This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year’s theme focusing on community feels incredibly relevant. It’s a chance to really think about the people around us – our friends, family, neighbours, colleagues – and how much those connections mean for our, and their, mental wellbeing. If you’ve faced mental health challenges, you are [...]

Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, reaffirmed her commitment to biodiversity on Wednesday, 9th of April, with a visit to Achpopuli Farm near Inverness. Achpopuli Farm hosts pasture-fed animals, produces high-quality food for the community, and provides educational opportunities for local groups and the nearby school. Of the visit, Ms Roddick said: “Achpopuli Farm [...]

Emma Roddick MSP yesterday visited the National Treatment Centre (NTC) in Inverness with Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. During their visit, which marked two years of operation for the centre, Ms Roddick and Mr Gray highlighted the incredible work achieved by centre staff in their commitment to serving patients across the [...]

Emma Roddick MSP has called for a strengthening of the Land Reform Bill, which passed the first stage in Parliament last week, calling for a lowering of the threshold of the size of land that is subject to provisions in the legislation, and greater transparency on landowners. The SNP MSP said: “The reaction to the [...]

Emma Roddick MSP has welcomed a “momentous milestone” reached in Scottish Child Payments following the news that over £1.7 billion has been paid out to recipients since the payment was launched in 2021. In Shetland, over £2.5 million has been paid out over the last four years, with 865 children benefitting as of December 2024. [...]

MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Emma Roddick, has welcomed figures which reveal that 3,705 students in the Highlands benefited from free university tuition in 2023/24. The figures, which are the most up-to-date on record, demonstrate the positive difference that the flagship SNP policy of free tuition is making in the Highlands. Under Labour, students [...]

SNP MSP Emma Roddick has highlighted the value of young rural voices following engagement with the Rural Youth Action Network during its residential in Inverness over the weekend. The Highlands and Islands representative joined young people from rural areas across Scotland for a health walk around the River Ness on Saturday morning, later taking part [...]

Emma Roddick MSP has called out the impact of changes to Employers' National Insurance contributions following a visit to L’Arche Highland, a community for people with learning disabilities in Inverness. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said on the 30th of October 2024 that the secondary Class 1 rate of employers' National Insurance Contributions (NICs) would [...]

Emma Roddick MSP has welcomed the news that over 800 people have subscribed to the official A9 Dualling website. The milestone, confirmed by the Scottish Government, highlights the strong public interest in the crucial infrastructure project, but the SNP MSP suspects more people would be interested in signing up. The website, a direct result of [...]

Emma Roddick MSP has called for the Scottish Government and anyone with an interest in Gaelic and Scots to redouble their efforts to preserve Scotland’s national languages, warning that depopulation in the Highlands and Islands puts them at risk. Ms Roddick sponsored an event in the Scottish Parliament organised by the Association for Scottish Literature, [...]