Meeting of the Parliament 19 November 2024
The Labour budget delivers extra funding for our public services, which the SNP has made clear that it opposes. Kevin Stewart’s claim about the SNP’s record will be no consolation to my constituents in Dumfries and Galloway, where there has been a record number of homelessness applications this year—more than 1,000, a quarter of which have involved families with children.
Between 2011 and 2020, there was a 60 per cent drop in new homes for sale in the south of Scotland compared with the previous decade. However, this year, the Scottish Government slashed housing investment by a fifth. That stifles growth and fuels depopulation by driving young people out of our rural and island communities.
Rural businesses face not just labour shortages but skills shortages. However, astonishingly, the Scottish Government has cut funding to colleges in real terms by 17 percent since 2021-22, which includes a reduction in the number of apprenticeships. My local college in Dumfries and Galloway has had a cut of 13 per cent in places while demand is at peak levels. The college now has a waiting list for apprenticeship places in construction. That is the economics of the madhouse.
We see the consequences of cuts across education, with rural schools being mothballed, learning support staff axed and teaching posts cut.