Decisions of the Petitions Committee Tuesday 7 June 2016

• Role of the Committee
• Working methods of the Committee
• Previous decisions of the Committee
• Petitions Committee

The Committee considered all e-petitions which had reached over 100,000 signatures, and those over 10,000 signatures which had received a government response, by Friday 3 June 2016.

Petitions which met these criteria after this date will be considered at the Committee's next meeting on Tuesday 14 June 2016.  

Petitions with over 100,000 signatures

• Make it illegal for a company to require women to wear high heels at work

The Committee had already agreed to take evidence on this petition. More details of this will be announced in due course.

• Stop retrospective changes to the student loans agreement

The Committee agreed to write to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to ask for the Government's response to this petition. The Committee will consider this petition again once it has received the Government's response.

Petitions with over 10,000 signatures which received a government response

• Develop accurate NHS tests and effective treatment protocols for Lyme disease

The Committee noted the Government's response.

The Committee also agreed to write to the Secretary of State for Health to ask him to let the Committee know when his department publishes its three reviews on Lyme disease next year.

• Ensure the Education Secretary is a qualified teacher with many years experience

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• Change the Army pension back to 55 from 60 years of age

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• Don't close Poole Hospital's A&E or Bournemouth Hospital's A&E!

The Committee noted the Government's response.

The Committee also agreed to contact local MPs to draw their attention to the petition.

• Install CCTV cameras in all care homes to protect the vulnerable people

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• David Cameron is precluded from negotiations with the EU in the event of Brexit

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• House of Commons to have Free Vote on Imposition of Junior Doctors Contract

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• Abolish Inheritance Tax. It is wrong to tax assets that have already been taxed

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• Reinstate RPI index linking to Military pensions from the current CPI index link

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• To examine the DWP, ATOS & Maximus's culpability for deaths of benefit claimants

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• Create a new offence of "animal murder" with a minimum of 5 years on conviction

The Committee noted the Government's response.

• Stop the Government from cutting funding for Routes into Languages

The Committee noted the Government's response.

The Committee also agreed to write to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to ask for an update when the review on this issue concludes in July 2016.

Other petitions

• Make Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) immediately available on the NHS

The Committee noted the Government's response.

The Committee also agreed to draw the attention of petitioners to the Urgent Question on this subject that was asked in the House of Commons on 7 June 2016.

Public (paper) petitions with government responses

The following public (paper) petitions received a written response from the Government.

• Community pharmacies (presented by Nic Dakin MP)
• Community pharmacies (presented by Tom Brake MP)

The Committee noted the Government's response to these petitions and that an adjournment debate on this issue had been held in the Chamber of the House of Commons on 24 May 2016, initiated by Michael Dugher MP.

The Committee noted the Government's response to the petition.

• Wellington Railway Station (presented by Rebecca Pow MP)

The Committee noted the Government's response to the petition.

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