It's good to talk

This afternoon I was involved in a video conference between Cllr Dick Walsh, the Leader of Argyll & Bute Council , and the Scottish Government's Deputy First Minister John Swinney about the local government financial settlement.

I had sought the meeting some time ago in order to allow the Council to explain their particular difficulties and to outline their plans for reform.

I am always impressed by John's willingness to listen and discuss and I was cautiously optimistic at the end of the afternoon that at last a process of change might be underway in Argyll & Bute . To succeed this needs to engage the Council in seeking ways to meet the challenges of connectivity, depopulation and service delivery which, in that mix, are unique to the area and to secure Scottish Government support for those tasks.

Time will tell but part of my job as the local MSP is to try and facilitate such vital progress - on top of everything else, which today included four hours of detailed discussion of the reform of agricultural tenancies at the Rural Affairs Committee.