This week I met with the Wise Group at their exhibition stall in the Scottish Parliament. They use data and mapping to create targeted, impactful interventions that drive progress through a joined-up approach for the most vulnerable in our society. In Falkirk East, the Wise Group are currently engaged with Falkirk Council in providing support and advice on energy reduction as part of the project in the off-gas areas. You can find out more about the support they offer here: https://www.thewisegroup.co.uk/energy-advice/
The First Minister introduced his Programme for Government, with his statement on Tuesday and a debate on its impact for the future of Scotland taking place on Wednesday. Alongside general policies, my interest centred around a successful industrial strategy and delivering green jobs quickly through the ACORN project, which the UK Government are still stalling to provide a decision on. You can watch my question and the First Minister’s response here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ADmXMCH42/
I sponsored three individual roundtables this week: Passion4Fusion, Vodafone and SLAPPs. Passion4Fusion are a wonderful organisation helping to support black and multi-ethnic communities around Edinburgh, with discussions at the roundtable centred around the new report ‘They Took My Child Too’. The report highlights inequalities and racism in education and social work. The Vodafone roundtable centred around their merger with
Three and plans to enhance rural connectivity with 5G roll-out across Scotland. Finally, the Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) roundtable highlighted large companies threatening financial legal action against an individual who speaks out on their experience of perceived unlawful practices.
I ended this week by raising concerns at Portfolio Questions around Social Security Scotland’s capacity to take on further benefits. I also supported the Military Wives Choir, who gave a fantastic performance in Garden Lobby commemorating 80 years since VE Day. You can read about both of these in my previous posts.
