Questions

A number of questions in the chamber on Thursday – on Council Tax, the Quango culture and the national planning framework – but I suspect the biggest impact from business will be the raising of the legal age for tobacco purchases to 18. I have some doubts – particularly given the problems enforcing the current [...]

No excuse for illiteracy

Everyone it seems agrees that school leavers should have acquired basic skills – literacy, numeracy and the ability to deal with technology – but Scotland, like the rest of the UK has a relatively poor record in this regard. My contribution to the debate on the new Government’s skills strategy focussed on efforts in West [...]

The Crichton

The future of the Crichton campus in Dumfries has been a big issue for a while. Hopefully the announcement over the summer means that the future is secure. My contribution to the Parliamentary debate is here. The key point: there is much, much more potential for the campus.

Back…

Blogging has been light since Parliament resumed, so a few delayed posts follow…