Rejecting educational trusts...

I see from today's 'Herald' that Ronnie Smith, General Secretary of the teaching union EIS, is calling for the running of schools to be taken away from Scotland's 32 democratically elected local authorities and given over to quangos in the shape of 12 educational trusts.

Clearly what lies behind this proposal is the view that if schools were run by trusts they would in some way have greater protection from the cuts that local authorities are having to make in response to reduced funding from the Scottish Government. The experience of further and higher education institutions, which are directly funded by the Scottish Government, would suggest that this argument is somewhat naive.

The EIS General Secretary of course tries to advance a philosophical argument in favour of his Union's position.

He appears to be arguing that education is a national service and therefore all schools should operate on the basis of consistent national policies with no local flexibility. I totally reject this notion.

The delivery of education to our communities is fundamental to the role of local authorities and the purpose of local government. Indeed in the case of Inverclyde our whole social and economic strategy is underpinned by our commitment to giving our young people the best possible start in life to help lift many of them out of poverty. We should also not forget that most local councillors have a direct interest in ensuring that the education services we provide are of a high standard since our children and grandchildren are among the recipients of these services.

If you accept the logic of Mr Smith's argument then most, if not all, services would be removed from local authorities.

If education is a national service so by the same logic is social work. Why not therefore transfer social work to be run by appointed health boards?

If we are looking for consistent national standards why not transfer responsibility for local roads to Transport Scotland, which already manages the trunk roads network?

I could go on.

Mr Smith tells us that it would be important to ensure proper democratic accountability within the educational trusts so that local views and priorities are not overlooked, citing health boards as a possible blue print for how such trusts could operate.

Mr Smith would do well to ask the people of Inverclyde how accountable they feel that health boards are before before promoting such nonsense.

The fundamental point that Mr Smith is missing is that local authorities do not exist simply to deliver nationally agreed policies and priorities. We have a system of local government in Scotland not local administration.

Any political party that is considering removing education from local authority control would do well to think again. I am confident that this is something that would be opposed by the vast majority of councillors across the political spectrum.

Strange bedfellows...

I see from the 'Scotsman' that former Tory Scottish Secretary Michael - now Lord - Forsyth is calling for a referendum before the tax powers for the Scottish Parliament proposed by the Calman Commission are introduced by the Westminster Parliament.

While I am not convinced of the need for a referendum - we had one in 1997 on the 3p tax power, which the Scottish Parliament has not used in 11 years - I do share Lord Forsyth's scepticism about these new powers (doesn't politics create some strange bedfellows?), although possibly for different reasons.

I just find it bizarre that Parliamentarians who have spent the last 11 years seeking to limit the ability of local government to use its tax raising powers, and not used the tax varying power given to them by the Scottish people, are so keen on additional tax varying powers. I have yet to hear a convincing case as to how these additional powers will be used to better the lives of the people of Scotland.

Can anyone help me in this regard?

Happy Christmas...

It hardly seems a year since my last Christmas message – it must be my age - and I think we can agree it has been an eventful and challenging 12 months for us all.

Despite the economic pressures, our prudence in setting a two year budget in 2008 enabled us to progress our programme of investment in Inverclyde, deliver on our political priorities and continue the modernisation of the Council.

2011 will bring further financial challenges as we face up to the difficult task of making budget savings due to funding cuts by the UK and Scottish Governments. There are no easy savings and there can be no escaping the fact that there will be reductions in the range of services we provide and the number of people we employ.

Despite this, 2011 should be another year of progress for Inverclyde.

In early 2011 we will celebrate the opening of Kilmacolm’s new community centre and public library.

In late spring we will see the completion of two fantastic new secondary schools in Greenock, Clydeview Academy and Notre Dame High School, as part of our £80m PPP project. In the autumn work will start on our exciting new shared campus in Port Glasgow and the new St Columba’s High School in Gourock.

2011 will see further significant progress with our Leisure Strategy. Work should start on the refurbishment of Ravenscraig Stadium; a new changing pavilion and community stadium at Parklea; and the upgrading of Gourock Pool.

Work will continue on our new £10m theatre at East India Harbour in Greenock and in July we will welcome back the Tall Ships Race: a major opportunity to showcase Inverclyde to the outside world.

2011 should see the completion of nearly 200 new homes by River Clyde Homes in Port Glasgow.

As you can see, there is much to look forward to.

Before closing, I would like to thank all Council staff for their efforts during the past year and in particular over the last few weeks dealing with the effects of an unprecedented cold snap. I would also like to offer my special thanks to those staff who will be keeping that effort going, working over the holiday period to maintain essential services.

I would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and the very best for 2011.

Councillor Stephen McCabe
Leader of Inverclyde Council

Go ahead for MUGA...

Weather permitting, work should start on 10 January on the new £150,000 floodlit multi-use games area in Kilmacolm's Birkmyre Park.

At a special Council meeting last week permission was given to accept a tender from The Malcolm Group Ltd.

The MUGA - which will be available for a variety of sports, including football, tennis and netball - will be situated on the site of dilapidated tennis courts. This investment in Birkmyre Park adds to previous investments by the Council in the refurbishment of the pavilion and play area, and the re-opening of the putting green.

I almost feel sorry for the Tories...

Following the latest difficulties with their Lib Dem Coalition partners - Vice Cable's unguarded comments to two Daily Telegraph journalists - I almost feel sorry for the Tories.

I suspect many of them are now thinking that they should have tried to run a minority government rather than enter into a coalition with the most unprincipled party in British politics.

It looks increasingly unlikely to me that the coalition will last the full five years of this Parliament.

I only hope that if Labour is the biggest party after next year's Scottish Parliament election we are very wary of entering into another coalition with the Lib Dems.

The week ahead...

The final working week before Christmas.

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Port Glasgow
1.30 Attending Joint Carol Service for St Michael's and Newark Primary Schools
3.30 Chairing a Meeting of the Inverclyde Alliance Board
6.30 Chairing a meeting of the Shared Campus Working Group
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I have a surgery at Woodhall Tenants' Hall
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Inaugural meeting of Inverclyde Community Health and Care Partnership Committee
3.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
Thursday and Friday
At work all day with no Council commitments

Lib Dem MSP slams Coastguard plans...

I see that Lib Dem West of Scotland Regional MSP Ross Finnie has slammed the decision of the Con Dem Coalition Government to close Greenock's Coastguard Centre.

At least Ross is being consistent, since he attacked the previous Labour Government when the MOD decided to close the Navy Buildings in Eldon Street, leading to concern that the Coastguard could relocate out of Inverclyde.

Now his own party have gone a step further.

Hopefully Ross will be able to use his influence with Nick Clegg to have this decision reversed?

The week ahead...

Monday
At work all day. In the evening I am due to attend a meeting of Kilmacolm Primary School Parent Partnership.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Special Meetings of Inverclyde Council
7.00 Meeting of St Columba's High School Working Group
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
11.00 Leave work to travel to Paisley
11.30 Meeting at Renfrewshire Council regarding Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park
1.00 Meeting with Council Officers in Greenock
2.30 Event to mark the completion of work at the West Stewart Street Underpass in Greenock
3.30 Meeting of Central Gourock Working Group
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
At work all day and into the evening
Friday
At work in the morning with the afternoon off for our Christmas Lunch

Not as good as it was made out...

I attended a meeting of the COSLA Convention in Edinburgh today, where there was a growing recognition on the part of Councils - including some of those who enthusiastically endorsed the package only a few weeks ago - that the financial deal on the table from the Scottish Government is not as good as it was made out to be.

Officers of our Council are still working on the figures supplied by the Scottish Government and seeking further information, so it is too early to say if Inverclyde's cut is higher or lower than the 2.6% average.

The full Council will consider a report on the two-year budget position for 2011-13 on Tuesday and will decide whether or not we are prepared to sign up to the Government's offer. If we do agree to sign up there will be a number of conditions attached, outlining what we would require of the Scottish Government before we finalise our budget.

One thing that has angered many Council Leaders however is the severity of the sanction that would be imposed by the Government on those Councils that do not sign up, which in Inverclyde's case would amount to an additional cut of over £7.5m. We believe that what they are proposing is an affront to democracy and that the Cabinet should hang their heads in shame.

The only topic of coversation...

Often in our daily lives we pass pleasantries with other people about the weather.

At present it seems to be the only topic of conversation.

Leaving home just after 6.30 this morning I somehow managed to get to work in Govan for 7.25, crawling along at an average of 20 miles per hour. Many of my work colleagues were unable to make it in for a variety of reasons.

With my children off school again tomorrow it looks like it will be my turn to take the day off to watch them.

I had a surgery in Park Farm Community Hall tonight. On the way there my car got stuck in Mull Avenue, so I had to walk the rest of the way on foot. On reaching the Hall I quickly agreed with the hall keeper that no one in their right mind would be coming out tonight, so the surgery was cancelled. Fortunately I was able to get my car unstuck and travel back safely to Kilmacolm.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

The novelty is wearing off...fast!

What weather we are having!

When I left Kilmacolm just before 7.00 this morning there was no snow, just some light rain.

At about 8.30 I looked out of my office window in Govan to see that it was snowing heavily. Just before 12.00 I set off from work to return home after the decision was taken to close the office. Over two hours later I finally got out of Glasgow and onto the M8!

The novelty of this weather is certainly wearing off fast.

The week ahead...

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting with the trade unions regarding the Council's Budget
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
6.30 Meeting of the Council's Shared Campus Working Group
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I have a surgery at Boglestone Community Centre.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm
1.30 Kilmacolm Primary School Nativity Show
3.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
Thursday
9.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Meeting with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT)
Friday
At the COSLA Convention in Edinburgh most of the day,then going to work in Glasgow for a few hours in the afternoon.

Christmas Fun...

Following the disappointment of the cancellation of last night's Christmas Lights Switch-Ons it was back to Christmas duty this morning when I opened the St Michael's Primary School Christmas Fete.

Despite the weather, there was a very good turnout of parents and family members to support the school and I am sure that a significant sum was raised for school funds.

Well done to everyone who put in a great effort to make this event such a success.

World Cup Disappointment...

I was deeply disappointed to hear that England had missed out on hosting the 2018 World Cup. I suppose that's what happens when you elect a Tory government.

As a football fan I was looking forward to the World Cup coming to the UK in 8 years time. It looks as if it could be a long time yet before football comes home again.

More Christmas Spirit...

It might just have been the time of the year - everyone getting in the Christmas spirit - but we had a relatively quiet full Council today. The local press must have anticipated this as they did not bother to turn up.

Members heard that by virtue of a 25 minute appearance at a recent General Purposes Board SNP Councillor Jim Grieve is permitted a further 6 months of absence from Council meetings before he would automatically be removed from office. Hopefully Jim will be fit to return to his duties in the near future.

There were a number of appointments made.

My Labour colleague Jim Clocherty was appointed unopposed to replace my former Labour colleague Charlie McCallum, who recently resigned from the Human Resources Board, for reasons that I am not quite clear about.

Charlie in turn was appointed to the Prison Visiting Committee of the new HMP Low Moss. Some wag - who shall remain nameless - was overheard saying that he would be more than happy to send Charlie to Low Moss!

More contentious were the appointments to the Board of Greenock Arts Guild and Discover Inverclyde.

Jim Clocherty was appointed unopposed to the Arts Guild, by vitue of the fact that he is Convener of the Regeneration Committee, while SNP Councillor Chris Osborne - yes he of the other less interesting blog - narrowly beat Lib Dem Leader Alan Blair, and apparent culture vulture, in a vote for the second position.

Independent Councillor Ronnie Ahlfeld beat off competition from former Lib Dem Provost Ciano Rebecchi and SNP Group Leader, and renowned world traveller, Jim MacLeod, for the Discover Inverclyde position.

Democracy in action!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

I attended the switch-on of the Christmas Lights in Port Glasgow this evening.

Children from the local primaries were in great voice, signing carols as we awaited the arrival of Santa. As usual, the Salvation Army Band provided the musical accompaniment.

Despite the weather, there was a good turnout at the event and my colleague Robert Moran was in fine form as master of ceremonies.

At least for half an hour we were able to get into the Christmas Spirit and forget about these troubled times.

The week ahead...

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Chairing the Policy & Resources Executive Sub-Committee
4.00 Meeting with Inverclyde Council on Disability (ICOD)
5.00 Meeting of the Administration Group and Corporate Management Team to discuss the Council's Budget
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I am hoping to attend the monthly meeting of Kilmacolm Community Council.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
3.00 Inverclyde Alliance Board Pre-agenda
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
6.00 Christmas Lights Switch-On at Port Glasgow
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Meeting of Inverclyde Council
5.30 Christmas Lights Switch-On at Greenock
Friday
At work all day. At 6.00 I will be officiating at the Christmas Lights Switch-On at Kilmacolm

SNP rethink on budget...

I see that following defeat in the Scottish Parliament today the SNP Government is rethinking its decision to introduce only a one year budget.

This makes the decision of the other (i.e non Labour) political groups in COSLA to agree a short-term deal with the Government before it had even presented its budget to Parliament look rather foolish, particularly when one of COSLA's main demands had been for a longer-term settlement.

I can understand why the SNP Group in COSLA was desperate for a deal with their Government: I cannot for the life of me work out why the Lib Dem, Tory and Independent Groups were so determined to sign up, and in doing so agree to a punishment clause that fundamentally undermines local democracy.

...but tomorrow is another day...

Tomorrow Council officers will unveil a package of savings proposals for Councillors to consider when setting the Council's budgets for 2011/12 and 2012/13.

The financial challenges facing Inverclyde and all other Councils and public bodies are well known. We have been working for the last 18 months or so to identify efficiency savings in order to address these challenges but we have also realised for some time that efficiency savings alone will not close the budget gap.

The savings package to be announced tomorrow will therefore contain a good number of proposals that will involve a reduction in service.

I should stress however that these proposals are options for Councillors to consider.

Officers have estimated that of the £10.9m worth of savings they have identified Councillors will need to agree to just over £6m, unless we come up with alternative savings ourselves, to balance the books over the next two years.

This will require some very tough decisions of Members.

My priority as Council Leader will be to limit the impact on frontline services and in particular services to the most vulnerable in our community. I will also be looking to ensure that we continue with our investment programmes in our schools and leisure facilities.

There is no getting away from the fact however that we will have to cut funding in a number of areas. We will look to manage the impact on staff and service users as sentively as we can.

A good day...

It was a good day today.

At lunchtime I attended a small event in Oronsay to mark the handover of the first new houses to be built by River Clyde Homes in Port Glasgow.

The Oronsay development is part of an overall project comprising of 195 new homes, with other houses being built at Woodhall and Moray Road. The total contract value is £23.5m.

These are the first new family houses to be built in Port Glasgow since 1975, so it is quite a milestone.

I had the opportunity to have a look at a couple of houses and was impressed by what I saw. I also spoke to some of the tenants, who are delighted with their new homes.

This evening I attended a reception at The Custom House in Greenock where His Royal Highness, The Earl of Wessex, unveiled the name of the new Arts Guild theatre: The Beacon Inverclyde Arts Centre. Work started on the new centre - which is being funded in part through a £2.5m grant from the Council - this week and should be completed in 2012.

This again is another major milestone in the regeneration of Inverclyde.

As I said, a good day.

£7bn Loan to Ireland

It looks very likely that the UK is about to offer a loan of around £7bn to the Republic of Ireland to help them out of their financial crisis.

I will resist the temptation to draw a parallel between Ireland and an independent Scotland.

It is ironic however that the Con Dem Government, which has been telling us that they inherited such a financial mess from Labour, feels able to lend £7bn to Ireland.

Perhaps things in the UK were not quite as bad as they made out after all?

What now for Clune Park?

It was another frustrating meeting of the Clune Park Task Group tonight as it became clear that discussions between officers of the Council and the Scottish Government on the way forward are not progressing as quickly or as well as we had hoped.

Members of the Task Group were also deeply disappointed to hear that the Minister for Housing and Communities, Alex Neil, has refused to visit the area until a way forward has been agreed.

Clune Park Tenants' and Residents' Association will now write directly to the Minister asking him to change his mind.

Hopefully they will have more success than me, since I have asked the Minister three times, without success, to visit the area.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work all day. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.30 Inverclyde Council Pre-agenda
4.00 All Members' Briefing on the Council's Budget
5.00 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
11.30 Leave work to travel to Port Glasgow
12.00 River Clyde Homes handover ceremony at Oronsay
2.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
3.30 Meeting with Officers and Gibshill Residents' Association
5.30 Greenock Arts Guild Fundraising Reception
Thursday
At work all day with no evening commitments
Friday
In the morning I am due to attend a meeting of the Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership in Dumbarton. In the afternoon I will be going to work in Glasgow.
Saturday
I have a surgery in Kilmacolm Community Centre at 9.30.

Deal or No Deal?

I attended a rather heated meeting of Council Leaders at COSLA today where the Local Government Finance Settlement was high on the agenda.

With the other political groups congratulating themselves on how good a deal they had secured from the SNP Government it was left to Labour Council Leaders to point out that what was on offer was nowhere near as good as they were making out.

The fundamental point that the other groups chose to ignore however was that the threat by the Government to slash funding to Councils who do not sign up to do their bidding is an affront to local democracy.

Let us have no more talk of mutual trust and partnership from this Government. They have made it quite clear that if Councils don't agree to do as they are told they will be severely punished like disobedient children.

Unfortunately they have been encouraged to act in this way by SNP, Lib Dem, Independent and Tory Council Leaders, who would be only too happy to see Labour Councils get their comeuppance.

These Council Leaders should enjoy their time of preeminence while it lasts, as I suspect come May 2012 a number of them will be looking for new jobs.

A brass neck...

The brass neck of our SNP Government never fails to amaze me.

After continually arguing for the Scottish Parliament to have greater fiscal responsibility we find out that they have irresponsibly allowed the Parliament's tax varying power - which I and over 1.5m other Scots voted for in 1997 - to lapse.

This is nothing short of a disgrace. It is also a betrayal of the devolution settlement and the Scottish people.

Roll on next May!

Local Government Settlement...

So the Scottish Government has published its draft budget for 2011/12 and the details of its 'offer' to local government.

In a letter to Council Leaders the Finance Secretary John Swinney tells us that the agreement he has struck with COSLA - the local authority umbrella body - is "based upon mutual respect and partnership". I beg to differ.

The choice for individual Councils like Inverclyde is quite stark.

If we sign up to the deal - I have to send a letter to Mr Swinney by 21 December confirming our agreement - we will face a cut of 2.6% in our revenue funding. If we don't sign up we will face a cut of 6.4%!

This hardly smacks of mutual respect to me and it certainly doesn't demonstrate mutual trust.

Previous Scottish Governments were criticised for the excessive use of ring fenced funding. This Government might be taking a different approach but the message is very much the same i.e. do as you are told on your funding will be cut.

Surely any pretence of parity of esteem between the two levels of Scottish Government has gone for ever?

As some of us have realised for a long time, we in local government are very much the junior 'partner' in the relationship and when push comes to shove we have no option but to do as we are told.

Mind you one good thing has come of the latest 'deal' between COSLA and the SNP Government and that is the end of the 'historic' Concordat.

The week ahead...

Monday
I am at work all day. In the evening I will be attending a meeting of the Woodhall Task Group.
Tuesday and Wednesday
At a conference through work on both days. On Wednesday evening I hope to attend a meeting of the Kelburn Task Group.
Thursday
In the morning I have a meeting scheduled with the Chair and Chief Executive of River Clyde Homes, before going to work in Glasgow. In the evening I hope to attend a public meeting organised by Whitecroft Tenants' and Residents' Association.
Friday
Most of the day I will be through at Edinburgh for the COSLA Leaders' meeting. In the afternoon I will be at work in Glasgow for a few hours.

....we will remember them

I laid a wreath at the Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph in Port Glasgow today.

While I have done this a number of times over the years I always feel greatly honoured to undertake this duty on behalf of the Council and the local community in remembrance of the men and women of our town who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country.

It also was good to see so many people - young and old - turn out for the service.

MSPs' Pay Freeze...

I see that our MSPs have agreed to a two year freeze in their pay from next year, following the lead of Councillors who agreed to a freeze in the current financial year. Well done to them.

Mind you the basic salary of an MSP at £57,521 is still nearly four times the basic salary of a Councillor, which currently stands at £16,234.

Kids are Street Smart...

I had the pleasure of attending one of the Council's 'Street Smart' showcases in Port Glasgow High School tonight where youngsters from P7 in local primary schools demonstrated what they had learned about various safety issues (including Internet safety, road safety and alcohol awareness) at workshops run by Council staff in September and October.

The youngsters from Kings Oak, St John's, St Michael's and St Francis all gave very informative and entertaining presentations. The trophy for the best presentation went to St Michael's Primary School.

Well done to the youngsters, their teachers and Council staff for making this such a successful event.

The future of Education...

I was interested in the coverage today of the views of Keir Bloomer, a leading educationalist, on the management of schools, where Mr Bloomer was arguing that schools should be removed from local authority control and taken over by local community trusts.

While our Council has a reputation for delivering quality education services, we are not complacent. We recognise that there is always room for improvement and that we need to continually look for new ways of meeting the needs of all our young people.

While I strongly believe that our state education system should be democratically accountable I am nevertheless prepared to listen to the case for change. I intend to contact Mr Bloomer to invite him down to Inverclyde to give him an opportunity to explain to us where we are going wrong and to outline how his proposals would improve the quality of education delivered to our young people.

I am sure that, if he accepts my invitation, we will have an interesting debate.

The week ahead...

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
4.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
5.00 Special meeting of the Administration Group
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I have a surgery at Boglestone Community Centre at 6.00.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Street Smart 2010 at Port Glasgow High School
Thursday
At work all day. In the evening I have a meeting of the Kilmacolm New Community Centre Company Board.
Friday
At work all day again. In the evening I will be attending the 'Pride of Inverclyde' Awards in Greenock Town Hall.
Sunday
I will be representing the Council at the Remembrance Sunday Service in Port Glasgow and laying a wreath at the Cenotaph.

Good on you Tom...

Opening my Greenock Telegraph last night I was pleasantly surprised to see that my fellow Ward 1 Councillor, Lib Dem Tom Fyfe, was holding a surgery in Kilmacolm Community Centre this morning.

Tom is not known for holding regular surgeries - in fact I can probably count on the fingers of one hand how many surgeries he has held since he was elected in 2007.

So good on you Tom: who knows, maybe next month it will be Port Glasgow's turn?

Improvements at Kilmacolm Cross...

Work is due to start on Monday (8 November) to improve pedestrian crossing points at Kilmacolm Cross. The work, which is scheduled to last for 3 weeks (weather permitting), will cost around £18,000.

I have received a number of representations from constituents about the difficulties for pedestrians crossing Bridge of Weir and Port Glasgow Roads at the Cross since I was elected - and have experienced them at first hand - so I am pleased that this work is getting underway. Hopefully it will go some way to make it safer for pedestrians crossing at this very busy location in the heart of the village.

Parking U-turn...

I see that outspoken SNP Councillor Chris Osborne has now welcomed key aspects of the draft parking strategy for Greenock Town Centre developed by the Council's consultants.

Quite a U-turn from young Chris given that he had previously attacked the proposals without actually knowing what they were.

Maybe the next time he will attend the Members' briefing rather than relying on one of his colleagues to tell him what was discussed!

The week ahead...

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.30 Meeting with Officers
3.30 Pre-agenda for the next Policy & Resources Committee meeting
5.00 Special meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Meeting of Kilmacolm Primary School Parent Partnership
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.00 Meeting with the Chief Executive of Riverside Inverclyde
2.00 Presentation on educational attainment
4.00 Meeting of the Education & Lifelong Learning Committee
7.00 Meeting of the Park Farm Regeneration Sub-Committee
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Meeting of the Council's Strategic Leadership Forum
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.00 Meeting with the new Divisional Police Commander
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
At work all day with no evening commitments
Friday
Attending a special COSLA Leaders' meeting in Edinburgh in the morning. In the afternoon I will be at work for a few hours and in the evening I have a meeting of Inverclyde Constituency Labour Party.
Saturday
10.00 Service at the Garden of Remembrance in Clyde Square

At last some good news for Clune Park...

I am pleased to report that at its meeting today the Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee agreed to include the Clune Park area of Port Glasgow as a priority in Inverclyde's Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP).

There is still a fair way to go however before we will see work start in Clune Park.

For that to happen we need to be able to agree a revised strategy with the Scottish Government. While discussions continue at officer level on how the Council and the Scottish Government can jointly address the issues in Clune Park I am disappointed that the Housing Minister, Alex Neil, has so far not accepted my invitation to visit the area to see for himself the challenges we face.

I firmly believe that a visit from the Minister would help in underlining to officers the urgency of coming up with a solution. It would also give a boost to the members of the residents' association, who are beginning to think that the Government has lost interest in their area.

Shared Campus Update

I chaired a meeting of the Council's Shared Campus Working Group tonight in St Stephen's High School.

We were given useful updates by officers on the arrangements for the temporary shared campus at Stephen's; the development of the new shared campus on the Port Glasgow High site; the next stage of the consultation process with stakeholders; and proposals for additional parking and drop off points at the temporary campus.

The group were pleased to hear that 16 major contractors have expressed an interest in building the campus. Following an appraisal of the proposals a number will be invited to formally bid for the contract early in the New Year.

During the meeting I was questioned on the Council's commitment to the new shared campus in light of the funding cuts announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

I stressed that while we still await the details of our funding allocations from the Scottish Government I was confident that the funding was in place for both the shared campus and the new St Columba's High School. These two projects are my administration's highest priorities and therefore we will prioritise our spending plans to ensure that they go ahead. Undoubtedly however the impending cuts in both revenue and capital funding will mean that we will have to cut back on some other projects.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work all day in Glasgow. In the evening I am due to chair a meeting of the Shared Campus Working Group.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Briefing on the Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) for Inverclyde
3.00 Meeting of the Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee
6.30 Surgery at Kilmacolm Community Centre
7.30 Meeting of Kilmacolm Community Council
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Personal appointment
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Briefing for Elected Members by the Chief Executive of River Clyde Homes
3.00 Meeting of the Council's Regeneration Committee
6.00 Return to work in Glasgow for a Committee meeting
Friday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments

A Greater Renfrewshire?

At yesterday's COSLA Convention meeting one of the reports discussed was on reform of the public sector.

During the debate the SNP Group Leader, Derek Mackay, who is also the Leader of Renfrewshire Council, called on COSLA to start debating the number of Councils we have in Scotland.

Somewhat 'tongue in cheek', I told Derek that if he had designs on a 'Greater Renfrewshire' authority to give me a call.

Personally however, I think that public sector reform has much more to it than simply reducing the number of Councils.

When I sit around the Inverclyde Alliance Board table I do so with a large number of public sector partners - the Health Board, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, James Watt College, The Scottish Government, Job Centre Plus -as well as partners from business, trade unions and the voluntary sector. The Alliance structure also has involvement from a number of quasi-public agencies, such as Riverside Inverclyde, Inverclyde Leisure and local and national housing associations.

For me the focus of public sector reform should be on how agencies that operate within existing council boundaries can work together better, and, frankly, if we need so many agencies.

That is not to say that I would shy away from a debate about council boundaries.

For me the overriding imperative is that we meet the needs of the people of Inverclyde. If a convincing case was presented that these needs could be better met within the context of a greater Renfrewshire authority then that is something I would seriously look at.

Mind you, I am not convinced that I will receive a call from Derek. I suspect that for political and other reasons East Renfrewshire is more likely to be the subject of his advances.

Exciting Plans...

I attended a meeting in Boglestone Community Centre last night to discuss the proposals for a new play area and multi-use games area on the land adjacent to the centre. The Three Wards Community Council is working with Council Community Workers on developing this project.

At the meeting we received a presentation from a firm that designs and installs play facilities. The plans that they have come up with are very exciting. However to deliver the facilities that we are looking for will cost around £200,000.

Fortunately the Council has already committed £100,000 towards the project with the Community Council looking to raise another £100,000 through bids to various funders. This is obviously a major challenge in the current climate but you don't get if you don't ask.

The target is to have the play facilities in place for next summer if the funding can be secured.

Bus Station Improvements

I see that my coalition partner David Wilson will be officially opening the revamped Greenock Bus Station on Wednesday morning. The investment by SPT in the bus station is very much to be welcomed, with facilities for the travelling public greatly improved.

At recent liaison meetings with SPT I have been lobbying for the upgrading of Port Glasgow Bus Station. Hopefully SPT will be able to allocate funding for this within the not too distant future.

Improvements at the bus station would complement the investment by the Council and Riverside Inverclyde that is currently underway through the various Town Centre Regeneration Fund projects.

Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places

Inverclyde Council, at its meeting on 7 October 2010, considered the preliminary representations received following publication of its intention to review polling districts and polling places. The Council, has now agreed a consultative draft of the polling arrangements for the Inverclyde County Constituency.

The Council would welcome comments on the proposals.

A Notice has been placed on the Council’s website (www.inverclyde.gov.uk) and throughout Council public offices, seeking comments from all electors on these proposals.

Representations should, if possible, suggest alternative arrangements to be considered.

Any responses on the Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places should be sent to: The Head of Legal & Democratic Services, Inverclyde Council, Municipal Buildings, Greenock PA15 1LX, or e-mailed to legal.support@inverclyde.gov.uk, no later than Monday 29 November 2010.

Final proposals, having regard to any comments received will be considered by The Council on 24 February 2011.

The week ahead...

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Meeting with Officers
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I have a surgery at Clune Park Resource Centre from 6.00 to 7.00. I am then planning to attend a meeting in Boglestone Community Centre to discuss the proposed play and kick-about areas adjacent to the centre.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Briefing meeting with Officers
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.00 Meeting with Officers
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting of the Health & Social Care Committee
7.00 Meeting of Slaemuir Tenants' and Residents' Association in St Francis Primary School
Friday
On leave from work but attending the COSLA Convention in Ayr

Scotland can't afford the SNP...

I see that nice man John Swinney wants to break up my country, arguing that Scotland "can no longer afford the Union".

The truth is John: Scotland can't afford another 4 years of an SNP Government, whether that be as a minority administration or in coalition with the Tories, that cannot face up to difficult decisions, has abandoned a number of its key manifesto pledges and who's entire strategy is based on short-sighted populism. Look out for a one-year budget to see them through to next year's election, centred around a continuation of the Council Tax freeze and a few other sweeteners thrown in for good measure.

While I agree with much of John's analysis of the Con Dem Coalition's cuts agenda, I simply do not accept that Scotland would be better off as an independent nation.

I am not convinced that John himself believes that either and I am absolutely certain that the majority of the Scottish people do not believe it.

Incidentally I understand that local SNP Councillor, Chris the Scarlet Pimpernel Osborne, was spotted at the SNP Conference today. I wonder how he found the time for a wee jolly to Perth when he rarely graces us with his presence in the Council buildings in Greenock.

Council Tax Freeze

Just heard on 'Newsnight Scotland' that we are having a Council Tax freeze next year, with the SNP's Mike Russell telling us that they want to help out hard pressed families in these difficult times.

In the next breath however he was arguing that the Scottish Government needs greater fiscal autonomy - including tax raising powers - to help grow the Scottish economy and limit the effects of UK budget cuts.

So it would be alright Mike for the Scottish Government to raise taxes but not Councils?

So much for the 'new relationship' between the Scottish Government and local government!

Nice one Ed...

An impressive debut by new Labour Leader Ed Miliband at yesterday's Prime Minister's Questions.

Even the Tory press had to admit the 'boy' did well.

Looks like Cameron will need to up his game for next week.

The week ahead...

A quieter week than normal:

Monday
At work all day. In the evening I will chair a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group.
Tuesday
Another full day at work with a meeting of the Three Wards Community Council to attend in the evening.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
5.00 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Meeting of Kilmacolm New Community Centre Company Board
Thursday
At work most of the day with a late afternoon meeting in Glasgow with Clydeport
Friday
Another full day at work with no evening commitments

On the campaign trail...

I was out in Renfrew this morning delivering direct mail for our Labour Candidate at next year's Scottish Parliament Election, Stuart Clark.

Stuart is standing in the new Renfrewshire North and West Constituency, which also includes Kilmacolm and Quarrier's Village, which form part of my Council ward.

Although he faces a tough battle - the SNP and Tory candidates have high local profiles - I know that Stuart won't fail due to lack of effort or support. He has a track record in running successful local campaigns, having been election agent for both Trish Godman MSP and Jim Sheridan MP.

The new Labour Team

New Labour Leader Ed Miliband has a strong team in his first Shadow Cabinet.

Scotland is well represented in the shape of Douglas Alexander (Work and Pensions), Jim Murphy (Defence) and Ann McKechin (Scottish Secretary).

It is good to see so many women in the Shadow Cabinet. Forty-seven percent of the Shadow Cabinet are women in contrast to the actual cabinet, where only seventeen percent are women.

Labour's Shadow Cabinet is also younger than the Con Dem Coalition and less dominated by Oxbridge graduates.

I am confident that our new Labour Team will be a very effective opposition.

Poor Old Tories

You have to feel sorry for the poor old Tories, don't you?

After gathering in Birmingham for their first conference since May's election brought them back into government after 13 years in opposition, they find the conference totally overshadowed by George Osborne's half-baked proposal to cut child benefit.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

Half a Million to Help Deliver a Better Future

Nearly half a million pounds has been awarded to projects aimed at delivering promises made in Inverclyde’s Single Outcome Agreement.

The Inverclyde Alliance has approved £486,000 to fund 13 initiatives under the headings of area renewal and development.

We received a wide range of bids from a diverse range of projects. I am delighted that we have been able to distribute a significant sum of money in challenging economic times to initiatives that will really make a difference.

The Single Outcome Agreement was developed by the Inverclyde Alliance setting out a shared vision to improve the prospects of Inverclyde as a place to live and to secure a better future for its people.

The successful initiatives include a project to improve people’s health and fitness by taking part in outdoor environment action days, a scheme to encourage employers to subsidise the recruitment of local unemployed people and the provision of play equipment for a new play park.

We know that working in partnership is the best way to deliver on our promises and achieve real change in Inverclyde. This funding will help us take another step forward in changing lives for the better and improving the quality of life for the people of Inverclyde.

List of Approved Projects:

Inverclyde Green Gym – Instructor led environmental action days - £8,600

Health and Employability – To support a newly developed Inverclyde Employer Engagement Unit - £11,950

Glebe Arts Projects – Employ seven local people to create original pieces of art work to fill in broken windows of the Glebe Sugar Warehouse - £59,340

Employer Engagement Enhancement – To incentivise and subsidise the recruitment of local unemployed people - £40,000

Graduate Future Plus – To provide eight local Inverclyde graduates with six months paid employment related to their academic discipline - £61,820

Triple P Parenting Training – To progress multi-agency work being carried out within the Community Planning framework - £89,000

Communities are doing it for Themselves – Youth Work - £18,588

Port Glasgow Industrial Estate Environmental Improvements - £93,000

Greenock Central Residents Action Group Play Park – To provide play equipment at the proposed play park at Anne Street/Sir Michael Street - £25,000

CVS Inverclyde – To pilot a new approach to attracting external funding - £17,000

Tackling Depopulation Research Project – To explore the population issues facing Inverclyde - £20,000

Inverclyde Citizens’ Panel and Youth Panel – To expand the Citizens’ Panel, incorporate a third survey, establish a Youth Panel and three Youth Panel surveys - £13,500

Integrated Assessment Framework – Provide an interim solution for the sharing of integrated assessment framework documents between Health, Education and Social Work professionals - £28,850

Tory Child Benefit Bombshell

Hot on the heels of the Lib Dems breaking their election promise on VAT we now have the Tories breaking their promise to maintain universal child benefit.

Their proposal to abolish child benefit for families where one parent earns more than £44,000 a year but retain it for families where two parents can earn £40,000 a year each is absurd.

I have just heard a Tory Minister on 'Newsnight' describe this as "rough justice", but justify it on the basis that it is simpler than means testing the benefit.

So much for the Tories being the family friendly party.

I very much suspect they will rue the day they took this decision.

The week ahead...

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.30 Chairing a meeting of the Inverclyde Alliance Board
5.30 Attending a meeting of the Woodhall Task Group at Tree Tops Nursery
7.00 Attending a meeting of St Francis Primary School Parent Council
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting with Visit Scotland
5.00 Meeting between the Administration Group and Corporate Management Team to discuss the Council's Budget
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Attending a meeting of the Kelburn Action Group at Woodhall Tenants' Hall
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.30 Presenting prizes for a Schools' Mental Health Awareness Competition
4.00 Meeting of Inverclyde Council
7.00 Attending the Annual General Meeting of Clune Park Tenants' and Residents' Association
Friday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments

A battle for survival

I see that SNP West of Scotland Regional List MSP Stuart McMillan has been placed 6th on his party's list of candidates for next year's Scottish Parliament Election.

Stuart is facing a battle for political survival since it would require an extraordinary result for the SNP to win 6 of the 7 seats in the West of Scotland Region.

If they were able to pull this off then one of the two big hitters on the list - the Tories Annabel Goldie or the Lib Dems Ross Finnie - would fail to be elected.

I wonder who would would miss most: Stuart, Annabel or Ross?

Leader's Speech

Well done to Ed Miliband on his first conference speech as Labour Leader.

As I said the other day, I am sure that he will make a good Leader.

I do hope however that his brother David will put his name forward for the Shadow Cabinet as I believe that he has much to offer the Party and country.

Parklea Update

I paid a visit to Parklea this afternoon with Provost Michael McCormick to view progress on the redevelopment works.

We were pleased to see that the works to widen the access road and upgrade the car park are almost complete. Work is also progressing well on the improvements to the first 4 grass pitches.

We are well on our way to realising our vision of a centre of excellence for football. I cannot wait until the whole project is completed in 2012.

The week ahead...

Monday
Off on public holiday (it is the Glasgow September weekend), although my wife has given me the pleasure of looking after our new puppy Louie for the day! I will also have a rare opportunity to pick up my two youngest from school in the afternoon In the evening I hope to attend a meeting of Port Glasgow High School Parent Council.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.30 Pre-agenda for next week's meeting of the full Inverclyde Council
5.00 Presentation by young people who participated in this year's Tall Ships Race
6.00 Surgery at St Francis Primary School
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.00 All Members' briefing on the budget
2.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
3.00 Judging a schools' competition on mental health awareness
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
At work all day. In the evening I will be attending the St Stephen's High School Awards.
Friday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments

A new generation...

Congratulations to Ed Miliband on his election as Leader of the Labour Party: I am sure that he will do a great job.

I see that the right wing press and Tory Party Chairwoman are questioning the legitimacy of Ed's leadership given that his brother David polled more votes from MPs/MEPs and party members, while Ed fared better among trade unionists.

It seems we cannot win: we are criticised when we have a coronation rather than an election and when we do have an election the basis of our electoral system is questioned.

No matter what the Tories and right wing press think, trade unions are an integral part of the Labour Party and trade union members, like myself, who pay the political levy are entitled to have our say in who leads our party.

Now that the election is over the whole party will unite behind our new leader and a new generation of shadow ministers. I am confident that in the months and years that lie ahead they will be an effective opposition to the ConDem Coalition.

So much for the 'respect agenda'

I see from today's 'Herald' that the UK Coalition is putting pressure on the Scottish Parliament to move the date of the next Scottish Election to avoid a clash with next UK General Election in May 2015, following the Coalition's decision to move to fixed five year terms. So much for the 'respect agenda' of the Coalition.

Personally I have no difficulty with the move to fixed term UK Parliaments. However I see no reason why that cannot be for a four year term - similar to the Scottish Parliament - rather than for five years. That would result in the next UK Election being held in 2014, avoiding a clash with the Scottish Parliament Election the following year.

Would that not be a sensible solution?

I actually think five years is too long for a term of government.

To freeze or not to freeze that is the question

I received a call from a journalist today carrying out a survey of Council Leaders on whether or not we believe that the Council Tax freeze is sustainable.

I told her that in my opinion that was a question better directed to the Scottish Government since they control our funding. If the Government - or more specifically a majority within the Scottish Parliament - decide that maintaining the Council Tax freeze should be a higher priority that maintaining particular services, local government will have no option but to go along with this. After all, no Council is going to turn down funding to freeze the Council Tax if it comes with the same strings attached as in previous years i.e. you only receive the funding if you agree to a freeze.

Personally I think the politically astute approach for the Scottish Government to take is to allocate specific funding to Councils to allow us to freeze the tax but leave the final decision as to whether we actually do so to individual Councils. This will give Councils the greater flexibility that we have been asking for but at the same time make us directly accountable for the decisions we take.

Faced with significant reductions in our funding Councils will have to look at reducing expenditure, increasing charges for services and increasing the Council Tax. The challenge politically will be to get the balance right between these options since none of them will be popular.

If the Scottish Government decides to impose a Council Tax freeze this will limit our choices to reducing expenditure and increasing charges. While this would make life a bit simpler for Councils it would, in my opinion, fundamentally undermine local democracy.

Local government has been prepared to accept an imposed freeze in the last 3 years in return for increases in funding over all and a reduction in ring fencing. At a time of cuts in funding we should insist on our democratic right to vary local taxation.

Rallying the Faithful

I see that hot on the heels of the Pope, Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg was rallying the faithful at his Party's national conference in Liverpool today amid growing concern among activists about their coalition with the Tories.

Maybe I am biased (?) but I would not trust this man as far as I could throw him. He would sell his Granny for a ministerial car.

I would have said that he would sell his political principles but I am not sure that he has any!

The week ahead...

A busy week ahead:

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Meeting with the Chair of the Central Scotland Green Network
5.00 Briefing for Elected Members on the Council's Transformation Programme
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Chairing a meeting of the Council's Policy & Resources Committee
7.00 Meeting of the Park Farm Regeneration Group
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.00 Meeting with officers
2.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 St Michael's Primary School Parent Council AGM
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.30 Leave work to travel to Port Glasgow
2.00 Briefing on the feasibility study for a new Woodhall Community Centre
3.00 Meeting with officers in Greenock
4.00 Meeting with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Friday
On public holiday (Glasgow September weekend) but have to attend the COSLA Leaders' Meeting in Edinburgh

"War of words"

I see that local SNP Councillor Chris Osborne would like the number of Councillors cut, while his colleague Jim Grieve thinks Councillors should be full-time and paid more.

Despite the headline in today's Greenock Telegraph ("War of words over councillor cull") these points of view are not necessarily mutually exclusive as reducing the number of Councillors could provide a justification for making the post full time and increasing the salary paid, although the latter proposal would go down like a lead balloon in the current economic climate.

Chris comes at the issue from the viewpoint that as a small nation we are over governed. I do not disagree with him but in my humble opinion the priority should be to reduce the number of MSPs (currently 129) we have rather than the number of Councillors.

A pleasant evening...

I spent a pleasant evening at Port Glasgow High School's Prizegiving tonight.

The event was hosted splendidly by the Head Boy and Head Girl and their deputes.

The Head Teacher, Alan Dick, and Corporate Director of Education and Communities, Albert Henderson, spoke well about the young people's achievements and the partnership between the school and parents, which is central to the school's success.

During the evening we were entertained by musical interludes, with the young people displaying their varied talents. I am pleased to report that the reputation of Port Glasgow High School for musical excellence is very much in tact.

The week ahead...

A quieter week ahead:

Monday
At work all day. In the evening I will be attending the Port Glasgow High School Annual Prize Giving at Port Glasgow Town Hall.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Meeting of the Council's Strategic Leadership Forum
6.00 Surgery at Park Farm Community Hall
7.00 Choice between the Three Wards Community Council and St Stephen's High School Parent Council
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Chief Executive's Mid Year Appraisal Review
3.00 Inverclyde Alliance Board Pre-agenda
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Whitecroft Tenants' and Residents' Association Inaugural Meeting
Thursday
On leave from work and no Council commitments
Friday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments

Well done to Stuart...

I see from tonight's Greenock Telegraph that SNP List MSP Stuart McMillan was the man responsible for bringing the First Minister to Greenock on Monday to cut the sod (or more accurately move a bit of dirt) at the site of the new £10m Arts Guild Theatre. Well done to Stuart!

I like to think I played a small part too in creating a photo opportunity for the First Minister by ensuring that the Council came up with £2.5m to make the project happen.

It was actually the first time that I had met Mr Salmond. I had received a few invites through to Edinburgh previously for events he was hosting but I could not make them due to other commitments.

I must say that I found him to be charming, as you would expect, just like the previous First Minister when I met him. My colleague Jim Clocherty also got on well with him, not surprising given their mutual love of horse racing. I understand that a few tips were swapped.

If I was a betting man however I don't think I would be putting a lot on our Eck to cross the finish line first next May.

Apply now for voluntary grants!

Applications are now being invited for the second round of Grants to Voluntary Organisations funding from the Council. Community groups and voluntary organisations have until the 1 October to apply for a share of the £121,280 remaining in the Grants to Voluntary Organisations Fund.

An application form and guidance notes are available from:

• the Inverclyde Council website http://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/
• by telephoning Safer and Inclusive Communities on 01475 714298
• by e-mailing safer.communities@inverclyde.gov.uk

Applications should be returned to:

Mr John Arthur, Head of Safer & Inclusive Communities, 40 West Stewart Street, Greenock PA15 1YA, or e-mailed to safer.communities@inverclyde.gov.uk

The week ahead...

A busy week coming up:

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Sod Cutting Ceremony for the new Arts Guild Theatre
4.00 Policy & Resources Committee Pre-agenda
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Awareness session for Elected Members on Housing and Council Tax Benefits
4.00 Education & Lifelong Learning Committee
7.00 Either Kilmacolm New Community Centre Company Board or Park Farm Tenants' and Residents' Association
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Meeting with the Council's independent advisor regarding the Chief Executive's six monthly appraisal review
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.30 Leave work to travel to Paisley
4.00 Meeting with the Electoral Registration Officer
Friday
At work all day with no Council commitments
Saturday
Judging the Best Dressed Shop Window competition in Kilmacolm in the morning
Sunday
Attending the Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm Labour Party Branch meeting in the afternoon

Well done to Chris...

I see that local SNP Councillor Chris Osborne has followed my lead by starting a blog.

Well done to Chris: it is a good way of keeping your constituents up to date with your work.

It will also help those of us who don't see Chris very often around the Council buildings to remember what he looks like!

Only kidding, Chris.

A shameful decision...

At the Council's Regeneration Committee today members received a report on the success of the Future Jobs Fund, an initiative introduced by the last Labour Government to help people aged 18 -24 who were out of work for more than 6 months get into the Labour market.

The FJF has been a major success in Inverclyde with 258 people to date being employed in the programme with a target of 480 by the time the programme comes to an end in March 2011.

Unfortunately one of the first acts of the new Lib Dem Con Coalition was to axe the Future Jobs Fund: a shameful decision in my opinion.

It seems that the Tories and their Lib Dem allies have not learned the lessons of the 1980s when the Thatcher Government condemned generations of young people to the scrap heap.

Spoilt for choice

I have just cast my first vote in the Labour Party Leadership contest as a member of Unite the Union and was spoilt for choice.

In my opinion four of the five candidates would make a good leader, and no matter who wins, I believe that we will have a strong shadow cabinet that will be an effective opposition to the Lib Dem Con coalition, capable of returning Labour to power at the next general election.

Update on Shared Campus

I chaired a meeting of the Council's Shared Campus Working Group tonight.

Prior to the start of the meeting members of the group were given a tour of St Stephen's to see the work that was carried out over the summer in preparation for the temporary shared campus from August next year. The work included the reinstatement of science and technical classrooms, the relocation of the St Stephen's Music Department to new accommodation and the creation of a new fitness room with changing accommodation. The members of the group seemed impressed by the quality of the work carried out.

During the meeting we were given an update on the design of the new shared campus. In the next couple of months feedback will be provided to stakeholders on the first round of consultation that took place before the summer and further input sought to help inform development of the detailed design. Again members of the working group were impressed by what they saw and heard.

The next meeting of the group is on 25 October.

The week ahead...

A busy and varied week ahead:

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Briefing meeting with Officers
6.30 Chairing a meeting of the Port Glasgow Shared Campus Working Group
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
11.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
12.30 Meeting with Heritage Lottery
3.00 Meeting of the Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee
5.00 Briefing meeting with Officers
6.45 Chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group (depending on when this finishes, I may pop into a meeting of Kilmacolm Community Council on the way home)
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Chairing a meeting of the Council's Strategic Leadership Forum
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Meeting of the Kelburn Action Group
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting of the Regeneration Committee
5.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
Friday
At work all day with no Council commitments

A load of baloney!

I see that SNP List MSP Stuart McMillan is at it again today in his column in The Greenock Telegraph.

Our Stuart claims that opposition parties want the Council Tax freeze ended so that "they can start to charge householders even more money for local services". What a load of baloney!

The reality is that Councillors from across the political spectrum - including SNP Councillors - know that the Council Tax freeze is not sustainable. This is a view backed by the Scottish Government's own Independent Budget Review.

The debate is whether it ends in 2011/12 - just before the Scottish Parliament Election - or in 2012/13 i.e. it is not a matter of if but a matter of when. There are no prizes for guessing why Stuart and his SNP colleagues would like another year of the freeze.

Far from wanting to charge more for services, those who are calling for an end to the freeze believe this is necessary so that Councils can sustain services that they would otherwise have to cut or stop altogether.

While Stuart might want to play the blame game, those of us who have a real job and real responsibility are having to deal with a financial crisis. If Stuart is under any illusion about the extent of this crisis perhaps he should have a word with the SNP Councillors who voted for a two year pay freeze for local government workers at the CoSLA Leaders' meeting today, arguing that the choice was between a pay increase and cuts in jobs and services.

Equally there is a choice between a Council Tax freeze and cuts in jobs and services.

Those, like Stuart, who argue for a continuation of the Council Tax freeze have a duty to tell us what jobs and services we should be cutting to pay for it.

I won't hold my breath.

Major investment in play areas proposed

Next week's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee will be asked to consider proposals for major investment in play area provision across Inverclyde totalling over £600,000.

One of the projects under consideration is a proposal for a new play area and multi-use games area on land adjacent to Boglestone Community Centre, in my own ward. This is a project that I have been keen to see get the go ahead for some time as it is a central location for much of upper Port Glasgow, where play areas are in short supply.

The report is proposing that the Council approves in principle a contribution of £100,000, with the local Three Wards Community Council looking to match fund this from other sources.

If approved, the Council contribution should hopefully assist the Community Council attract other funding, meaning that a better facility can be developed for the benefit of the children and young people of the area.

The week ahead...

Monday
Working all day. In the evening I have a meeting of the Woodhall Task Group at 5.30 and hope to attend the St Francis Primary School Parent Council AGM at 7.00 if the Task Group is over on time. Unfortunately I will miss the Port Glasgow High School Parent Council AGM at 6.30.
Tuesday
Again working all day. In the evening I have a surgery at 6.30 in Kilmacolm Community Centre. Depending on family commitments, I might make it along to the Park Farm Tenants' and Residents' Association after my surgery.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 AGM of Boglestone Community Association. Unfortunately I will miss a meeting of Newark Primary School Parent Council at 6.30.
Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Meeting with Inverclyde Women's Aid
3.00 Meeting of the Health & Social Care Committee
5.00 Leave Greenock to return to work in Glasgow for a Committee meeting
8.00 Leave work to return home
Friday
7.00 Leave home to travel to Edinburgh (stopping off at work in Glasgow on the way)
9.30 Meeting of the COSLA Labour Group
12.00 COSLA Leaders' meeting
1.30 Leave Edinburgh
3.00 Start work in Glasgow
5.00 Leave work to return home

Register to vote now!

Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board, which manages electoral registration in Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, has just commenced its annual canvass to update the register.

Many people are under the impression that because they were on the register last year they automatically remain on it. This is not the case. Each year we are required to make a return to ensure that the register is up to date.

Registration forms will be dropping through letter boxes shortly and it is crucial that householders check the details on their form and return it as soon as possible.

In fact this year it is even more crucial given the plans of the Con-Dem Coalition to cut the number of seats in the House of Commons by 50 and equalise the size of parliamentary constituencies to approximately 75,000 registered voters, based on the electoral registers at 1 December 2010. If we want to maximise the number of constituencies in Scotland we have to maximise registration this year.

At yesterday's meeting of the Valuation Board in Greenock I was able to persuade the Board of the particular importance of maximising registration this year, with the result that the Registration Officer was given authority to commit additional resources to employ more door to door canvassers.

Hopefully this will result in a higher level of registration than otherwise would have been the case.

I would also hope that our local newspaper - The Greenock Telegraph - could run a campaign to maximise local voter registration since Inverclyde is the type of area where there is a high number of people not registered to vote.

Prison deal is good news

On Tuesday the Council's Policy and Resources Committee approved in principle the sale of the site for the new £60 million prison, HMP Inverclyde.

Subject to agreement being reached on a number of detailed matters and the granting of planning consent the Scottish Prison Service will acquire the former Greenock High and Glenburn Schools for the new facility which is part of the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan.

This is good news for Inverclyde and will bring jobs and investment to the area, as well as safeguarding existing jobs. We have worked very closely with the Scottish Prison Service to identify a suitable site and I am pleased that we have reached agreement.

This decision might also give some reassurance to sceptics who have been suspicious that the Council had a secret plan to leave St Columba's High School permanently in its temporary home at the former Greenock High School, reneging on our promise to provide a new St Columba's at the Gourock High School site. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Providing a new home for St Columba's and the shared campus in Port Glasgow are the top political priorities of my administration. Despite the financial challenges we face as a result of anticipated government funding cuts we remain absolutely committed to delivering these projects.

New Library for Kilmacolm

As a Ward Councillor, I am pleased to report that the Council's Policy & Resources Committee today agreed to advertise a contract for the internal design and fit out of the new Kilmacolm Library at a cost of £100,000.

The Library will be located in the former school board building currently being refurbished as part of the contract for the new Kilmacolm Community Centre in the adjacent former Kilmacolm Primary School.

The new Library, which should be open by April next year, will be a major improvement on the current library room located in the existing Community Centre. It will house around 5,000 books, CDs and DVDs; 8 public access PCs; a children's library; a relaxed seating area with coffee machine; and space for organised activities for children and a book group. The new library will have full disabled access; accessible public toilet facilities; and adjacent car parking.

I am sure that this investment by the Council will be warmly welcomed by Library users in the village.

The week ahead...

Monday
Off all day to watch the kids as my school teacher wife is returning to work after being on holiday for 7 weeks! No evening commitments.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.00 Attending a Members' training session
3.00 Chairing a special meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee. No evening commitments.
Wednesday
9.00 Start work in Glasgow (in a bit later today so that I can see the kids off to school on their first day back, with my son Ronan starting secondary school)
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Meeting with officers
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group. No evening commitments.
Thursday
8.30 Meeting in Greenock with the Chairperson and Chief Executive of River Clyde Homes, along with the Council's Chief Executive
10.30 Start work in Glasgow. Working until around 7.00 as attending the Association's AGM.
Friday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Attending a meeting of the Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board
3.00 Photograph with Riverside Inverclyde
6.30 Attending 'The Recruit' in Greenock Town Hall

Holyrood message

I see that in his 'Holyrood message' in today's Greenock Telegraph our esteemed SNP list MSP blames "the dreadful mismanagement of the UK public finances by the previous Labour Government" for the impending reductions in public expenditure.

It beats me why the Telegraph allows Mr McMillan this platform to attack his political opponents. Why can't he, like other mere mortals, have to rely on press releases or, dare I say it, a blog for this?

That having been said, he is of course, as usual, talking claptrap.

As far as I know Labour was not in charge of the Greek, Spanish, Portuguese or Irish economies during the past couple of years, all of which have experienced significant economic difficulties and cuts in public expenditure. Nor was Labour in charge of the economic superpower that is the United States of America, which is going through very similar problems to the UK.

It is also worth reminding Mr McMillan that only a matter of 3 months ago his party's assertion that Labour was to blame for all our economic woes was overwhelmingly rejected by the voters of Inverclyde who returned David Cairns to Westminster with a resounding and increased majority.

I don't recall when the Labour Government was bailing out both The Bank of Scotland and The Royal Bank of Scotland with billions of pounds of taxpayers money Mr McMillan saying that they should have been left to collapse.

I don't recall when the Labour Government was borrowing billions of pounds to keep the UK economy afloat and people in jobs Mr McMillan saying that they shouldn't be doing that. Indeed the SNP were actually arguing for more money to be spent to boost the economy.

I also have to laugh when I hear people like Mr McMillan arguing that if the Scottish Parliament had greater control over taxation everything would be alright.

It seems to escape their notice that the Scottish Parliament has had the power to vary - increase or reduce - the basic rate of income tax since it was established in 1999 and never used it. Perhaps they should use the powers they have before asking for more.

Ironically at the same time as calling for more tax powers for the Scottish Parliament our Parliamentarians have effectively removed tax powers from local government by introducing a nationally set uniform business rate and imposing a Council Tax freeze.

So much for parity of esteem.

No black hole

I thought that the Greenock Telegraph's coverage of the Council's financial challenges was on the whole fair and well-balanced.

One point I would take issue with however is the statement that there is "a huge black hole" in the Council's finances.

There is no such black hole. Indeed we actually budgeted for a surplus in the current financial year.

The savings target that has been identified is based on anticipated reductions in our funding from the Scottish Government over the next few years. Rather than waiting for official confirmation of these reductions - which won't be received until towards the end of this year - we are acting now to give us as much time as possible to manage the required reductions in the Council's expenditure.

The challenges faced by Inverclyde are no different from those faced by the other 31 local authorities in Scotland.

We rely on the Scottish Government for the vast majority of our income. With this funding due to be reduced we have no option but to cut our cloth accordingly since we are legally obliged to produce a balanced budget.

Battle of the heavyweights

I see that a couple of political heavyweights - the Tories' Scottish Leader Annabel Goldie and the SNP's Derek Mackay, who is Leader of Renfrewshire Council - are looking to become my MSP by standing for the new seat of Renfrewshire North & West, which incorporates Kilmacolm and Quarrier's Village.

Annabel's motto is clearly "if at first you don't succeed...". I suspect however that she will once again have to rely on the Regional List to get elected, unless of course we see a dramatic rise in Tory support before next May.

The strongest challenge to Labour will most likely come from the SNP, although Derek Mackay's decision to cut school transport in parts of the constituency could come back to haunt him.

I will of course be backing Labour Candidate Stuart Clark. I have known Stuart for a number of years and I am convinced he would make an excellent MSP and a worthy successor to the retiring MSP Trish Godman.

Parklea Planning Application Submitted

I am delighted to see that Council Officers have submitted a planning application for the proposed new £4.5m community stadium at Parklea, which will incorporate spectator seating for 200, new changing accommodation and a second 3G pitch. This is another important step towards our goal of making Parklea a centre of excellence for football.

Work is due to start on the stadium in April 2011. It will provide a new home for Port Glasgow Juniors and be available for use by the wider community.

The week ahead...

Another relatively quiet week meeting wise:

Monday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock (stopping off in Port Glasgow for a personal appointment on the way)
4.00 Meeting with Officers
6.00 Surgery at Boglestone Community Centre
7.00 I have the choice of 3 meetings to attend - Three Wards Community Council; Park Farm Residents' Association; and Kilmacolm New Community Centre Company Board - not an unusual occurrence for a large multi-member ward
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.00 Meeting with Officers
4.30 Weekly meeting of Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of Labour Group
Thursday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments
Friday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments

Proud to live in Inverclyde

Following the outcry over a Russian journalist's less than flattering opinion column on Greenock it was good to see today's Greenock Telegraph portray a very different picture of Inverclyde and Greenock in particular.

The positive news included:

Record exam results
A house price boom
Investment in our town centres
Volunteers raising money for good causes
The national success of our Schools' Junior Choir
Recognition of the wonderful work of the local hospice
The young and not so young enjoying the Council's free swimming initiative.

The only negative story I noticed was Greenock Juniors beating Port Glasgow Juniors!

Having been born in Inverclyde and lived here all my life, I am never embarrassed to tell people where I come from. Like other places, we have our challenges, but I for one would never want to live anywhere else. Inverclyde is my home and I am proud to live here.

Just when you thought it could not get any worse...

...for the Liberal Democrats in Inverclyde, long serving Councillor George White has resigned from the party. The gang of four has become the gang of three, with Liberal Democrats on the Council now outnumbered by the 'Others'.

How they must long for the heady days of 2003 when they swept to power with 13 out of 20 Councillors. Where did it all go wrong?

While I have a lot of time for George - we have always had a good personal relationship - I would be surprised if his constituents are not now questioning his commitment to Inverclyde, and Gourock in particular, given how desperate he seems to be to stand in Argyll and Bute. Can we assume that if he is unsuccessful in being elected to the Scottish Parliament next year, he will be moving to Argyll so that he can stand for the Council there in 2012?

George's defection to the Scottish Liberal Party raises once again the morality of someone being elected on the ticket of one party switching parties during a term without resigning and seeking the endorsement of the electorate. I am sure that some of George's more vocal constituents will have a view on this.

It also makes the Council even more 'interesting' in terms of political balance. Long gone are the days of two-party politics, with the Council now being made up of 8 Labour Councillors, 5 SNP, 3 Lib Dems, 1 Conservative, 1 Scottish Liberal Party, 1 Independent (ex Labour) and 1 truly Independent.

Bring back first past the post: all is forgiven!

The week ahead...

A busier week as the summer recess comes to an end:

Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Meeting between the Administration Group and the Council's senior officers to discuss the budget challenges we face
3.30 Pre-agenda meeting to discuss the draft agenda for a special meeting of the Council's Policy & Resources Committee on 17 August
6.45 Chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Meeting with Councillor David Wilson
2.oo Briefing for Elected Members on Emergency Planning
5.00 Meeting with officers
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
12.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
1.30 Chairing a meeting of the Council's Strategic Leadership Forum
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
3.30 Meeting with officers
5.30 Meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Meeting of Kelburn Action Group
Thursday
At work all day but attending a meeting of the Kilmacolm New Community Centre Company in the evening
Friday
At work all day with no Council commitments

A Festival of Football

I spent much of this afternoon and part of yesterday afternoon down at Parklea at the annual Port Glasgow Juniors Boys Club Football Tournament. My wife Lesley and I had been invited to present the prizes at today's event, with yesterday's prizes being presented by the Provost.

I was very impressed by how well organised and run the tournament was. It was a real festival of football, to the great credit of Club Secretary Ronnie McKay and his organising committee.

This afternoon in particular - with the sun shining - brought home to me what a fantastic setting Parklea is for football. Within the next couple of years we should have the facilities to match the setting.

Parklea Phase 3 Underway

Driving by Parklea over the past few days I noticed that work is now underway on phase 3 of the redevelopment - the upgrading of the drainage at four of the eight grass pitches. This work should be completed by September but the pitches will be out of use until next season. To minimise the disruption to users work on the remaining four grass pitches (phase 4 of the project) will not start until the first four are back in use.

Work is also progressing well on the upgrade of the access road to two-way and the existing car park.

Lib Dem arrogance, yet again!

I see that our esteemed Deputy Prime Minister, Lib Dem Leader, Nick Clegg, continues to reject calls from across the political spectrum to hold the referendum on the proposed new voting system for the Westminster Parliament on a different day from the next Scottish Parliament Election.

I also read that Lib Dem Scottish Secretary, Michael Moore, has suggested that the 2015 Scottish Parliament Election could be brought forward by 6 months to avoid a clash with the proposed date for the next Westminster Parliament Election should the Coalition's proposal for five year fixed term parliaments be approved.

This is the height of arrogance.

Surely it should be for the Westminster Parliament to adjust its timetable to avoid a clash of dates?

A great night for the whole family

Just back from the Circus in Kilmacolm's Birkmyre Park. It was a great show enjoyed by the whole family.

The Circus is in Kilmacolm for the next two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) with shows at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day. It is well worth a visit.

The week ahead...

Another relatively quiet week ahead:

Monday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments. I hope to fit in a visit to the Circus in Kilmacolm with my kids.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
3.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Attending the regular liaison meeting between the Council and the Chairman of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board, Andrew Roberson
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
4.00 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
Thursday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments.
Friday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments. I will however be attending the selection meeting to decide the Labour candidate to fight the new Scottish Parliamentary seat of Renfrewshire North and West, which covers Kilmacolm and Quarrier's Village.

On the road to recovery?

I see that the Con Dem Coalition is trying to take credit for the higher than expected economic growth for the UK in the last quarter, despite the fact that they have only been in power for 5 minutes!

The BBC's Business Editor, Robert Peston, described the 1.1% growth rate as "stunningly good" on tonight's Newsnight.

The danger now of course is that the policies of the Coalition - cutting public expenditure quicker and by a higher level than planned by Labour - will send us back into recession.

I doubt very much if the Coalition will be as quick to take the blame for that if it happens!

The Circus is coming to town

Excitement is growing in Kilmacolm - well certainly among my children - about the visit of Gerry Cottle's Circus to Birkmyre Park next week. The promoters tell us that this is the first time a circus has visited Kilmacolm for over 30 years.

I am aware that there are some concerns about parking problems in the vicinity of the park when the circus is on but hopefully these can be managed without too much disruption to local residents.

Performances are scheduled for Monday 27 (7pm), Tuesday 28 (3pm & 7pm) and Wednesday 28 July (3pm & 7pm). See www.gerry-cottles-circus.co.uk for more details.

Work on new housing developments progressing well

I was pleased when I returned from holiday at the weekend to see that the first kits had been erected at the new River Clyde Homes housing development off Oronsay Avenue in my ward. The other sites at Parkhill Avenue and Moray Road, which are also in my ward, are equally progressing well.

Across these three developments RCH are providing 195 new houses at a cost of £26m. This is the biggest investment in social housing in Port Glasgow in generations.

Phase 2 of Parklea Development Underway

I had a trip down to Parklea Playing Fields tonight, where my son's football team was training on the new £690,000 3G pitch.

I was delighted to see that work in well underway on phase 2 of the redevelopment - the widening of the access road and upgrading of the car park at a cost of £350,000.

It is pleasing when you see a project that you have been working on for some time finally coming to fruition. I would hope that the doubters are now starting to believe that we are going to deliver on our promise to make Parklea a centre of excellence for football.

Clegg under fire over voting reform referendum

I see that Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg has come under fire for proposing to hold a UK wide referendum on voting reform on 5 May 2011, the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections in England and Northern Ireland. Defending his proposal Mr Clegg argues that as voters will be faced with a simple yes or no vote the referendum on the Alternative Vote System should not overshadow the other elections.

Mr Clegg is also proposing the introduction of five-year fixed term UK Parliaments, with the next UK General Election taking place on 7 May 2015, again on the same day as these other elections.

I simply do not accept the argument that the referendum will not overshadow the other elections. If we are going to have a genuine public debate on a fundamental change to our voting system political activists will want to be fully engaged on both sides. How can they do this if they are fighting elections at the same time?

Of greater concern is the thought of a UK General Election on the same day as the 2015 Scottish Parliament Election. This would be nothing short of an affront to democracy.

I wonder what the local Lib Dems think of these proposals?

The week ahead...

With the Council still in recess, it is a relatively quiet week as far as Council duties go.

Monday
On public holiday from work as it is the Glasgow Fair Weekend. In the evening I am due to chair a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group.
Tuesday
At work all day with no Council duties in the evening.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.30 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.30 Weekly meeting with the Chief Executive
4.00 Meeting with officers
Thursday
At work all day with no Council duties in the evening.
Friday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting with officers

Normal Service Resumed

Following a break for my annual family holiday, I am now ready to resume normal service.

In these days of satellite television and the Internet it is possible to keep reasonably up to date with national and local developments while on holiday. Inverclyde Now and The Greenock Telegraph websites are very useful for the latter.

One of the first things I do however when I get home - after opening my mountain of mail - is to read the back issues of the Telegraph, which my mother always keeps for me.

The news over the last few days has been dominated by the tragic deaths of the two young Greenock women killed in the car crash in Ayrshire. I can only imagine how their families are feeling.

It has been interesting following the debate about the positions adopted by Regional List MSPs Stuart McMillan and Ross Finnie on the proposal to introduce mandatory prison sentences for knife carriers. I suspect that this issue will feature prominently during next year's Scottish Parliament Election.

On the regeneration front, I was pleased to see the announcement of 72 new jobs with the opening of a new Wilkinson store in Greenock's Oak Mall. I was also delighted to see the planning application for 100 new houses at Kingston by Persimmon Homes. These are positive signs for the local economy, although we should not get carried away as the national economic recovery is still very fragile and is being put at risk by the policies of our new Con Dem Coalition.

I was also pleased to see my own coalition partner David Wilson up to his not inconsiderable waist in weeds to highlight the disgraceful state of the carriageway verges on the A8 at the Gallagher development at Port Glasgow. Like David I have been pushing for this matter to be resolved for longer than I care to remember. It would appear that the various bodies involved are close to a resolution. Not before time I say.

On a less positive note, I was disgusted to see the vandalism to the picnic and play area at Lilybank School. Such behaviour is totally unacceptable.

I was cheered up a bit however when I read about the achievement of the UNICEF Level 2 Rights Respecting Schools Award by Glenburn School. Well done to the pupils and staff at the school on this prestigious award.

More locally, I see that my Ward 1 colleague, SNP Group Leader Jim MacLeod, is disappointed that the popular Pods - temporary community facilities in converted storage containers - are being moved from Slaemuir to Larkfield. Jim mentioned the fact that the SNP put forward money in their budget proposals for additional pods. What he failed to mention was that his Group was not prepared to discuss their budget proposals in advance with my Administration and as a result we were not able to consider this particular proposal. If they had shown a bit more maturity we may well have agreed to this proposal.

In any event, we did set aside £750,000 for new community facilities and there is no reason why local groups could not submit bids for funding towards the cost of a pod.