MSP for the Highlands & Islands Emma Roddick has called on the UK Government to cooperate with the Scottish Government to ensure a Rural Visa pilot can be brought forward in Scotland.  The Rural Visa Pilot Scheme, outlined as a commitment in the Programme for Government, would allow rural communities to attract workers to the [...]

MSP for the Highlands and Islands Emma Roddick has urged the Scottish Government to invest money into making use of the building we already have. It comes after the Programme for Government was announced yesterday, which saw almost £600 million committed to affordable housing, including £40 million to bring existing homes into affordable use. Speaking on this, [...]

First stop on Tuesday's Summer Recess adventure schedule was Assynt Hydro Ltd. with the Assynt Crofter’s Trust and Councillor Marianne Hutchison. It was amazing hearing about how the project came together through one man - John MacKenzie’s - passion and belief in it, to it now providing a steady source of income for the Trust, [...]

Highland Stoneware is such a staple of Sutherland that it’s hard to imagine there was a time before it - but it’s now celebrating its 50th year. I got to spend part of the afternoon with its founder, David, who showed me pieces of the business’s past and present, and talked about how the team [...]

SNP MSP for the Highlands & Islands Emma Roddick called for councils to be given the power to place levies on cruise ships visiting island communities in Parliament earlier this term. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, was passed in the last Parliamentary session before recess, and will allow local authorities to apply a visitor tax on tourists [...]

I wrote to the Scottish Government recently to ask them to recommit to our rural & island communities and make clear an SNP Government will work for them. I am glad the First Minister recognises the importance of these communities, and the need to listen to them in order to support their needs. You can [...]

MSP for the Highlands & Islands Emma Roddick has urged the Scottish Government to allocate more funding for mobile abattoirs in the region. The Scottish Government allocated £180k last year from the Small Producers Pilot Fund, which aims to support microbusinesses in Scotland, to support two mobile abattoirs.   Emma urged the Scottish Government in [...]

SNP MSP Emma Roddick has asked the Scottish Parliament to remember the positive potential of the Highlands and Islands when considering how to address depopulation. In a debate led by the Tory colleague Tim Eagle, she asked the Government not to think of rural and island areas simply as places that need money to remain [...]

SNP MSP for the Highlands & Islands Emma Roddick has called for an expansion to the visitor levy to include motorhomes. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, that was passed last week [28th of May], will allow local authorities to apply a visitor tax on tourists to generate funds for communities so that facilities and roads can be upkept [...]

MSP for the Highlands and Islands Emma Roddick has claimed in Parliament that those who own multi-million-pound estates have a responsibility to ensure the wider community benefits from the land. The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is currently going through the Scottish Parliament having been introduced in March this year, aims to reform the law [...]