Good morning – here are the top 10 stories in Scotland this morning:
Finance Secretary to set out Scottish budget (STV News)
Nursing chiefs in cuts plea ahead of Budget (Herald)
Councils’ fury over John Swinney’s £220m demand (Scotsman)
SNP ‘playing cat-and-mouse game over independence’ (Scotsman)
Threats could lead to five years in jail under new sectarianism laws, MSPs are told (Daily Record)
First Minister demands ‘fuel summit’ after price increases (STV News)
Teachers slate report into work conditions (Scotsman)
Warning over ‘shameful’ PFI leases lasting generations (BBC Scotland)
Police ‘do not have expertise’ to know how the internet works (Herald)
Trams bill four times that of similar projects in UK (Herald)
Scottish Parliament highlights:
- The Local Government and Regeneration Committee will hold a roundtable evidence gathering session, with witnesses from across the regeneration sector – see the Business Bulletin below for a full list of participants
- The Finance Committee will take evidence from Auditor General Robert Black on Audit Scotland’s report Scotland’s public finances: addressing the challenges’
- Finance Secretary John Swinney will today set out the Scottish Government’s Strategic spending review, with a statement just after 2pm, followed by debate
For a full breakdown of today’s parliamentary business, check out today’s official Business Bulletin
Paris Gourtsoyannis
Paris joined Holyrood in September 2011, and became education correspondent in May 2012. Born in Canada into a Greek family, and raised in Belgium, he came to Scotland in 2005 to study at the University of Edinburgh, where he was involved with award-winning student publication The Journal. Before working at Holyrood, Paris contributed to the Edinburgh Evening News, the Guardian and Guardian Local, and interned at think-tank Demos. His beat takes in all areas of Scotland's education and skills sector, including early years, adult learning, and employability...