Meeting of the Parliament 18 March 2026 [Draft]
As others have done, I wish Shona Robison well as she departs the Parliament. It has been a real pleasure to serve in the Parliament with her over the past 27 years—I hope that that does not make her feel old—and she leaves with my very best wishes for the future.
Local authorities have an important role to play in supporting the Government’s national work to tackle child poverty. Falkirk Council recently expanded its family inclusion teams to support its tackling child poverty strategy. That has been enabled because of the flexibilities and undirected funding that this year’s budget has provided. What discussions are taking place with local government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to consider how the flexibilities provided to local authorities through their budgets can support them in tackling issues such as child poverty?