PDE Column, 8th February 2010 – This week’s postbag, Dad’s Leave, Hill Tracks and Snaring Ban

This week’s postbag

My postbag has been very busy lately. This week has had a typical spread of issues arising including an elderly constituent needing a quicker Occupational Therapy Assessment, action on dog fouling, the overcrowding faced by a expanding family, a pregnant woman looking for a H1N1 vaccination, a request for speed cameras on a rat run road, an appeal for bus passes by workers at Haven Products a local social enterprise, and concerns about the timing of lights in centre of Paisley. 
Sometimes the public pronouncements of politicians that get reported can give the impression that all our energies go into disputing the big issues of the day. But behind the scenes most elected politicians and their staff try and deliver a really high quality service to constituents. Typically most MPs/MSPs have just one dedicated caseworker and those workers are real “local heroes” plugging away on constituents behalf with the local health boards, the police, Scottish Government, the local council and a raft of Government agencies like SEPA, Transport Scotland and the Care Commission to get action on behalf of their constituents. 
A recent case in my Paisley surgery involved a woman with cerebral palsy having to live in a one bedroom flat even though she now needs a carer staying over 3 nights a week. And young mums worried about the neds in their close making it harder for their children to come and go in peace. Close cleaning – or the lack of it – by neighbours is a huge ongoing issue! And the condition of Renfrewshire roads is fast rising up the agenda after the big freeze of the winter.
In addition to these local issues there has been lots of lobbying by Buddies about measures in the Scottish Parliament. Appeals from parents of disabled children about the failure to ring fence monies for respite care, support for a private members bill to create a national strategy to help families cope with Autism, representations for and against Margo McDonald’s End of Life bill, appeals for a stronger Marine Energy legislation and against seal culling, support for my efforts to persuade the Transport Minister to help save the Renfrew Ferry and support for a rethink of the cancellation of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Dad’s leave

This week I have been planing my childrens’ birthday party. I have been resisting party bags which I think are a bad invention! But we are inviting lots of toddlers to enjoy traditional party games, cake etc. So with parenthood on my mind I was delighted to see the annoucement of new rules by the UK Government on leave for parents that will come in next year.
In future others will be able to choose to transfer the last six months of their maternity leave to the father, with three months paid. This will give families more choice and flexibility in how they balance work and care of children, and enables fathers to play a bigger part in bringing up their children. The flexibility will help many Scots families who are juggling busy lives. 
 
Hill Tracks

Finally since spring is around the corner let me end on a couple of bits of Parliamentary business about Scotland’s magnificent countryside. Labour is highlighting a worrying boom in the number of hill tracks on the Scottish uplands. There is no scrutiny over the tracks and we want greater controls to stop them almost appearing overnight on the hillsides.
Snaring Ban
I am also backing calls for an outright ban on snaring. The League Against Cruel Sports and Advocates For Animals recently lodged a 11,000-strong petition. It is disappointing that the Scottish Government continues to support those groups which back the continued use of these devices. Most people think snares, in any form, are simply not an acceptable means of animal control in today’s world. 
So if you are out enjoying the Scottish spring – get in touch if you think we need to do more to protect our wildlife and scenery for future generations.