Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 23 March 2016
23 Mar 2016 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Support to Communities (Highlands and Islands)
Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights
Communities across the Highlands and Islands are on the front line of council cuts. In my home area, the Highland Council has made cuts of £30 million, with 341 staff facing redundancy. Is the minister aware that, in the Highlands, bereaved families face rocketing burial charges, with an increase of more than 50 per cent, bringing funeral poverty to the region’s most vulnerable people at a time of acute grief?
The council leader places responsibility for the cuts squarely at the door of the Scottish Government settlement. Does the minister agree?
In the same item of business
5. David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to communities in the Highlands and Islands. (S4O-05700)
The Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment (Marco Biagi)
SNP
The Scottish Government and its public sector partners continue to make significant investment in our communities, including the Highlands and Islands. For e...
David Stewart
Lab
Communities across the Highlands and Islands are on the front line of council cuts. In my home area, the Highland Council has made cuts of £30 million, with ...
Marco Biagi
SNP
Highland Council is receiving £439 million from the Scottish Government and as my colleague the cabinet secretary has already said, the overall reduction nat...