Michelle Thomson for Falkirk East

My Week in 5

I began this week helping constituents with enquiries and appointments at my Grangemouth office. Please contact my team who will be happy to book a time should you too need my help. More details on this page as well as here - 🔗https://www.michellethomson.scot/contact

On Monday I also visited Calachem in Grangemouth and enjoyed learning about how the business has adapted in recent years and continues to innovate for future success.

Both my committees had full on schedules this week, with Finance & Public Administration having a critical role scrutinising the detail of the Scottish Budget. You can watch my contributions to both committees in earlier posts on my Facebook page here 🔗 https://www.facebook.com/MichelleThomsonSNP

I was delighted to attend an event sponsored by my colleague Ivan McKee MSP, showcasing the work of the Scottish Pantry Network. Local food pantries do excellent work in our communities and we are fortunate to have a variety across the constituency, many run by hardworking volunteers. You can find a full list of local providers here 🔗

Later today I will take part in a Glasgow University Union debate entitled “This House Believes that the UK Government Has Failed Our Generation”.Given the successive failures of a disastrous ineptitude of Tory Prime Ministers, I don’t think it will be too much of a challenge to demonstrate this!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. My constituency office in Newhouse Business Park, Grangemouth is open again and Parliament returns next week. Please phone ahead on 01324 357373 to check we are open before visiting.

Last year, my team and I took on a total of 1103 cases from constituents in Falkirk East. Covering a whole breadth of topics from education to health, business to devolved social security, it was a privilege to help so many constituents. Around June my annual report will be delivered through doors in Falkirk East and will detail everything I got up to from June 2023-May 2024, so keep your eyes peeled!

Since my office returned on Wednesday, we have already dealt with a number of enquiries, including the proposed relocation of the Grangemouth Post Office. You can view my previous post for details on the consultation. I have contacted Post Office Ltd for further information about the proposals, and I am also currently awaiting further correspondence from Royal Mail regarding the temporary closure of the sorting office.

When Parliamentary Business begins again next week, I will also be welcoming visitors to The Scottish Parliament. We are currently arranging for several schools to visit over the coming months and I look forward to offering out more dates to interested groups throughout the year. If you are part of a group who would be interested in visiting The Scottish Parliament including a tour, chat with me and tickets to a Chamber debate, please get in touch. Contact details for my office can be found on the 'Contact' page.

On Monday I was delighted to drop off a selection of toys kindly donated to my constituency office as part of the Salvation Army Big Toy appeal. Many thanks to everyone who donated to this great cause.

Met with Falkirk Council officers and their advisors to discuss the progress of the Grangemouth Flood Defence Scheme (GFDS)

Took part in the Scottish Government’s budget debate highlighting the crucial importance of certainty around funding for the GFDS not only to Falkirk East constituents but for our national as well as local economy.

Led the Scottish Parliament Choir during the Parliament’s annual Christmas Carol Service

Continued to assist constituents with a wide variety of casework, taking the annual total to over 1100 cases. My thanks to my excellent constituency team for all their hard work throughout the year.

On Monday I visited Westquarter Primary School & Barleystone Care Home and was delighted to hear about the intergenerational community work connecting them both.

In parliament it’s been a busy week on the education front, with an interesting discussion on the role of AI during ECYP committee. I also made a number of contributions in the chamber throughout the week, including in the debate on the performance of Scottish Education, which you can watch

Finance & Public Administration committee heard damning evidence from the OBR on the UK Tory Government’s financial mismanagement of the Economy and the impact on Scotland’s budgets. You can read more on this and watch my contribution to committee on this

After only a few weeks of rehearsals, on Thursday our Parliament choir were in fine voice for our debut performance and enjoyed a warm reception from colleagues.

The CPG on Music also had its AGM this week and I was delighted to be re-elected as convener. We were treated to some excellent musical performances from Alena Bulatetskaya & Moteh Parrott setting a festive tone for a productive meeting.

Along with submitting motions celebrating good news in the local community and processing multiple new enquiries, I have had a few exciting ventures this week.

I met with pupils from Larbert High School, Bo’ness Academy and St Mary’s Primary School in Bo’ness.

Larbert High School pupils have been working on the Future Asset project and we met at their reception in the Scottish Parliament. Visiting local schools and hearing from learners of all ages is always enjoyable and all the students kept me on my toes!

The African Space Delegation visited the Scottish Parliament earlier this week. I was delighted to join Angus Robertson and Beatrice Wishart to welcome them. Few people know Glasgow is the 2nd biggest producer of satellites after California and Scotland has 20% of all UK jobs via the space sector. Our roundtable discussion focussed on satellites and AI, and the financing at scale of satellite projects.

The Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage Conference was held in Edinburgh on Tuesday. As a keynote speaker I explored what the Scottish Government and local authorities are doing to address the need for greener energy.