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.