Do the Right Thing: children's rights progress report

8 Mosquito devices

What the Committee said:

"The Committee recommends that the State party reconsider the ASBO as well as other measures such as the mosquito device insofar as they may violate the rights of children to freedom of movement and peaceful assembly, the enjoyment of which is essential for the children's development and may only subject to very limited restrictions as enshrined in article 15 of the Convention."

Progress to date

• The Scottish Government has made clear that it does not support the use of mosquito devices.
• In early 2011 we approached a group of local authority antisocial behaviour practitioners to try and gauge the level of use of the device across Scotland. We asked if they were aware of the mosquito device; were aware of it being used in their local authority area; whether their authority had expressed a public view on it; and whether anyone had raised concerns about use of the device. Of 32 local authorities, 20 responded. All were aware of the mosquito device. Only six told us they were aware of the device being used in their area, and three of the six responses indicated it was historical. Only one of the respondents indicated that anyone had raised concerns with them.

Next steps

• The Public Petitions Committee is currently considering Petition 1367 which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ban the use of the mosquito and other similar devices. We will continue to engage in the Committee's consideration of the petition as appropriate.