A busy first week of 2025 in Parliament this week. Budget scrutiny was well underway in the Finance and Public Administration Committee and Economy and Fair Work Committee looking closely at the detail of the Scottish Government’s 2025/26 Budget. The Deputy First Minister attended Economy Committee where I took the opportunity to ask her, among other things, about the impact of the budget on women’s employment particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors.
I spoke in the Finance Committee debate on the National Performance Framework – Review of National Outcomes, particularly raising the issue of the value of democracy and good data collection in delivering effective policies for people across Scotland.
On Thursday, I highlighted increasing business confidence in Scotland and asked the First Minister how the Scottish Government’s 2025/26 Budget will further increase this positive trend.
I sat on the BBC’s Politics Scotland panel and discussed a variety of topics, including Scottish Labour’s failure to engage with budget discussions. An episode of the Holyrood Sources podcast I participated in was also published this week. I also submitted a motion to the Parliament recognising good work in our community.
In 2024, my team and I handled 1,642 constituent cases and have opened a further 16 so far in 2025.
