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.