South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has urged First Minister John Swinney to give a firm commitment to providing financial support for the Usual Place, ahead of a visit to the café tomorrow.

The Usual Place recently revealed that it faces serious challenges securing funding to cover costs.

John Swinney is due to visit the Usual Place tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss the issues, Colin Smyth will also be attending.

Colin Smyth has previously raised the issue with local agencies, as well as the First Minister himself and other Ministers.

Colin Smyth said: “While I welcome the visit of the First Minister to the Usual Place, he should not come empty handed.

“We have seen a commitment to short term support from South of Scotland Enterprise Agency to ensure the doors stay open, but what we now need to see is a long term plan backed financially by the Scottish Government.

“Dumfries and Galloway consistently has the highest disability employment gap in Scotland, in particular among those with additional support needs.

“It’s clear that the current level of support from the council and Government is not delivering the employment opportunities for disabled people in our region so it beggars belief that we could have taken a step backwards had the Usual Place closed.

“We really do need to up our game when it comes to tackling the disability employment gap in our region.

“The young people at the Usual Place and disabled people across our region deserve nothing less.”