On Monday I went to Paisley to join the charity Shelter at a campaign day to raise awareness for their homelessness campaign; ‘Far from fixed’. The campaign aims to ensure that a strong housing safety net exists to catch people if they do lose their home and that no one should ever have to rough sleep on Scotland’s streets. My Conservative colleagues and I were delighted to support this campaign in parliament and it was a fantastic opportunity to see the widespread public support for such a campaign on the streets.
I also attended a Q&A session at Maxwellton Primary School with a P6 class. The children asked very perceptive questions and I hope I was able to give them a better understanding of the role of an MSP and maybe even see a few of them in Holyrood in the future!
This week the Scottish Government also gave a statement on business rates. After much criticism from the Scottish Conservatives, and despite saying that the budget was maxed out, the Scottish Government have miraculously found £40million so certain sectors and the North East can have their business rate rises capped for a year at 12.5%. Locally however, over 2,000 businesses in North Lanarkshire will be hit by the rate rise.