Gordon Macdonald MSP has marked “the transformative impact of SNP policies” as new figures show 42,368,125 of bus journeys were made by under 22s in Edinburgh since the SNP Government introduced the policy three years ago.
Earlier this week it was revealed that over 200 million free bus journeys had been made by young people across Scotland. The scheme continues to help eradicate child poverty, tackle climate change and grow the economy by providing free access to education, employment and leisure.
Through the 2025-26 Budget, the Scottish Government will provide £409 million for concessionary bus travel, providing access to free bus travel for almost 2.3 million people.
Commenting, Gordon Macdonald MSP said: “Eradicating child poverty is the number one priority of this SNP Government, and by facilitating 42,368,125 journeys for under 22s across the city – , the highest recorded across all local authority areas – we are making progress towards this goal.
“With over 200 million journeys now made across Scotland, this SNP policy is saving young people and their families significant amounts of money while creating new opportunities.
“This policy has been one of the most instrumental in improving the lives of young people across Edinburgh, supporting our bus services, our community, and our climate.
“This is the SNP under John Swinney delivering on Scotland’s priorities and for the city’s young people.”
Journeys made for the Under 22’s Free Bus Scheme since its launch, broken down by local authority area (as at 1/3/25):
PENTLANDS MSP Gordon Macdonald has announced that he is to step down at the next Holyrood elections.
The SNP MSP told constituents:
‘It has been an honour and a privilege to represent the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency over the last fourteen years. The Boundary Commission has decided to retire the name of the constituency in May 2026; this will coincide with reaching my own retirement age which I believe is the right time for me to step down from the Scottish Parliament at the forthcoming election.
I have during my time in office tried to serve you diligently and I am deeply thankful for the trust and support you have extended to me over the years.
Since my election in 2011, I have strived to be a voice for our community, working on issues ranging from the need for local affordable housing to national policy that affects our daily lives.
Whether it was advocating for local retail businesses, pushing for better health services, or ensuring our education system serves every child, I have sought to represent the spirit and needs of Edinburgh Pentlands with integrity and passion.
I want to express my thanks to my office team and party activists, past and present, who have been tireless in their support, and to all the residents, community groups, and stakeholders I have had the pleasure of working with. Your engagement has been the cornerstone of my work here.
As I prepare to leave this role, I commit to using my remaining time to ensure a smooth transition and to continue addressing the issues that matter to us all.
I have worked tirelessly for 50 years to achieve independence and will continue to campaign for Scotland to join the family of nations. The members of my local branch have been informed of my decision.
Thank you, once again, for the privilege of serving as your MSP.
Gordon Macdonald MSP has highlighted the record funding going to City of Edinburgh Council after the Scottish Budget was passed at Holyrood this week, providing a £1 billion increase in funding to local authorities.
After the budget received cross-party support – despite Labour and Tory MSPs sitting on their hands – City of Edinburgh Council is set to receive an increase in funding worth £60 million.
This increases funding for local priorities, teachers, and additional support for learning and to tackle the climate emergency. It also facilitates pay increases agreed for teachers, social care workers, refuse collectors and more.
Gordon Macdonald MSP said: “This year’s Scottish Budget provides record funding for Edinburgh Council which will help deliver the services people rely on and ensure our communities get the investment they need.
“After over a decade of austerity and a Labour tax hike which is set to cost councils £100 million, our local authorities have been repeatedly betrayed by Westminster parties.
“Under the SNP, we are not only investing in our local councils, but we are mitigating the impact of Westminster decisions, to the tune of £144 million for the National Insurance hike alone.
“This SNP government is delivering for the city, and I am pleased parliament has backed this budget to ensure that continues.”
Gordon Macdonald SNP MSP has raised serious concerns regarding the upcoming closure of the Bank of Scotland branch in Wester Hailes, warning of the impact of this decision on members of the community who rely on these services.
Lloyds Banking Group have announced that they are closing their Wester Hailes branch on 27 May 2025. This branch provides a crucial service to local residents and its closure risks harming those in the local community who rely on face-to-face banking services.
Gordon Macdonald MSP is therefore seeking a meeting with Lloyds Banking Group to discuss the potential impacts of their decision and to obtain further details regarding support for those most affected.
Commenting, Gordon Macdonald said: “This news will be very worrying for those who rely on the Bank of Scotland branch services at the Westside Plaza Shopping Centre in Wester Hailes.
“I am deeply concerned about the potential impact of this closure on members of the community who rely on these services particularly with the Post Office Branch in Wester Hailes also under review which would leave local customers with no means of face to face banking services.
“I am urgently seeking a meeting with the Bank of Scotland to understand the impact of this decision on my constituents, and my office is on hand to support constituents if needed.”
The locations affected:
· Alexandria (Banking Hub and Enhanced Deposit service to be introduced)
· Annan (Banking Hub to be introduced)
· Barrhead
· Bishopbriggs (Banking Hub to be introduced)
· Edinburgh Corstorphine West (Enhanced Deposit service to be introduced)
· Edinburgh Wester Hailes
· Helensburgh (Banking Hub to be introduced)
· Kirkintilloch (Community Banker service to be introduced)
· Moffat (Community Banker service to be introduced)
· Peebles (Community Banker service to be introduced)
· Pitlochry (Community Banker service to be introduced)
· Sanquhar (Community Banker service to be introduced)
· Thornhill (Enhanced Deposit service and Community Banker service to be introduced)
SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald is encouraging all eligible people across Edinburgh to make sure that they get their winter flu jag to protect them against serious illness.
Scotland had the highest uptake of flu vaccines amongst people over 65 in the UK last winter, with research from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) showing that 79.8% of people over 65 in Scotland received their winter flu vaccine. This was a higher percentage than in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Flu is still circulating at high levels and PHS is urging those eligible to get their free winter vaccines as soon as possible.
Drop in clinics are available in most areas. Check the NHS Inform website for details.
Latest figures show that so far this winter 53.2% of eligible adults in NHS Lothian have received their flu and Covid-19 vaccines. People have until 31st March to receive their jags but are being encouraged to book an appointment as soon as possible to protect them against serious illness this winter.
Other eligible groups for the double dose flu and Covid-19 vaccination include pregnant women, people with certain health conditions and frontline health workers. Those entitled to the flu-only vaccination include primary and secondary school pupils, unpaid carers and the homeless.
Gordon Macdonald said: “Getting vaccinated gives you the best possible protection against flu viruses which are circulating this winter. The flu vaccine offers strong protection, while the Covid-19 booster reduces the severity of illness and boosts protection.
“The vaccines will reduce your risk of needing to go to hospital with serious illness and help to protect those around you from catching flu and getting ill.
“It is hugely encouraging that Scotland had the highest uptake of vaccines in the UK last winter and I encourage everyone across the city, who hasn’t already done so this winter, to check if they are eligible.
“Getting vaccinated is not only the best way to protect yourself and your family from serious illness this winter, but it will also help to reduce the pressure on the NHS over the busy winter period.”
People who are eligible for winter vaccinations should check Winter vaccines | NHS inform and their local health boards for available drop-in clinics.
Gordon Macdonald MSP has hit out at UK Labour government’s betrayal of WASPI women as figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) reveal 24,230 women across Edinburgh may have lost out on pension payments.
As a result of the DWP’s failure to inform them of changes to the state pension age, it is estimated that a total of 355,910 women across Scotland did not receive money they were entitled to.
Now, following their electoral victory in July last year, the UK Labour government have reneged on their promise to compensate these women. The SNP however continues to call for the WASPI Women to receive the compensation they deserve, doing so again in a Holyrood debate this week.
Commenting, Gordon Macdonald MSP said: “The Labour government’s betrayal of the WASPI Women is utterly shameful.
“As many as 24,230 across Edinburgh have lost out as a result of a UK government mistake, and many have tirelessly campaigned for decades to right this wrong.
“For the Labour Party – after mere months in power – to break their promise to compensate these women is wrong and an enormous breach of trust.
“The SNP will continue to campaign alongside the WASPI Women for the compensation they deserve. I urge the Labour government to see sense and u-turn on their decision.”
Gordon Macdonald MSP said the Scottish Budget an “enormous step forward” in achieving the Scottish Government’s mission of eradicating child poverty in Edinburgh as progress begins in ending Labour’s two-child cap.
The two-child cap was introduced by the Tories as part of their programme of austerity and has been subsequently adopted by Labour as one of their policies, despite their previous promises to scrap it.
Across Scotland the cap impacts 83,000 children and 26,000 households – that’s 1,600 families in Edinburgh alone. By ending it the SNP government will lift 15,000 children out of poverty.
Commenting, the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands said: “The two-child cap is an abhorrent policy that has harmed 1,600 households in Edinburgh.
“Yet it is another Tory policy which Labour has adopted as one of their own.
“With 83,000 children across Scotland impacted, it is right that this SNP Government has made the decision to end the cap once and for all – lifting 15,000 children out of poverty and making progress on the key mission of this government: to eradicate child poverty once and for all.
“It is disappointing that the Labour UK government has chosen to maintain the cap, and I would urge their colleagues in the Scottish Parliament to choose differently and back this budget; made for Scotland, by Scotland.”
It was a Scottish Budget where what was left unsaid was just as consequential as what Shona Robison mentioned in her 30-minute statement to the Scottish Parliament (writes the staff team at FRASER of ALLANDER INSTITUTE).
The Scottish Government will be hoping for many of the headlines to focus on the mitigation of the effect of the two-child limit from 2026-27. The Finance Secretary left this until last in the order to ensure maximum impact.
A very political announcement, then, given the timing of the election, and one that has no money attached to it (as far as we can tell) in the 2025-26 financial year – the year this Budget actually refers to. See more on this below.
There were also significant announcements on health spending, which is forecast to rise by 3.6% in real terms – significant growth, although as we have said frequently, how and where it is spent matters just as much as the envelope. There were also increases to the affordable housing supply programme, which was cut by a quarter last year but is now just only 2.5% below 2023-24 in real terms.
At this point, we must welcome the change in presentation of the Scottish Government’s plans, which are now compared with their best estimate of the position for the current financial year. This has helped us meaningfully scrutinise plans, although some wrinkles remain to be ironed out such as in-year transfers to local government, and which we hope will be baselined in future.
Two-child limit
The biggest surprise in the budget (although social media had got wind of it slightly ahead of time) was the promise to ‘mitigate, as far as possible, the impacts of the two-child limit from 2026.’
This was clearly a last-minute addition to the budget. The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) stated they received it too late to add to their figures, and too late for any analysis to be included in the budget document itself or the Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement. This lack of detail is troubling given the potential cost of funding this is likely to be in the region of £200m. There are far too many unknowns to say anything conclusive about impact, but there is no doubt that it would boost efforts towards the statutory child poverty targets (albeit not by nearly enough to meet them by just doing this alone).
How will the Scottish Government fund this? Well, they may be hoping that they won’t have to, and the UK Government will announce the abolition of the policy UK wide (which is widely expected to happen at some point) before the Scottish Government have to put their hands in their pocket.
Whilst early 2026 is their target date, this was heavily caveated in the statement as being dependent on the UK Government giving the Scottish Government the data to allow them to operationalise it. Given recent experience of rolling out the Scottish Child Payment, which took years, there are plenty of reasons why this may take longer than those target timescales set out. Yet in the meantime, the Scottish Government can take the moral high ground.
Relief for hospitality businesses
The Finance Secretary announced a 40% relief for small hospitality businesses that at first glance could appear very similar to the 40% relief offered by Rachel Reeves for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) businesses. However, it is a much more limited measure than the one offered in England – just for hospitality only, and only for those businesses who are “small” i.e. have a rateable value of less than £51,000.
To give a sense of scale, the SFC have estimated that this relief will cost £22m: far short of the Barnett funding generated by the measure in England of £147m.
ScotWind funding (partially) restored
Early in her statement, the Finance Secretary announced that some of the ScotWind funding that had been drawn down to fill gaps in spending in the statement in September has not been used for day-to-day spending, and instead will be retained for capital spending in 2025-26 – “for exactly the kind of long-term investment it should be spent on.”
ScotWind monies are revenues generated from the sale of offshore wind licences to energy companies. As they are one-off windfall payments from the exploitation of Scotland’s resources, they should really be used to invest in infrastructure to ensure that Scotland’s economy benefits on an ongoing basis from this sale. In particular, it should be focussed on capital spending that helps with the energy transition.
However, it is still the case that some of this fund has been used to plug gaps in day-to-day spending, even if some of the money has now been returned. The Scottish Government has used £160 million for resource funding in 2024-25. Now, in 2025-26, the Scottish Government plans to use ScotWind mostly to support £326 million of capital spending, with £10 million still used for resource.
This leaves a remaining balance of £219 million to support capital or resource spending in future years. Here’s hoping it is explicitly set aside for investment spending.
Lessons learned?
A surprising decision was to not account for the certain increase in employment costs due to the employer National Insurance Contributions that will come into effect on 1 April. As we mentioned in the last few days, we expect this will cost around £500m, and it will be an ongoing cost as the increase is permanent.
The Scottish Government doesn’t yet have confirmation as to how much they will receive from the Treasury in compensation, but any of the figures discussed in the media will be below that amount – perhaps around £300m. This means that the Scottish Government has a £200m shortfall in funding – perhaps more if it decides to compensate arms-length organisations providing public services.
What we have learned from the SFC’s documents, however, is that this shortfall remains unaccounted for in the Scottish Government’s budgeting. This is an extremely risky approach, and one which sets up a possible need for further emergency measures during the course of the next financial year – leaving us wondering whether any lessons have been learned from going into a new year without fully setting aside budget cover for what are known costs, as highlighted by the recent Audit Scotland report.
Beyond next year, there are some difficult news on the income tax forecast as well. The Scottish Government is looking at a £700m negative reconciliation in 2027-28, largely due to a much larger deduction to the block grant related to 2024-25 than that which was built into that year’s budget. This is still an early forecast, and much might change until then – reconciliations have changed significantly in the past. But if it comes to pass, it’ll be at a point when growth in funding for public services will be slowing– meaning that difficult decisions have been kicked into the future rather than planned for.
IMPROVING NHS, SCRAPPING TWO CHILD CAP AND DELIVERING UNIVERSAL WINTER SUPPORT
The SNP Government’s Budget will deliver progress for Scotland, by Scotland – after listening carefully to the people of Scotland and taking action on their concerns.
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands Gordon Macdonald highlighted key SNP policies which will be taken forward in the Budget which will benefit people in Edinburgh including:
· Record levels of NHS funding – throwing the weight of the government behind NHS improvement
· Reintroducing universal winter heating payments for pensioners after they were axed by the UK Labour Government
· Scrapping Labour’s Two Child Cap – lifting 15,000 children out of poverty
· Increased investment in housing, supporting the delivery of 8,000 homes
· Delivering a fair tax system – meaning the majority of people in Scotland pay less tax than in the rest of the UK
Commenting Gordon said: “I am delighted at the support John Swinney’s first Budget is offering for people in Edinburgh. It will deliver real progress on people’s priorities – and will offer hope, putting in place the investment for Scotland to in the future.
“The First Minister has listened to what people have told him on the NHS – that’s why he is investing record amounts and throwing the whole weight of the government behind improving the health service, making it easier for people in Edinburgh to see their GP, bringing down waiting times, and funding the replacement of the Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh.
“People across Edinburgh have been let down by the UK Labour Government. While the UK Government’s Budget treated Scotland as an afterthought – this is a Budget that puts the people of Scotland first.
“While they cut winter fuel payments, the SNP is introducing universal support, while they push kids in Edinburgh into poverty with the cruel two-child cap, the SNP will scrap it and give thousands of kids a better chance in life.
“All this is being achieved while delivering the fairest tax system in the UK – with the majority of people in Scotland paying less tax than south of the border.
“This SNP Government have and will continue to listen to people’s concerns and take strong, decisive action to deliver on their priorities.”
OVER 178 MILLION FREE BUS JOURNEYS MADE IN SCOTLAND IN 2023/24
ENGLAND’S ELDERLY WAIT AN ADDITIONAL SIX YEARS FOR FREE BUS PASS
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands Gordon Macdonald has welcomed figures showing 35,785,216 free bus journeys have been made in Edinburgh this year, thanks to the SNP protecting free bus passes for the over 60’s and those with disabilities, as well as introducing free bus travel for the under 22’s.
In Scotland, the SNP Government has consistently protected free bus passes for everyone over 60, and disabled people, while also extending the scheme to injured veterans. By contrast, in England, pensioners only receive their free bus pass upon reaching the state pension age of 66 – six years later than is the case in Scotland.
The free bus travel scheme for under 22s, introduced in 2022, is helping young people across Edinburgh access work, education, and further training, free of charge. No equivalent scheme exists anywhere else in the UK.
In Edinburgh 35,785,216 free bus journeys have been made under these schemes in 2023/24, contributing to the over 178 million free journeys recorded across Scotland this year.
Commenting, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands Gordon Macdonald, said:“The delivery of almost 36 million free bus journeys across Edinburgh this year is a fantastic achievement, that demonstrates the SNP Government’s commitment to improving mobility for our youngest, oldest, and most vulnerable citizens.
“These free bus passes are a lifeline for many, helping people access essential services, education, and employment.
“While the UK Labour Government is determined to strip pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payment – the SNP Government is supporting our pensioners by protecting the free bus pass from age 60 – unlike in England, where it’s issued at age 66.
“While the UK Labour Government is busy increasing tuition fees in England, we’re supporting our young people by introducing free bus passes to support them going to work, school, education or further training.
“The SNP is committed to continuing to support all of Scotland – and it’s important to celebrate the difference that SNP policies are making here in Edinburgh, with 35,785,216 of free bus journeys made this year under the free bus travel schemes – part of over 178 million free bus journeys made across Scotland this year.”
SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald has encouraged those across the city of Edinburgh who have not already applied for pension credit to do so by 22nd September to ensure they receive the Winter Fuel Payment this year.
Across the UK, 37% of those eligible do not claim pension credit, which is now a prerequisite for receiving the Winter Fuel Payment of £300 after the UK Labour government cut its universal provision as part of its austerity agenda.
16th – 22nd September 2024 is qualifying week for those who are eligible for the payment this year, however over 800,000 pensioners across Scotland are now set to lose out.
Commenting, Gordon Macdonald said: “The abhorrent decision by the Labour UK government to cut the Winter Fuel payment has put thousands of pensioners in an unimaginable situation.
“As a result, 67,555 across Edinburgh will miss out on the payment altogether whilst some who are eligible are also in danger of missing out.
“The SNP are clear; this is a cruel and inexplicable decision by the Labour government that leaves pensioners across the city worse off.
“If you have not already done so, please check your eligibility and apply for pension credit by the end of this week to ensure you don’t miss out on vital support this winter.”
