There have been many reports recently regarding the failings in education, a fully devolved area for which the SNP Government has had full responsibility for eight years.

Since they came into power, the SNP has cut 140,000 college places. This affects women most, adding barriers to those seeking to up-skill part-time.

Meanwhile, entry to university of students from poorer backgrounds is proportionately lower than in England, despite English tuition fees. Perhaps this is due to Scotland having the lowest level of bursaries or grants of any EU country according to an OECD report. These grants have halved under the SNP over their eight years in power.

The number of pupils studying and passing a modern language in school has dropped significantly. Research by Dr James Scott, published in the Scottish Languages Review, revealed that in the first year of the new exams, the number of candidates studying Levels 3/4/5 German, French or Chinese fell by 37 per cent.

The number of candidates passing German, French or Chinese fell by more than 40 per cent and the number of Gaelic Learners by more than 20 per cent and the number passing these exams fell by more than a quarter.

With thousands of Scottish jobs linked to the UK’s EU membership, the ability to speak other languages is crucial for young Scots when competing for jobs across the world.

For months we, in the Scottish Labour Party, have been telling the Scottish Government that there is a problem with education and we have addressed this issue time and time again in First Minister’s Questions but they have not been listening. It is particularly worrying that official figures also show that literacy and numeracy is declining at all ages. The gap in attainment between the poor and the prosperous remains a wide chasm.

Looked after children, of whom there are currently 16,000, have an even worse level of attainment which has not improved in the eight years of SNP control.

Against this backdrop we are seeing overworked and exhausted teachers. Research from the EIS showed that the average teacher works 11 hours weekly more than what is contracted.

The Education Minister blames Tory austerity for the failure to close the attainment gap however the fact is that the SNP Government has cut spending on education more than the Tories in England. Health and Education spend has moved from parity with England in 2007 to being 4 per cent lower in Scotland by 2015 after eight years of SNP government.

In the meantime, Labour led Stirling Council have taken steps for there to be further engagement with and enforcement action against Network Rail and freight operators who use the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line. This action is in response to long-running concerns about disruption raised by local residents. The notice which will be served relates to the noise and vibration caused particularly by freight trains using it during night time hours.

It is with great disappointment and regret that I note that the Clackmannanshire Council did not take action to resolve this issue.

As always, if you have any concerns or an issue you feel I may be able to help you with, you can contact me at Richard.simpson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk or my team on 01786 446515.

To keep up to date on my Parliamentary work please visit my website: www.richardsimpson.info or find me on social media. I can be found on twitter at @rsimpsonmsp, or on facebook at richardsimpsonmsp