Holyrood 441 / 9 March 2019

About Bloody Time: Interview with 'the tampon lady', Monica Lennon MSP, on the success of her world-leading period poverty bill. Also a look at skills and apprenticeships in Scotland.

3 Editor’s note
The ongoing debate around the GRA reforms

6 Roundup
Pictures and numbers from the past two weeks

7 Talking Point
Scottish education is far from the best in the world, if it ever was
9 In Context
Free bus journeys for young people

10 Political spotlight: Standing down
MSPs have started to declare their plans for 2021, but there’s a wide range of reasons for standing down

12 Skills: To Pay Scotland’s bills
The immigration debate has people talking about who gets labelled low-skilled and what skills Scotland needs

15 Q&A: Opposition voices
Opposition spokespeople on the highs and lows of their personal work histories

18 Interview: John Swinney MSP
On why the Scottish education system is still the envy of the world, in spite of the chorus of concern about it

22 Focus: Industry game-changer
Graduate apprenticeships are tackling key skills gaps and proving popular with business

25 Focus: Growing skills
The changing face of apprenticeships

27 Feature: Being digitally inclusive
In association with Leidos: the importance of digital inclusion, AI ethics and workplace flexibility

30 Interview: Monica Lennon
The Scottish Labour MSP on helping to make Scotland a world leader on period dignity

34 Event Report
Scotland Excel gathers experts to discuss how procurement can help make a fairer economy

38 Comment
An end-of-life party for my friend Howard Knight

40 Diary
Chickens, kebabs, and the knowledge that death stalks us all

42 Last Word
Sketch: The budget debate sees MSPs distracted by soft furnishings

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