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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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2,354,908

Hansard contributions

1999–2026

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Official Report

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Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Good morning. The Accounts Commission recently reported on Glasgow City Council’s early retirement and redundancy payouts. I was staggered to find out from the report that there was no independent scrutiny of the early retirement and redundancy payouts from restructuring and t...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

In 2020, the United Kingdom Government passed the Coronavirus Act 2020, which gave the Scottish ministers the ability to create regulations to protect members of the public against the spread of coronavirus in Scotland. At the time, the act was necessary, as it allowed Governm...

Meghan Gallacher Con Chamber

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I will make some more progress, because I know that time is tight. In its current draft, the bill repeatedly seeks to draw the Lord President into administrative collaboration with Scottish ministers. The fact that that was drafted in the bill to begin with shows that, somewh...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Business Motion

The Cass review, which was published last week, raises serious concerns about gender-affirming care for children in Scotland. Not only does the report conclude that there is a lack of evidence to support the use of puberty-suppressing hormones, but it details how children an...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

I thank the witnesses for their contributions so far. The issue of best-value audits comes up time and again in relation to transformation, reform and assessing the progress that councils have made. When I was the chair of the audit and scrutiny panel at the council that I was...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am a serving councillor for North Lanarkshire Council. COSLA released a statement that heavily criticised the Government, as councils face a real-terms reduction in funding of £284 million this year. Is C...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Thank you, Gail. I think that Martin Booth wants to come in.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Thank you for that input, Martin. I have a quick follow-up question about the letter that council leaders wrote to the First Minister about the unacceptable cuts to local government funding. Has COSLA received any update from the Scottish Government regarding the meeting that...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

I have questions for both cabinet secretaries. My first is for Shona Robison. Councils are struggling to maintain vital services because of the levels of cuts that have been administered by the Scottish Government in recent years. Earlier, we heard examples of the cuts that c...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

I have a question for Kate Forbes. Council leaders have written to the First Minister to request a meeting to discuss the budget settlement. As we heard from Councillor Gail Macgregor, the First Minister has declined that request. If the Scottish Government is confident in its...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2022-23

That would be useful.

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Government Priorities for Scotland

The First Minister has made his statement today as scandal continues to engulf his party. The Scottish National Party is in total meltdown. Its former chief executive and current treasurer have been arrested amid a police investigation into the party’s finances and leaked foot...

Meghan Gallacher Con Chamber

Cost of Living and Child Poverty

That lack of data is not good for governance nor for measuring the success of a policy. The Government should not shy away from scrutiny. Having listened carefully to the debate, members across the chamber have reflected on the SNP’s record in tackling the cost of living and ...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Good morning, everyone. I am Meghan Gallacher MSP.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

I will have the pleasure of asking the minister John’s question about how we start in the classroom with understanding different cultures. Indeed, that is really important for us all to grasp, given that legislation that comes through the Scottish Parliament could impact on th...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

I have certainly had such concerns, so thank you for that answer. Points were made about tolerance and parental engagement—I think that we have got it.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Good morning. John is the author of my question. He says that the citizens panel has concerns that, even though diversity education in personal, social, health and economic classes has a lot of detail on issues such as sexuality, race and gender, there is little reflection on ...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

The phrase “culturally sensitive” is perhaps one of the most important aspects of this. We certainly want young people from all different backgrounds to feel included, not excluded. That narrative is certainly coming through. Is a review of PSHE teaching formats appropriate, s...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Thank you, minister. Convener, this might be for discussion in private but perhaps we could send a follow-up letter to the Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise to mirror what we have asked this morning. 11:15

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Scottish Ministerial Code (First Minister and Deputy First Minister)

Why is the Government not telling the truth? That is the big question that remains unanswered in the SNP’s secret Scotland. For weeks, Douglas Ross has forensically questioned the First Minister about what information key players in the Covid-19 pandemic handed over to the UK...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Every party in the chamber believes that we need to reform our legal services. Access to those services must be simplified but, for the bill to be good law, we need to ensure that all stakeholders are on board with the proposed changes. Rape Crisis Scotland has condemned the ...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Good morning. I will focus on the equality impacts on the back of the budget. The Scottish Government has chosen to cut council budgets year on year, which has undoubtedly had impacts on areas of the equality portfolio. Examples of that include the threats that we have heard ...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

To be absolutely clear, you have not been involved in discussions on issues such as education and skills and council tax with your ministerial colleagues.

Meghan Gallacher Con Chamber

Points of Order

Kevin Stewart has been chuntering away on this issue from a sedentary position. There should be an urgent ministerial statement so that the SNP can outline what the announcement means and so that MSPs can ask appropriate questions. However, with the SNP and the Scottish Green...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill

I echo the comments made by Gillian Mackay and the minister about the tone of the debate, and I thank everyone who has been involved in the bill at all its stages. As I have said in the chamber previously, this debate is not about abortion. Members will, rightly, have views o...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Thank you very much. I am not sure whether anyone else wants to come in.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Thank you. Would anyone else like to comment?

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

I do; it is just a short one. We have rightly spoken about the cultural assets of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee and their cultural significance and importance, but, of course, we have local culture and heritage right up and down our country. North Lanarkshire, which is an area...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Good morning, cabinet secretary. We have spoken a lot about Creative Scotland and the review. Given the controversies this year, the review is timely and will, I hope, lead to better working relationships between the publicly funded body and the Scottish Government. However, i...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

I understand where the cabinet secretary is coming from with respect to multiyear funding. Of course, it is not just Creative Scotland that is looking for a new way for the Scottish Government to allocate funding to those organisations. Historic Environment Scotland is another...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

I think that we are both in the same boat, convener. Good morning. My question relates to local government. We have spoken a lot about collaborative working and partnership between various levels of government. That will, of course, be really important in relation to what hap...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

This discussion has been helpful in relation to what is required for the pilot schemes, how they will work, how much they will cost and what additional pressures will be placed on local authority areas. This is a prime example of why such work should be undertaken before we lo...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Given that I have supported quite a lot of Willie Rennie’s amendments in this group, it would be remiss of me not to make a short contribution. I totally agree with the points that he has made. In our scrutiny of the bill, we must put in place the correct safeguards to ensure ...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

The stark increase in, specifically, the desecration of war memorials, which I have researched, is what led to the bill’s creation, which is why I have stuck with war memorials. Again, I am not saying that one issue is more important than another, but the level of desecration ...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

That is very helpful—thank you. I am not entirely sure whether anyone else—

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

That is great, convener. It was an open-ended question, because I know that best-value audits happen in all local authority areas; I just wanted to clarify that point. I want to raise with councils the issue of housing budgets. Again, housing is a topical issue, given that se...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Can councils access the affordable homes budget quickly, and at any point? Given that the budget was cut and then reinstated, there is a bit of worry and concern about whether the full budget can be used. Again, my point is, more than anything, about reassuring councils that t...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

That is helpful—thank you.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

That is helpful. You referenced whistleblowing. Are the whistleblowing procedures in councils robust enough, or should councils be mindful of them to ensure that people feel confident to raise such matters through the correct processes?

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Meghan Gallacher Con Chamber

Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Similar to my colleague Edward Mountain, I am concerned about amendments 60 and 61, in the name of the cabinet secretary. That concern is around the need for scrutiny, given the unpredictable nature of rent controls and what we have seen happen across the country in relation t...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Thank you very much, convener. Good morning, everyone. A war memorial is a centre point of many a community’s life. People gather round it on remembrance Sunday to pay their respects to and remember those who gave their lives in conflict so that our communities may enjoy peac...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

Thank you, convener, and good morning to our witnesses. I am very interested to hear the witnesses’ views on the ability of local authorities to increase council tax next year as they see fit. Certainly, in the 2025-26 budget for local government, we saw some stark increases; ...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

I have been listening with interest to the answers that have been given thus far, but I do not believe that it is fair to ask council tax payers to plug gaps in local authority budgets, especially at a time when the level of public services is decreasing. Council tax payers ar...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

I am sorry, but I had—

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

Thank you, convener. We have discussed lobbying the Scottish and UK Governments. Given that council tax revenue makes up roughly 15 to 20 per cent of councils’ overall budgets, do our witnesses believe that this year’s budget could result in another reduction in services? Is i...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

My question is not for this panel—apologies.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

Thank you, convener. Good morning, cabinet secretary and officials. I am interested to hear the cabinet secretary’s view on local authorities being able to increase council tax next year as they see fit. Last year, in the 2025-26 financial year, we saw Falkirk Council increas...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer, but I hope that she also understands the huge pressure on core budgets. There are areas in which there has been no ring fencing and there are services that have not been protected effectively by the ring fencing of Scottish Governm...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

Finally, on statutory services, there is a growing concern that funding for areas that are not directly protected in one way or another will go back to statutory services in local authority areas. You have seen that. You have seen tensions between communities and local governm...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

When it comes to council tax reform, I am interested to hear whether the cabinet secretary believes that, as a point of principle, households on council tax bands E and upwards should pay more in council tax.

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

I hear the point that the cabinet secretary is making, but it is important to say that, if points of principle are not set out and the Government does not clearly set out its intentions—bearing in mind that it has taken nearly two decades for the Scottish Government to get to ...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny

Finally, you have used the term “significant increase”? Could you give us an indication of what “significant” means in that context? “Significant” could mean different things to different people, so it would be helpful to get clarity on that.

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Business Motions

Yesterday’s responses to my urgent question on grooming gangs were nothing short of a farce. Once again, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs passed responsibility on to a junior minister to answer questions on her behalf while she sat in the chamber avoiding any...

Meghan Gallacher Con Chamber

Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill

I genuinely believe that Ben Macpherson’s constituents will be wondering why his SNP Government has refused to spend a penny of the £100 million that was meant to be used for cladding remediation. Ben Macpherson should reflect on that.Willie Rennie spoke about the intense pres...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber

Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I begin by thanking everyone who supported the development of my member’s bill, particularly the staff of the non-Government bills unit for their exceptional assistance throughout the process and, of course, my wonderful office team. I also recognise and pay tribute to the mem...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

That is helpful. Has the Scottish Government conducted any research or done further work with the hospitality sector, because we know that, roughly, an additional 20,000 hospitality jobs have gone since September 2025 and 9,000 since the last UK budget. The revaluation seems t...

Meghan Gallacher Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

The Scottish Retail Consortium has told the committee that the 15 per cent rates relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector that you mentioned is an encouraging start but, of course, it is less generous at every level than in England. What is the Scottish Government...

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Committee

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee 16 September 2025

16 Sep 2025 · S6 · Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Item of business

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Gallacher, Meghan Con Central Scotland Watch on SPTV

Good morning. The Accounts Commission recently reported on Glasgow City Council’s early retirement and redundancy payouts. I was staggered to find out from the report that there was no independent scrutiny of the early retirement and redundancy payouts from restructuring and that the financial terms for the departures of five officials cost more than £1 million. Given that those payouts have come as the council is grappling, as are many others, with on-going budget cuts, that is embarrassing for the council—in particular for councillors, who are having to face up to the scenarios that can occur. However, there is also anger from communities, who see that the cuts always trickle down into communities while, on the other hand, there are big payouts for council officials.

Collectively, how can we look at that better? How can councillors be involved in the processes so that they are always sighted on them, whether in their audit or scrutiny committees or through any other mechanism that could be available to them to prevent such scenarios as I have described from happening in future?

In the same item of business

The Convener Green

Our next agenda item is evidence taking as part of our scrutiny of the Scottish budget 2026-27. We are joined by Andrew Burns, who is deputy chair of the Acc...

Andrew Burns (Accounts Commission)

Good morning. I thank the committee for inviting us to submit evidence and to expand on that evidence today. The Accounts Commission and Audit Scotland very ...

Blyth Deans (Audit Scotland)

First and foremost, on how we approach that work, there is recognition that one size does not fit all for councils and that any transformative activity needs...

The Convener Green

The commission has listed 11 barriers to transformation. It acknowledges that some of those are external—not within councils’ control—whereas others are inte...

Andrew Burns

The general query that you have put to me falls under the fourth principle that I mentioned, which is collaboration. I will set out what I think are the most...

The Convener Green

That is helpful, and the call for multiyear funding is relevant to the topic of the Scottish Government budget. I imagine that, if more people understood tha...

Evelyn Tweed (Stirling) (SNP) SNP

Good morning, gentlemen. We do not normally have an all-male panel; it is quite unusual. Andrew Burns, you talked about collaboration and whom local authori...

Andrew Burns

We noticed that the panel is all male. When I appear before the Public Audit Committee tomorrow, it will be as part of a 50:50-split panel. Your question t...

Blyth Deans

It might be helpful for me to touch on the evidence around shared services as part of the collaboration that is going on. Through our programme of best value...

Evelyn Tweed SNP

Do you feel that highlighting examples of good practice can help local authorities that are struggling with some of those issues to bring themselves up?

Blyth Deans

Absolutely. One of the aspects of the wider approach to transformation is the peer collaborative improvement project, which is being led by the Improvement S...

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP) SNP

Good morning. I want to ask about the community dimension of the transformation of local government services. Andrew Burns, you mentioned the five themes of ...

Andrew Burns

That is another good point. Communication with communities underlies almost all those areas, particularly collaboration and innovation. The transformation...

Derek Yule (Accounts Commission)

Thank you, Andrew. I will add some comments that are more on the negative side. To stress the points that Andrew made, in recent years, we have seen evidence...

Willie Coffey SNP

Have we seen enough of that early engagement across the board? For example, the committee has seen great work in North Ayrshire on community wealth building,...

Andrew Burns

I am afraid that the honest answer to that question has to be no. We have also seen the North Ayrshire example that you made reference to, which is very effe...

Willie Coffey SNP

Is there a wee bit of work to be done in illustrating to some authorities what transformation looks like and what it means? Is there an issue there? Is that ...

Andrew Burns

That is a fair point. Colleagues might want to come in on that, but the answer is yes—there is a barrier. That was partly picked up in some of the debate tha...

Blyth Deans

It might be helpful for the committee to be aware that we set out some principles of transformation in the “Transformation in councils” report in order to pr...

Willie Coffey SNP

Okay, great. My other question is an interesting one. It comes from what the chief executive of Clackmannanshire Council, Nikki Bridle, said last week. I had...

Blyth Deans

You will be surprised to hear that I listened to Nikki Bridle’s evidence—Laughter.—so I was expecting that question. I recognise and acknowledge the point th...

Willie Coffey SNP

Do the councils always agree with your recommendations?

Blyth Deans

Derek Yule might want to come in on that.

I was going to come in before Willie Coffey asked that supplementary question—you have caught me on the hop. The short answer is no, which is quite understan...

Blyth Deans

I feel like this might be my right of reply as an auditor. I will build on what Andrew Burns and Derek Yule have said. As auditors—certainly within Audit Sc...

Willie Coffey SNP

All councils have an internal audit function throughout each council. For many years, when I was on the Public Audit Committee, we focused on the duties and ...

Andrew Burns

I may well bring in officer colleagues to help me with that. This is tempting fate, but I would point to what has happened to some of the local authorities i...

The other point that I would make is that internal audit and external audit should—and do—work closely together, in order to avoid duplication. From my prev...

The Convener Green

Thanks for asking that question, Mr Coffey—it is important to be clear that there is no duplication. I note that Andrew Burns said that local authorities do...

Andrew Burns

That is a valid point. I am not sure whether you are aware, but I was convener of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations for six years, so I am fam...