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In the last financial quarter, the Scottish Welfare Fund made 1,570 crisis grant payments to people in West Lothian to help pay for essentials such as food, energy bills, and household necessities.   The latest figures show that the Scottish Welfare Fund has paid out a 27% increase of crisis grants in West Lothian compared to last year, and a total of 25,860 crisis grants to households in West Lothian since the fund was established in 2013.  After the Scottish Government increased the amount of funding available, the Scottish Welfare Fund awarded £5.2 million in crisis grants across Scotland between April and June 2020, which is an increase of 77% on the same period last year. Fiona commented, “This vital support stands in stark contrast to what is happening at Westminster, with Tory MPs…

SNP GOVERNMENT PROVIDING £10 MILLION FOR SCHOOL MEALS OVER HOLIDAYS More than 5447 children across West Lothian will benefit from extra funding to extend free school meals over the Christmas and Easter holidays. £10 million has been made available by the SNP Government so that councils can continue providing free school meals through the winter breaks with future funding confirmed to extend support over Easter. Last week, Tory MPs voted rejected a plan to extend free school meals into the school holidays, arguing that it was not the job of schools to “regularly provide food during the school holidays”. No Scottish Tory MP voted to support the plan, despite recent indications from Douglas Ross that he wishes to end the Tories’ opposition free school meals provision.  Fiona commented: “Many families…

Hyslop has welcomed the Scottish Government Independent Review into policing during the miners’ strike. The Independent Review of the 1984-85 miners’ strike aimed to provide an opportunity for those impacted by the strikes to share their views and have their experiences heard. The review demonstrates Scotland’s leadership and commitment to have those affected by the strikes to be heard. A range of significant evidence was reviewed by the panel, including academic reports, Government files and powerful testimonies from those who experienced the strikes first hand. The Scottish Government proudly announced today that, in principle, it accepts the recommendations outlined in the review to introduce legislation to collectively pardon the actions of miners in relation to the strike. Today’s statement marks the beginning of a new phase for the history of…

Hyslop has welcomed an announcement that the SNP Government will further extend its funding support for Scotland’s bus operators. Announced recently by Scotland’s Transport Secretary, the SNP Government will invest up to £52.6 million in maintaining Scotland’s bus services between November 2020 and January 2021. This latest announcement is in addition to the £109.7 million in funding that the SNP Government has been providing since June to support bus services. Bus travel typically accounts for just under three quarters of all public transport journeys. This funding is to cover the anticipated loss of fare-paying passenger revenue that operators will experience due to physical distancing and reduced carrying capacity during a period when more people would normally be travelling.  Fiona commented: ‘The pandemic has been a tough time for us all,…

Hyslop has encouraged projects in West Lothian to apply for a new £1 million fund, which has been launched by the SNP government to help promote town centres and online businesses and encourage people to spend locally. Grants of between £500 and £5000 will be given out as part of the Scotland Loves Local scheme, which aims to enable visitors and residents to safely shop, eat and relax within communities. The funding aims to support small scale improvements that will help motivate people to shop, eat and relax within their community whilst ensuring public health safety, and can be used for measures such as protective screens, physical distancing markers, hand sanitising equipment and PPE. Fiona commented: "The pandemic has shown the importance of supporting local businesses and produce, and this…

Hyslop has welcomed the announcement that new legislation which requires all homes in Scotland to have interlinked smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, will be delayed until February 2022. The Scottish Government recently confirmed that it will ask Parliament to approve a 12-month delay in the deadline to carry out this important safety work.  If the delay is approved, the new regulations, which extend the standard which currently applies to private rented property and new-builds to all homes in Scotland, will be moved back to February 2022.  The Scottish Government has already made over £15m of loan funding available for Social Landlords to procure and install the necessary alarms which should help ensure that social tenants are safe in their homes.  Furthermore, the Scottish Government has also provided additional funding of…

Hyslop has welcomed the news that two performing arts venues in West Lothian will receive emergency funding support from the SNP Government. Many industries have faced financial struggles due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Creative Arts sector is included in this, with many performing venues still having to remain closed. In her role as Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop has been working hard to ensure the Creative Arts sector has been supported and not left behind. The latest Scottish Government support will go a long way in ensuring local arts venues avoid unnecessary closure. West Lothian performing venues Howden Park Theatre and the Regal will benefit from this financial support, which totals £120,000 for West Lothian from the Performing Arts Venue Relief fund. Fiona commented: “It has been…

With companies in West Lothian voicing fears of redundancies with the furlough scheme ending next month, Local Constituency MSP, Fiona Hyslop, has said the Tory Government must urgently reverse its reckless decision to withdraw support for jobs and businesses. In her role as Cabinet Secretary for Economy in the Scottish Government, Fiona has consistently and directly called for the extension of the furlough scheme and believes the replacement Jobs Support Scheme is ineffective and will not go far enough to save jobs.  Bakery chain Greggs, which has 25,000 workers across Scotland and the UK, is the latest company to indicate it may have to cut staff hours or jobs when the scheme ends. A local Greggs in Linlithgow Regent Shopping Centre is facing this unnecessary threat of closure. The company…