Dr Marsha Scott from Scottish Women's Aid says she would encourage everyone to be thinking about this as contact in the cases of domestic abuse and not just contact for all.

Dr Scott says there are cases where "children are being put in real danger" and "if we are going to do something about this problem we need to be clear what it is".

She says "we've been talking about this for 10 years" and Scottish Woman's Aid has had very little traction in the system.

Ian Maxwell from Families Need Fathers says after parents have been through the courts his organisation often advises them to go through contact centres.

Mr Maxwell says there are many where the courts are concerned about domestic abuse etc.

Ms Lamont asks if there are young people and families coming to Relationships Scotland when it is inappropriate for them to do so.

Stuart Valentine from Relationships Scotland says an independent decision is made as to whether any contact is safe to come through to a child contact centre.

He says on a regular basis Relationships Scotland do not take cases from the court as it is often inappropriate for them to do so.

Image source, Relationships Scotland

Here is the Relationships Scotland, external website.

Our key messages:

• Positive and healthy relationships are at the heart of a successful and vibrant Scotland.
• Families and relationships bring meaning and purpose to people’s lives and they now come in all shapes and sizes.
• Relationships are under greater pressure than ever before, with family breakdown costing the Scottish economy around £3 billion each year (Relationships Foundation – Cost of Family Breakdown Index 2013)
• Over 100,000 people across the country currently access information, family support, counselling and mediation from Relationships Scotland each year and many more could benefit from our services.

Read the full submission from Relationships Scotland here. , external

Image source, bbc

Ms Lamont asks about the nature of cases in which contact centres are involved.

Stuart Valentine from Relationships Scotland says his organisation run 46 contact centres in Scotland.

Mr Valentine says the cases that come are now far more complex, including drug and alcohol and domestic abuse.

He says social work is increasing unable to deal with this and is passing these issues over to organisations like Relationships Scotland.

He says 10% of the cases are for supervised contact with the child.

He says no child has ever been harmed in one of the contact centres./.

Committee convener Johann Lamont introduces the witnesses:

• Stuart Valentine from Relationships Scotland, external
• Ian Maxwell from Families Need Fathers, external
• Pauline McIntyre from the Children & Young People's Commissioner Scotland, external
• Dr Marsha Scott from Scottish Women's Aid, external
• Mhairi McGowan from ASSIST, external

PE1635, external calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish government to review the current system and operation of child contact centres and the procedure under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 so that the rights, safety and welfare of children are paramount in relation to child contact arrangements where domestic abuse is an issue, and to ensure that section 11 of the Act is consistently implemented across Scotland.

The Public Petitions Committee will begin by considering PE1635, external by Emma Macdonald on a Review of section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

MSPs will take evidence in a roundtable format from:

• Stuart Valentine from Relationships Scotland, external
• Ian Maxwell from Families Need Fathers, external
• Pauline McIntyre from the Children & Young People's Commissioner Scotland, external
• Dr Marsha Scott from Scottish Women's Aid, external
• Mhairi McGowan from ASSIST, external

Good morning and welcome to Holyrood Live.

The Public Petitions Committee takes evidence on a petition calling for the review of section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 from a number of third sector organisations.

After general questions, we’ll bring you extensive coverage of first minister’s questions.

Image source, PA/Scottish Parliament

Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott will then lead a member’s debate on the Island Games, calling for support for Scotland’s athletes..

There will then be a ministerial statement on the Provisional Outturn 2016-2017.

MSPs will then debate the Childhood Abuse Bill at stage 3.