The First Minister has set out the fresh case for Scotland to become an independent country and declared ‘It’s time’. New analysis was published showing the prize of independence is a wealthier, fairer Scotland.
A big thank you to S4 Modern Studies students from Cleveden Secondary (@ClevedenSec42) for taking the time for chatting about various issues today. A varied discussion. From parades to potholes and independence to community involvement. Interesting morning. Students are a credit to school and the local community.
Thank you to everyone Glasgow Kelvin College (GKCollege) for the tour around Springburn campus with Jamie Hepburn MSP (Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science) earlier today (Monday 13 June).
Lovely afternoon at the Glasgow Bangla Mela in Roystonhill today. Great celebration of culture, dance, music, food and fun. Well done to everyone associated with the Bangla Centre (@BanglaCentre85) who do fantastic work all year round.
I have been pushing for action to be taken on these buildings for some time, including their compulsory purchase if required. This would enable Maryhill Housing Association and Glasgow City Council to further progress their ambitious regeneration plans for the area.
The Scottish Government will deliver its landmark commitment to provide free bus travel for young people under 22 from the end of January 2022. Delivering this during the pandemic has been challenging, however this change means around 930,000 young people across Scotland will benefit from free bus travel.
A number of constituents have contacted me about the changes to smoke alarms. Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire alarms by February 2022. Interlinked means if one goes off, they all go off, so you will always hear an alarm wherever you are in your home. The new law has come about because of the Grenfell fire in London in 2017, and it applies to all Scottish homes.
Legislation to introduce Scotland’s new Adult Disability Payment, which replaces the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payments (PIP), was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 17th December. This benefit will open for new applications in pilot areas from 21 March 2022. The national rollout is scheduled for 29 August 2022.
The Scottish Child Payment will be doubled from April 2022 - in just four months time. This will see around 19,000 eligible children across Glasgow receiving £20 per week per child from spring next year. Across Scotland, more than 106,000 children will be benefitting from the increased payment.
Young people in Scotland under the age of 26 are now eligible for free NHS dental treatment, after the SNP Scottish Government fulfilled its election pledge to scrap dental charges.
Around 600,000 young Scots will now receive free dental care, with Health Secretary Humza Yousaf confirming that this is the first step in the SNP Scottish Government's plans to scrap dental charges for everyone in Scotland.
Thank you to Maryhill Burgh Halls for hosting our important meeting with constituents from Glasgow’s Afghan community on Monday 23 August. We were joined Ian Blackford MP and parliamentary colleagues from both Westminster and Holyrood.
Most importantly thank you to Afghan families for sharing their often harrowing stories.
Glasgow Life have stated they have no plans to reopen Maryhill Library. They have made the wrong decision.
Maryhill Library must reopen at its current location. Glasgow Life must urgently review their position and bring forward plans for re-opening our library as soon as possible.
This is an essential service for the people of Maryhill. Any talk of a new community hub cannot be used as a reason to keep Maryhill Library closed.