We are reaching out to all candidates in our constituency ahead of the Scottish Parliament election on Thursday 7 May. We are sharing our Manifesto for Larkhall and asking the candidates to support our town with the challenges and opportunities ahead of us.

Alex Kerr is the SNP candidate.

Click here to watch videos with the candidates who have met with us so far. 

Will you support communities when large organisations such as banks make decisions that impact communities?

I’m not sure there’s much in terms of the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament to deal with it, but as a local MSP, that’s something I’d be more than happy to campaign on and focus on. I think as a candidate one of the things I’ll be doing is writing away to other banks just to say you know the need for a bank here is extremely great and if you were to come and site yourself in Larkhall there’s no doubt to me that the community would really welcome that and they’d probably get a whole bunch of new customers at the bank as a result. 

I think just keeping that pressure up on Link to bring a banking hub service into the town that I think there’s a space for. I think the platform of an MSP and the resource you get as an MSP to try and boost the message that’s coming from the community and try and use what we’ve got and the position you’ve got to get the voice of the community out there. 

Will you help to improve our parks and open spaces?

Absolutely. Tying into that expertise is always the trickiest part, finding who you need to get to do it But I think we’re blessed here with the area around Larkhall in particular, a lot of green space, it’s very beautiful, and the rest of the Clyde Valley is just absolutely stunning, it’s unbelievable. So I think anything we can do to try and draw more people to it as well and make it more beneficial for the folk who live in their local communities I think is absolutely brilliant 

There’s stuff coming up soon around the Climate Action Week and there’ll be things like we’ve kind of walked across the, you know, the bridge between sort of Hamilton and Clydesdale So I think that’ll be very, very positive and anything we can do to promote that and any funding we can bring in is something I’ll advocate for as well. 

What will you do to help facilitate partnership working between sectors and organisations?

Both the SNP and myself, we’re big believers in that sort of public-private sector partnership in terms of delivering. The government’s got a key role to play in terms of, and hopefully we’re returning to the government, of facilitating this kind of input and providing funding that can then leverage in private sector funding, which is a huge benefit in terms of delivering stuff at a local level with community groups too. 

So I think there’s a huge part to play in that and one of the things I’d be keen to do as an MSP is to use the kind of resource you get as an MSP, the platform, and the kind of staffing resource as well, and direct that in a way that Christina McKelvie did when she was an MSP to provide support to local organisations to try and build those links between businesses, council, the government. When they all come together, that is when you get the best possible outcome. 

Will you support long-term, sustainable funding for the third sector?

Absolutely. I think the longer, more sustainable funding, that’s something I’d be happy to advocate for if I get elected in terms of giving that certainty to organisations that they’ve got that three year window to try and make the funding sustainable rolling onwards as well and to ensure the projects can continue to deliver rather than having to spend a lot of time scrambling about for funding.

Will you support our employability project in Larkhall to help people into work?

Oh absolutely, I think it’s something extremely positive in terms of building that confidence to get them into work or study or further education, all these kinds of things, anything to build their confidence. When folk are in work that helps contribute to their dignity and really improves their life chances and the chances of their families as well. So I think that’s something that’s really, really positive.

We spoke earlier about the place that the third sector have, particularly delivering a lot of these projects. I fundamentally believe that local authorities the Scottish Government have a huge part to play in terms of supporting and funding all these organisations but the third sector is partners who are delivering this stuff know where the problems are, know where the support needs to be targeted, and can deliver in a way that the government and Councils will not be able to match if they’re doing it themselves.

Do you support strengthening community councils to improve local democracy?

Absolutely, I support the strengthening of the community councils. I think Larkhall is a really good example of what a community council can do to really take the lead in driving change in their area. I think a lot of other community councils could really benefit from a formalisation of strengthening of their powers at a legislative level. I think Larkhall has been very successful in creating that space for themselves and the legislation is still to catch up. 

I think Larkhall has done very well in terms of the town plan and all that to make sure that the local voice is heard at the heart of the council and all the way up to the Scottish Parliament and that’s something I’ll champion if I’m elected as an MSP

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If elected as your MSP, I’ll work hard to stand up for Larkhall at a Council level, at the Scottish Parliament and at a government level to make sure that the voice of Larkhall is never sidelined in these debates and to always do my best to make sure that I’m delivering for the people who live and work here.