There’s no excuse now for the power companies not to pass on immediately the cut in wholesale energy prices to their customers and ease pressure on household bills.

Household energy bills have increased by more than 40 per cent this year whilst wholesale gas prices have continued to fall, coming down 33 per cent in the past two months and wholesale electricity prices are 39 per cent lower. Oil prices have hugely tumbled too. In July, the price of oil peaked at $147 a barrel - but by the beginning of November it had fallen back below $50. The soaring price of oil was a key factor in causing gas and electricity price hikes. The difference now between wholesale energy costs and household fuel bills has reached its widest point for 21 months.

Energy watchdogs have estimated that there is scope to cut fuel bills by up to 20 per cent, which would mean a saving of almost £200 for the average household.

With temperatures falling below freezing and more than half a million households are living in fuel poverty, the power companies should cut prices now so that nobody has to choose between food and warmth.

Funding for Money Advice Agencies after Pre Budget Report

Following the recent pre-budget report which awarded extra money particularly to pensioners and families, the UK government had announced that £10 million is to be given to Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales. In the Scottish Parliament we lobbied the Scottish Government to pass on that consequential in full (amounting to £1m) to money advice agencies in Scotland.

We have consistently called for action in supporting Scottish homeowners and the Scottish Government now had a perfect opportunity to assist people with debt problems by using this money from Westminster effectively.

By providing £10 million to Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales to increase advice services, the UK government showed their commitment to helping people cope with debt. Therefore it was high time for the Scottish Government to pass that funding directly on to money advice agencies to provide equivalent one-to-one support to people in Scotland.

I am pleased to learn therefore that in this challenging credit crunch period the lobbying has succeeded and Renfrewshire Council has now been able to announce an extra £200,000 towards extending existing out-of-hours debt advice and extra support for Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau.

Hard Earned Tips

As we all gear up for Christmas we must spare a thought for all those working in shops, bars, cafes, hotels who will be working harder than ever to allow the rest of us soak up all the social festivities of the Festive Season.

It so unfair that many employers still use tips to count towards payment of the national minimum wage. The UK Government has announced plans to ban this sorry practice and we must ensure all future steps will be applied in Scotland also.

I commend the Fair Tips campaign by the union Unite calling for fair-minded employers to treat their staff fairly and sign up in support of the campaign.

The Fair Tips charter calls on businesses to pay all employees at least the minimum wage with 100% of tips added on top as a bonus with no hidden charges. It calls for agreement to be reached on how tips are shared with those staff directly affected and to make no deductions from tips to cover breakages, till shortages or customer walk-outs.

Glasgow Airport

I welcomed the news from Glasgow Airport of their success in filling the gap left by the unfortunate demise during the summer of Zoom and XL Airways. Good news when the airline industry is in decline worldwide.

As ever the airport is always striving to improve what it can offer to passengers and introduce new route developments. Having used the airport several times over the last month and gaining a first hand experience of the buzzing atmosphere and new Skyhub layout, their efforts appear to be working well and I look forward to continued success for this large Renfrewshire employer.

Christmas pleasure

I look forward to taking the twins along to the busy farmer’s market in County Square this Saturday, taking the opportunity to buy from a wide variety of quality produce. There are extra Christmas markets also, all adding to the seasonal cheer in Paisley.

Also after taking to Linwood Elderly Forum the 750 postcards sent in to me by local residents regarding the Shopping centre – it was pointed out to me that it would be an awful waste not to pass on the stamps to the local church who are currently gathering as many as possible for charity …. so with scissors in hand there’s now an extra pre Christmas job to do in the office!

Way back in August, it announced that £100 million would be brought forward, but I note in passing that, so far, less than a fifth of that money has been assigned. Four fifths of the money is still to be assigned and, as Jeremy Purvis suggested, most of the money that has been assigned has gone on land acquisition and buying unsold houses, not on keeping construction workers facing unemployment in a job.

I turn to the meat of the debate. From the front and back bench speeches that we have had so far, the debate seems to be in danger of degenerating into a discussion about issues that are somebody else’s responsibility, thereby avoiding the scrutiny that we should be doing in the Parliament.
To be fair to the cabinet secretary, his Government has made three big promises on the credit crunch. First, we are told:

“Increasing sustainable economic growth has been this Government’s purpose from day 1.”
Secondly, we hear:

“The Scottish Government is prepared to utilise all the powers and resources at our disposal.”

Thirdly, we are told that the Scottish Government will “strain every sinew” to support Scottish jobs.

Are the Scottish Government’s actions measuring up to those promises? If they are, the Government will have no fear of a little more parliamentary scrutiny of those actions.

Effective economic policy requires good information. Therefore, will the cabinet secretary explain in his summation why basic data about growth rates in Scotland lag months behind those which are available for the UK as a whole? Secondly, how can growth be the Scottish Government’s number 1 purpose if the same Scottish Government makes no economic forecasts about the prospects for the Scottish economy? How can the Government plan to tackle a recession that it does not even attempt to forecast?

Thirdly, how can the Scottish Government advocate tax autonomy for Scotland but make no forecasts about the expected tax take in Scotland? We heard many complaints from SNP members about the requirement that Scotland should make additional efficiency savings comparable to those in the rest of the UK, but not a word about the falling revenues that Scotland could expect in the next three years if we moved to the financial model that the Government advocates.

The SNP has expressed concern about the possible £500 million of efficiency savings but has not said a word about what Scotland’s future financing would look like. I will give just one piece of data: the pre-budget report forecasts that UK tax receipts will be down £10 billion next year. A rough estimate is that Scotland’s share of that would be one tenth, or £1 billion.

Why do tax takes remain a totally number-free zone for the SNP? Their position on refusing to provide forecast tax revenues  is similar to their stance on the proposed local income tax. The SNP still refuses to tell employers how much it would cost them to run the system. Perhaps hoping that people will come round in the end if they provides no data.

That brings me to the Scottish Government’s responsibility for stewarding the economy in tough times. Eighteen months ago, the SNP told us that the behemoth of a department that the cabinet secretary runs would streamline Government. However, the reality seems to be that the giant department is slowing things down, not speeding them up.

Let me illustrate: the Scottish Government’s economic recovery plan has never been formally published or presented to Parliament.

Another example is the national planning framework, which has not yet been published and is at least three months overdue. Why?
The Strategic Transport Projects review is also months overdue. Why?
Another example is the SNP’s timetable for implementing the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006, which was removed from the Government’s website last month because every single piece of secondary legislation bar one or two has been delayed.

The six-times announced saltire prize is  now not even to be awarded for seven years …
and the Scottish Futures Trust is still without a completed board, a chief executive or a management statement.

I come to the vital issue of capital spending. The last time that we debated that, John Swinney was keen to name the capital projects that his Government had approved. However, he forgot to tell the Parliament how many of them were in the pipeline in 2007 and prepared by the previous Administration.

I hope that the cabinet secretary in his summation will tell us why not a single project has had its business plan approved by ministers or its contracts signed in the months of March, April, May, June, July, August, September or October. That is eight months with not one single project approval or contract signing.

I do not have much time to pursue the point, but I simply say that we should recall the promises the SNP made, “growth at the top of the government’s agenda”

– but the reality -

poor and late data;

the lack of any official forecasts;

strategy after strategy – on planning, on transport, and on LIT costs delayed;

and project after project stuck in the system.

It is a growing catalogue of inaction, delay and sclerosis.

In mid-October, the First Minister boasted to his party’s conference that the UK Government was slow to respond to the banking crisis. He would not dare make that accusation today, given the dither and delay that we are seeing. When can we expect action on these 10 delays?

I visited Kilallan Day Care Centre and met with some of the pensioners angered and very disappointed at the closure of the centre. I condemn these plans to close Kilallan. The Council plans to save £324,227 by cutting 8 posts.
Day care officers, Day Care Coordinators, Centre Managers and Escort Attendants will all go.

The SNP in Renfrewshire have already done enough to victimise our elderly – this year introducing the community alarm charges, forcing new charges to attend day care centre and now closing the centre serving Linwood pensioners and cutting the jobs dedicated for caring for our elderly.

The community in Renfrewshire care about our elderly and they should not be hit again so I ask the Council to think again.

Better Local Policing

Many of us have been lobbying for more of our police to be out and about in our local communities. I am pleased to learn of a new approach being rolled out locally.

Over this winter the number of dedicated Community Police Officers in Renfrewshire is rising from 49 to 65 and all these officers are being assigned to a specific local ward area. The new arrangements began to come into operation in October and will be fully implemented by the spring.

I have discussed these plans with local Divisional Commander Harkin and I am delighted that in future there will be a particular focus on the streets on Friday and Saturday evenings from 9pm-2am where there is often a need for a quick response to local trouble/disorder.

These dedicated Community officers will have an immediate, visible and positive impact on our communities I urge people to make use of the local police team to ensure we all benefit from safer communities.

Home Repossessions – Action needed as soon as possible

The Scottish Government last week announced that they would back the one part of Labour’s three-point plan to tackle repossessions by introducing a support package for homeowners in trouble.

I welcome these measures by the Scottish Government to help support homeowners however the three month roll out period could be quicker and action is still needed on pre-court protocols and licensing of those involved in sale and rent-back deals.  Action on pre-court protocols is needed urgently to ensure that homeowners in Scotland have the same protection as homeowners in England and Wales. Also I’d like to see a proper licensing scheme for those involved in sale and rent-back deals.

I hope that the Scottish government gets this scheme up and running as soon as possible. This is a step forward but only one part of the package that is vital to protect homeowners in Scotland.

ROCCO Awards & Paisley Vision

I was delighted to attend the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards earlier this month. A thoroughly enjoyable evening but more importantly it reflected that so far business in Renfrewshire is bearing up well in these tough times. We all hope that continues.

No one in Paisley could fail to be encouraged and uplifted by the Christmas events held over the day last Saturday. With Pipe Bands playing, Santa’s arrival and the inevitable rush of excited young families’ queuing to visit him in his Magical Grotto, Paisley was filled with fun and expectation. Later in the day the concert from Sandi Thom and young Mr Jackson (Leon rather than Michael) and the climax watched by thousands of the Christmas Lights switch on and Fireworks was excellent. Congratulations to all involved.

Kibble’s ACCORD Christmas Trees

I was delighted to learn of Kibble’s festive season idea to help raise funds for ACCORD hospice. Fresh, high quality Scottish grown Christmas trees can be ordered through a website www.caringchristmastress.com, clicking on Paisley Kibble, to order a tree of your choice of size and collection time – even delivery is possible. All is at a competitive price but at the same time there is the added pleasure of adding to the funds of the excellent ACCORD cause.
My order is in and I urge all Buddies who usually buy fresh Christmas trees to consider supporting this project.

Wendy Chamber Speech, Scottish Economy

I greatly enjoyed attending the Swingle Singers concert, part of the Voices in Paisley Choral Festival 2008 which drew to an end at the weekend and I have been delighted to give my full support to Paisley’s aspirations to be recognised as Scotland’s Choir Town.

Organisers of the Voices festival, The Paisley Festival Company work hard to promote concerts locally and to pushing Paisley to the forefront, gathering national recognition as a centre for all types of choral activity and staking the claim for Paisley to be known as Scotland’s Choir Town.

I lodged a motion in the Parliament at the beginning of October to congratulate the continued success of the Paisley Choral Festival and to draw support amongst MSPs for Paisley to become known as Scotland’s Choir Town.

I am delighted to announce the motion has gathered enough support from my fellow MSPs to take the matter further to a Members Debate in the Scottish Parliament on November 13th.

Congratulations to Renfrewshire’s Services to Protect Children and Young People

I was pleased to support the motion in the Scottish Parliament which congratulated these vital services for their excellent HM Inspectorate report recently published after an inspection in April and May 2008. A wide range of services all involving the protection of children, including health, police, the local authority and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration as well as services provided by voluntary and independent organisations were covered by the inspection.  Renfrewshire’s services received three excellent ratings, 12 very good ratings and three good ratings. Congratulations and well done to all involved.

Scottish Safety Anomaly

Health and Safety Executive statistics published on 29 October 2008 showed that in 2007-08 there were 32 fatal injuries and 2,721 major injuries to workers in Scotland, compared to 229 and 27,976 in the United Kingdom as a whole, and that the rate of fatal and major injuries in Scottish was 115.1 per hundred thousand, compared to 105.8 for the UK as a whole

Additionally, only 52% of related prosecutions were successful in Scotland, compared to 89% in the rest of the UK so despite improvements across the UK, there is a persistent anomaly in the figures for Scotland that needs to be addressed.

Serious consideration should be given to steps that can be taken within Scotland to address this anomaly. A motion has been lodged in the Scottish Parliament to bring this matter to greater attention – I keenly supported this.

Free Tours Announced At Holyrood

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) has announced Guided tours to visitors are to be provided free of charge from September 2009.

The move will bring tours into line with the Parliament’s free school visits and education programme, its free crèche for visitors and its free public exhibitions and events held regularly across the Parliament.

The hour-long guided tours will continue to be offered six days a week. Visitors will continue to be given an in-depth understanding of the role and work of Parliament, the work of its MSPs, and the history and architecture of Holyrood.

Since Holyrood opened in 2004 more than 210,000 visitors have taken guided tours.  Figures show that four out of five visitors to Holyrood are resident in Scotland.

The Parliament will also begin offering art tours on a pre-book basis for specialist groups and interested individuals. The tour will take in twenty works of art located across Holyrood, with a further seven works of art already available to view in the public areas of the Parliament. The Parliament’s art collection showcases a variety of types of work, including oil paintings, sculpture, photography and textiles. Much of the art was specially commissioned for the building.

For more details phone  0131 348 5000 or visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk

And Finally….

Fun was had by all at a fundraising event in Arkleston on Halloween night!

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I make no apology for returning to the subject of Renfrewshire Education cuts. The latest move is closing nursery schools. Renfrewshire council are now proposing to shut all 6 nursery schools in Renfrewshire. Four of these nursery schools will become ‘nursery classes’ attached to local primary schools and two will become pre-5 centres. All these nurseries will lose the teachers currently working in the nursery schools. Nursery head teacher posts will be ‘deleted’ (in the Council’s terminology) and the classroom teacher will be obliged to choose redeployment, which may not be to nursery teaching, or resignation. In their election manifesto the SNP claimed they were ‘concerned at the removal of nursery teachers from nurseries in some council areas’ and wanted to ‘deliver access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every nursery age child’. That doesn’t seem to be what we are witnessing in Renfrewshire. If you would like to add your objection to these proposals you can write to John Rooney, Director of Education and Leisure Services, Renfrewshire Council, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1LE. The deadline for responses is noon on Friday 7th November.

In addition to the news at the beginning of the new school year of the failure by Renfrewshire to give a full time contract to any of its probationary teachers from last year – 172 in all – the number of teacher staff posts also has been cut this year. Renfrewshire Primary schools seeing a 3.2% drop in teachers and secondary schools seeing 6.3% less teachers. Unsurprisingly there is no longer the promise to have smaller class sizes in English and Maths in first and second year.

Graffiti and Vandalism

There is no doubt there is exasperation over the graffiti blight in Renfrewshire. I commend the council’s graffiti squad who daily work tirelessly to clean up the worst affected areas and also commend the council webpage which allows members of the public to email or text images of graffiti for inclusion and consideration for action.

The Police too are taking active steps to combat the problem. In addition to the new mobile CCTV van being utilised within our community, by introducing the Campus Police Officers to four secondary schools within Renfrewshire the Police are actively encouraging good citizenship and behaviour from bases within the schools. These officers should hopefully influence young people and lead to a significant reduction in incidences of vandalism and graffiti. The Police also encourage the public to contact then directly or on Crime Stoppers on 0800555111.

Tesco in Paisley

I visited Tesco’s recent public exhibition in the Wynd Centre displaying  proposals for a Paisley Store at Renfrew Road. Following their successful relationship with St Mirren and building of the new St Mirren stadium, Tesco’s store was originally earmarked for the Love Street site but I am told the recent switch to nearby Renfrew Road is seen as moving nearer to the Town centre and provides scope to plan a Silverburn sized superstore. One or two constituents have expressed an anxiety to me over increased traffic in that area and I will be seeking assurances on that, plus assurances that the original Love Street site is progressed effectively and not left to become a derelict eyesore. The Tesco exhibition was the first stage in a community consultation process therefore I would urge Buddies to check out the proposals and make your thoughts known. A ‘Have Your Say’ booklet has been prepared by Tesco which shows a layout of the plans and includes a feedback form. I have some in my office or contact Jennifer Duncan at Tesco House, Delamare Road, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, EN8 9ZB.

Energy Saving Advice

Writing this column in Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Week I have joined the campaign this week by taking 10 minutes out of my busy parliamentary schedule to spend on measures which will cut my personal energy use - I encourage buddies to do the same. Wincing at my own recent household gas and electricity bill increases I realise many householders are feeling a big pressure on their finances.

I know these steps have been publicised for sometime but as the temperature drops outside and winter is nearly upon us it’s worth a reminder. Simple steps like switching appliances off at the socket rather than leaving them on stand by, or installing low energy light bulbs to improve energy efficiency in the home.

I encourage Buddies to call the local Energy Saving Scotland advice centre on 0800 512 012 for free, independent, home efficiency advice from expert advisers.  Alternatively find further information on the Energy Saving Trust website at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

To my dismay and anger I have discovered that in the past five years, not one retailer across the whole of Renfrewshire has had their licence for selling alcohol suspended or revoked. Yet we know that many under 18s find it easy to buy drink locally.

It’s time for more decisive action to be taken. I believe that any retailer who sells alcohol to children should know they will lose their licence and such rogue retailers should be ‘named and shamed’. I am calling for shops who sell alcohol to under-agers to automatically lose their licence, initially for three months. Successive offences would lead to a permanent ban.

We need a licensing system that respects those who obey the law and punishes those who do not. The majority of anti social behaviour incidents are alcohol fuelled. The most important step is tough enforcement against those who are currently breaking the law by selling to underage children – it must be central to any strategy.

There are over 150 local retailers in Renfrewshire who are licensed to sell alcohol. If you know of one who is breaking the law please tell the police (0141 532 5900) or contact my office. I am writing to the Convenor of the Licensing Board and the Chair of the Renfrewshire Licensing Forum, calling for tougher action. My campaign is for them to use the powers they have to withdraw a licence. I am asking the local police to step up their efforts to identify and prosecute those selling to underage youngsters.

Taking action against the harm that alcohol causes should be a priority and this is a practical measure that will show selling to children will not be tolerated in Renfrewshire

Free Schools Meal for Primary 1 to Primary 3

There is no doubt that that the idea of providing free school meals for all Primary 1 to Primary 3 pupils is a nice thought but how can Councils already struggling to make financial ends meet do this without extra funding from the Scottish Government?

The cost of providing free school meals to every child in Primary 1, 2 and 3 could be up to £50 million every year. SNP Ministers are not giving local councils the money to pay for this policy.

Local councils have hit out against the failure to properly fund the plan, which they say will lead to cuts in vital services unless more money is provided.

After Minister Fiona Hyslop’s announcement it soon emerged that 16 councils – nearly half the councils in Scotland - said they need extra resources to provide free school meals for primary 1,2, and 3 including four councils that are either SNP run or SNP coalitions. Only 3 councils out of 32 declared they could afford it and the rest were investigating their financial position.

At the time of writing this Renfrewshire Council is still towing the SNP party line and not publicly declaring they would need extra funds – but considering the £4.5 Education budget cuts this year and the £6 million plus intended for 2009-2010 this beggars belief.

World Psoriasis Day

As I write this column it is World Psoriasis Day. In the Parliament an event is being held to mark this.

Psoriasis is a condition that affects many thousands of Scots, at least 5%. Sometimes the symptoms are relatively minor, like flaking of the skin, although even this can be very embarrassing. Some with the condition experience far worse symptoms such as arthritis and circulatory disorders.

Despite it being a very common disorder, psoriasis is under-researched and misconceptions abound. Many patients complain that their symptoms are treated far too lightly by the medical profession and that they are stigmatised when appearing in public places.

For support and advice phone The Psoriasis Association on 0845 676 0076

Click on the link below to view:

Sunday Herald Article, Sunday 12th October

I welcome the recent additional investment that will finally put an end to the common practice of ambulances rushing to an emergency with only one member of staff but there are still a worrying number of outstanding pressures to be addressed: a fair pay settlement for ambulance staff, a 12 per cent jump in ambulance service demand and the introduction of new services such as new emergency heart treatment as well as the recently announced additional costs of cleaning systems for vehicles.

This month also saw the Paisley Emergency Dispatch Centre move to Cardonald where this new centre will manage the ambulance responses to around 500,000 calls for the West of Scotland each year.

Cabinet Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon is imposing new responsibilities on the Scottish ambulance Service but there is no new money to provide for these responsibilities.

The Scottish Government have given the National Health Service including the ambulance service its worst financial settlement since devolution. I wonder how the ambulance service is to meet the new challenges without further funding.

Health must be a genuine priority and match the previous Labour government’s investment. It’s not good enough to talk about record investment when the facts don’t match the rhetoric.

Cdifficile figures

Following recent reporting on Cdifficile outbreaks and my call to the Scottish Government for an individual hospital based reporting system, I obtained through Freedom of Information some revealing and worrying statistics.

In the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area Cdifficile is recorded as the underlying cause of death in 9 cases in year 2000, jumping to 57 cases in 2007. In the RAH, there were zero cases in 2000 rising to 8 in 2007.

Furthermore figures recorded between 2000 and 2007  where cdifficile is included as a contributory factor rose from 32 to 180 in the Health Board area, and from 1 to 19 cases specifically at the RAH.

WRVS Centre in Paisley

I was very impressed on visiting the new WRVS centre in Causeyside Street. Not just a nice cup of tea in a lovely café setting but an invaluable Information Centre for the older people of Renfrewshire, their carers and family members offering practical wide ranging advice and support, from simple enquiries through to problem solving and help finding reliable tradesmen for those small jobs. I thoroughly recommend Buddies drop in to find out the services available.

Voices in Paisley

I was pleased to receive the brochure from the Paisley Festival Company for the superb Voices in Paisley programme of choral events in October and November. The Paisley Festival Company aims to establish Paisley and its environs as a nationally recognised centre for all types of choral activity and be known as Scotland’s Choir Town. For more information visit www.paisleyfestivalcompany.com or write to the Festival Company  at Mirren Chambers, 41 Gauze Street, PA1 1EX

Awards for all

I am delighted to learn that local organisations in my Paisley North constituency have been successful in applying to Awards for All, securing a total of £39,870 funding.
Awards for All Scotland is supported by the Scottish Arts Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Sortscotland and the Big Lottery Fund.
Congratulations go to Moorpark Primary School PTA, St Ninian’s Eden Project (Step Forward), Ferguslie Community Nursery Committee, Renfrewshire Council of Voluntary Services.

QE2 – The Last Queen of the Clyde

Clydebuilt at Braehead, one of the Scottish Maritime Museums, opens an exhibition on 2nd October. It’s a celebration of Cunard’s world famous liner built at John Brown’s yard in Clydebank and launched in 1967. The exhibition in timed to coincide with the QE2’s last ever visit to the Clyde on the 5th of October.

Click the link below to view article:

Scotland on Sunday article 28/9/08