It has been a busy and enjoyable first year in the Scottish Parliamentary since the election in May 2007. Each week is different! Most weeks I will attend committee meetings, take part in debates as well as meeting with representatives of a wide range of organisations and constituents. Usually I work in the Scottish Parliament from Tuesday to Thursday and in the constituency for the rest of the time.
I am involved in many local campaigning issues including
• retaining and expanding services at Queen Margaret Hospital,
• seeking to establish a Shopmobility service in Dunfermline,
• fighting Post Office closures
• pressing the Government for more jobs at Rosyth including a container terminal
• lobbying for a change in planning designation to allow a new settlement at the former Comrie Colliery that would attract private investment to clear-up Fife’s biggest blight on the landscape
Over the last year I have received many visits from constituents at my surgeries covering a variety of issues ranging from housing to health. If you would like to speak to me at one of the surgeries, please come along on any of the dates advertised, no appointment is necessary. Otherwise I can be contacted either at the Lib Dem constituency office I share with Willie Rennie MP (01383 841700) or the parliamentary office (0131 348 6338). The surgery dates are advised throughout the constituency, in the constituency office, in the local press once a month or check the link above.
I conduct regular surgeries across the constituency in a wide range of meeting places ranging from supermarkets to community centres. In December last year, we decided to run an advice surgery on Dunfermline High Street. This has proved a great success and we now run this once a month – mostly on the last Saturday of the month.
I am now the Convenor of the new Cross Party Group on Coeliac Disease and DH in the Scottish Parliament working to raise awareness of the condition which is thought to affect 1 in 100 people. Cross Party Groups are composed of MSPs of all parties as well as interested people from different organisations.
I will continue to work hard on behalf of my constituents in the coming months and years. If you have any queries or problems which you think I can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact me.
With kindest regards,
