Decisions of the Petitions Committee 13 October 2015

• Role of the Committee
• Working methods of the Committee: how it makes its decisions
• Previous decisions of the Petitions Committee

The Committee considered all petitions which had reached over 100,000 signatures and those over 10,000 which had received a government response on or by Friday 9 October.

Petitions which met these criteria after Friday 9 October, will be considered at its next meeting on Tuesday 20 October.

Petitions over 100,000

• Make an allowance for up to 2 weeks term time leave from school for holiday
  

The Committee decided to schedule a debate in Westminster Hall on the motion “That this House has considered an e-petition relating to term-time leave from school for holiday” on Monday 26 October at 4.30pm.

Steve Double MP will lead the debate.

Petitions over 10,000 with a government response

• Extend Harvey's Mandate To All Council Roads ensuring all animals are scanned

The Committee agreed to write to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Communities and Local Government Committees to draw their attention to the petition.

• Allow transgender people to self-define their legal gender

The Committee noted that, as a result of her petition, the petition creator had been invited to give oral evidence to the Woman and Equalities Committee, as part of its inquiry into transgender equality. The Committee agreed to await the outcome of the Woman and Equalities Committee inquiry, before deciding whether it would take any further action. 

• Remove the 1% public sector pay cap. Teachers, nurses etc deserve a pay rise too

The Committee noted that this issue had been debated as part of the Budget debates in March and July 2015.

The Committee agreed to write to the Treasury Committee to draw its attention to the petition.

• Abraxane MUST be put back on CDF list to improve survival of pancreatic cancer

The Committee noted that, in its response, the Government had stated that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was currently appraising Abraxane and its final guidance would be published soon.

The Committee noted that there were several other open petitions relating to drugs on the Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) list, including one relating to the CDF in general, which had reached 10,000 signatures and was awaiting a Government response: The Cancer drug fund (CDF) is not fit for purpose and needs to be replaced.

The Committee agreed to write to the Health Committee to draw its attention to the petition.

• Ban driven grouse shooting

The Committee agreed to write to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee to draw its attention to the petition.

• David Cameron to take serious diplomatic action against commercial whaling

The Committee agreed to write to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committees to draw their attention to the petition.

• DECC to urgently review the current approach to the solar feed in tariff

The Committee agreed to write to the Energy and Climate Change Committee to draw its attention to the petition.

• Disallow puppy farms in the UK in which beagles are bred for animal testing

The Committee agreed to write to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee to draw its attention to the petition.

• Hold a referendum on TTIP before we give away our sovereignty

The Committee noted that the House of Lords European Union Committee and the House of Commons Business Innovation and Skills; and European Scrutiny Committees had all recently done work related to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The Committee agreed to write to these Committees to draw their attention to this petition.

• Reconsider the new Dividend Tax for small businesses

The Committee noted that this issue had been debated as part of the Budget debate and would be considered as part of the Finance Bill.

The Committee agreed to write to the Treasury Committee to draw its attention to this petition.

• Ban schools from serving halal meat to children without parents' consent

The Committee noted that the Government response had stated the request of the petition was something that the UK Government was not responsible for, and that it was a matter for individual schools.

• Keep Universal Infant Free School Meals in schools in England

The Committee noted that this issue was likely to be debated as part of the spending review later this year.  The Committee agreed to ensure petitioners were informed of parliamentary activity on this subject.

The Committee agreed to write to the Treasury and Education Committees to draw their attention to this petition.

• Ban the Burkha on the grounds of security

The Committee agreed to write to the Home Affairs Committee to draw its attention to this petition.

•  Prohibit the building of mosques in the UK

The Committee noted the Government response.

• Don't kill our bees! Immediately halt the use of Neonicotinoids on crops
  

The Committee noted a similar petition on the 38 Degrees petition site which had over 575,000 signatures: “Keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides. Please don't allow any exemptions to the European ban on bee-killing pesticides (known as neonicotinoids). Our bees are too important.”

The Committee noted work in the last Parliament by the Environmental Audit, and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committees. The Committee agreed to write to both of these Committees to draw their attention to this petition.

Follow up on petitions considered previously

• Introduce a tax on sugary drinks in the UK to improve our children's health.

This petition was first considered at the Committee's meeting on Tuesday 15 September.

The Committee noted the response received from the Health Committee which said that its inquiry into the Government's policy priorities for its childhood obesity strategy would include the consideration of the case for a sugary drinks tax.

The Committee also noted that the petition creator, Jamie Oliver, had been invited to give oral evidence to the Health Committee on Monday 20 October.

The Committee agreed that it would await the final report of the Health Committee before deciding whether it would take further action on this petition. It agreed that this would include consulting with the Health Committee on the scheduling of a debate.

• Fund more research into brain tumours, the biggest cancer killer of under-40s

This petition was first considered at the Committee's meeting on Tuesday 15 September.

The Committee noted the response received from the Health Committee which said it had no current plans to look into the subject of the petition on funding for brain tumour research.

The Committee agreed to conduct a short inquiry into this issue.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select Committees

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