause of death to the best of their knowledge and belief. The petitioner believes that this creates a dangerous loophole that could be exploited to cover up substandard care. The Spice Briefing accompanying the petition notes that the 2011 act was designed to introduce a single system of independent effective scrutiny applicable to deaths that do not require Procurator Fiscal investigation. The death certification review service, the DCRS, was established in 2015, and this service checks the accuracy of approximately 12 per cent of all medical certificates of cause of death in Scotland and also carries out interested person reviews in cases where questions or concerns about the content of an MCCD remain after an individual has spoken to the certifying doctor, or if questions or concerns arise at a later stage. This is to check the accuracy of information contained in the MCCD. The Scottish Government notes in its submission that the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal service is responsible for the investigation of all sudden unexpected or unexplained deaths in Scotland, noting that, in many cases, the MCCD will be provided by a pathologist who is an independent doctor and specialist in causes of death. The Scottish Government also notes that, given the independence of the Procurator Fiscal service, it would not be appropriate for DCRS to review MCCDs in cases already investigated by the Procurator Fiscal's office and that it does not intend to amend the 2011 act to enable DCRS to review cases previously investigated by COPFS apologists for all those acronyms. In response to the petitioner's reiterations' belief, the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal service is unable to provide the same level of security scrutiny as the DCRS, the death certification review service, as the Procurator Fiscal is not medically qualified, stating that there are thousands of deaths every year in Scotland which are referred to the Procurator Fiscal but not investigated and, as such, none of these are eligible for medical review by the death certification review service. This is actually quite a technical targeted concern of which I think my constituent had personal experience, although it refers to hearing this petition in the general sense. Are there any comments from colleagues? Thank you, convener. I would like to keep the petition open just now and write to relevant stakeholders, which is the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to seek their views for what the petitioner is asking for. I am very happy that we would do that at any other views. As I said, it is really quite technical, but nonetheless an interesting issue. I think that we are useful just to get further evidence and perhaps to return the Scottish Government in the back of it. Are we agreed? Thank you all very much. Petition number 1895, the mandatory accountability for nature Scots decision making procedures, a petition lodged by Gary Wall. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make it mandatory for NatureScot to explain its conservation objectives in decision making within the framework of the Scottish Regulator Strategic Code of Practice and Scottish Government's guidance right first time. In its submission, the Scottish Government states that NatureScot, formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage—actually, I thought it was, so I am a bit behind the times there—for Scotland's statutory nature conservation body and adviser to the Scottish Government, NatureScot is classified as a non-departmental public body and is subject to NDPB accountability and governance frameworks. The submission explains that licensing decisions are delegated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the conservation natural habits and etc. The Scottish Government states that the legislation does not provide for an appeal procedure for licensing decisions. However, all decisions by NatureScot are subject to challenge through the public sector complaints handling system, which includes recourse to the Scottish public sector ombudsman, the SPSO. The submission concludes that NatureScot ensures that its decision making process complies with the Regulatory Reform Scotland Act of 2014, Scottish Regulatory Strategic Code of Practice and Scottish Government's guidance right first time through applications of transparent, proportionate and consistent processes. With that taken into consideration, the Scottish Government does not consider that additional accountability measures are required over and above those already in place for NatureScot. The petitioner suggests that the terminology used by the Scottish Government in its submission to describe NatureScot's processes is different to that used in the legislation and is therefore incorrect. He also suggests that NatureScot's practices are inconsistent with case law. The petitioner believes that it is currently impossible for a citizen to hold NatureScot to account, suggesting that, again, if it was made mandatory, that they have to explain their objective for decisions in the context of the aims of the legislation, especially for refusals, it would go some way to explain how they have applied proportionality. Colleagues, do we have any suggestions in relation to this petition? I mean, consider the evidence. Well, I'm happy to say—I mean, the petition has obviously responded to the Scottish Government's petition in quite a specific way, so I'm quite happy to write back to the Scottish Government to seek its views on the challenge that the petitioner has actually made. That's a reasonable thing to do. Any other suggestions? Okay, we'll do that in the first instance. Thank you. Petition number 1896. Provide every primary school child in Scotland with a reusable water bottle. This petition, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to replace the disposable water bottle provided with primary school lunches with a sustainable, reasonable, reusable metal bottle. The petitioner is aged seven years old and is called Callum Iceded. I believe that he may well be the youngest petitioner that there has been to the Scottish Parliament, so congratulations straight away on that very fact, first of all, Callum. He advises that each week, school children are given 250 millilitre disposable plastic water bottles to have with their lunches. He feels very strongly that this is the wrong thing to do. Callum has been campaigning to have reusable water bottles since early this year and his determinities campaign will succeed. He has solved the problem for his school and now wants to help the whole of Scotland. Callum points out that some schools do not have working facilities such as drinking taps. He and his eco group at school have asked for the broken taps in his school to be repaired. He doesn't understand why the Scottish Government can't provide funding to councils to provide reusable water bottles. Callum also mentions COP 26 and the fact that some children in Scotland can't access safe drinking water without damaging the oceans with single-use plastic. The Scottish Government's submission details the requirement that free drinking water must be ready available for all children and young people throughout the school day as per the provisions of the nutritional requirements for food and drink in schools Scotland regulations 2020. That sounds very misograd grind. However, the nutritional standards and the associated statutory guidance does not specify the way in which water should be provided. The Scottish Government states that this is a matter for individual education authorities to determine. The Covid-19 pandemic was cited as one reason why education authorities in schools may not wish to progress with providing reusable water bottles given concerns about communal water facilities. I'm delighted to say that we're joined this morning by our parliamentary colleague Sue Webber MSP, who is an interest in the petition and, in the first instance, Sue, I invite you to make any comments to the committee. Thank you very much, convener. You've mentioned a lot about Callum. He's certainly a determined and passionate young man already. He, with the support of his family, over the summer set out to walk the John Muir Way from Helensborough to Dunbar in various stages and it concluded in the October holidays where I met him. He's been very determined with his sponsor walk to complete that so that every class member in his school could get a reusable water bottle and he's succeeded. In addition, he's organised a raffle and a pajama day in order to beat his financial target and allow these clean canteen bottles for the 185 pupils in his school in Livingston. He's written to the First Minister regarding his concerns and he's managed to get this petition here. Even that in itself, he was absolutely delighted, but I'm really delighted to support the campaign because he is a very determined young man, as I said, and he's not finished yet and he's going to continue with his campaign whatever happens to reduce plastics in schools. Right now, he's at home bouncing off the walls—that's the words from his mum—because he's been invited to the green zone at COP on Friday. Given what's going on in the country this week, it's only right that we help support him with his ambition to have every child at primary school a reusable drinking water bottle. I'm sure that the whole committee congratulates Calum on that and I'm sure that he'll make a very effective presentation when he is there on Friday. I don't know when you say he's at home this week. He might be watching us just now in which case congratulations Calum. Any comments from colleagues? David Torrance, then I know Paul Sweeney wants to come in and Alexander Stewart. Thank you, convener. It's something that is very relevant with COP26 and our carbon footprint. And there's somebody who's been on the Petitions Committee—this is my first session—to see somebody at seven years of age petition us to try and achieve something across a whole. Scotland is incredible. I actually think that we should give Calum the opportunity to come before us and give us evidence, if somebody is taking so much time and so young to do that. I'd also like to write to all the key stakeholders, which is COSLA, Zero Waste Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Sustainable Scotland Network. Paul Sweeney. Yeah, I would concur. It would be great to have Calum come forward to the committee to give evidence. I think it's commendable that it's a young age. He's so passionate about this issue and it's also an incredibly practical measure. I was speaking with a colleague Ivan McKee, with children at the Thorn Tree Primary School yesterday in Glasgow, and the Equal Schools Committee was raising similar concerns about how they could practically take steps in their school to reduce their carbon footprint and improve environmental efficiency. It's touching at a very live issue that has huge issues shared by lots of young people across Scotland. I also think that Calum is a bit of a pioneer because it shows that the Petitions Committee should be accessible to everyone at a young age. If people are learning about politics in school and discussing issues at school, then the Petitions Committee is potentially a very useful way for young people to engage with our Parliament. I think that in more ways than one Calum has done a great service to us all today, and I'd be really happy to invite him to speak to us about what we can then consider doing to amplify his issue. I also commend and congratulate Calum on his endeavours for someone of a young age to have such a passion and to have created a huge opportunity here for his own school, but also to extend that we at this committee would be very much obliged to have him here to explain his and give him a platform to once again talk about his passion here. It's a very live issue. COP26, the whole idea of trying to encourage young people at primary school to be involved in that eco-committees has been a real success. Calum is going to be a real pioneer for the future, and I look forward to hearing from him and in the future when he has the opportunity to come here. Thank you. I don't know, Sue Webber, if you know the one thing I don't actually see anywhere, which school Calum is at? Yes, he's at Dedridge primary school in Livingstone. Right, well, they've got a very active campaigner on the ground in the school there. Calum, to Calum that we would absolutely love to have him come to the Scottish Parliament, that will be no challenge to him at all after having taken on the world in COP later this week. As well as inviting Calum to come to the Parliament to give evidence and support of his petition, we would invite some of the stakeholders as well to join us on that occasion and we can explore the issues raised in the petition in some detail. In the first instance, it's obviously right to all of them to get some idea of what their view is of the issues that have been raised. Are we all agreed on that? We are, right? Well, that's a thank you very much. The next petition is 1897, which is to reform certain of the procedures for the collection of council tax. This has been lodged by Richard Anderson and calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to reform those procedures for the collection of council tax, which apply when a person has difficulty in making payment. The SPICE briefing outlines the process of using summary warrants to enforce council tax debts. It explains that a summary warrant issues information to a judge who will then grant it without any further investigation of individual circumstances. As a result of a summary warrant, a 10 per cent surcharge is added to the debts listed. The Scottish Government's response states that its policy is to ensure households that are financially vulnerable do not have to meet a council tax liability that they are unable to afford and highlights the council tax reduction scheme. The submission states that around half a million households receive some level of council tax reduction and of those households 80 per cent receive a full reduction and are therefore not liable for council tax. The protected trust deed, the PTD protocol, commenced on 1 October 2021 and sets out non-statutory changes to the operational processes for protected trust deeds. The intention of the protocol is to improve transparency and clarity to better enable trust deeds to manage debtor and creditor expectations in a protected trust deed. Paul Sweeney I think that this is just another example, convener, of the real injustice that the council tax has for many people. One of the big problems with it, of course, is that it is a regressive tax. There are many debates that we can have about this. I am sure that it has been had in the Parliament over the last 20 years or so about the reform and replacement of the council tax, which still lingers on. I understand that there is also going to be a debate in Parliament in the main chamber tomorrow on the reform of social security in Scotland. That is a major aspect of how we deal with council tax, because the onus is on the individual to proactively seek a reduction. It simply is the case that often people are not aware of how to do that. There are huge lags in efficiency and how that adjustment is made. It can result in financial distress, which is compounded by that litigious approach by councils. We have to review how it is done. There could be reforms, particularly in light of the 2016 Scotland act, which has devolved social security powers. You can re-specify social security. You can design new interfaces without interacting with someone's claiming at any kind of benefit. There should be an automatic communication that would trigger a council tax reduction. I will be on the wit of man in the current infrastructure that we can design in Scotland to design those things that can happen. It is right for discussion, and it is very timely petition. I would be keen to look at ways in which we can gather more submissions from COSLA and Social Security Scotland about how we are designing a system to interact to improve the efficiency of the council tax, even though it is fundamentally flawed. At least we can do something to help to make it a bit better. Thank you, Mr Sweeney. How young you are is actually 31 years, not 20, and some of us have been debating it annually every year since it was introduced. Are there any other questions? I think that that is a bit reasonable to write in that manner. I do not believe that Paul mentioned that, since advice Scotland to, obviously. We should write to them because they will be regularly dealing with people in difficult circumstances and get their views on that. I am happy to include that, too. We are going to keep the petition open and seek information from the various bodies as suggested by Mr Sweeney and Mr Kidd. Are we all content? Petition number 1898, making entering someone's home without their permission or warrant a crime. This petition has been lodged by Julia Gow and calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make a crime for a stranger to enter your home without permission or a warrant. In its response, the Scottish Government sets out the current offences that relate to entering someone's home without their permission. The submission confirms that, whilst entering someone's home without their permission is not a crime in and of itself, housebreaking with intent to steal is an aggregated form of the common law offence of theft in Scots law. The essential elements of that are that a person, one, overcomes the security of the premises and two, does that with the intention of stealing. A number of other common law statutory offences may be used. Examples include the common law offence of malicious mischief, the statutory offence of vandalism and a provision in section 57 of the Civic Government Scotland Act 1982, which criminalises any person who is found in or on a building or premises without local authority to be there, where it may reasonably inferred that the person intended to commit theft there. Additionally, the spice briefing highlights section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Scotland Act 2010, as it sets out an offence of threatening or abusive behaviour that might cover some situations where a person enters someone's house without permission. In her submission, the petitioner questions the essential elements of the aggravated form of theft in Scots law, which states that a person must both overcome the security of the premises and do so with the intent of stealing. She asks the committee to consider how being subject to either element of the crime can leave a person feeling, in her words, safe and secure in their own home. The petitioner urges the committee to consider the mental trauma and loss of experiences as a result of having someone enter your home without permission. I invite colleagues to comment. It's very worthwhile that we've received this petition for me, purely on the basis that I actually thought it would be a crime already. You're learning something every day here. I very much think that we should write to the Crown Office of Procurator Fiscal Service and to Police Scotland, who have to deal with many of these circumstances to seek their views on the issues raised in the petition. Personally, I think that this is something that has woken an issue up that I didn't know about, and I think that most people probably don't know about. However, for those who suffer such an event without a proper way of redressing that, I think that it must be quite worrying and even terrifying in some instances. Indeed. I think that we might just ask Spice to do a little bit of work for us on just how the position here in Scotland compares to positions in other legislatures across the United Kingdom, just to see whether there is any variation or significant, because I know that there will be different laws in place, but whether there is any significant difference in the protection to homeowners. Are we agreed to proceed on that basis? We are agreed. Thank you. We'll keep the petition open and make further inquiries in the first instance, as suggested. Petition number 1899—it's our last one today—is to conduct a risk benefit analysis prior to providing those under 16 with a Covid-19 vaccination. This has been lodged by Mary Henderson and calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to a conduct an inquiry into the risks and benefits of providing Covid-19 vaccinations to those under 16 years old. The Scottish Government submission confirms that chief medical officers from the four UK nations recommend all healthy children aged 12 to 15 should be offered one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. In addition to the wider health issues, the UK chief medical officers took into consideration issues such as disruption to education, reduction in public health harm and mental health issues in reaching their decision. The submission explains that in deciding to offer vaccinations to children and young people aged 12 and over, chief medical officers have been informed by the independent expertise of leaders of the clinical and public health profession from across the UK. In her response, the petitioner highlights several international articles supporting her concerns regarding vaccinating children. The petitioner feels that natural immunity has not been fully investigated and the longer-term effects are unknown for all four Covid-19 vaccines. The petitioner is concerned that the move to vaccinate those under 16 years old is being driven politically rather than medically. I invite comments from colleagues on how we proceed with the petition. The vaccination programme is based on advice from the medical profession across the whole of the UK. I am happy to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders. The basis of the Scottish Government has stated that it is taking advice and guidance from several sources on their approach and is consistent across the UK. Does any other colleague wish to offer an alternative course of action? Are we therefore in support of the action recommended by David Torrance? I thank the petitioner very much, but we will close the petition on the basis of the submissions that we have received from the Scottish Government. That concludes our meeting for today. We will next meet on 17 November. I formally close the meeting.


first of four big games and you look at this they're gonna be some big star names missing but number one through 25 on each roster it's crucial for them still the best rivalry in baseball and as you already said Bob the two best teams in baseball actually in 83 of the last 91 days the Yankees and the Red Sox have shared the two best records in baseball shows you how long these two teams have been at the top and if you're the Yankees as this rivalry is renewed you're looking at this four game series as an opportunity yes there's a lot of baseball up but when you go head-to-head with the team that you're chasing you have to take advantage of those opportunities that's why I think this series is more important for the Yankees than it is for the Red Sox and the Yankees feel comfortable having CeCe Sabathe on the mound since the start of 2017 he's 12 and 0 after Yankee losses they had an ugly loss yesterday they'd like to rebound in Boston and Bob I've got to slip in this Boston Globe headline I love the headline in their sports section today it's a clash reunion no doubt about it we're gonna talk more about that now as we get out to Fenway Park Meredith Morocco it's standing by with the clubhouse report brought to you by your tri-state four dealers big news in terms of a handful of pitchers today in the Yankees finally answered the question Meredith what to do about sunny gray Bob you really felt as though this was just a matter of time until it happened after yesterday's disastrous performance against the Orioles sunny gray last to just two and two-thirds innings allowed seven runs in the process and then to make matters worse for sunny gray Lance Lynn came in and proved that he was a capable option dominating for four and a third so the move was made today sunny gray is heading to the pen and Aaron Boone gave his insight on why now was the time I think it's the best thing for everyone involved right now you know obviously Lance Lynn has you know been starting all year has been a very consistent starter so you know him being in the fold obviously makes this possible and hopefully this is something for sunny that you know it can help jump start him a little bit and my you know one of my messages to sunny is so really important role on our team so you know and obviously we're in a very important part of the season so you know we really need to go him to go down there and get after it and hopefully provide us with quality length on those days when we need it but frustrating because obviously you know we certainly expected more and better and he did too and as I said the more frustrating is the fact that we thought he had turned the corner and until yesterday and so it is what it is and we just have to continue to make tough decisions some of them become more obvious by the performance because it is a performance oriented situation and so I guess it makes it that much more valuable that we were able to acquire Lance Lynn and you know we'll continue to look at what we have a triple A and lean on that when necessary sunny gray just hasn't pitched to his potential this season of 5 5 6 e r a in 103 plus innings while he has shown at times flashes of dominance he has just not been able to pitch with any type of consistency this year earlier today I sat down with sunny gray who reacted to the news of being sent to the pen I could maybe see it coming a little bit but at the end of the day I told Booney and he told me to stay positive you could you could be back in this rotation you know whenever you never know how things are gonna play out but it's a little disappointing but at the end of the day I know that in order to be starting pitcher and on this team in the middle of a pen race that they've got to perform and I I need to I need to do a better job on the field in order to stay in to stay in the role that I ultimately want to be in but at the end of the day I'm gonna go down there and try to learn a new a new role and and try to and try to succeed in it and and do whatever I can to help help this team and and ultimately help help help us win how do you go about riding the ship in the bullpen a place that you have not spent a lot of time in at all a lot of questions there's a lot of questions I've talked to I've talked to D Rob a lot I've talked to Greenie a lot already just just trying to come up with a routine trying to come up with a with with a mindset with a game plan and you know just just just everything like that but maybe simple simplify some things on the mound and you know you know see where it goes from here this year is far from over for you what would you like to accomplish this last two and a half months plus hopefully playoffs this season for me I just like to you know I would like to try to to stay in the moment stay continue to try to compete continue to every time I get out there to put my best foot forward and and ultimately do whatever I can to help these guys win whether it's on the field whether it's in the clubhouse whether it's you know whatever whatever needs to be done I'm gonna you know continue to try to you know you know continue try to get it done and and move forward from here setting great went on to say he does not believe that his time as a starting pitcher in this league has come to an end he is looking at this as a bump in the road he hopes that he comes back stronger because of it but for now as we know he will be in the pen also noteworthy Jay Hap has officially been placed on the disabled list with hand foot and mouth disease because of that the Yankees called up Louise Sessa from Triple A Scranton Wilkesbury Boone did say that half was feeling a little bit better today but the virus has not run its course they do not want him in the closet in the clubhouse until it does so Tyler Wade also optioned to triple A and Luke Voight has been recalled he is in the lineup DHing this evening I spoke to