Scottish Labour candidate for the Central Scotland Region: This website was established while I was a Member of the Scottish Parliament. As the Parliament has been dissolved there are no Members of Parliament until after the election on 5 May 2016
I was pleased to join Councillors from North and South Lanarkshire outside the Scottish Parliament last week to protest against SNP cuts to our local councils.
The point of the rally was to make it clear that Labour Councillors and Labour MSPs do not believe we should simply be passive recipients of UK budget decisions.
If you agree, sign the Scottish Labour Party petition here:http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/page/s/no-more-local-cuts
Although I was pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the National Parenting Strategy, I found it slightly odd to be participating in a debate on a strategy that is yet to be published.
Aileen Campbell, the Scottish Government Minister for Chilren and Young People, informed the chamber that the intention was to give members a chance to put forward ideas, and I wait with interest to see whether any of the many interesting and innovative policy suggestions offered during the debate are deemed worthy of inclusion in the final document (whenever the Scottish Government chooses to publish it).
That apart, I know I was not alone in being disappointed at the vague and facile nature of the SNP motion for debate, which offered very little constructive on which to predicate a sensible discussion. The aspiration to make “Scotland the best place in the world to grow up” was only beaten for banality by the humdrum observation that “parents need support at all times”, and that “parents in difficult circumstances may require additional support”. We are indeed fortunate that the Scottish Government deigns to bestow such wisdom upon us.
There are many instructive examples of what good early years and parenting strategy could look like.
The previous Labour administration at Westminster greatly improved and expanded provision of childcare, opening up 3,500 Sure Start centres around the country, largely targeted at deprived areas.
Many European countries have used EU structural funds to implement a conprehensive Early Childhood Education and Care system, which allows parents the freedom to find and maintain work, and creates demand for a skilled childcare workforce. The countries with such a system generally have the best levels of happiness and contentment amongst children and young people. A similar system in Scotland would not only enhance the quality of care and support afforded to chilren and parents, it would help to alleviate current problems with female and youth unemployment.
Closer to home, North and South Lanarkshire Council, in conjunction with NHS Lanarkshire, have already published a parenting strategy featuring a number of recommendations, including the need to encourage male parents and carers to take an active and positive role in their child’s life, and to continue to expand the range of parenting support groups available locally.
Those are just a few ideas for how we can enhance childcare in Scotland. We must concentrate on getting it right for Scotland’s parents and carers. In doing so, we can help to give our children the best possible start in life which, I believe, is the most that any Government can offer.
The recent local council results made for good reading for Labour politicians, supporters and activists.
It was great to see so much hard work rewarded, and I am pleased that Labour has decisively maintained control in battleground seats such as Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, and retained a substantial controlling presence in South Lanarkshire and Falkirk. And it would be remiss to omit the power sharing arrangement between Labour and the SNP in Edinburgh; a good example of politicians putting rivalries aside and the people first.
Whatever the SNP now claim, they will undoubtedly be disappointed with how things went. That they believed they could take Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, and a host of other councils was an open secret; but, in the event, Labour’s simple message of more jobs and better local services resounded with the electorate.
The week before the election I observed that the SNP was becoming complacent, a view perhaps shared by some voters. It is essential that, having made good progress, Labour does not fall into the same trap.
We must deliver on our election promises, and continue to listen to, and learn from, the electorate.
Tommy Morgan, Labour council candidate for Airdrie North, has kindly produced this informative leaflet for anyone requiring clarification on the Plains station proposals.
Plains Station LABOUR Flyer Front and Back sheets in PDF FORMAT
I am glad to say that my latest newsletter is now published!
Topics include the impending council elections, and the Holocaust Educational Trust reception I recently hosted in the Scottish Parliament’s Garden Lobby.
As ever, it also includes full contact details and information about my monthly surgeries.
The newsletter is also available, alongside previous issues, in the newsletters page, and will also appear on Facebook and Twitter.
I was very concerned at recent figures revealing a massive rise in the levels of long term youth unemployment over the past 4 years. Figures compiled by the STUC show that the incidence of 16-24 year-olds claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance escalated by over 1000% between March 2008 and March 2012, a rise in excess of that in both England and Wales.
Further analysis of the data reveals an even more worrying picture, with the rise in rates of long term youth unemployment even higher within certain local authority areas.
For example, in North Lanarkshire the percentage of 16-24 year-olds claiming JSA for more than a year rose by over 3000% between March 2008 and March 2012, whilst figures for South Lanarkshire show a percentage increase of over 2500% over the same period.
Youth unemployment is rapidly becoming the major crisis of our times. Despite some excellent work at local authority level, with both North and South Lanarkshire Council’s investing significant funds to help young people into work, there has been a marked lack of leadership from Central Government, and it is this failure of leadership that is fuelling the rise in long term youth unemployment.
It is time for Mr Salmond and his SNP Govermment colleagues to stop hiding behind the claims of “25,000 modern apprenticeships”, and “guaranteed places in education or training for 16-19 year-olds” and take responsibility for the reality on the ground.
On Thursday I spoke in a Scottish Government debate on the Youth Employment Strategy.
I was very glad to have the opportunity to speak on what is becoming a crisis issue. The rate of youth unemployment in Scotland has now crept above the UK average, and the problem is especially acute in areas of Central Scotland.
Whilst I believe that the Government’s strategy contains some positive initiatives, such as Community Jobs Scotland, it is generally short on detail. That is why I was keen to emphasize the many positive schemes being funded and administered by local councils.
Falkirk, North and South Lanarkshire Councils have worked hard to address the problem of youth unemployment, and their schemes have all enjoyed considerable success. I believe that the Government should learn from these examples.
I also believe that some provision for young people on the autistic spectrum, and indeed those with other disabilities, should form a part of any future strategy. There is currently very little in the way of employment and educational opportunities for autistic school leavers; this situation has been ongoing for some time, and is simply unacceptable.
A Youth Employment Strategy should be comprehensive – it should include everyone, and leave no one behind. Everyone deserves the chance to work.
I was delighted that I was able to use my first Members’ Business Debate in the Scottish Parliament to highlight the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) “Heartstart” campaign to introduce Emergency Life Support training in schools throughout Scotland. Coverage of the debate can be viewed on Democracy Live, and the speeches can be read in full on the Scottish Parliament’s Official Report. I would like to thank Ben McKendrick, of the British Heart Foundation, and Charles Fawcett, of Healthy Lifestyles Scotland, for helping to organise the debate.
The debate was well attended by fellow members across all parties, and there was a large degree of consensus regarding the general principles of the motion and the BHF’s campaign.
Thanks to a lot of hard work by a number of individuals, there are already some excellent examples of ELS training models in Scotland, and, as a Central Scotland MSP, I am proud to say that at the vanguard of these is the North Lanarkshire Heartstart scheme, led locally by the Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator Charles Fawcett.
Established in 2008, the North Lanarkshire programme provides ongoing support and advice for schools on ELS training, with support from, amongst others, the British Heart Foundation and St Andrew’s Ambulance Association.
A model piloted in St Ambrose High School in Coatbridge and other North Lanarkshire schools provides instruction in ELS techniques and trains pupils to act as peer tutors. I was fortunate enough to meet some of these pupils, namely Vicky McDowell, Monica Berry, Gemma Daly, Lauren Owens, and Kerryn Breen, at the event in Holyrood last month, hosted by my colleague Helen Eadie MSP. They exhibited great skill and knowledge in demonstrating a range of ELS techniques, including how to use a defibrillator, a vital piece of life saving equipment.
Thanks to the hard work and commitment of a number of partner agencies, not least North Lanarkshire Council, Emergency Life Support training is now available in 90% of North Lanarkshire’s schools – a shining example to the rest of the country.
Emergency Life Support training is hugely popular with pupils, parents and teachers; adheres with the aims and spirit of the Curriculum for Excellence; it is cost-effective, and, crucially, it can, it will, save lives. I hopethat other councils will follow North Lanarkshire Council’s lead and ensure that ELS training is available in schools throughout Scotland.
I recently spoke in a debate on housing in the Scottish Parliament. There are currently about 56,000 homeless people in Scotland, 10,000 more than in the mid 1990’s, whilst 36% of homeless households include people under the age of 24.
The problem is especially acute in West and Central Scotland: figures for 2009/10 show that, of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, South Lanarkshire had the 4th most homeless applications, with 3,054. North Lanarkshire was 5th, with 2,975, and Falkirk 7th, with 2,378. Meanwhile, over 169,000 Scottish households are on council house waiting lists, and 53% of social housing in Scotland is situated in the 15% most deprived areas.
Under the terms of the “2012 Commitment” all homelessness applications must be assessed as priority. In effect, this means all homeless applicants must be housed. Depending on which document you read, the SNP Government has either pledged to build 6000 socially rented homes or 6000 “affordable” homes in each year of the Scottish Parliament. However, SNP spending plans reveal that only 1550 socially rented homes will be built this year, along with 1000 for owner occupiers. This leaves a shortfall of over 3000. It is difficult to see how councils will clear their council house waiting lists, let alone meet the 2012 commitment.
I recently visited Barnado’s Youth Housing Support Service in North Lanarkshire, which provides crisis intervention and group work support to young people aged between 16-24 years. Many of these young people have suffered physical abuse, and problems with drug and alcohol addiction. Their need for a stable and supportive home cannot be overstated.
During the debate I called on the Scottish Government to reform the Community Care Grant to ensure that it is consistently and correctly applied across the country, and that everything is done to help vulnerable young people secure long term homes that are safe, warm, and fully furnished. I am pleased to report that Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Capital Investment and Infrastructure, has pledged to ‘look seriously at these suggestions to see whether we can take them forward.’
Siobhan McMahon for Central Scotland 