New Leader off to flying start
The new Scottish Labour Party Leader, Jim Murphy has got off to a very good start with lots of fresh ideas and policy initiatives – giving local communities a veto on fracking proposals; a Resiliance Fund to support those at risk from the slump in oil prices, a People’s Scotrail.- The Smith Agreement will devolve powers to the Scottish Parliament to allow a non-profit public organisation, involving passengers and local communities, to bid to run Scotland’s railways with profits benefitting public services.
He has also pledged 1000 more nurses in Scotland from our share of the UK Mansion Tax on properties over £2m which Labour will levy after May. This is on top of whatever level of nursing provision the Scottish Government funds.
Time to devolve job creating powers
I deal with a wide range of issues in my constituency, but the most common concerns people raise involve unemployment, skills and benefits. The combination of changes in benefit provision with the ever increasing numbers of people employed on zero-hour contracts has contributed to a cost of living crisis which faces people in Scotland and across the UK.
It’s becoming harder and harder for our young people leaving school, college or university to find permanent and secure work. And we cannot afford to write off a generation of talented young people as happened in the 1980s.
The situation in Carrick reflects a national problem across Scotland. The Work Programme, the solution offered by David Cameron and the Tories, is failing Scotland. Only 1 in 5 people on the Work Programme in Scotland moved into employment upon completion.
Labour MP Ian Murray is bringing forward a Bill in the House of Commons next month calling for the immediate devolution of job creating powers to Scotland, as the Smith Agreement recommends. I agree that we shouldn’t have to wait till after the General Election to push ahead with this. The bill will go much further. It will not only devolve the Work Programme to Scotland but demand that it be further devolved from the Scottish Parliament to local councils who are best placed to determine the needs of local job markets and match those needs to their population.
Air Passenger Duty
The proposals to implement the Smith Agreement came before Parliament ahead of the target day of Burns Day showing that the Vow made to the Scottish people before the referendum is not only being kept but ahead of schedule. I raised the proposal to devolve air passenger duty calling it a ‘popular measure’ and went on to say that it is ‘very important for Prestwick airport and has the potential to help it tremendously with the problems it has been having’ I asked whether the Government would consider bringing that forward before the general election and giving those powers to Scotland now.
The pothole crisis
Potholes are not often discussed in political terms even though we all know how annoying they can be. More than 4,500 drivers made claims against Scottish councils for damage caused to their vehicles by potholes in the last financial year, with compensation claims coming to £228,000- compared with £20,000 paid out in 2007/8. But even this pales into insignificance compared to the funding required to fix potholes.
And the damage done to cars is surely far greater as many people do not lodge a complaint and simply grin and bear it. So Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, is surely right when he states that the information in their report is just 'the tip of the iceberg'.
A constituent has informed me that she counted almost 70 potholes in one small area of Maybole alone. Over the years it has been far too easy to cut back on road maintenance but it is a core council responsibility that must be dealt with not only to cut down claims but most importantly because they are dangerous and do untold damage to vehicles. Councils must make sure that damage done by utility companies is properly repaired and there is a need for funding from the Scottish Government to catch up with the backlog.
I have raised this with the roads authority but I am also making it my mission to photograph potholes wherever I find them as I go around. If you have concern about a particular pothole by all means let me know (01292 262906)
The new Scottish Labour Party Leader, Jim Murphy has got off to a very good start with lots of fresh ideas and policy initiatives – giving local communities a veto on fracking proposals; a Resiliance Fund to support those at risk from the slump in oil prices, a People’s Scotrail.- The Smith Agreement will devolve powers to the Scottish Parliament to allow a non-profit public organisation, involving passengers and local communities, to bid to run Scotland’s railways with profits benefitting public services.
He has also pledged 1000 more nurses in Scotland from our share of the UK Mansion Tax on properties over £2m which Labour will levy after May. This is on top of whatever level of nursing provision the Scottish Government funds.
Time to devolve job creating powers
I deal with a wide range of issues in my constituency, but the most common concerns people raise involve unemployment, skills and benefits. The combination of changes in benefit provision with the ever increasing numbers of people employed on zero-hour contracts has contributed to a cost of living crisis which faces people in Scotland and across the UK.
It’s becoming harder and harder for our young people leaving school, college or university to find permanent and secure work. And we cannot afford to write off a generation of talented young people as happened in the 1980s.
The situation in Carrick reflects a national problem across Scotland. The Work Programme, the solution offered by David Cameron and the Tories, is failing Scotland. Only 1 in 5 people on the Work Programme in Scotland moved into employment upon completion.
Labour MP Ian Murray is bringing forward a Bill in the House of Commons next month calling for the immediate devolution of job creating powers to Scotland, as the Smith Agreement recommends. I agree that we shouldn’t have to wait till after the General Election to push ahead with this. The bill will go much further. It will not only devolve the Work Programme to Scotland but demand that it be further devolved from the Scottish Parliament to local councils who are best placed to determine the needs of local job markets and match those needs to their population.
Air Passenger Duty
The proposals to implement the Smith Agreement came before Parliament ahead of the target day of Burns Day showing that the Vow made to the Scottish people before the referendum is not only being kept but ahead of schedule. I raised the proposal to devolve air passenger duty calling it a ‘popular measure’ and went on to say that it is ‘very important for Prestwick airport and has the potential to help it tremendously with the problems it has been having’ I asked whether the Government would consider bringing that forward before the general election and giving those powers to Scotland now.
The pothole crisis
Potholes are not often discussed in political terms even though we all know how annoying they can be. More than 4,500 drivers made claims against Scottish councils for damage caused to their vehicles by potholes in the last financial year, with compensation claims coming to £228,000- compared with £20,000 paid out in 2007/8. But even this pales into insignificance compared to the funding required to fix potholes.
And the damage done to cars is surely far greater as many people do not lodge a complaint and simply grin and bear it. So Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, is surely right when he states that the information in their report is just 'the tip of the iceberg'.
A constituent has informed me that she counted almost 70 potholes in one small area of Maybole alone. Over the years it has been far too easy to cut back on road maintenance but it is a core council responsibility that must be dealt with not only to cut down claims but most importantly because they are dangerous and do untold damage to vehicles. Councils must make sure that damage done by utility companies is properly repaired and there is a need for funding from the Scottish Government to catch up with the backlog.
I have raised this with the roads authority but I am also making it my mission to photograph potholes wherever I find them as I go around. If you have concern about a particular pothole by all means let me know (01292 262906)