In her latest Post column, Clydebank's MSP Marie McNair shares her thoughts on asbestos, the new Scottish Parliament session and carer's support.


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The Scottish Parliament being in recess allowed me time to make even more visits across the constituency to the many volunteers, groups and organisations that do so much for Clydebank.

There is a strong community spirit in Clydebank and this will continue to be a motivation for me to ensure that local people know their voice is heard in Parliament.

Now back in session, I started where I left off by again raising the issue of the time bar to some routes to compensation for those exposed to asbestos.

The Scottish Law Commission is considering options for removing the time bar as part of its wider work on damages for personal injury.

It intends to produce a report and draft legislation by mid-2024 and I have made representations on this.

In Parliament, I asked the Justice Minister to act quickly on the Commission’s recommendations and she also agreed to meet the Clydebank Asbestos Group to hear testimony of how the time bar is impacting on members.

I am therefore hopeful that an end to this injustice is in sight.

The Parliament also debated the Scottish Government's Programme for Government for the new term.

It sets out how the Scottish Government will work with partners to tackle poverty, promote growth and strengthen the public services we all depend on.

It tackles poverty head-on and £405million will be invested in the Scottish Child Payment this year, helping over 300,000 children across the country.

A new ministerial group on child poverty will continue to accelerate child poverty reduction, helping achieve the aims of the Tackling Child Poverty plan.

Welfare and debt advice services will be supported, benefitting at least 40,000 people in need of clear, accessible guidance.

Over 1.2 million are set to benefit from £ 5.3 billion of social security spending this year.

The Carer Support Payment will replace Carer’s Allowance in Scotland and work will continue on a minimum income guarantee to improve support for unpaid carers.

Eligibility for Best Start Food payments will increase by around 20,000 people when income thresholds are removed in February.

Work will continue to keep 'the Promise', supporting care leavers into employment.

This Programme for Government has to deal with the consequences of damaging Westminster decisions.

In the last five years, the Scottish Government has spent more than £700million mitigating the impact of Westminster welfare cuts alone.

Astonishingly, Labour have u-turned on previous pledges to reverse these Tory policies.

We previously had New Labour but they are now behaving like the New Tories.

Instead of being tied to Westminster, the people of Scotland need to be making decisions about how Scotland is governed. That is the only way real change will be secured