AS THE new year gets under way, the Scottish Parliament enters a very busy period.

The Scottish Government’s budget, which looks set to make Scotland the highest taxed part of the United Kingdom, will be scrutinised and voted on.

As it stands, the Scottish Conservative Party cannot support this budget, which, despite a rise in the amount of money the Scottish Government has to spend, will slash East Lothian Council’s budget by almost £6 million.

For years, we have been told it’s Westminster’s fault that difficult decisions on local services are having to be made. The reality is that it is the SNP who have chosen to slash council budgets, even though the overall amount of money they have to spend is going up.

East Lothian Council are already having to cut local services after having their budget slashed by almost £6 million this year. A further cut will have real implications for our schools, roads and bin services – local frontline services which are valued by the community and should be prioritised.

The actions of the First Minister over the last few days show that her number one priority is continuing to agitate for a second independence referendum. The SNP have spent the last six months desperately trying to use the EU referendum result as a way to boost support for Scottish independence. They have failed to do that, but they continue to agitate for a second vote.

In 2014, the people of East Lothian, like the rest of Scotland made their voices clear. They want the SNP to focus on fixing our NHS, improving our police service, sorting out overcrowded trains and getting more 16-24-year-olds into work and training opportunities.

Over the past few weeks, I have received dozens of messages from local businesses raising concerns about the latest draft revaluations. At first glance, it looks as though we’ll see a revaluation increase of anywhere between 30-110 per cent. By spring, official notification of rates will reach your business and you must appeal or face a steep hike in business costs. All types of businesses will be affected, from small shops to large hotels. It might be that your business no longer qualifies for small business rate relief, even if your turnover has stayed static.

I have said it time and time again: the buck stops with the Scottish Government. It’s time they pulled their socks up and got on with the job.