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"...her campaigning against education cuts is good news for parents!" - Rachael Ewing, Seedhill
"...her campaigning against education cuts is good news for parents!" - Rachael Ewing, Seedhill
Sentencing Plans Will Fail Abuse Victims
Wendy Alexander MSP has criticised the Scottish Government’s scrapping of short term entences as a failure to protect the victims of domestic abuse as new statistics showed that there were 51,926 incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland last year, with approximately half of those incidents (25,112) occurring in the Strathclyde region.
Despite a four per cent drop in the total number of instances of domestic abuse recorded by police this year the statistics are still worryingly high. The new presumption against sentences of less than three months, could mean that the majority of perpetrators of domestic abuse would escape jail.
Wendy Alexander MSP said: “There is no room for complacency on this issue in the face of statistics like these. Read more »
Over 8,900 People Wait on Housing Lists in Renfrewshire
Wendy Alexander MSP signed Shelter’s ‘Make Housing Matter’ petition outside of Scottish Parliament last week to demonstrate her support for the organisation’s campaign to push housing to the forefront of the political agenda. All MSPs were invited to sign the petition which asks finance minister John Swinney to prioritise investment in affordable housing in the face of reduced spending. Read more »
Wendy Alexander MSP joined Beatbullying’s ‘The Big March’ this week, the world’s first virtual protest march for children’s rights. Over three-quarters of a million people signed the organisation’s petition delivered to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg calling on the UK Government to ‘take immediate action to protect children and young people from the bullying, violence and harassment of young people, by young people’. Anti-Bullying Week 2010 runs from 15 November – 19 November.
During the course of the day on 15 November, avatars of the marchers made their way across the web, on Beatbullying’s website and on the pages of over sixty partner websites. Read more »
Stop Knives, Save Lives
Readers will know I have been a strong supporter of the PDE’s Stop Knives, Save Lives campaign. This week I spoke at a very well attended a public meeting on tackling knives and anti-social behaviour at Renfrew High School. My colleague Stuart Clark had collected a large petition to contribute to the Stop Knives, Save Lives campaign. The meeting heard from Kelly McGee, whose brother Paul was killed in Renfrewshire as a result of a knife attack last year and also from Richard Baker, Labour’s Scottish Justice spokesperson, who is leading the campaign for stiffer penalties. The local police were also in attendance. Of course current cases are sub-judice but there was the chance to discuss how the knife menace is better tackled. I also met with K Divisional Commander David Stewart and had the chance to chare the strength of local feeling on this issue. Read more »
Wendy was delighted to visit the Mary Russell in Paisley once again. She met with S3 pupils who had been learning about the Scottish Parliament as part of their curriculum work and they had recently visited Holyrood. Wendy firstly told them about her job as an MSP – then opened the floor to questions. There were several enthusiastic questioners putting a wide variety of matters forward for discussion. Wendy was pleased to be able to answer most and promised to ask the Council on the issues which belonged to them . It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit and Wendy commended the great work of both staff and pupils.
Scotland’s unpaid carers and young carers have a right to regular breaks and a life outside of caring – that’s the message Scotland’s National Carer Organisations (NCO) took to MSPs this week. And Wendy Alexander MSP is supporting them by signing a pledge to support Scotland’s unpaid carers and young carers.
Wendy met representatives from Scotland’s national carer organisations – The Princess Royal Trust for Scotland, the Coalition of Carers in Scotland, Carers Scotland, Crossroads Caring Scotland, the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance and Shared Care Scotland – in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday October 28th as they launched their election manifesto for 2011. Read more »
Wendy pleads to keep support for older pupils in Scotland
Local Labour MSP Wendy Alexander was contacted by Paisley resident Lorna-Rose Davidson with concerns that potential cuts to Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and escalating tuition fees will make it difficult for her to attend university.
Lorna-Rose is Deputy Head Girl at Castlehead High School. She wants to be a writer and wrote to Wendy about her fears for the future.
“I am already struggling enough to save enough to pay a deposit for accommodation, never mind anything else,” Lorna-Rose told Wendy. “On top of it all I may have to leave school before I even get the opportunity to finish my Highers as the future of EMA is uncertain. Personally I would not be able to stay at school with no income.” Read more »
RAH news
The issue of car parking at the RAH continues to frustrate staff and local residents. While staff fight it out for permits, vehicles parked around the hospital have also recently been targets for vandalism. I keep pressing management to have a better outcome for residents and front-line staff. I have been lobbying for extra parking spaces to be created around the estates area but I am told any change here will have to await a decision on a new biomass plant.
Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, visited the RAH on an official engagement last week. Unfortunately she set the agenda for the visit not those who work at and live around the hospital. The persistent parking problems are a headache for staff and a hazard for residents and ministers should be listening on this issue. Read more »
In Halloween week Wendy Alexander and Councillor Eddie Devine were delighted to judge both The Beavers and the Scouts at Lylesland Church. They were holding an Advice Surgery nearby when asked to help judge the winners from both group.
Wendy said:
“On a wet Monday evening we dropped in to judge the fancy dress competitions for the Beavers and the Scouts at Lylesland Church. Well done to all the parents who had been busy with the face paint. To the scouts who got fully into the spirit of Halloween and particularly to the leaders who give up their time to help youngsters grow up well whilst having a lot of fun. Read more »
