Green space

June seems to be disappearing. The ACCORD Fayre at the Town Hall was a huge success as usual.  Fountain gardens were looking beautiful for the Gala Day. And by the time you read this Barshaw Park Gala also will have passed by for another year. It’s a reminder of how important our public green spaces are.

And timely for a week when the Scottish Parliament will be putting the finishing touches to the Climate Change Bill which will set ambitious targets to tackle climate change.

Congratulations also to St Andrews Academy for achieving the Green Flag for Eco schools – the only mainstream secondary in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to achieve this highest and prestigious award.

I also attended the launch of Braehead’s new car share green scheme.  So it seems everyone is doing their bit to save the planet.

Conferences

It’s been a week of conferences. Two of the best were here in Paisley. First a Kibble sponsored event to celebrate Youthbuild. This scheme provides valuable construction training opportunities for youngsters facing unemployment.

The second was a conference hosted by the Family Support group in Paisley for families coping with addictions. It was a moving afternoon which began with a play about the challenges families face. Afterwards I got to be Richard Dimbleby for question time where the professionals on the panel were put through their paces.

Peter McLeod, the Director of Social Work made some important commitments about a new building for the Families Support Team, more resources for tackling alcohol problems, better Kinshipcare allowances and shortening waiting lists for alcohol services.

Devolution 10 Years On – The Calman Commission Report

I also had two important national conferences this week. The first was the launch of the Calman Commission looking at Devolution, 10 years on. It is close to my heart as I proposed its establishment 18 months ago and it has worked at break neck speed to deliver a unanimous report on how Scotland walks taller in the United Kingdom.

Their proposals will see Scottish politicians become responsible for raising some of the cash they spend and justifying to voters how much income tax they want to raise and why.  Income tax in Scotland would be reduced by 10p on all rates and the block grant from Westminster would go down correspondingly. The Scottish Parliament would therefore have to set an income tax rate, and decide whether to raise less or more according to its priorities.

Calman also has host of other suggestions that will see issues like regulation of airguns, and drink-driving limits. Stamp duty, landfill tax and air passenger duty would be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Business in Parliament Conference

On Thursday it was the Business in Parliament Conference – a chance for Scottish businesses to meet politicians inside Holyrood and discuss how to improve the climate for business.  Last week I met with the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce along with colleagues Jim Sheridan MP and Hugh Henry MSP. We talked about the need to get more housing in Renfrewshire. So far none of the £90 million brought forward by the Scottish Government as a result of the credit crunch has been earmarked for Renfrewshire. I want that to change.

We also threw our weight behind the efforts of the Paisley Vision Board to get a fair share for Paisley. The Scottish Government’s Town Centres Fund decisions are due later this summer and I will be campaigning  down to the last for Paisley to get its fair share.

Swine Flu

Many of you have been in touch regarding the H1N1 virus and I have tried to respond wherever possible with information. I will be keeping up my campaign for the hygiene message to be repeated in every classroom – and free paper hankies to help get the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ message across to our kids.

Paisley made the headlines for the reasons none of us wanted. Any death, and then the death of a child, is tragic. But many local people have showed great fortitude in tough circumstances. Once again – not least the staff of the RAH – to whom we owe a debt, Thank you.