The week ahead...

Monday
I have a morning meeting with officers followed by a visit to the WHOOPI event in Greenock Town Hall. In the evening I will be attending meetings of the Kelburn Action Group and Port Glasgow West Community Council.
Tuesday
I have a lunch time meeting with officers. In the evening I have a surgery in Kilmacolm followed by meetings of Park Farm TARA and Kilmacolm Community Council.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I have my weekly meetings with the Chief Executive and Labour Group.
Thursday
In the morning I am attending a presentation at Newark Primary School on Rights Respecting Schools. In the afternoon I have several meetings including the Environment & Regeneration Committee.
Friday
I am through in Edinburgh at COSLA for most of the day.

My latest Greenock Telegraph column...

The Council’s new decriminalised parking scheme finally went live on Monday 6 October and it is fair to say that the public reaction, not unexpectedly, has been mixed.

It is worth recalling that the Council introduced this scheme following the problems caused by the unilateral decision of Police Scotland to withdraw its traffic wardens from Inverclyde in July 2011 to save money. It soon became evident that due to the lack of parking enforcement a minority of motorists felt they could park where they wanted and for as long as they wanted.

The Council therefore took the reluctant decision to develop proposals for a decriminalised parking scheme for approval by the Scottish Government.  Professional consultants with experience of similar schemes across the UK were engaged to design the scheme for central Greenock.

Following extensive public consultation and a review of the proposals by an independent expert the final scheme was approved by the Scottish Government and the Council.

The aim of the parking scheme is not, as some would have you believe, to make money. Any money raised through parking charges and penalties will go towards the costs of running the scheme. The Council will not make a profit from it.

The objectives of the scheme are to make Greenock Town Centre work better for local residents and businesses and to make our streets safer for motorists and pedestrians.

While a great deal of thought went into designing the scheme even the professionals were not able to anticipate in advance how motorists would react to the introduction of new parking restrictions and charges, and to the enforcement of existing traffic regulations that had not been consistently enforced for over three years.

It is probably true to say that in some respects the new scheme has been too successful in that more motorists have moved out of the inner town centre than was necessary. While it is still early days it is clear that changes are required to the scheme to ensure that visitors to the town centre have enough time to shop and that there is sufficient turnover of spaces so that other visitors are not dissuaded from coming into the town.

It is also important that we ensure that public car parks are used effectively. While we want to have sufficient spaces for shoppers it is equally important that car parks don’t lie half full with all day parkers clogging up streets on the periphery of the town centre.

As a listening Council we have pledged that we will review the operation of the scheme within 12 months. Where we identify specific issues that need to be addressed more quickly however, we will take action.

Officers will be bringing an update report to the Environment & Regeneration Committee on 30 October, which will give elected members the opportunity to consider changes to the scheme. 

On Saturday morning I attended a service in Greenock’s Westburn Church to celebrate the life of Jill Jones, Head Teacher of Kilmacolm Primary School.

Jill was an inspirational and highly respected teacher and Head Teacher and a great friend to many. She will be sorely missed by everyone within the school community and the wider education community in Inverclyde.

 My deepest condolences go to her loved ones.

The week ahead...

Monday
I have a morning meeting with a local business.
Tuesday
In the evening I have meetings of the River Clyde Homes Board and Audit & Finance Committee.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I have my weekly meetings with the Chief Executive and Labour Group.
Thursday
In the afternoon I will be attending a meeting of the Community Health & Care Partnership Sub-Committee. In the evening I will be attending the Slaemuir Tenants' & Residents' Association.
Friday
No Council commitments at this stage.

The week ahead...

Monday
I will be chairing a meeting of the Inverclyde Alliance Board in the afternoon. In the evening I will be attending a meeting of the Woodhall Task Group.
Tuesday
My only commitment at this time is an evening surgery in Boglestone Community Centre.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I have my weekly meetings with the Chief Executive and Labour Group. In the evening I will be attending the annual Garden Fest Awards.
Thursday
A busy afternoon with meetings of the Strategic Leadership Forum, Local Police & Fire Scrutiny Sub-Committee and the full Council. In the evening I will be attending a dinner for former employees of the Council.
Friday
In the morning I have a meeting at River Clyde Homes in my capacity as chair of the Audit & Finance Committee. In the afternoon I am speaking at a 'Mental Health Awareness Day' event.

Welcome for new heating systems for Park Farm homes...

I am delighted by the news that River Clyde Homes has teamed up with Carillion to deliver a gas supply to 83 tenanted homes in the Park Farm area of my ward paving the way for the installation of new modern and efficient gas heating systems. Home owners in the area will also have the opportunity to connect to the gas main so they can install their own gas heating systems.

Tenants' representatives and local councillors like myself have been lobbying for this for a number of years and it is pleasing that RCH management have found a cost effective way to deliver what tenants have been asking for.

I look forward to this initiative being rolled out to other areas of Inverclyde currently without a gas mains supply.

The week ahead...

Monday
I have the Inverclyde Council pre-agenda in the morning. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group.
Tuesday
I have a Members' budget briefing and a special meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee in the afternoon.
Wednesday
In the morning I have a meeting of the Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership City Deal Cabinet. In the afternoon I have my weekly meetings with the Chief Executive and the Labour Group.
Thursday
No Council commitments at this time.
Friday
In the afternoon I am meeting with the Leader of the SNP Group following his request for a meeting. Not sure exactly what it is about. Rumours are circulating that they are looking for a coalition with Labour but I doubt if that is the case as it would not go down with many Yes supporters in Inverclyde.

My latest Greenock Telegraph column...

The people have spoken but it seems that not everyone wants to respect their decision.

The recriminations and reverberations of Thursday’s historic vote are likely to be with us for some time.

Much of the hostility and blame for the defeat of the Yes campaign is being directed at the Labour Party. I was told by an SNP activist immediately following the count on Friday morning that my political career was over and that the Labour Party was finished in this area.

Personally I don’t understand why so many people were surprised that the British Labour Party decided to campaign against the break-up of Britain. The clue is in the name.

As I said in my last column, the advances made by working people in this country in the past 100 years – such as universal suffrage, the welfare state, the national health service, workers’ rights, equal pay and the national minimum wage – were achieved by working people in every part of these small islands coming together in solidarity through the Labour and Trade Union movement.

For us the principle of solidarity and the opportunity to pool and share resources are the basis for building a fairer and more just society not separation and division.

If my political career is indeed over then at least I will have the comfort of knowing that I stood up for what I believe in.

Now that the campaign itself is over I have the opportunity to focus once again on the financial challenges facing the Council, which are considerable.

We are holding a special meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee on 30 September to discuss our budget strategy for the next 3 years. Irrespective of the outcome of the referendum we would have faced huge challenges.

The continuing pressure on the public finances at a UK level, the impact of our falling population on the amount of funding we receive from the Scottish Government, the ongoing Council Tax freeze and our growing elderly population all combine to create a perfect storm. Some very tough and unpopular decisions will be required.

There is however one chink of light.

Whether they voted Yes or voted No, the majority of the Scottish people clearly believe that the Scottish Parliament should have far greater control over the amount of money it can raise through taxation.

New powers have already been approved and enacted by the Westminster Parliament and more have been promised.

The challenge to the Scottish Parliament is whether or not it will actually use these powers to protect public services and to tackle poverty and deprivation given that it has failed to use the 3p in the pound tax power we the people voted for in 1997.

The Parliament should also be challenged to end its fixation with controlling local government finances and allow Councils greater freedom to raise their own revenue without the threat of punitive sanctions from the Scottish Government.

The further devolution of power should not stop at Holyrood.