PDE Column, 1st September 2008 – Scottish Parliament Return, Health Board Cuts, Scottish Boundary Commission, Calling all Buddy Inventors

Scottish Parliament return

With summer recess over, this week sees the start of a busy year in the Scottish Parliament. It will be strange no longer being the leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament – but I already notice the extra time I have for getting things done locally. And there is no shortage of things going on. Top of my agenda locally is strongly resisting the Education cuts for our young people and cuts to services for our elderly.  I also met with Post Office Ltd again last week to press the case for the retention of Wright St and Arkleston Rd post offices.

Health Board Cuts

On the subject of cuts I am deeply disappointed that our Health Board, Greater Glasgow and Clyde is forced to make cuts of £42 million due to insufficient funding from the Scottish Government. Douglas Griffin, the board’s finance director, outlined the problem in a letter to senior officials, in which he claimed the cuts are a result of the 2008-09 financial settlement from the Scottish Government. Nicola Sturgeon will not want to be remembered as the minister for health cuts, but this is the first sign this Scottish Government’s decision to put less money into health is starting to have an impact on services. Next week I am spending a day with a local GP practice here in Paisley so I will see for myself what any cut in services might mean for local patient care.

Scottish Boundary Commission

This week I attended a local inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court to give evidence on the Boundary Commission’s proposals for the new Scottish Parliamentary constituencies.
As MSP for the current Paisley North constituency my submission focused on the proposed North Renfrewshire and Clydebank constituency which would pair Renfrew (including Braehead) with Clydebank. With the greatest of respect to our good friends in Clydebank I oppose this proposal. It is not simply that the River Clyde is a longstanding natural boundary – but it is difficult to cross it at this point. There are no significant established links between Clydebank and Renfrewshire in terms of service delivery or local community ties.  Different schooling systems, different further education colleges, different employment and housing patterns.  Residents in Renfrew look east to Braehead, Govan and the City Centre or west to the coastal towns whereas resident on the north bank look to Dumbarton in the west and Whiteinch/Glasgow west end in the east.

It will be interesting to discover if the Boundary Commission take note and act on the back of the evidence given at the local inquiries. I’ll let you know.

Calling all Buddy Inventors

The John Logie Baird Programme 2008 is calling for entries in a bid to win their Innovation award, a package worth £20,000. This awards programme is keen to seek out and encourage Scotland’s innovators and inventors to turn their dreams into a reality.

Scotland has historically enjoyed worldwide celebrated acclaim for a great many discoveries and feats of excellence. I firmly believe that we can continue to do so and we have an enterprising outlook in Renfrewshire. Time is tight, so if you are an innovative business, an entrepreneur or an inventor check out www.johnlogiebairdawards.co.uk and please enter by the deadline date of 15th September.

Finally congratulations to everyone who made last week’s Fairtrade festival so successful. I took the family to the County Sq marquee last Saturday and we enjoyed Fairtrade chocolate strawberries and coffee, we peddled for smoothies and bought all sorts of Fairtrade groceries. As more and more local businesses go “Fairtrade” we can look forward to Paisley continuing to lead the country on its commitment to fair shares all round.