SNP JUSTICE SHAMBLES CONTINUES

The SNP government’s shambolic record on justice has continued, with more critical reports out today.

A scathing report from Audit Scotland has accused the Scottish Policing Authority (SPA) of a series of governmental failings and a poor use of public money.

While a report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary into the British Transport Police (BTP) has shown the Scottish division is among the best performing in Britain, prompting further calls for the SNP to halt the controversial merger.

The two reports today come after a difficult period for Scottish policing, with the Chair and Chief Executive of the SPA exiting and the BTP merger being forced through against the wishes of police officers and trade unions.

Commenting on the Audit Scotland report into the SPA, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesperson Claire Baker said:

“This damning report is just the latest of a long list of critical reports into the governance and leadership of the SPA and Police Scotland.

“The Government and Police Scotland may have avoided a vote of no confidence but make no mistake they still have serious questions to answer.

“No action is simply not good enough. Susan Deacon has a huge job ahead of her to regain the public’s confidence in the SPA. She needs to Government to step up and take their part of the responsibility for the failings that went before.”

Commenting on the report into British Transport Police Scotland, Claire Baker said:

“This report shows the the BTP D division is working in Scotland and the officers and staff deserve credit for the job they are doing in uncertain circumstances.

“It also shows the folly of the SNP’s rushed attempts to merge BTP with Police Scotland. We still have unanswered questions over costs, terms and conditions, and pensions.

“That such a substantial change to policing in Scotland is taking place at a time when many at the top of Police Scotland and SPA are suspended, under investigation or new into their job is concerning. The SNP must listen to BTP workers and trade unions and halt their plans.”

 

NOTES 

Audit Scotland report into the SPA: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/news/spa-governance-and-poor-use-of-public-money-unacceptable

HMICS report into BTP: https://www.hmics.scot/news/strategic-overview-british-transport-police-scotland-including-proposed-transfer-police

 

SNP Council prepares staff for budget cuts

A range of options which would save the Council up to £4million and close a predicted budget shortfall next year have been published ahead of this month’s Council meeting.

The report to full Council on December 20 outlines proposals to address the difference between the funding the Council receives from Government and Council tax and the money it needs to deliver services.

A decision has already been made to consult employees and the public on the proposals, and those views will help inform councillors before the budget for 2018/19 is considered at the budget setting meeting in February.

Every Council in Scotland is facing similar tough decisions and when considering the options, officers have prioritised protecting the frontline services most relied upon by residents.

The savings options detailed in the report include changes to education services, cleansing, events and greenspaces. Among the proposals, for example, is an option to bring Educational Maintenance Allowance payments (EMA) in line with the Scottish standard rate. West Dunbartonshire currently pays double the average, and this change would save £164,000 per year. Another option is to align the school clothing grant with the national average saving a further £240,000 a year.

Changing the frequency of street cleaning will also be considered, with annual savings of between £35,000 and £335,000 possible depending on which option is preferred. Savings could be made at the Council-owned Dalmuir Golf Course, with increased membership charges, a reduction from 18 to nine holes and closure of the course all among the potential options saving up to £200,000 per year.

Angela Wilson, Strategic Director of Transformation & Public Service Reform, said: “The Council has a significant budget gap to close in 2018/19 and to do that officers across the Council have put forward a number of options that would allow us to find savings and continue to deliver key services to the people of West Dunbartonshire. There are currently more options on the list than are required and we anticipate the Administration putting forward a draft budget with those that they propose to take at the Council meeting on 20 December.

“We will then consult on that budget and the additional options to get feedback to inform final decisions in February. All employees have an opportunity as part of the consultation to give Councillors their views about the best way forward. No decisions have been taken at this stage. If you have any further questions then please contact your line manager who will be able to advise or get an answer for you.”

The online consultation will launch in January and remain open for several weeks, with the results presented to the Council budget meeting on February 21. The paper can be found online at https://goo.gl/LkCeWD (Page111).

COMMENT ON LIFE EXPECTANCY FIGURES

Responding to figures from the National Records of Scotland which show huge differences in life expectancy depending on how deprived an area a baby is born in, Scottish Labour Public Health spokesperson Colin Smyth said:

“These figures expose the postcode lottery Scotland faces. The prosperity of the family you were born into has a huge impact on your life chances, quality of life and ultimately life expectancy.

“The blunt truth is that there has been an utter failure from existing government strategies to tackle health inequalities.  We need to see radical action to address the gap between the richest and the poorest in Scotland.

“The SNP need to realise that a government cannot tackle health inequalities without tackling the wealth inequalities in our society.”

NOTES

Figures available here: https://news.gov.scot/news/statistical-news-release-6

 

Life expectancy and deprivation

• People living in more deprived areas of Scotland have a shorter life expectancy than those living in less deprived areas.
• For females there was a gap of 7.8 years between those living in the first SIMD quintile (the 20 per cent most deprived areas) and those in the fifth SIMD quintile (the 20 per cent least deprived areas). For males the gap was 10.5 years.

Local children and families braced for £3.74 million council cuts

Jackie Baillie – Labour 

Children and families in Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and Clydebank will be hardest hit under budget saving proposals drawn up by West Dunbartonshire Council, local Labour politicians have warned.

The SNP-led council will consider an overall package of cuts worth £13 million over the next three years, including £3.74 million of cuts which directly target local schools and families. The individual budgets for each school in Dumbarton, Clydebank and the Vale of Leven would be slashed by up to 10% under the plans.

The proposals would also see the back-to-school clothing grant and Education Maintenance Allowance slashed in half for working-class families. The previous Labour administration doubled the grants to help support children from less well-off backgrounds but West Dunbartonshire Council is now considering cutting them back down to the statutory minimum.

The proposals also contain plans to end central council funding for free swimming lessons, swap hot school meals with a sandwich on Fridays and ready-meals would replace freshly prepared ingredients in school canteens.

There would be dozens of job losses for low-paid council workers, including at least 30 school catering staff, 35 cleaners and 40 lollipop men and women. Councillors will consider asking volunteers to take over the roles of paid school crossing patrollers on every route in West Dunbartonshire.

The budget savings document published by West Dunbartonshire Council today contains over £3 million worth of cuts to education services but there are additional £715,000 of proposals to cut school funding in the council’s ‘management adjustments’ which have not yet been published.

These decisions, taken by council officers not elected members, would scrap free school milk at lunchtime for primary school pupils and force secondary school pupils to clean their own classrooms.

Local MSP Jackie Baillie said:

“Nicola Sturgeon’s promise to make education her top priority will be utterly meaningless if the SNP-led Council goes ahead with these plans. You cannot cut the attainment gap between the richest and the rest in our classrooms while cutting budgets for schools.

“Local parents, teachers and staff working in our schools will be outraged by many of these proposals and it is a sign of just how difficult it is for the Council to make ends meet thanks to SNP budget cuts from Edinburgh.

“The Scottish Government will decide how much funding West Dunbartonshire Council receives for local services this month and the SNP Finance Minister needs to make a choice. Derek Mackay can either copy-and-paste previous SNP budgets which have slashed our local council’s funding every year or use the powers of the Scottish Parliament to invest instead.”

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Martin Rooney, said:

“Low-income families and low-paid council staff will be the biggest losers under the proposals to scrap Labour’s clothing grant top-up and lose dozens of jobs from school janitors and catering staff.

“Labour councillors will work with local parents, teachers and trade unions to defend schools in West Dunbartonshire and protect jobs.”

Notes

Summary of Management Adjustments affecting schools and education. Opposition councillors have obtained a list of the council’s management adjustments which will cut £1.2 million over the next three years.

Description	3-year saving	Impact
Cut staffing in educational psychology	£123,000	Service reduction to 65 children and families. Support to one secondary, two primaries and two specialist schools will be shared among remaining 6 members in team.
Cut training budget for Early Years	£57,000	Reduce workforce development within early years. Saving to be realised through increased model of training the trainer approach.
Cut cleaning in schools and public buildings	£370,000	Further reduction of cleaning spec in secondary schools to remove daily cleaning of food prep areas; this responsibility to transfer to the class pupils. Reduce cleaning of public buildings and office premises to once per week (except toilets). Loss of 35 part-time cleaning staff.
Cut free school milk at lunchtimes	£165,000	Introduce water as an accompaniment to primary school meals instead of milk or diluted fruit juice.

Savings Proposals – Education related options

The options below relate to education, whether directly in schools or in support services for education provision	Savings / Income Total
1 Reduce the Curriculum for Excellence budget The Curriculum for Excellence budget was put in place to support joint projects being delivered through local learning communities (comprising a secondary school with associated primary schools and Early Learning & Childcare Centres) as part of our strategy to raise attainment. Since these joint projects are now well established and part of the normal running of each learning community they require less intervention so a saving could be made. In addition Scottish Government funding for standardised assessment removes the requirement for specific Council funding for this.	£42,000 per year
2 Review devolved school budgets Reduce by 5% a) This would see the devolved budgets which school head teachers have available to them reduce by 5%. Currently secondary school head teachers have £679,000 per year, while primary school head teachers have £696,000. Under the proposals this would change to £654,000 for secondary and £671,000 for primary by 2019/20. OR   Reduce by 10% b) This would see the devolved budgets which school head teachers have available to them reduce by 10%.  Currently secondary school head teachers have £679,000 per year, while primary school head teachers have £696,000. Under the proposals this would change to £629,000 for secondary and £646,000 for primary by 2019/20.	£42,000 in 2018/19   £50,000 per year from 2019/20                       £84,000 in 2018/19   £100,000 per year from 2019/20
3 Reduce central spend on recreational activity Currently the Education service pays £18,000 a year for swimming lessons for primary school pupils. Under this proposal the cost would no longer be met by the central education service, and instead each school would decide whether to provide this service through the use of their individual funds	£18,000 per year
4 Reduce payments to Parent Councils   The Council currently provide a higher than national average level of funding to support primary school Parent Councils across West Dunbartonshire, as well as a range of other supports. This takes the form of a £10 per pupil top up to the standard allocation. This proposal would reduce the funding meaning primary school Parent Councils received a share of £12,000. Secondary school Parent Councils would access a share of £3,000 in addition to Curriculum for Excellence funding.	£75,000 per year
5 Remove Additional Educational Maintenance Payments Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is provided to eligible (depending on financial circumstances) 16-19 year olds who decide to stay in education. It is available for both academic and  vocational courses. The standard rate for EMA in Scotland is £30. West Dunbartonshire Council’s rate is currently double this at £60. Under this proposal the rate would return to the Scottish standard of £30.	£164,000 per year
6 Remove clothing grant top-up All Councils make provision for the clothing of pupils who may not otherwise have access to school uniform/clothing. At present West Dunbartonshire Council has one of the highest clothing grants in Scotland at £100 per child. This proposal would bring the grant provided by West Dunbartonshire Council more in line with national averages at £50 per young person.	£240,000 per year
7 Review School Meal Provision Introduce pre-packaged meals into school lunches This proposal would see all school meals change from 2019 onwards following a pilot in 2018/19; with hot and cold prepackaged meals provided in schools as a replacement to the preparation of ingredients onsite.	£10,000 in 2018/19     £140,000 in 2019/20     £200,000 in 2020/21
8 Provide a sandwich lunch on Fridays The Council currently provides hot school meals 5 days per week. This proposal involves replacing the hot meal option on a Friday with a healthy sandwich meal including salad/fruit.	£75,000 in 2018/19   £100,000 in 2019/20   £120,000 in 2020/21
9 School Crossing Patrols a) To be delivered by volunteers Identify and train community groups to undertake the provision of school crossing patrols on all 37 crossings, affecting 40 posts as some patrols are covered by two post holders. This would involve replacing current post holders with community volunteers, dependent on capacity and training for community groups. OR b) Withdrawing patrols from junctions where pedestrian crossings exist This proposal would see the Council bring the service in line with national guidance by withdrawing patrols from 12 locations where there are controlled pedestrian crossings in place. National guidance states that school crossing patrollers should not be deployed at junctions where pedestrian crossings already exist because this duplication can be confusing for motorists.	£160,000 per year                         £25,000 per year

Source: http://wdccmis.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/cmis5/Meetings/tabid/73/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/410/Meeting/8050/Committee/543/SelectedTab/Documents/Default.aspx

COUNCILS FACING £850M BUDGET BLACK HOLE

James Kelly – Labour

Scottish councils are facing an £850 million black hole as a result of the Scottish Government’s budget next week.

This morning The Herald reported that Scottish councils are preparing for a £300m cut to their funding.

The cut would be on top of the additional £545 million councils need to maintain present services, taking the total to an eye watering £850 million.

At First Minister’s Questions this week, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard highlighted the human cost of cuts to council budgets.

Mr Leonard raised proposals by SNP-run Falkirk council to end breakfast clubs, to cut back childcare to the statutory minimum, to cut Additional Support Needs teachers and holidays for disabled children, as a result of government cuts to its budget.

Labour said many vital public services run by councils would be unsustainable in the face of further cuts.

Labour Business Manager, James Kelly MSP, said: 

“If Derek Mackay is planning cuts which would create a near billion-pound black hole in local budgets, then that is a level of austerity that would make a Tory chancellor blush.

“Since 2011 the SNP government in Edinburgh has cut £1.5 billion from local government budgets, directly impacting on schools, housing, social care and other vital local services.

“An effective £850 million cut in a single year would be simply unsustainable.

“These cuts will end up falling the hardest on the poorest, the most vulnerable, and our children. This week at First Minister’s Questions Richard Leonard outlined what that meant – breakfast clubs closed, ASN teachers cut, holiday time for disabled children, cut. These cuts will scar Scotland with inequality.

“There’s no muscle or fat left – these cuts will go straight to the bone and it will be the poorest and most vulnerable who will bear the brunt of it.

“The only way to protect local services is to properly use the tax powers of the Scottish Parliament.”

 

NOTES 

Struggling Scottish councils prepare for ‘£300 million budget cut’ –http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15709886.Scottish_councils_preparing_for___39___300_million_budget_cut__39_/

 

LAIRD CALLS FOR ACTION ON RBS

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Lesley Laird, said:

“David Mundell must do everything in his power to ensure that the branch closures are halted with immediate effect.

“The Royal Bank of Scotland is 71% owned by the UK taxpayer and as such, decisions made by its board should be subject to intense scrutiny.

“RBS has a duty to provide a service to every single one of their customers, many of whom will have no access or inclination to use online banking.

“David Mundell needs to send a clear message to RBS – no branch closures.”

Notes

On Friday 1st December, RBS announced that they are due to close 62 branches across Scotland on the basis that footfall has fallen and online banking is increasing.

https://www.scotsman.com/business/the-full-list-of-rbs-branch-closures-in-scotland-1-4628170

The full list of RBS branch closures in Scotland – The … http://www.scotsman.com The 62 Scottish bra

NAMED PERSON SCHEME PLUNGED INTO FRESH CHAOS

The SNP’s attempt to save the Named Person scheme was plunged into fresh chaos today, as Holyrood’s Education Committee refused to back a government fix to the legislation.

The Committee refused to submit a Stage 1 report to the full Parliament on a new Bill proposed to resolve the information sharing element of the government’s Named Person legislation.

The Bill was required after the Supreme Court ruled the original legislation broke data protection law.

Holyrood committees normally produce a report prior to Stage 1 of the legislative process for new laws, but the cross-party Education Committee could not recommend that the law proposed by John Swinney should progress further.

The Committee said they believed the legislation’s credibility was dependent on critical guidance which the Education Secretary has refused to produce before September 2018.

SNP MSPs pushed the issue to a vote at Committee this morning, but were defeated six votes to five by opposition MSPs.

Scottish Labour’s education spokesperson, Iain Gray, said:

“Labour supports the principles behind the Named Persons policy, to ensure the most vulnerable children do not fall through the cracks.

“But John Swinney’s cack-handed incompetence has created a situation where his own policy is falling apart.

“Mr Swinney’s Bill as it stands is unworkable and deemed illegal – and now he has failed to convince the Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee that he knows how to fix it.

“They wrote to him to say they are not able to recommend that the general principles of the Bill be approved and demanded a pause until he brings forward critical guidance – something he says he cannot do until September next year.

“Rather than trying to force this faulty legislation through without addressing the concerns of parents, practitioners or the courts, John Swinney should take responsibility and sort out this mess.”

Notes

See minutes from the Education committee here – http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Education/Minutes/20171206_ES_Minutes.pdf

WE MUST DELIVER JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF BLACKLISTING – LEONARD

The Scottish Government must deliver justice for victims of blacklisting, Richard Leonard said today.

The Scottish Labour leader addressed a rally of Unite the Union workers protesting outside Holyrood against the unfair practice which leaves people denied employment because of their political views.

He was joined by John Gavienas, a former construction worker who was blacklisted in the 1980s after speaking out in a minor dispute over undignified treatment of his fellow workers at an oil rig fabrication yard in Wester Ross. Mr Gavienas was unable to secure employment in the construction industry again.

Companies found to have used the practice were awarded Scottish Government contracts during Nicola Sturgeon’s time as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and SNP MSPs also voted against Labour MSP Neil Findlay’s amendments in the last Parliament session to ban companies found to have used blacklisting from procuring public sector contracts.

Labour has pledged to deliver a full inquiry into the practice of the blacklisting of trade unionists in Scotland in its 2016 Holyrood manifesto.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said:
“Victims of blacklisting not only had their livelihoods robbed but their lives changed forever by a secret conspiracy of defamation.

“The unwillingness of the SNP, both in central and local government, to take action against companies found to have blacklisted, most of which continue to profit handsomely from taxpayer-funded contracts, is reprehensible.

“Nicola Sturgeon not only voted against our plans to ban blacklisters from procuring contracts but when she was Cabinet Minister for Infrastructure she handed out government contracts to companies who used this disgraceful practice.

“The truth is it isn’t enough to condemn blacklisting and do nothing about it. It is our duty as a Labour movement to challenge those in power and so win justice for all these working people who were wronged.”

Scottish Labour MSP Neil Findlay said:

“Blacklisting is still going on in Scotland and we need a full public inquiry to get to the bottom of this destructive practice that wrecks lives and victimises workers for seeking to do the right thing.

“Firms that blacklist are still being awarded public contracts by the Scottish Government and other public bodies. Scottish government procurement rules were supposed to stop this. They haven’t. This has to stop. Scottish Labour will not rest until blacklisting is history”

NOTES 

The text of Neil Findlay’s amendment is below (full report of the passage of the Procurement Reform Bill can be found here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/largePDF/BBV_203.pdf)
Before section 22, insert—

<Exclusion of economic operators: blacklisting

(1) A contracting authority must exclude an economic operator from the process relating to
a regulated procurement if subsection (2) applies.

(2) This subsection applies if the contracting authority is satisfied that the economic
operator—

(a) has at any time compiled, used, sold or supplied a list (a “prohibited list”)
which—

(i) contains details of persons who are or have been members of trade unions,
or who are taking part or have taken part in the activities of trade unions,
and

(ii) is compiled with a view to being used by employers or employment
agencies for the purposes of discrimination in relation to the recruitment or
treatment of workers, and

(b) has not taken action which, in the opinion of the contracting authority, is sufficient
to remedy the effects of such compilation, use, sale or supply.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply where it appears to the contracting authority that the
economic operator has compiled, used, sold or supplied a prohibited list in
circumstances which fall within a case set out in regulation 4 (exceptions to general
prohibition) of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 (SI
2010/493) (“the 2010 Regulations”).

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2)(b), matters that the contracting
authority must take into account in determining whether remedial action is sufficient
include whether the economic operator has—

(a) publicly acknowledged that it has undertaken activities falling within subsection

(2)(a),

(b) apologised to those affected by such activities,

(c) subsequently employed persons affected by such activities, and

(d) paid to persons affected by such activities adequate compensation, negotiated with
representatives of such persons.

(5) In this section—
“employment agency” has the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the 2010
Regulations,
“discrimination” has the same meaning as in regulation 3(3) of the 2010
Regulations,
“use”, in relation to a list, includes use of information contained in the list.

(6) References in this section to membership of a trade union include references to—

(a) membership of a particular branch or section of a trade union, and

(b) membership of one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade
union,

and references to taking part in the activities of a trade union have a corresponding
meaning.>

Dumbarton Reporter Column December 2017

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. A time to draw our friends and families close to us, to look around at all the good things we have achieved together and to consider the opportunities and challenges we may face in the future. We’ve all known what’s coming but in the spirit of the season, we all get to pretend it’s a big surprise.

Yes, it’s the time of year when the SNP Scottish Government confirms just how much the Council budget will be cut and what additional burdens they will foist upon the good people of West Dunbartonshire.

This year, in our letter to Santa we have asked for “Fair funding for Councils.” We want our services to be protected, we want our staff to be properly rewarded and we want to give our citizens and communities the opportunities that they deserve.

Unfortunately, the SNP Council is expected to bring forward savings options totalling £14.5m over three years including another £1.2m of Management Cuts.  This means £14.5m less to be spent in our communities over the next three years.

As per their manifesto, the SNP Council has decided to close Alexandria Social Work Office, to cut the Care of Garden Scheme and to cut customer services at our One-Stop-Shops. They are also looking at cutting library hours and library staff for good measure.

As a festive treat, they also rejected the expansion of the Councils Winter Gritting Programme – a missed opportunity for all our communities.

The SNP have already said Council Tax will go up by 3% each year for the next three years;  the Council budget will be cut by 3% a year each year, even though costs are increasing and wages are expected to rise well above the 1.75%, that the SNP Council has set aside; and the SNP Council has confirmed that they will cut at least £1.56m from Health & Social Care services each year for the next three years.

These cuts will fall on the poorest and most vulnerable residents in Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven –and we all know that the biggest chunk of the council’s spending goes on schools, nurseries and services for the elderly. The only way to stop it now is for a Christmas truce, with SNP councillors putting aside their differences to join Labour in demanding a fair deal for West Dunbartonshire from the Scottish Government.