9th January 2023: A Week in Parliament

Happy New Year

I hope everyone lucky enough to have some time off, had an enjoyable and restful festive period. For many, it is a time of year when we catch up and spend time with our nearest and dearest. For others, it can be difficult to spend Christmas without loved ones who are no longer with us. Therefore, I feel it is important to make the most of what we have and cherish these memories while we can. Again, I am aware that not everyone had that luxury and many people worked throughout the festivities. Once again, I would like to convey my gratitude to everyone who did, especially public service workers who did their all to keep us safe over this period.

My staff returned to work last week (Thursday 5th) and the office is open to the public. If you have any issues you wish to raise with me do not hesitate to stop by and speak to a member of staff. Keep an eye out for my surgeries over the next few weeks.

Back to Hampden

This weekend we head back to Hampden for the first time since March 2012, when coincidently, we beat Celtic to win the League Cup. I am sure I speak for most Killie fans when I say it was up there with one of the best days following the club – given silverware doesn’t get dished out that often for us. I know our league form has been up and down but you have got to give it to McInnes for getting us back to a cup semi-final. These games don’t come regularly but there is no reason why a club of our size should not be playing in semis and finals every few years or so – 11 years has been far too long.

It is estimated we will take around 6,500 to the National Stadium on Saturday evening – I am sure this will filter through and give some of the local pubs and restaurants a good turn. There are still tickets available, so if you can afford to go, please do – it’s not to be missed. ‘Mon the Killie.

Affordable Housing

It is fantastic that Scotland is outperforming the rest of the UK by way of building affordable housing. Currently, we are building 13.9 homes per 10,000 population. Compared with 8.0 in Wales, 9.7 in England and 13.0 per 10,000 in Northern Ireland. Since 2007 Scotland has built 113,000 homes - 9,757 in the last financial year. Obviously affordable housing is required to allow people to access their own houses; to stop housing costs causing poverty and to help mitigate homelessness. However, as always, what Scotland does is limited by the lack of borrowing powers, and with Westminster not doing their bit, our budget does not increase with Barnett consequentials either. And thanks to Brexit, costs have increased making it even more difficult, and even more impressive what has been achieved.