Meeting of the Parliament 03 March 2026 [Draft]
I thank the cabinet secretary for her kind words and I thank members across the chamber for their speeches. I have my fingers crossed that I might be heading for an unusual record of getting two member’s bills agreed to at Holyrood within a fortnight, but we will see what happens next Thursday. At this point, I should also pay tribute to Andy Wightman, who had the foresight to introduce the bill in the previous parliamentary session.
We in the Scottish Greens undoubtedly have a deep-seated commitment to localism and the need to empower communities. Of course, we do not have a monopoly on localism. Alexander Stewart spoke well about his commitment to the bill, drawing on his experience over many years as a councillor and his commitment five years ago to getting the bill into law. Mark Griffin also spoke about the need for councils to be seen as partners, not administrators, which is an important point.
I was pleased that Alex Cole-Hamilton spoke about the quiet work of Jim Wallace in the Scottish Constitutional Convention. It was part of the blueprint of this Parliament that the European charter would be embedded into our working. That shows how long overdue the bill is and that it should form part of what we do in the Parliament.
I reflect on Jim Wallace’s view that we need to strike a “new balance” between the Parliament, local government and communities. There will always be a debate about the will of Government to achieve national objectives and the local accountability that is needed. I am sure that that debate will continue well into the next session of the Scottish Parliament.