Dundee Labour

Kevin Keenan : Dundee's New Year Challenge in 2012

2012-01-06T01:37:00.001-08:00

Kevin Keenan
6 January 2012
Dundee's New Year Challenge in 2012

I refer to the challenge by Iain McMillan, Director of CBI Scotland to the Scottish Government to focus its "entire energy" on rebuilding the economy.
I agree with Mr McMillan in that the suppression of public spending is resulting in Scotland coming out of the economic downturn at a slower rate than the rest of the UK.
Therefore my New Year challenge for 2012 will be directed to the Chief Executive of Dundee City Council.
I will call upon him to bring forward an affordable capital plan for the City of Dundee - a capital plan with vision and ambition and one that will deliver jobs for the people of Dundee.
Dundee City Council should set out a plan to improve the infrastructure within the City in preparation for the renewable energy jobs promised by the First Minister as detailed within the Memorandum of Understanding he signed along with the Council Leader, Fort Ports, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish and Southern Energy to bring 700 jobs to Dundee.
This City should look to develop a not for profit renewable energy co-operative that would deliver long term benefits to the Council Tax payers of Dundee, securing and safeguarding low cost energy for this City's long term future.
This would send a very strong message to any future investors that we, as a City, are committed to renewables.
As a City we need to develop further the concept of community schools so we can maximise the use of all of our City's assets as we look to rebuild and refurbish our City's school estate.
The Dundee Partnership must further grow and expand across all sectors of civic life.
Partnerships need to be fostered.
Partnership Agreements need to be made with local business so contracts are awarded within the City.
These business arrangements need to focus on best value for the taxpayer, whilst ensuring that every penny spent is a penny spent in Dundee to safeguard our City's wider economy.
A small team must be established within the City with membership from a cross-section of people from civic life with a business knowledge.
This team's remit will be to leaver investment into Dundee and to maximise Dundee's share of any European and housing investment funding.
However, everyone in Dundee needs to be committed to helping Dundee drive forward in these difficult times.
Although the Scottish Government is cutting the City's capital allocation over the next two years, the City Council can still borrow funds at very competitive rates via the public works lending board.
We should not fear spending our monies on ambitious plans that will deliver maximum economic growth and long term benefits to the City.
A strong business case must be presented to the City for every project, and every project spend must be a spend to save or to grow a strong sustainable economy for Dundee.
A strong economic framework is vital if businesses are to prosper and deliver the jobs this City needs.

Huge fall in value of Dundee Council no change revenue allocation

2011-12-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

Councillor Kevin Keenan
Huge fall in value of Dundee Council no change revenue allocation
30 December 2011
While Dundee City Council’s revenue allocations
from the Scottish Government in each of the next three years remain
virtually the same , in real terms , they mean significant reductions.
The current allocation to Dundee City Council
for 2011-12 has been £317 million.
The future allocations are ( in £ millions)
2012-13 £316 million
2013-14 £318.04 million
2014-15 £318.22 million
Below are these allocations expressed in real
terms at 2011-12 prices, (using Treasury Gross Domestic Product deflators ).
These are shown in bold brackets for each allocation
2011-12 £317 million (£317 million )
2012-13 £316 million (£308 million.)
2013-14 £318 million ( £302 million.)
2014-15 £318 million ( £294 million.)

Commenting on the figures, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader on Dundee City Council , said :
"These figures show how unfairly councils have been treated by the Scottish Government to pay for its 5-year council tax freeze that it has never fully funded.
"The Scottish Government is demanding the impossible from councils.
"It orders councils to maintain vital public services, while slashing their budgets with deep cuts at the same time.
" For its loyal council supporters to suggest otherwise is to misrepresent the position of councils that, through no fault of their own, have been forced to carry out cuts to their important services."

Kevin Keenan : Dundee long-term unemployed - largest annual rise of the 4 main Scottish cities

2011-12-23T08:44:00.001-08:00

Kevin Keenan
Dundee long-term unemployed - largest annual rise of the 4 main Scottish cities

22 December 2011
Dundee has experienced the greatest increase in the number of long-term unemployed of the 4 main cities of Scotland in the past year.
The TUC survey "Christmas on the Dole 2011" shows that the number of those out of work for one year has increased in Dundee by 490 between November 2010 and November 2011.
The corresponding rise for Glasgow was 395, for Edinburgh 345, and for Aberdeen 215.
In November 2010 there were 595 people out for work in Dundee for one year.
By last month, the figure had risen to 1,085, an 82 per cent increase.
The increases for the other three main cities were less.
For Glasgow it was 7 per cent, for Edinburgh 21 per cent, and for Aberdeen 72 per cent.
Commenting on the Dundee figures, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader on Dundee City Council, said,
"This rise in the number of long-term unemployed and the overall number of long-term unemployed are damaging both for Dundee as a city and for the individuals who are personally affected .
"It’s time for decisive action to reduce the jobless total and paid for by popular proposals such as Labour’s £2billion tax on bankers’ bonuses.
"More people of the dole is not the way to restore the economy .
"What we need are more jobs and more people in work paying taxes."

Richard McCready : Congratulations to Johann and Anas

2011-12-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

Richard McCready
Congratulations to Johann Lamont and Anas Sarwar
22 December 2011

I would like to congratulate Johann Lamont and Anas Sarwar on their elections as leader and deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party.
I am particularly pleased as I supported Johann and Anas as did Dundee West Constituency Labour Party.
However, I would also say that I think that the contest has been good for the party.
I think that all of the candidates have had something to offer.
It seems that Johann doesn't need this advice as she has included the leadership contenders in her team, but each of them had interesting things to say about how Labour got into the position which it is in and more importantly how we can get out of this position.
It is clear that Labour needs to change and needs to listen to the message people gave us in May this year.
I was delighted that Johann has spoken of the need for Labour to be the party of all of Scotland.
We must aim to win back both Dundee City West and Dundee City East, and if we want to form the government of Scotland we will have to.
I am also clear that Scottish Labour should have the policies which appeal to the people of Dundee and we need to work on this.
I would offer as a starter that we should focus on fairness or social justice.
Social justice is what Labour should be about.
We should respect our opponents but also be clear that changing the flag flying over us will make no difference to the lives of the Scots we seek to serve.
We should have as our priority making Scotland a fairer country in a fairer world.
We should not get involved in a bidding war on policies; we should stick with what we think is right and argue for fairness and social justice.
I am also pleased to see Johann's Shadow Cabinet team emerging and I am delighted that my friend and colleague Jenny Marra has been given a job as the Community Safety and Legal Affairs spokesperson.
I would also like to thank Iain Gray for his service as Labour's leader.
Clearly Iain's time as leader didn't end as he (or I) would have hoped but there is no doubt that he worked incredibly hard in that role.
He was very supportive of me as the candidate in Dundee City West and I will always be grateful for that.
I am sure that Iain will have much to offer Scottish public life in the future.

Jim McGovern recognised by Dundee Remploy

2011-12-20T00:54:00.000-08:00

Jim McGovern recognised by Dundee Remploy
20 December 2011
Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has met with representatives of the Dundee Remploy factory in Dundee who recognised the MP for his long standing support for the local factory.
The Remploy staff also took the opportunity to pass on Mr McGovern a baton celebrating the International Day of the Disabled, which took place earlier this month, which Mr McGovern will pass on in order to recognise the hard work and dedication put in by Remploy’s disabled and able bodied workers.
Jim McGovern said;
"I am humbled that representatives of the management and trade unions at the Dundee Remploy factory came to thank me for my efforts to protect Remploy from government cuts and changes.
"I have always enjoyed working with Remploy’s many dedicated members of staff to ensure their voice is heard at all levels of government.
"I was also honoured to have this baton handed to me, recognising the hard work and dedication of disabled and able-bodied people at Remploy and across the country in their communities and workplaces.
"I will be passing this baton on in recognition of their efforts."
Mr McGovern concluded,
"There is a lot of work yet to do in order to see Remploy’s future is secure.
"The consultation to the Sayce Review ended last month, and I participated in a Westminster Hall debate last Wednesday in an effort to ensure that the government does not remove their support for this important company.
"I will continue to stand up for Remploy into the future."

Marlyn Glen : Dundee in 2015

2011-12-16T11:49:00.001-08:00

Marlyn Glen
Dundee in 2015
16 December 2011
Last month I took part in what was one of the most memorable events in the story of the Labour Movement in Dundee – the 8,000 demonstration against Tory Government attacks on decent retirement pensions for public sector workers.
It was a feat of organisation, a procession of people power with hundreds and hundreds of brightly coloured flags and vivid banners, and expressions of unity as a light to guide us down the long grim tunnel that this decade will be.
By contrast, the Tory Government’s attempts to portray their deficit reduction policy as a crusade of national solidarity – "We’re all in this together" - were rudely dispelled last week when David Cameron pleaded with the rest of the EU for special treatment for just one group in Britain – the banks, the same institutions that have got the country into the mess we’re in.
The other 26 countries in the EU, some with governments that are on the Centre-Right of politics want to impose a Robin Hood-style tax on banks’ transactions.
However, David Cameron stood firm for Bankers’ Rights, for the same institutions still revelling in bonuses, that will not lend today to businesses that want to borrow money to create jobs.
In the 2010's Dundee faces a "lost decade" in which its "lost generation" will see its living standards slump to levels not experienced in many years.
Employment in Scotland is forecast not to return to previous higher levels until the early 2020s.
A couple living on average wages in 2015 will be no better off than they were in 2002.
So a couple in Dundee with a joint weekly income of £714 this year will be worse off in 2015 than the same couple in Dundee were in 2002 with a joint income then of £599 .
Male pay in Dundee has slumped by 7 per cent on average in the past year.
A pay freeze will endure in the public sector till 2013, and Chancellor George Osborne plans to limit pay rises to 1 per cent till 2015 thereafter.
As prices rise, real wages fall, reducing living standards.
The new economic model is the old belief that government should be acting in the same manner as the household does.
This says that when a household hits hard times, it cuts back , and therefore a government in the same straits should cut its spending and as quickly as possible.
Decades ago, this argument was disproved by Keynes with his "paradox of thrift".
For Keynes, national economies cannot be run like individual household budgets.
The more money a person saves or cuts back on, the less money is available for buying the goods and services that are being produced, leading to job losses and less taxation coming into Treasury.
The next few years are almost certain to be less healthier times.
Not surprisingly, personal health worsens as insecurity heightens.
One of the best ways of keeping people healthy is to keep them in a job.
Job loss and job insecurity can make people more vulnerable to illness through loss of self-worth, lower income, exclusion from previous social activities because of lower incomes, and living with no control over daily life.
The Child Growth Foundation has already expressed concerns that huge job cuts mean less income, resulting in people turning to cheaper calorie-rich food higher in fat, risking higher levels of diabetes and obesity.
Cuts in voluntary sector funding puts greater stress on an already overstretched NHS, at a time when the number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside has fallen to its lowest in 4 years.
Local government faces a cut of some £700 million in real terms till 2015.
Councils have received a "flat cash freeze" in their revenue allocation from the Scottish Government as a result.
These dire assessments describe how everyday life will be in the first few years of this decade .
The 30th. November rallies across Britain against pensions "reform" are unlikely to be the last.
Pensions are very much a personal rather than a political issue.
Bear this comparison in mind …. last weekend, world-wide publicity was given to Moscow, ( population 11 million, the most populous city in Europe), saw 60,000 demonstrators take to the streets last week in protests against election-rigging by Vladimir Putin.
In Dundee, (population 140,000,) the strength of opposition to Tory plans to cut public sector pensions saw over 8,000 take to the streets.

Dundee 2015 figures
Pay
The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that a couple living on average wages in 2015 will be no better off than they were in 2002
In 2002, the median weekly pay for men in Dundee was £358.
In 2011 it now stands at £ 405 .
In 2002 the median weekly pay for women in Dundee was £241 .
In 2011 it stands at £309 .
(Source : Office of National Statistics )
So a couple in Dundee with a joint weekly income of £714 this year will be worse off in 2015 than the same couple in Dundee were in 2002 with a joint income then of £599 .
Dundee City Council spending – the Flat Cash Freeze
Dundee City Council’s revenue allocations from the SNP Government to provide services in the city remain frozen, meaning a cut in real terms spending and services.
2011-12 £317million
2012-13 £316milllion
2013-14 £318million
2014-15 £318 million
The number of teachers in Dundee is now the lowest in 6 years.
NHS Tayside spending
NHS Tayside’s current budget of £596milllion is forecast to increase in real terms by just £6million by 2015, a 1 per cent increase, at a time when health service costs are rising annually by 4 per cent.
Overall in Scotland total health sending is set to decrease by £319million in real terms.
The number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside is now the lowest in 4 years.
Fuel Poverty
1 in 4 households in Scotland lives in fuel poverty.
A household is defined as being in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel.
This year, as energy companies pushed up prices even higher, the SNP Government all but abandoned its promise to "eradicate" fuel poverty in Scotland by 2016.
The SNP Government has also slashed funding for fuel poverty support by one third – from £71 million last year to £48 million this year.
Obesity
Over 1 in 4 of all adults in Scotland is obese, with the highest level, almost 40 per cent in the age group 55-64 .
The percentage of children aged 2-15 with a body mass index "outwith the healthy range" rose to its highest level last year to over 30 per cent.
Diabetes
NHS Tayside over 19,000 diagnosed with diabetes at the beginning of 2011 almost 1 in 20 of the population.
Almost ten years previously the figure had been 11,200.

Dundee Unemployment : Neither Plan Osborne nor Plan Salmond has worked

2011-12-16T00:34:00.000-08:00

Dundee Unemployment : Neither Plan Osborne nor Plan Salmond has worked
Councillor Kevin Keenan
16 December 2011
Unemployment in Dundee rose last month to 5,284 , representing an unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent.
Dundee’s unemployment rate continues to be higher than both the Scottish and the UK averages ( 4.0 and 3.8 per cent respectively)
Commenting on the Dundee figures, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader on Dundee City Council , said,
" In September, when unemployment in Scotland was lower than in the rest of the UK, Alex Salmond claimed the credit for this, and then invited Tory Chancellor George Osborne to follow SNP policies on the economy so as to bring unemployment down in the rest of the UK.
"However, now the situation has reversed. The unemployment rate in Scotland is now higher than in the rest of the UK.
"Alex Salmond keeps silent about this, refusing to accept that by his own argument, his policies must now be responsible for higher unemployment in Scotland.
"Alex Salmond can't have his cake and eat it.
"The truth is, as far as Dundee is concerned, neither George Osborne’s plan nor Alex Salmond’s plan has worked for Dundee.
"Dundonians know from their own grim experience that the Tory Government’s polices are not designed for their city.
"As for Alex Salmond, last month was the 54th. month that Alex Salmond has been First Minister of Scotland.
"In each and every single month during his time as First Minister, unemployment in Dundee has always remained above the Scottish average.
"Labour believes that its own 5 point plan is the best way to restore the economy in the immediate term and get more jobs through

* a tax on bankers' bonuses to pay for jobs for the young

* accelerating long-term investment projects

* a temporary reversal of January's 5 per cent increase in VAT

* a 1 per cent cut in VAT home improvements, repairs and maintenance to 5%

* a national insurance tax break for a year for all those small firms which take on extra workers
"I am supporting the call from Jenny Marra MSP that there should now be a Jobs Summit for Dundee."

Jim McGovern calls on UK and Scottish Governments to act on unemployment

2011-12-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Jim McGovern calls on UK and Scottish Governments to act on unemployment
14 December 2011
Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has called on the UK and Scottish governments to act on rising unemployment in Dundee.
Official statistics released today show that in November 2011 there were 285 more Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants in Dundee West compared to November 2010, and 48 more claimants compared to October 2011.
Jim McGovern said,
"It is unacceptable that unemployment is rising in Dundee. It is clear that the private sector is not growing, and public sector cuts are only making that worse.
"We need to see a plan from the Tory-led government in London and the SNP executive in Edinburgh that gets the economy growing.
"All they currently have is faith in a miracle recovery in the private sector, which simply isn’t happening. They need to take action to increase investment and create jobs.
"The SNP need to stop conspiring on separation and direct their attention on growing the economy.
"We cannot have industries pulling out of the city when we need more, not less, jobs. Uncertainty about Scotland’s future is damaging our efforts.
Mr McGovern concluded,
"Dundee has a great deal of potential, but it is suffering from a lack of leadership.
"A comprehensive plan for growth must be the top priority; not ideological public sector cuts or hugely damaging plotting around separation."

Jenny Marra MSP welcomes SFA Football Academy at St John's

2011-12-15T09:28:00.000-08:00

Jenny Marra MSP welcomes SFA Football Academy at St John's
15 December 2011
Jenny Marra has today welcomed the news that St John’s High School is to be earmarked as one of the SFA’s seven ‘performance schools’ to be created across Scotland.
The existing programme, which gives up and coming youngsters the opportunity to access top level coaching before and after the school day, is to be taken over by the SFA and will form an integral part of the Association’s plan to develop talent of the future.
Jenny has spearheaded the campaign to bring the proposed National Football Academy to her home city and this recent announcement can only strengthen Dundee’s case as being a centre of footballing excellence.
Jenny said,
"I think this is great news.
"There is a lot of good work in sport and football that is already going on at St John’s.
"I visited the school a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed.
"It will also help our campaign to bring the National Football Academy to Dundee.
"It would be an elite performance centre for people from across the country.
"Having another performance academy adds to the strength of the bid the council has agreed to put forward.
"I will continue to campaign on this issue and hopefully we can see the future of football in Dundee."

Councillor Laurie Bidwell : Teacher Numbers Tumble in Dundee

2011-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Councillor Laurie Bidwell
Teacher Numbers Tumble in Dundee
8 December 2011
The SNP Government’s latest figures indicate that the number of teachers in Dundee is the lowest for 6 years, lower than when the SNP took over the Scottish Government in 2007.
The figures show that the number of primary school teachers in Dundee is now at its lowest level since 2005.
The numbers fell again in the last year to 639 at the census point.
In secondary schools, the number of teachers in Dundee is also at its lowest level since 2005.
The numbers decreased over the last year to 716 at the census point.
The tables showing Pupil/Teacher ratios also show a noticeable increase from 11.7 pupils to 1 teacher in 2009 to 12.1 pupils to 1 teacher in 2011.
Commenting on the figures, Labour's Education Spokesperson in the City, Councillor Laurie Bidwell said,
"In Dundee the Education Convener says she hasn't removed teachers from the classroom but the growth in the number of pupils to each teacher (the Pupil - Teacher ratio) paints a different picture."
"We can't go on reducing the number of teachers in our schools in Dundee without having a negative effect on the attainment and achievement of our pupils.
"Dundee deserves better.
" Having promised the earth four and a half years ago, the SNP Government still refuses to face up to the truth today that they have not reduced average class sizes.
"They, and their SNP controlled Council in Dundee, are responsible for the decline in teacher numbers and an adverse rise in the pupil/teacher ratios in our City.
"The SNP made unprecedented promises about improvements in education, none of which have ever been properly or fully funded."

Marlyn Glen : NHS Tayside - Three Facts and An Admission

2011-12-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Marlyn Glen
7 December 2011
NHS Tayside Staffing : Three Facts and An Admission

Three significant NHS staffing figures were published last month and one highly significant admission was made.
The latest official government figures show that the number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside continues to remain below the level it was at when Alex Salmond’s SNP Government took over in 2007.
The overall NHS workforce in NHS Tayside is now over 300 less than it was two years ago .
Around 1 out of 4 student nurses in abandon their courses.

and

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon finally admitted that the number of nurses and midwifery staff in the NHS in Scotland is now lower than the number was under Labour.
Let’s look at the first fact.
The latest official government figures show that numbers of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside continue to fall under Alex Salmond’s SNP Government.
They remain at a level below the number of nursing and midwifery posts in the health board when the SNP came into government in 2007.
It’s now 23 whole–time equivalents in staffing numbers below what the figures were back then.
The headcount figure is also down on the 2007 level.
This trend stacks up poorly against the record of the previous Labour-led Scottish Executive.
In the last 4 years, under Labour from 2002-2006, the number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside increased each year , and increased in total by over 230.
Let’s look at the second fact again now.
The overall number of NHS staff in NHS Tayside is now over 300 less than it was two years ago.
Today there are 13,914 staff in the health board, including GPs and dentists, ( using the SNP Government’s preferred choice of headcount figures.)
This is a decrease of almost 320 from the 14,230 staff level reported two years ago.
This trend also stacks up poorly against the record of the previous Labour-led Scottish Executive.
In its last 4 years, under Labour, the overall number of staff in NHS Tayside increased each year and increased in total by around 900.
These figures were already expected because of the SNP Government’s failure to match the Labour-led Scottish Executive’s growth in health spending.
The third fact is that the number of nursing students who drop out of their courses, known as the "attrition rate" still affects around 1 in 4.
The reasons for this are well-known and long-standing and include the need for childcare assistance and better support for clinical placements as well as financial difficulties and problems with career prospects.
This last issue, career prospects, now looks like taking on a greater significance.
In terms of demand, as the population ages there will be more need for nursing staff
In term of supply, there is a need to replace an ageing NHS workforce with younger staff .
Some 10,000 of Scotland’s nursing workforce are now over 55
In addition more of them are needed to meet the rising demand from the elderly.
However, student nurses can now see their career opportunities being restricted as the number of nursing posts in the NHS in Scotland falls - 2,000 lost in the past year, and so these diminishing career prospects will create anxiety, disquiet and perhaps a career re-decision.

And what of the highly significant admission ?

Earlier last month, ( 10th. November ) Nicola Sturgeon finally admitted to the Scottish Parliament, the SNP’s failure on nursing numbers which are now below those under Labour.
She stated,
"The number of nurses and midwives has reduced by 0.2 per cent from the level that we inherited. "
No Government or health secretary can afford to have declining health staff numbers , particularly when you have previously declaimed that you " will protect the health service during the lifetime of this Parliament " with fewer nursing and midwifery staff.
Why is the NHS in this condition ?
The SNP Government simply just pass on cuts from the Tory Government in Westminster.
Furthermore, more money being spent on the SNP’s populist 5-year council tax freeze means of course less money for spending on the health service.
As a consequence of greater and greater duties being demanded with no increase in resources for the NHS in Scotland, several career options for loyal staff such as voluntary redundancy packages have their appeal.
This, however, result in a further loss of nursing skills, with overworked and under-pressure dedicated staff remaining.
The extent of this working environment is revealed in a new poll of its members by the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland where more than 1 in 3 said that there were discouraged or told not to report their concerns over issues such as staffing levels or patient safety.
When RCN Scotland appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee last month, their observation resonated with many :
"Nurses think they are very much on their own and that they are being targeted for savings……Nursing has lost a sense of all being in it together."

Jenny Marra supports Dundee students at Education Rally

2011-12-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

Jenny Marra Supports Dundee Students at Education Rally
6 December 2011
Jenny Marra MSP showed her support for Dundee students at a rally held before the public meeting on post-16 education in Tayside attended by Cabinet Secretary for Education Mike Russell.
The students gathered to present their response to the post-16 consultation paper that proposes increased ministerial powers over the governance of further education institutions. Earlier this year the paper sparked controversy in its proposal to give ministers the power to merge institutions.
Speaking before the rally Ms Marra said:
"I am delighted to be here to support the students in presenting their response to the post-16 legislative paper. Both Abertay and Dundee university student associations have been clear in their opposition to any merger proposals, as well as the Government’s cuts to Colleges. It is important their voice is heard throughout this consultation as it is their future at stake."
William Mohieddeen, president of Abertay Students Union added:
"The University of Abertay Students' Association thanks all supporters of the Hands Off Abertay campaign and those that are backing the Tayside students' response in 'All Taygether Now'.
"Particularly we would like to thank Jenny Marra MSP for addressing the students attending the rally at Dundee Union.
"The campaigning has been fully about projecting the student voice to the highest level in Government and we recognise those such as Ms Marra who are keen to interact with students and acknowledge the position they have in partnership in their education.
"This has been a significant piece of student activism and we hope to see significant interaction from the education secretary before imposing any further changes to the higher education sector.

Call for More Full-Time Jobs for Dundee as city is revealed as the lowest in mainland Scotland

2011-12-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Call for More Full-Time Jobs for Dundee as city is revealed as the lowest in mainland Scotland
Councillor Kevin Keenan
2 December 2011
Dundee has the lowest percentage of people in full-time work in the whole of mainland Scotland, according to Government figures from the Office of national Statistics.
The city has just 68.4 per cent of 16-64 year olds in full-time work , 45,300 in full time work out of a workforce of 66,300.
The Scottish average is 73.6.
The figure for Glasgow was 75.8.
Figures for all local council areas show that but for Shetland, with 66 per cent working full-time, Dundee would have had the lowest level of full-time employment in the whole of Scotland.
As a consequence of having the lowest full-time figure, Dundee has the highest percentage of people in part-time work in mainland Scotland.
Commenting on the figures, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour Group leader on Dundee City Council, said,
"Each and every Member of the Labour Team here in Dundee will work with every business and economic development agency, along with both the Governments of Westminister and Holyrood to see jobs delivered for our city, the City of Dundee.
"Good jobs will bring with them the much needed security to Dundee and its people.
"This is something that most of us are crying out for as we make our way through these very challenging economic times.
"Dundee people have a lot to offer the manufacturing industry and the City needs manufacturing.
"It’s therefore vital that we attract the much promised jobs from within the growing renewable wind and wave electricity energy production and supply industry.
"Manufacturing industry is acknowledged to be the best source of full-time employment.
"It’s imperative that this City gets more jobs, particularly full- time jobs.
"Full-time jobs tend to have greater security, better wage rates and delivers more chance of an occupational pension scheme."
"Part-time jobs tend to be much more casual with lower wage rates and little prospect of a pension."

Jim McGovern condemns Chancellor's Autumn statement

2011-12-02T01:14:00.000-08:00

Jim McGovern condemns Chancellor's Autumn statement

29 November 2011

Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, condemned the Autumn Statement given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

The Autumn Statement comes as the OECD warns of renewed threat of recession for the UK economy, the Office of Budget Responsibility further downgraded the UK’s short term growth expectations, and youth unemployment reaches an all time high of one million young people currently out of work.

Jim McGovern said,

"As the economy stagnates, and the OECD warns we may fall back into recession, and unemployment increases across the country, these announcements are too little too late.

"People in Dundee need to see real action from this government in order to see that jobs and investment increases. That didn’t happen today.

"I support more home building and infrastructure investment, but there should much more of it, and it should have been done over a year ago.

"To cut vital tax credits for hard working families shows that the government are making the most vulnerable and hardest working suffer for their failed economic policies.

"The government’s cuts, and their lack of action, has chocked off economic recovery.

" The government are responsible for much of what has gone wrong. Today George Osborne did not take responsibility for that."

Mr McGovern concluded,

"Government borrowing is up, economic growth is down and unemployment is increasing every day.

"These announcements, many of which are not new, are too little for the people of Dundee.

"The government must come up with a comprehensive plan for economic growth, and they must do so as a matter of urgency."

Jenny Marra MSP : Youth Unemployment

2011-12-02T01:11:00.001-08:00

Jenny Marra MSP

Youth Unemployment

Speech in the Scottish Parliament

1 December 2011

I am angry.

I am angry after yesterday's strikes.

I am angry at John Mason?s suggestion that young people in our country do not want to work, and I invite him to come up to Dundee and speak to some of the young people to whom I speak every week, who are desperate to work—the young men who have left school and are desperate to get into the construction industry but cannot because there are no jobs available for them.

I am angry that, since two weeks ago, when the unemployment figures came out, cybernats continually tweet me with their answer to the unemployment figures, which is that young people in this country do not want to work.

That seems to be the message continually coming from members on the Scottish National Party benches and from those who tweet and put things on Facebook in their names.

Those of us who marched and were on the picket lines yesterday recommitted ourselves to fight the scourge of youth unemployment in this country, because yesterday was not just about pensions, although their protection is exceedingly important.

Yesterday was, in essence, about work: people?s right to work, to expect to work, to aspire to work, to enjoy success at work, to be properly paid for work, to be challenged, to pay taxes and to build a financial and satisfying legacy for old age.

The crisis in youth unemployment in Scotland has grown to breaking point.

As the economic downturn has unfolded it has become increasingly clear that Scotland?s youth are being hardest hit in the fight to find work, training or access to further education.

I want to talk a bit about the structural problems of the economic downturn that are affecting the choices of the young people in those of our communities that are most decimated by unemployment, such as an increasingly competitive job market that keeps them shut out, and a further education system that will see fewer opportunities for them after the SNP has made its debilitating cuts to colleges.

In a recent study, Professor David Bell of the University of Stirling talks of a "trade-down" generation, with today?s graduates, who are faced with an increasingly difficult job market, taking on jobs in retail or services at minimum wage—jobs that would otherwise usually have been done by those who had not been to university.

The burden of the economic squeeze has landed on the shoulders of young people who are on the first rung on the employability ladder.

They have left school early without many qualifications or any work experience and have entered a job market where they are now competing for jobs against more highly qualified candidates—and they cannot compete.

Little wonder, then, that unemployment among young people in Scotland is rising at a rate that is double that for 25 to 49-year-olds.

Traditionally, for those who have left school early and want to boost their employability, there has always been the option of studying or training at college, but demand for college places has soared and the Educational Institute of Scotland reports that college courses are increasingly difficult to find.

Coupled with budget cuts of 40 per cent in real terms, which I have put to the cabinet secretary before, and college mergers—with a predicted loss of up to 2,000 places at Angus College alone—the college option is becoming harder and harder for young people to realise, leaving them with little option but to return to school.

The rate of pupils staying on at school past the age of 16 has jumped from a relatively stable rate of between 77 and 79 per cent between 2000 and 2008 to 83 per cent last year—the highest figure on record.

Immense pressure is being put on teachers to provide courses for such large numbers.

The First Minister: Will Jenny Marra acknowledge that among the many recommendations of the Smith group is one that says that staying on at school is a good thing? Might that have something to do with this Government?s determination to maintain educational maintenance allowance, which has been removed elsewhere in these islands?

Jenny Marra: There are many who find the cuts to educational maintenance allowance quite debilitating.

It is good that some people are staying on at school, but it is not acceptable that others are not.

I will read to the chamber something that was posted on Facebook yesterday by the brother of Angus MacLeod.

Labour members feel very strongly that this sums up the state of youth unemployment in our country.

It is about a boy called Liam Aitchison, who died earlier this week.

John MacLeod met him in late September as they waited for a ferry. John was returning from the Uist communion and ended up giving Liam a lift to Stornoway.

He said that Liam was,

"engaging, smart, funny, had quite a back-story, a strong handshake and was eerily old for his years ... he would hail me on the streets of town (usually to tap me for fags)."

Two weeks ago, they met up for lunch.

John took reams of notes to get a CV together for him.

He had a looming date before the sheriff for "some juvenile mischief" and they felt that finding Liam "a situation" or a job might help.

John wrote that Liam

"had ... lost weight in these weeks; looked rather flat and tired. Picked at his food; inexplicably declined pudding. 'I'll Facebook you,' he said; but he didn't".

Liam never touched Facebook or his mobile again.

John wrote: "Liam went missing a few days later. His body was found in a derelict shack by the edge of Stornoway yesterday ... a lad disadvantaged in many ways ... in life ... but who had worked hard in the Pollachar Inn and on four fishing boats, had earned six Standard Grades, was a drummer in Uist pipe band ... and who could play a bewildering range of instruments"—

John said that Liam "completed the John Muir award in 2009 and was a keen cook".

He was not "a ned, a chav, a loser or a statistic".

John described him as "a young man worth meeting".

Liam was a young man who needed a job and who will never now realise that potential.

Liam was 16 years old.

Richard McCready : Reflections on the Day of Action on Pensions

2011-12-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

Richard McCready

Reflections on the Day of Actions for Pensions

1 December 2011

On Wednesday I joined thousands of others to march through the streets of Dundee to show my opposition to the changes to many public sector workers pensions.
It was good to see so many people on the demonstration.
It was disappointing that the demonstration was necessary.
Dundee West Constituency Labour Party unanimously made their views known about this issue.
You can see the statement which they supported (link) you can read more about the unions together campaigns here.
I am sure that there were people present yesterday who were taking part in their first demonstration.
It is clear that right across the country people were supporting this campaign.
The Prime Minister described Wednesday as a 'damp squib'.
I beg to differ.
I hope that there is a negotiated settlement which allows all workers dignity in retirement.
I support a fair pension and dignity in retirement for all workers, whether in the public or private sector.
I hope that the Tory-led UK Government and the SNP-led Scottish Government, along with local government recognise that dignity in retirement and a fair pension are important.

Marlyn Glen : Pensions and 30th. November 2011

2011-11-28T03:48:00.001-08:00

Pensions and 30th. November
Marlyn Glen

The “Daily Mail” couldn’t have put it better.
“State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland is to lavish around £500million in bonuses on its 'casino' bankers - despite a collapse in profits.
“Hundreds of traders and investment bankers who were bailed out by taxpayers at the height of the financial crisis are expected to walk off with pay and perks packages worth more than £1 million each.
“The huge handouts will fuel fury at City greed at a time when politicians and religious leaders are speaking out about corporate excess.”
(7th. November this year )
This is what others have described as “Socialism for the bankers” while its obverse, “capitalism for the workers” will be the cause of a massive national demonstration on Wednesday.
The moral debate is still about the reckless actions of those who were rewarded for failure, who required a large bonus simply to do their job, versus the rights of those who did not cause the financial crisis, but who are now being asked to work longer and to pay more to receive less of a pension as a result of it.
The political debate has been transformed into the hoary Tory myth of the “bloated” public sector with “gold-plated”, “unaffordable” pensions paid for by the taxpayer, and of Labour’s “rampant spending in office” , which was in fact vital to prop up the private banking sector from collapsing, an action repeated by other Governments .
Wednesday’s action has been described as a “women’s strike” and for good reason.
Almost two-thirds of public sector employees are women and when the public sector is hit hard by Tory cuts that are inevitably accompanied by punishing job losses, it’s women who suffer the most in terms of jobs, pay and pensions.
The Tory-led Government’s belief was that the clear out of jobs in the public sector would be the signal for the private sector to absorb these redundancies by creating more jobs for those losing theirs in the public sector.
That has never happened in any large measure - nor was it ever likely to - but for those that this has affected, it’s almost certainly meant a loss of pay for most of them.
The gross hourly rate for full-time women in the public sector is on average around £4.20p an hour higher than in the private sector.
The same rate for part-time female workers is on average £2.90p an hour greater in the public sector than in the private sector.
Added on to that disadvantage is what the TUC describe as “ a growing gap between public and private sector pensions caused by the employer retreat from decent pensions in the private sector”
Pension provision should include as one of its main objectives the levelling up of pensions in the private sector to those in the public sector.
It’s not about levelling down pensions in the public sector to the level of those in the private sector.
The claim about the “spiralling costs” making for unsustainable nature of public pensions is based on the belief that pension costs will absorb greater costs as more and more people live longer.
However, the UK Government’s Office of Budget Responsibility Fiscal Sustainability Report has already delved into the likely costs of pensions in the 2030s and the 2060s
It predicts that the cost of public pensions will have fallen to 1.8 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 2030 and will fall further still to 1.4 per cent by 2060.
As for “ gold-plated” pensions in the public sector, the average pension for women in the public sector is around £2,800 a year, and in the health service £3,500
Unions are angry about the claim of the Tory-led government that under their pension proposals, all those earning under £15,000 a year will see no increase in their pension contributions.
However, these figures refer to what a person would earn if they were working full-time in practice or in theory.
So a part-time worker earning £8,000 a year would not be exempt from increases in contributions because their “full-time pay” would be the equivalent of £16,000 a year, above the £15,000 threshold.
Employees face average increases of 3 per cent - a pay cut of 3 per cent by any other name -and the majority of these part-time workers are women.
Meanwhile, the TUC PensionsWatch reports that the directors of the top echelons of UK companies can expect average pension payments of almost £250,000 a year.
The report indicates that the leading 362 directors have stored up final salary pensions worth on average £3.9 million each.

Is there a particular Scottish dimension to the pensions issue?
The SNP Government believes that there is.
It is to debate the issue of pensions in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday.
However, the entrance qualifications for anyone who wishes to participate in the debate is that they will firstly have to walk across the picket line at the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Labour MSPs will be absent en masse from the Parliament on Wednesday along with the Scottish Green MSPs.
In his strong reproach of the SNP Government and its failure to listen to the voices of public sector unions to close down Holyrood next Wednesday, the Greens Parliamentary leader, Patrick Harvie, described it as “ an utterly cynical move”
He went further:
“On November 30th, the country will see the strongest wave of coordinated action for generations, all to challenge the UK Coalition’s ideological and counter-productive cuts. On that day, the SNP and the Coalition parties will sit together as an unholy alliance on the wrong side of the picket lines. Is this really what the SNP stand for now?
“No doubt there will be empty rhetoric from Ministers about supporting the right to strike – despite knowing that Parliament can only meet if employees and MSPs alike cross the picket lines.
“The SNP claim they’re on the other side of the argument from the Tories and LibDems.
“Wrong.
“The picket line is the argument, and the SNP have picked a side, the same side as the parties primarily responsible for this brutal attack on pay and pensions.
“The unions have been very clear about how MSPs can support them – by joining them at pickets and rallies right across the country. That’s the work we should be doing on November 30th.”
Patrick Harvie is the leader of a very different political party from that other one that is also in favour of an independent Scotland.

The pensions issue, like so many others, has its roots in the financial crisis of 2008.
Before then, the financial sector was revered for its “special place” in the economy and its “productive” risk-taking which entitled it to the jaw-dropping salaries and eye-watering bonuses.
However, Economics Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, puts it differently.
“It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, by and large, the members of the super-elite are overpaid, not underpaid, for what they do.
“Very few of them are Steve Jobs-type innovators; most of them are corporate bigwigs and financial wheeler-dealers. One recent analysis found that 43 percent of the super-elite are executives at nonfinancial companies, 18 percent are in finance and another 12 percent are lawyers or in real estate. And these are not, to put it mildly, professions in which there is a clear relationship between someone’s income and his economic contribution.
“Executive pay, which has skyrocketed over the past generation, is famously set by boards of directors appointed by the very people whose pay they determine; poorly performing Chief Executives still get lavish paychecks, and even failed and fired executives often receive millions as they go out the door.
“Meanwhile, the economic crisis showed that much of the apparent value created by modern finance was a mirage. As the Bank of England’s director for financial stability recently put it, seemingly high returns before the crisis simply reflected increased risk-taking — risk that was mostly borne not by the wheeler-dealers themselves but either by naïve investors or by taxpayers, who ended up holding the bag when it all went wrong. And as he waspishly noted, ‘If risk-making were a value-adding activity, Russian roulette players would contribute disproportionately to global welfare.’ “

Jenny Marra show support for Dundee pensioner's Fuel Poverty campaign

2011-11-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

Jenny Marra MSP shows support for Dundee pensioner’s fuel poverty campaign

23 November 2011

Jenny Marra MSP has today pledged her support to the Dundee Pensioners Forum following a protest they staged at the Wellgate centre in Dundee about concerns for fuel poverty.
Ms Marra has been active in championing fuel poverty matters in the Scottish Parliament, having just recently brought the matter to a debate.
In pledging her support Ms Marra stated:
"It is so often the case that pensioners are the hardest hit when it on comes to fuel poverty.
"I fully support the Dundee Pensioner’s Forum in their fight to be heard.
"We cannot leave the most vulnerable in society to choose between heating and eating this winter.
"I share their concern that the Scottish Government has cut funding to the Energy Assistance Package form £71million last year to just £48 million this year.
"This budget cut will mean less money available for progressive schemes such as home insulation, which would help vulnerable groups such as the Dundee pensioners to cut their bills and keep their homes warmer for longer.
"It is an issue I have raised in the Parliament previously, and I will do so again today in a debate on Climate Change.
"I also have scheduled a meeting with fuel poverty charity SCARF to discuss how we can articulate the concerns of groups like the Dundee Pensioner’s Forum to the Scottish Government.
"I hope to meet with the Pensioners Forum shortly."

Councillor Kevin Keenan : Long-term Unemployment in Dundee is now 1 in 5

2011-11-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Long-term Unemployment in Dundee now almost 1 in 5
Councillor Kevin Keenan
17 November 2011
Almost 1 unemployed person in 5 in Dundee has been out of work for over a year.
According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, there are just over 1,000 of the 5,200 unemployed in Dundee who have been out of work for over a year.
Commenting on the figures, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader on Dundee City Council said,
"Long-term unemployment means having much less money to support yourself and your family , being cut off from the network of daily activities with work colleagues, and a loss of personal status that having a job provides.
"It's particularly worrying when it affects young people because it makes it harder for them to find their way into work.
"This is already a significant problem.
"The number of young people unemployed in this country has passed the 1 million mark, and the number of young people in Dundee without a job has risen by 70 per cent in the last four years.
"Labour will continue to argue for its 5 point plan to get the economy moving again with more jobs through :
* a tax on bankers' bonuses to pay for jobs for the young
* accelerating long-term investment projects
* a temporary reversal of January's 5 per cent increase in VAT
* a 1 per cent cut in VAT home improvements, repairs and maintenance to 5%
* a national insurance tax break for a year for all those small firms which take on extra workers"

Jenny Marra MSP : Scottish Labour welcomes End of Dundee-Abertay Merger Plan

2011-11-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Jenny Marra MSP
Scottish Labour Welcomes End of Dundee-Abertay Merger Plan
17 November 2011
Commenting on the news that Dundee and Abertay Universities have today ruled out merging together, Jenny Marra Scottish Labour MSP for North East Scotland, who led the campaign against the merger proposals said:
"Students and staff at both institutions will be delighted that the merger proposals have been scrapped and both universities will retain their independence.
"This proposed shotgun marriage dreamt up by Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education clearly demonstrated how out of touch he is with local feeling in Dundee on this matter.
"At the public meeting I addressed it was clear that the only people in favour of this half baked plan were the SNP.
"Mike Russell talks up the autonomy of academic institutions when it comes to making cuts, but he is happy to make direct intervention in their governance and issues like merger which should be driven by academic imperatives."
Iain Gray MSP, Scottish Labour leader commented : " Everyone knew that Mike Russell was trying to force Abertay to merge with Dundee University.
"Scottish Labour initially raised this matter at First Minister’s Questions and forced Alex Salmond to give the assurance that it would not be forced through but would be up to the two universities to decide.
"They have now held talks and agreed that they do not want to merge.
"Mike Russell must now complete his U turn by indicating that he accepts this decision and will no longer be insisting on merger plans that no-one supports."

Marlyn Glen : Dundee's Misery Index is now over 10 per cent

2011-11-17T02:13:00.000-08:00

Marlyn Glen
Dundee’s Misery Index is over 10 per cent
16 November 2011
There is such as thing as The Misery Index.
It’s the sum of the rate of unemployment plus the rate of inflation, and added together they give an indication of the financial misery that accompanies unemployment, under-employment and the fear of an uncertain future for individuals and their families.
Strictly speaking, the Misery Index applies only to countries.
However, taking some degree of licence to make a point, the Misery Index for Dundee would be 10.6 per cent just now ( 5.0 per cent rate of inflation last month plus the 5.6 per cent rate for unemployment in the city )
The overall rate of unemployment in Dundee masks its most troubling tale - the age 16-24 age group in the city has an 8 per cent unemployment rate, and in the past three and a half years, the number of unemployed in that important age group of future Dundonians, has risen from 945 to 1,605.
There are dire forecasts of more misery to come , in the day-to-day running of family budgets hit by rising food prices, higher energy and fuel costs, and particularly for women.
Many of them are now the breadwinner in the family, whether it be in full-time or in part-time work, and they face the horrendous odds.
That’s why the latest figures for those who are "economically inactive" in Dundee ( those) show that 3,600 such women in Dundee want a job.
The corresponding figure for men is less, at 3,200.
People who are "economically inactive" are generally speaking those are beyond retiral age, and those who cannot work for reasons such as illness, disability, or those who remain at home to look after family.
Family responsibilities are the most common reason given for women being economically inactive.
The increase in the number of women in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance in Dundee since last June is greater than in men, 365 to 312, probably reflecting in part changes in the Lone Parent Obligation.
Women make up the majority of employees in the public sector, such as the NHS, education, local councils, and it is this sector that is being targeted and shredded in this recession.
Women’s working skills are needed now as much as they were in the past.
The number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside is now the lowest in 5 years .
The number of school teachers in secondary schools in Dundee is now at its lowest since 2005, almost two-thirds of whom are women
The number of school teachers in primary schools in Dundee is now at its lowest since 2005, 90 per cent of whom are women.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
A view from America ( current Misery Index of 13) - an editorial in the "New York Times" - "Britain’s self-inflicted Misery" - lays the blame forcibly and truly where it belongs :
"Austerity was a deliberate ideological choice by Prime Minister David Cameron’s ruling coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, elected 17 months ago. It has failed and can be expected to keep failing. But neither party is yet prepared to acknowledge that reality and change course.
Britain’s economy has barely grown since the budget cuts began taking effect late last year. The most recent quarterly figures showed the economy flat-lining, with growth at 0.1 percent.
New figures reported Britain’s highest jobless numbers in more than 15 years. Independent analysts expect unemployment — now 8.1 percent — to keep rising in the months ahead. The government has kept its promise to slash public-sector jobs — more than 100,000 have been lost in recent months. But its deficit-reduction policies have failed to revive the business confidence that was supposed to spur private-sector hiring.
Drastic public spending cuts were the wrong deficit-reduction strategy for the weakened British economy a year ago. … Britain’s unhappy experience is further evidence that radical reductions in spending will do little but stifle economic recovery.
Slashing government spending in an already stalled economy weakens anemic demand, leading to lost output and lost tax revenues. As revenues fall, deficit reduction requires longer, deeper spending cuts. Cut too far, too fast, and the result is not a balanced budget but a lost decade of no growth. That could now happen in Britain. .
Austerity is a political ideology masquerading as an economic policy. It rests on a myth, impervious to facts, that portrays all government spending as wasteful and harmful, and unnecessary to the recovery. The real world is a lot more complicated. America has no need to repeat Mr. Cameron’s failed experiment. "
One of the band of economists who predicted the banking crash and the extent of the present recession ,and an ex-member of the Bank of England’s interest rate committee was by David Blanchflower, who has studied the long -term effects of unemployment on young people.
He looked at data from the National Child Development Study, which examined the lives of children born in one particular week in 1958.
He found that while those in their early 20s who had lost their jobs in the late 1970s and early 1980s managed to make good again, the pyschological mark of being without a job in the earlier years remained with many of them, in some cases into their mid-forties.
They were more likely to be earning less than those with uninterrupted employment and they were less likely to be healthy and happy with their work.
Below are some figures for levels of unemployment in Dundee across all age groups in that same period :

If David Blanchflower’s argument is correct, the question arises, how many amongst those who were born in the late 1950s and who lost their jobs in the 1970s and 80s felt the effect of its misery into their middle aged years, and still feel it even today?
.
Year Average Number unemployed in Dundee
1979 8,668
1980 10,861
1981 14,723
1982 15,611
1983 15,943
1984 16,423

Richard McCready : Alcohol Awareness Week and Neddy Scrymgeour

2011-11-17T02:10:00.000-08:00

Alcohol Awareness Week and Neddy Scrymgeour
Councillor Richard McCready
15 November 2011
This is Alcohol Awareness Week from 14th to 20th November, to find out about work in Dundee click here, and today 15th November is the 89th anniversary of Edwin ( Neddy) Scrymgeour's victory over Winston Churchill in the 1922 General Election in Dundee.
It is clear that Scotland, Dundee included, has a difficult relationship with alcohol in the twenty-first century.
Unfortunately, in some respects little has changed since Neddy Scrymgeour advocated prohibition in the early part of the twentieth century.Scrymgeour's solution, Prohibition was tried in the USA and proved to be impractical, however perhaps we should see him as a figure worth reflecting on.
Although elected as a Prohibitionist MP, he took the Labour whip in the House of Commons.
In terms of the left at the time his views were close to being mainstream, the STUC supported prohibition at this time.
For much of the 1920s his fellow MP in Dundee was Tom Johnston, the future Secretary of State for Scotland during the Second World War.
Johnston supported Temperance and he and Scrymgeour argued over the issue throughout the period.
Scrymgeour wanted to ban alcohol, while Johnston wanted people to make their own decision not to drink alcohol.
Johnston was successful in making his home town of Kirkintilloch a 'dry' town.
Pubs only opened in Kirkintilloch in the 1970s.
It is clear that these two stalwarts of the left tried hard to find a solution to the problems caused by alcohol and addiction in their day.
They realised that alcohol could be the curse of the working man, or working woman and their families.
They recognised the problems caused in society by alcohol.Alcohol has been joined by drugs in the twenty-first century and the problems caused by addiction continue to be a curse on many in our society.
I think that this is an issue which the left should be looking for solutions for in the present day.
The SNP Government has focused on the issue and their chosen solution of minimum pricing.
Price is an issue worth looking at but minimum pricing will not solve all of the problems.
Indeed prices in Scotland and prices in England are roughly similar but Scotland seems to have worse problems with alcohol than England.
I think that we need to look at a wide range of issues and that changing the culture with regard to alcohol in Scotland should be the priority.
This will not be easy but trying to find a way to deal with this issue is hugely important to the future of our country.Minimum pricing as currently proposed will add to the profits of supermarkets.
This is such an important issue to the future of our country that there should be attempts to find a consensus on a wide range of measures which will deal effectively with alcohol abuse.Labour should reflect on the legacy of the Labour movement in the early twentieth century who saw alcohol abuse as one of the key scourges to be challenged in the new society they were trying to build.History does not repeat itself and the solutions of the 1920s are not the solutions for the present day; but perhaps we should consider the principles which inspired people in the past and apply them in a modern setting.

Jim McGovern hosts FBU briefing on delivery of Aid to Palestine

2011-11-17T02:08:00.000-08:00

Jim McGovern hosts FBU Briefing on Delivery of Aid to Palestine
15 November 2011
Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has hosted a briefing led by Jim Malone, FBU Regional Organiser for Scotland, about the recent FBU project to delivery fire fighting equipment to Nablus in the Palestinian West Bank.
Two fire appliances and fire safety equipment were purchased by donations from FBU members and supporters, and were driven from Dundee through nine countries before taking the ferry from Greece to Haifa in Israel.
Unfortunately one fire appliances broke down in Greece and had to be left, but the second, with all the equipment, reached Israel.
The equipment has since been impounded in Haifa for over a month, awaiting clearance from the Israeli authorities.
Early today the Israeli authorities notified the FBU that the process to release some of the equipment was to be sped up.
No date has yet been given for the delivery to be completed.
Jim McGovern said,
"This was a productive meeting and Jim Malone paid excellent testimony to the experiences of the FBU team who drove the fire appliance and equipment to Israel.
"The disappointment felt that this vital equipment has yet to reach the Nablus Fire Service is shared by everyone involved.
"When a city’s fire fighters need to share equipment because they do not have enough for each individual is unacceptable.
"That puts lives at risk.
"The FBU’s project is commendable."
"We welcome the news that the Israeli authorities have now decided to speed up the process of releasing the equipment, though so far some, such as the breathing apparatus, are yet to be given approval."
"I hope the Israeli authorities work with haste to ensure that all of this potentially lifesaving equipment reaches the Nablus Fire Service, and it is soon put to use saving lives in that city."

Laurie Bidwell : 99 Fewer Teachers in Dundee this year

2011-11-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Councillor Laurie Bidwell

99 Fewer Teachers in Dundee this year

8 November 2011

This autumn there are 99 fewer teachers working in schools in Dundee compared with 2010.
Figures contained in a response to a Freedom of Information Request to Labour’s education spokesperson Councillor Laurie Bidwell, reveal that the budgeted teacher numbers are 1393 teachers 2011/12 compared with 1492.2 teacher posts in 2010/11.
Commenting on the reduction in the number of teachers by the SNP-controlled council, Councillor Laurie Bidwell, said,
"In the last twelve months Dundee City Council has the unenviable reputation of being responsible one of the largest reductions in its teaching workforce compared with the other councils in Scotland.
"The effect of this reduction will be felt in every school in Dundee.
"This performance is not what the SNP promised at the May 2011 elections to the Scottish Parliament.
"In their Teachers' Manifesto May 2011, they committed to:
'Bring stability to teacher numbers by ensuring councils stick to the agreed minimum number of posts.
"Ensure there are enough posts for every post-probationer and enough additional positions to reduce teacher unemployment'
"A reduction of 99 posts is by no stretch of the English language stability.
"You can't reduce the number of teachers in our schools by 99 posts or 6.6% without having a negative effect.
"Dundee deserves better."

Kevin Keenan : Unemployment soars by 70 per cent amongst 18-24 year olds in Dundee

2011-11-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

Councillor Kevin Keenan

Unemployment soars by 70 per cent amongst 18-24 year olds in Dundee

8 November 2011

The number of unemployed 18-24 year olds in Dundee has risen by over 70 per cent in the past 4 years.
Last month , September 2011, there were 1,690 such people in Dundee unable to find work.
Four years ago, in September 2007, the number was 980.
Virtually every area of the city has seen the toll of young jobless rise.
Commenting on the figures, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader on Dundee City Council said,
" Those who will be the future generation that shapes Dundee are being hit particularly hard by the current economic situation as unemployment continues to rise and as public sector funding is cut more.
" The jobs in the private sector that were supposed to have been created by the cutbacks haven’t materialised , the deep cuts in benefits means even less money to spend which in turn will damage the local economy.
"The Government must respond to the growing demands for new policies that puts jobs first.
" Young age groups like the 18 to 24 year old age group are particularly important not just for themselves because it’s when people enter their first job after school, college or university.
"It’s also important for the city itself .
"The future success of the city depends on them being in sustained employment."

Marlyn Glen : Nurses "at breaking point"

2011-11-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Nurses "at breaking point"
NHS Tayside revenue budget forecast to increase by just over 1 per cent over the next 4 years.

Marlyn Glen

8 November 2011

In these times of diminished hopes, the fears of dedicated but demoralised nursing staff in the NHS were revealed a few weeks ago by RCN Scotland’s survey of members.
It showed that only 30 per cent of nursing and healthcare support staff felt that their job was "secure". This was a drop of over 40 per cent compared with the 74 per cent recorded two years ago.
Furthermore, under 40 per cent would recommend nursing as a career, compared with 54 per cent in 2009.
Nursing staff were described as being " at breaking point".
The doctors’ professional body, BMA Scotland, stated last month that the NHS in Scotland was braced for "unprecedented " reductions in budgets in real terms money, and that the "rising costs of health inflation could jeopardise the range and quality of services the NHS currently provides.
"It is vital that the Scottish government and managers take a long-term view for the NHS and work with health professionals to identify how services can be made more efficient and where cuts should be made without compromising patient care."
The Scottish Government has a different perception of the condition of the health service from those who work in it and use it day-by-day.
Thus, First Minister Alex Salmond claimed in June,
"Even in these difficult times, health employment in every single category—through medical consultants, general practitioners, dentists and nurses to allied health professionals—is substantially up today on the level that we inherited in 2007".
Unfortunately for Mr. Salmond, the figures on the NHS say something different.
The Scottish Government’s own database states that details of the number of general practitioners and dentists employed " is currently unavailable due to changes in methodology and data quality issues"
The figures for the total NHS workforce minus GPs and dentists shows that in the past 4 years it has risen from 130,245 to 131,914 - just a 1 per cent increase - "substantially up today on the level that we inherited in 2007"?
In fact, in each of the past two years, the number of total NHS staff has fallen, and the Scottish Government’s own figures also show that some 2,300 posts in the NHS in Scotland will go in this financial year.
The same database shows that there are now over 360 fewer nursing and midwifery staff in the NHS in Scotland than there were when Mr Salmond became First Minister.
These same figures on staffing, this time for NHS Tayside, tell a different tale as well from the "substantially up" story.
According to them, the number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Tayside has decreased by 21 ( full-time equivalents) and is not "substantially up" since Mr. Salmond became First Minister.
In NHS Tayside in "Allied Health Professionals", a category quoted by the First Minister, there has been a average rise of just 5 more staff in each of the past 4 years from a base of 803 - "substantially up on the level that we inherited in 2007"?
Some Allied Health Professionals in NHS Tayside have fallen in number.
In Occupational Therapy there are 23 fewer compared with 2007.
Over recent months ( March to June), there have been a fall in the number of staffing posts in Dietetics, Orthotics, and Therapeutic Radiography.
In the past 2 years, 12 posts have been lost in physiotherapy.
We are constantly told by Scottish Government Health Ministers that they are now providing "record funding" for the NHS.
The same can be said of generally of employers who are providing "record wages" for their employees.
However, do these "record wages" keep up with those record prices in the shops , in energy bills and transport costs?
It’s when the Scottish Government’s "record funding" is scrutinised in this light that the real picture emerges.
The Scottish Government’s " Spending Review and Draft Budget for 2012-13" provides its preliminary ( but not finalised) figures for NHS expenditure till 2014-15.
The total expenditure , in real terms, taking inflation into account, is forecast to fall by £319 million by then.
To give just a few possibilities in individual specialities, in real terms expenditure ,
General Medical Services face a cut of £53 million
General Dental Services face a cut of £30 million
Ophthalmic Services face a cut of £7 million
Nursing Education and training face a cut of over £11 million
Clean Hospitals/MRSA Screening face a cut by £2million
Alcohol Misuse programmes face a cut by £3 million
NHS Tayside’s initial revenue allocation budget, currently just under £600 million a year, is anticipated to increase by less than £1 million in real terms in the coming year, an increase of just 1 per cent.
By 2014-15, it will rise by just over £6 million in real terms on the initial budget to just over £600 million. Over the four year period, the overall rise will be just over 1 per cent.
However, health service inflation costs - drugs and equipment in particular - are currently running at around 4 per cent.
On top of that are the "efficiency savings" .
These are serious financial demands.
3 per cent "efficiency savings" were ordered from budgets this year, with no real let up forecast for future years.
The Christie Commission reported on the struggle that the public sector services such as the NHS have in meeting increased demand, chiefly from an ageing population and chronic health problems , while the Scottish Government has set itself upon a low-taxation policy.
The Commission estimates that the shortfall in funding to meet this demand could rise to £3 billion by the middle of this decade.
It said,
"Our public services are now facing their most serious challenges since the inception of the welfare state.
"This rising demand for public services will take place in an environment of constrained public spending.
"In the absence of a willingness to raise new revenue through taxation, public services will have to achieve more with less."
This means nursing and other clinical posts vacancies being left unfilled and the re-deployment of existing staff.
It means front-line posts disappearing.
It doesn’t mean that the same standard of service for patients can be provided with fewer staff.
This is what happens when the Scottish Government’s core policy is a 5-year council tax freeze which no one knows how it can be paid for.
A sweetshop without prices.

Councillor Richard McCready : Remembrance - Laying of Crosses

2011-11-03T12:39:00.001-07:00

Councillor Richard McCready

Remembrance - Laying of Crosses

9 November 2011

On Saturday I was at the Laying of the Crosses ceremony outside the City Churches.
I placed my cross in memory of my great-uncle David McCready who died, as a result of an accident, during the Second World War whilst serving with the Highland Light Infantry.
I also remembered my great uncle Bertie, who served with the Desert Rats and my great uncle Jack who served on the Artic Convoys.
I also thought of my grandad McCready who served in Glasgow with the Fire Service right through the Second World War and my grandad McDonagh who built tanks and served as an air raid warden.
I thought of all those who serve our country and those who have given their lives.
I also thought about my cousins who live in Germany today.
This period of remembrance is important and allows us the opportunity to remember those who have given their lives for our country.
It is also an important time to think about the importance of promoting peace and justice in the world.

Jim McGovern backs calls for increased support for Computer Games Industry

2011-10-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

Jim McGovern backs calls for increased support for Computer Games Industry
29 October2011
Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has backed TIGA’S calls for the Scottish and UK governments to do more to support the computer games industry.
TIGA has put forward proposals for the introduction of a Creative Content Fund that would improve access to finance for developers, stimulate intellectual property production and increase the size of studios.
Jim McGovern said;
"The computer games industry is important to Dundee and the Scottish economy; it is a growth industry that we have been a leader in for over a decade now.
"Many fear that the lack of action from the Scottish and UK governments is seeing us fall behind our international competitors.
"A Creative Content Fund would target government support in a more appropriate way for games developers, and other creative industries, than they currently are.
"The Tory-led government’s stance is naïve; you cannot have a one size fits all approach to business support.
"We have seen this with the film and oil industries.
"The money from the Scottish government is welcome, however it is only a drop in the ocean compared to what Canada, France, the US and Ireland offer to computer games developers.
"They are being left behind in the wake of these countries who better understand the importance of this industry to economic growth and job creation."
Mr McGovern concluded;
"There is a much more that the Scottish and UK governments need to do in order to ensure that our games developers do not suffer.
"Neither Edinburgh or London seem to understand the need to invest in our growth industries in order to grow the economy, get people into work and to pay off the deficit.
"I will continue to push them until they realise that their current plan is the wrong one for Dundee, Scotland and the UK."

Congratulations to the new President of the Irish Republic

2011-10-29T00:52:00.000-07:00

Councillor Richard McCready
Congratulations to the new President of the Irish Republic
29 October 2011
I am really pleased that the Labour candidate in the Irish Presidential Election, Michael D Higgins, has been successful.
Michael D is a really interesting character who has already achieved much in his time in politics.
I think that his election is interesting for those of us in Scottish Labour.
Michael D has won in a political culture where constitutional issues have traditionally dominated the political discourse.
It is interesting that promoting social justice in this context has allowed Michael D to win this election.
I am sure that whilst this election is clearly in a very different context to Scotland there are still some interesting lessons which could be learned.
I am sure that Michael D Higgins will be a President who will do Ireland proud.

I would like to wish him well for his time in Áras an Áras an Uachtaráin.

Kevin Keenan : Unemployment up 700 year-on-year

2011-10-23T02:31:00.000-07:00

Unemployment in Dundee 700 up year-on-year

Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader on Dundee District Council , responded to the latest figures on unemployment in Dundee showing a rise of almost 700 in 12 months, saying :

"The rise in unemployment in the city over the past year has shown that neither the policies of Tory Chancellor George Osborne nor of the SNP Government in Scotland has worked for Dundee.
"In contrast, Labour has already called for a £2billion tax on bankers’ bonuses, some of the money from which would go towards constructing up to 2,500 more affordable homes in Scotland and which would also find jobs for young people.
"We also want the acceleration of programmes of long-term investment involving schools, roads and transport - to get more people back to work, and bringing to a halt the SNP government's cuts to colleges in Scotland such as our own Dundee College.
"We want the rise in VAT imposed in January reversed for a temporary period to help boost high street business, families and pensioners.
"A full one year cut in VAT to 5% on home improvements, repairs and maintenance would definitely help homeowners and small businesses, and a 12 month national insurance tax break for every small firm which takes on extra workers – helping small businesses to grow and create jobs."

St John's Bus Issue : Meet the Parents !

2011-10-12T13:01:00.001-07:00

Councillor Richard McCready

St John’s Bus Issue - Meet the Parents!

12 October 2011

Yet again I'm calling for action over the issue of buses to St John's High School.
I'm concerned that so-far the Administration of the City Council has refused to meet with parents.

I am particularly concerned that the Council has refused to meet with the statutory body representing parents namely the Parent Council.
The report which was in the local press this morning caused me a great deal of concern.
I find it hard to believe that the Administration have not agreed to meet Monsignor McCaffrey or parents from St John's to discuss how to find a solution to this problem.
It all begs a very simple question - why?
I am appalled at the lack of action on the part of the Administration.
Why are they refusing to meet with parents?
I am aware that a group of parents from the West End and the Parent Council have been trying to meet with the Education Convener to discuss this issue but they have been refused, so far.
There is a saying that 'it is good to talk.'
I am surprised by the statement by Dundee City Council in today's press that the Council does not subsidise school bus services,
There is a subsidised bus service to St Paul's Academy. (The council report that this costs £44,840 per annum)
The City Council also subsidise a number of bus services throughout the city based on their 'social' usefulness.
Surely buses that take pupils to school serve a useful purpose.
I was shocked at the recent council meeting when Monsignor McCaffrey was ruled out of order for having the temerity to ask about bus transport to schools.
But it is more shocking that the council is refusing to engage with parents.
Parents are the first educators of their children and have an important role to play in supporting the school.
Parents in the West End are trying to support the school by ensuring that their children get to school on time and are able to do their homework in the evenings.
Why is the partnership between the council and the parents not being taken seriously by the council?
As a local councillor I want a solution to this problem, the Administration should meet with parents and be prepared to look positively at ways to secure a bus service to St John's.
Local people, sending their children to a local school deserve no less.

Concern at Ninewells Car Parking Charge Increase

2011-10-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

Concern at Increase in Ninewells Car Parking Charge
6 October 2011
Councillor Richard McCready
Visitors and staff attempting to avoid the charges cause parking problems in the West End and on the other side of the hospital in Menzieshill.
Charging for car parking at Ninewells was a mistake and it is no use focusing on the history of who did what and when but rather we should be focusing on the way ahead.
The Scottish Government says that car parking should be free at hospitals, they should implement their own policy in Dundee.
I would be happy to work with anyone to achieve the goal of abolishing car parking charges at Ninewells.

There is no such thing as a free car parking place, costs are involved.
Through our taxes we are all paying for free car parking at hospitals across Scotland, in places such as Perth.
The difference is that people using Ninewells Hospital do not benefit from free car parking.

Ninewells Hospital does have good public transport links and these should be encouraged, but public transport does not always suit the hours of some people working in this vast complex.
For some people who are visiting as patients it may not be appropriate for them to use public transport.

All I want for the people I represent is equity.

Jim McGovern addresses Dundee Pensioners’ Forum

2011-10-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

Jim McGovern addresses Dundee Pensioners’ Forum
6 October 2011
Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, addressed a full members' meeting of the Dundee Pensioners’ Forum today ( Thursday 6th October ).
Mr McGovern addressed the concerns put to him by the forum ranging from cuts to Winter Fuel Allowance, care for the elderly and the changes to state pensions and the decision to link it from RPI to CPI.
Jim McGovern said,
"I was delighted to be able to come to address the concerns of the Dundee Pensioners’ Forum, who do a fantastic job of representing pensioners in the city."
"They made clear to me they are greatly concerned by the Tory-led government’s decision to roll back Labour’s increase in Winter Fuel Allowance for the elderly, who will see a cut ranging from £50 to £100 a year in support at a time when fuel bills are continuing to increase."
"The forum was also greatly concerned that too little is being done to ensure that care for the elderly is put back on a firm basis."
"The costs associated with care for the elderly are due to increase dramatically over the course of the UK parliament, but neither the Tories nor the SNP have budgeted to support local authorities to maintain these services.
"I made clear my view that we should be following Labour’s proposal to establish a National Care Service, paid for from greater inheritance tax from the very wealthiest, so the long the term future of care is ensured."
"We also discussed the Tory’s shameful decision to link state pensions away from RPI to CPI.
"This will mean less money going to state pension holders and AgeUK have estimated it could increase pensioner poverty by up to 7% over the course of this parliament."
Mr McGovern concluded,
"This was a very productive meeting, and I appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from Dundee’s pensioners how they are suffering because of the ideological cuts from the Tories and the lack of direction from the SNP.
"It is clear that their policies simply aren’t working.
"The Tories must ensure that they do all they can to minimise the damage their cuts are having on pensioners, and SNP must stop focusing solely on gaining new powers from London, but use those they already have to ensure that vital services for pensioners are maintained."

Jenny Marra MSP : No Forced University Mergers

2011-10-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Jenny Marra MSP : No Forced Mergers

3 October 2011
The following motion was lodged by Jenny Marra MSP in Parliament today
Welcome No Forced Mergers
That the Parliament welcomes the First Minister’s guarantee that the University of Abertay and the University of Dundee will not be forced to merge; considers that the Hands off Abertay campaign has received widespread support; congratulates businesses, lecturers, students and student executives across Dundee and Scotland for joining the campaign against the merger, and welcomes the fact that no higher education institutions will be forced to merge during the current session of the Parliament.

Councillor Kevin Keenan : SNP must pass on extra £67 million for spending to local councils

2011-10-05T01:13:00.000-07:00

SNP must pass on extra £67 million for spending to councils

5 October 2011

Councillor Kevin Keenan , Labour group leader on Dundee City Council , has called on the SNP Government to pass on to local councils such as Dundee the additional £67 million increase in its budget that it will receive from the UK Government as a result of the council tax freeze in England.
This would mean an extra spending of £1.7 million for Dundee.
Kevin Keenan said,
"There was little or no good news from Mr Swinney when he delivered his Budget Statement on behalf of his SNP domineering majority Scottish Government.
" He is expecting a Council Tax freeze, without delivering the funds and at the same time expecting an interest-free loan from Dundee and every other Local Authority by taking away capital allocation for the next two years.
"My only hope is that the Scottish Government will pass the full amount received from Chancellor Osborne directly to Local Government - anything less would be unacceptable.
"If we were to receive anything less, I hope that this City's SNP Administration would send a very strong message to Mr Swinney.
"I think Mr Obsborne's announcement has out-manoeuvred Mr Swinney as this time cuts in services cannot be attributed entirely to Westminster, and the SNP will now have to stand fully accountable for the decisions and the choices they have made.
"I did welcome Mr Swinney's announcement that he would deliver £15m for the V & A.
"However it is quite regrettable that he did not fully fund this project given the amount of public funds being tipped in to a poorly-managed Edinburgh Trams project."
Councillor Keenan also disclosed that he had written to Ken Guild, the Leader of the SNP Administration on Dundee City Council over a week ago and still await his response to these questions.
These were :
Can you confirm the amount of savings that Dundee City Council will have to make over the Spending Review period if it is your intention to deliver a Council Tax freeze?
Can you also advise how the impact of the re-shuffle in capital will affect the City?
How much will we lose in the first two years and what impact this will have on current projects and what level of borrowing will we need to do to meet our costs?
Can you confirm that you will honour your Government's commitment to individuals who earn less that £21,000 as this would bring some considerable comfort to many, many employees?

Jim McGovern tables parliamentary motion condemning University merger

2011-09-29T11:50:00.001-07:00

29 September 2011

Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has submitted an Early Day Motion to the House of Commons calling on the SNP to abandon plans to force Scottish universities to merge, particularly highlighting concerns surrounding a proposed forced merger between Dundee and Abertay universities.
The motion will be published after the party conference recess and will state:
That this House condemns proposals put forward by the SNP administration in Holyrood to force Scottish universities to merge and in so doing undermining their academic and administrative independence and calls on them to abandon these proposals; and is particularly concerned that this will have a damaging effect on Dundee and Abertay universities, undermining the distinct cultures and approaches in each, as well as harming a long history of innovation, independence and success in these universities, and creating a potential loss of 500 jobs at Abertay.
This comes as Cabinet Secretary for Education Mike Russell indicated that a merger between Abertay and Dundee universities was not ‘inevitable’.
Mr. McGovern has also signed the ‘Hands of Abertay’ petition, which has so far attracted 991 signatures.
Jim McGovern said,
"It is important that the SNP listen to the outrage expressed by both the public and academia about this half baked proposal, that is why I have written to Mike Russell and I have now tabled this motion.
"It simply isn’t good enough to say that a merger would not be ‘inevitable’.
"He should rule out any forced merger altogether.
"The future of both universities must be decided by them alone, not by government diktat."
Mr McGovern concluded,
"I have yet to receive a response from Mike Russell, but I hope his acknowledgement that a merger is not certain will soon become a complete u-turn.
"It is only right for the good of Dundee and Abertay universities, and for the city, that this mistaken proposal is overturned as soon as possible."

Jim McGovern condemns SNP's new Director-General for Independence

2011-09-28T04:36:00.001-07:00

Jim McGovern condemns SNP’s new Director-General for Independence

28 September 2011

Jim McGovern today called on the SNP administration in Holyrood to scrap plans to introduce a new Director-General of Strategy and External Affairs.
The new role is widely considered to be charged with paving the way for a proposed independence referendum, and will pay between £101,500 and £208,100 annually.
Jim McGovern said,
"It is outrageous that at a time when public sector pay is frozen and hard working staff like nurses and police officers fear for their jobs the SNP should decide to pay a 6-figure salary for an unnecessary new position.
"This new job is clearly intended to pave the way for independence.
This is not an essential role for the good of Scotland, but a political role for the good of Salmond and the SNP."
Mr McGovern concluded,
"This money would be better spent keeping nurses, police officers or other essential staff in work, not promoting the political vanity project of independence being pursued by Alex Salmond."

Councillor Laurie Bidwell : The Proposed 33 period week for Dundee Secondary Schools

2011-09-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Laurie Bidwell

22 September 2011

(Commenting on the item before the Education Committee of the City Council on Monday 26 September 2011, Consultation on the Implementation of the Thirty Three Period Week in Secondary School)

I think a proposal that would lead to a change in the the start and finish time of the school day in all nine of our Secondary Schools will be of great interest to pupils and their teachers as well parents and carers.
In fact parents' and carers' first thoughts may be about the potential inconvenience of juggling working hours and out of school care and getting used to earlier finish times on two afternoons a week.
I think we will all want to be convinced that the disruption from this change will have a worthwhile educational benefit.
I met the Director of Education on Tuesday morning and gave him notice that at the Education Committee on Monday night I will have some questions for him about identifying the benefits and potential drawbacks of the proposed new timetable and its possible effect for good or bad on teaching and learning in our secondary schools.
I note that this is a proposal at this stage.
The Director of Education is asking approval to go out for consultation throughout the Autumn with a report coming back to the Education Committee early next year.
On Monday night, I shall also be proposing that we widen the consultation net.
While I welcome the planned involvement of the City Wide Pupil Council, I think it would be unduly restrictive to exclude the voices of our 6000+ Secondary School pupils as well.
I shall also propose the addition of a online survey for parents and carers.

Councillor Richard McCready : Time for a solution to St. John's High School Bus Issue

2011-09-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

Councillor Richard McCready

22 September 2011

It's time for a solution to be found to the on-going concerns about the failure of the City Council to ensure that there is a bus service taking pupils from the West End to St John's High School.
The City Council needs to pull out all the stops to find a solution to getting a bus service to St John's from the West End.
The bus companies say such a service is unprofitable, and that may well be the case.
I think that there should be more regulation on bus companies.
Bus companies should have to offer a bus service and not just pick profitable services.
However, this will not solve the problem in the short term.
I believe that the City Council has the power to solve this issue if the will is there.
There are examples of other bus services which are supported by the council.
I also think that they could look at alternative arrangements.
It is clear that a solution is required before bad weather and dark nights and mornings come in.
The City Council should listen to the concerns of parents in the West End.

Jim McGovern MP and Jenny Marra MSP visit Dundee Remploy factory

2011-09-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

19 September 2011

Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, and Jenny Marra, MSP for the North East Region, visited the Dundee Remploy factory today.
This visit comes as pressure increases on the UK government to reconsider the recommendations made in the Sayce report to end government support for the historic company.
Jim McGovern last week called on the Secretary of State for Scotland to do all he could to support the company’s operations in Scotland, and in June this year Mr McGovern met with Peter Luff MP, Minister for Procurement and Equipment at the Ministry of Defence, about the future of defence contracts to Remploy.
The Dundee factory primarily produces protective clothing for the armed forces.
Jim McGovern said;
"Today’s meeting was very productive.
"It was great to be able to meet with the management team, trade union representatives from the GMB and Community unions, as well as the fantastic workforce.
"It is clear that there is a consensus amongst all those involved that if the UK government follows the recommendations made in the Sayce report then jobs are likely to be lost.
"Given the important opportunities and jobs offered by Remploy, as well as the current economic situation, this would be unacceptable."
Mr McGovern concluded,
"When parliament returns after the conference recess I will be calling for the Remploy parliamentary group of MPs to meet as soon as possible, so we can co-ordinate our efforts with the company and the unions in order to save Remploy jobs across the UK."
Jenny Marra MSP said,
"Today I saw how valuable Remploy is for the people that work there.
"We cannot afford to be closing supported workplaces at a time of recession when the employees will struggle to find jobs elsewhere.
"I will continue to work with the staff and employees of Remploy to highlight the dangers of job losses implied within the Government’s Sayce report, and I will do everything I can in the Scottish Parliament to save Remploy in Scotland."

Councillor Kevin Keenan : Number of young adults unemployed in Dundee now equals the total number of people unemployed in Dundee in mid 1960s

2011-09-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Councillor Kevin Keenan

The number of young adults unemployed in Dundee is now the same as the total number of people unemployed in the city in the mid 1960s

Councillor Kevin Keenan has commented on the latest unemployment figures (August) showing that the number of young adults in the 18-24 age group now unemployed in Dundee is now at the same level as it was for all of those unemployed in the city in the mid-1960s.
Official figures show that the number of people in the young adult age group without a job last month was just over 1,900.
That's the same number provided by further official figures of the total number of people unemployed in Dundee in March 1966.
Kevin Keenan said,
"It’s bad enough that the number of young adults unemployed in Dundee is now the same as the total number of unemployed in Dundee in the mid 1960s.
"What makes the comparison even more depressing is that in the mid 1960s, the population of Dundee was around 182,000. Today it stands at 144,000.
"That’s around 40,000 less Dundonians nowadays than there were back in the 1960s.
"Older Dundonians will have their own memories of the 'Swinging Sixties'.
" I’m sure that one memory will be that these were more secure times for themselves, and that the problem of unemployment was nothing approaching the magnitude that it is today.
" We need to invest in our young people today with the same priority as they did in the ‘60s.
"This is why Labour has, for example, called on the UK Government to raise £2 billion from the same bank bonus tax as was done last year which would help fund putting young adults back to work .
"The best way to find our way out of this economic downturn is to invest in our young people, who are the future of our city."
Unemployment in Dundee rose again last month and now stands at 5,899 ( 6.2 per cent, compared with a Scottish average of 4.3 per cent.)

Marlyn Glen - Girls outperform Boys at school - so why is the Gender Pay Gap still there?

2011-09-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Marlyn Glen writes :

In my previous piece ( link ) I looked at explanations of why girls generally perform better in education than boys, and the belief for some that Margaret Thatcher was a suitable role model for girls to emulate in adult careers.

While there was little evidence of this from her polices and her lack of identity with women and their needs as a group, Thatcherism, the term that came to describe her politics, certainly had its effect upon males.
Thatcherism directly challenged male identity in working class areas with traditional industries.
As life and jobs were stripped out of communities across the country, and millions were sent to the dole queues, the identity of men with their work was broken.

Broken too was the link between boys striving to be academically successful at school to ensure a good start in adult working life.
There were simply not such jobs in these communities, and hence the value of education for boys' future fell.
Coming back up to date, the hope that the higher levels of success displayed by girls and young women as opposed to boys and young men at national exams would have ushered in the beginning of the end for the gender pay gap has yet to be borne out.
This year and last , two heavyweight institutions, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Home Office found that this permanent reminder of inequality was still as spacious as ever and that progress to close it was " grinding to a halt".
The HRC declared,"Despite women now doing better than men in every aspect of educational qualification, the mean gender pay gap for women and men working full time was 16.4% in 2009. "The gap is lowest for the under 30s, rising more than five-fold by the time workers reach 40, when women earn on average 27% less than men of the same age."
The Home Office report on "Women and work" noted that almost half of this country’s workforce are women, but that "evidence from a range of studies suggest our labour market is still failing to make the best use of people’s talents.
"In particular, pay levels for women, while improving, still do not reflect their qualification levels.
Last month , the EHRC published "Sex and Power" which estimated that over 5,000 women were missing from the top positions of power in the public and private sector.
It reported that while women graduates on average had higher degree passes than men and the number of women graduates continues to grow, this is not reflected in their numbers in senior management categories in employment after graduation.
The percentage of women in positions of influence included :
22 per cent of MPs
17 per cent of the Cabinet
13 per cent of local government council leaders
22 per cent of local authority chief executives
14 per cent of university vice-chancellors
10 per cent as national newspaper editors
The dearth of women in top positions resulted from factors such as the "outdated" culture of long-working hours and "the unequal division of domestic responsibilities"
EHRC emphasised that , "If Britain is to stage a strong recovery from its current economic situation, then we have to make sure we’re not wasting women’s skills and talents."
The reluctance to tackle this significant division of priorities at the centre of women’s working lives, which is virtually absent from the lives of many men, between the needs to earn to bring up a family and the dependent needs of those same family members has its consequences for the economy.
Many women choose part-time work to resolve these competing demands.
The TUC has reported that the Gender and Employment in Local Labour Markets study recorded 54 percent of women working part-time as being ‘employed below their potential’ – the equivalent of 2.8 million women.
The TUC emphasised , "What this means is that previously they had worked in jobs that demanded higher qualifications/skills or more responsibility than the jobs they now did.
"If employers offered more high status and better-paid jobs on a part-time basis or with other flexible arrangements these women would be able to apply for these opportunities."
So while some progress has been made through women gaining better educational qualifications, the gender gap remains firmly in its place.
Shifting the work-life balance more in favour of women now takes on a new importance.
This means that that many employers must be made to recognise that :women would be better employees if their ( unpaid) domestic and caring duties could be integrated more harmoniously with their ( paid) work.
Women face considerable obstacles in career progression as the standards set for such advancement were made initially by men to accommodate men’s working needs.
Women’s work is consistently undervalued compared with that of men, and that their work is rewarded accordingly.
Girls and young women have come a long way in education in a relatively short time.
If we want to close the gender gap significantly, then employers must also make a similar journey in a much shorter time scale.

Councillor Laurie Bidwell - How sustainable is the new Dundee Education Department structure?

2011-09-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Councillor Laurie Bidwell writes :

The revised blueprint for the management of the Education Department has been considered by the Policy and Resources Committee of the Council.
Significantly, it's another vital set of issues about schooling in Dundee that will bypass the Education Committee of the Council.What are we to make of the new Education Department structure?
At first glance it is clear that many posts have been lost by the non replacement of staff granted early retirement over the last year or two.
This approach to the management of change seems to be characterized by shaking the education tree and seeing what falls off; then reorganizing around those posts and people you have left. The recent crop of education cuts has been focused mainly on reducing posts in the management of schools and the Education Department, particularly 'depute head teachers', 'directorate' and 'improvement and education officers'.
We have been warned that the Council's anticipated budget reduction for 2012/13 will be £10 million.
When Labour led the coalition that ran the council up to April 2009, we protected Education from the full force of budgetary reductions.
Judging by the SNP's apportionment of cuts this year, and the Education Department's share of the overall council budget, up to £5 million more may be removed from the Education Department's budget next financial year.
It's difficult not to conclude that next time more teachers and other front line staff will have to go.So this new structure, for the Education Department, may unfortunately be short lived. I fear that the attrition of cuts, year after year, will turn the management of education into last man or woman standing.
This hardly inspires confidence we are really changing for the future.

Lesley McMahon - Dundee’s duality: The ratchet effect and super commuters

2011-09-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Lesley McMahon writes :

Travelling across the country, I meet people from all regions and backgrounds.
One topic that reoccurs is the increasing nervousness regarding future job security given the impact of government – UK and Scottish – spending cuts.
In Dundee, people are less optimistic as job market opportunities are less plentiful; unsurprisingly, with the 55% increase in Job Seekers Allowance claimants since November 2007 (Nomis, 2011).
Furthermore, the short-run prospects do not look any brighter either with three of the city’s six largest employers – the City Council, NHS Tayside and University of Dundee – facing direct and continuing reductions to their budgets due to cuts in government spending.
In May, Dundee University announced another 130 job losses.
Last year, NHS Tayside stated 500 fulltime equivalent jobs were to be lost in order to meet its budget, and DC Thomson closed its bookbinding and printing operation, which brought to an end another 350 jobs.
Moreover, other organisations will be affected indirectly.
Job seekers, therefore, are plentiful; officially, there are 6.4 unemployed people to every vacancy (Dundee Economic Profile May 2011, p6).
It is important to remember that this figure only gives a partial glimpse of the volume of people seeking work as some people will have had to reduce their work hours – so, although they are employed, they may be underemployed – others may be working below their skill level and some will have simply given up looking.
Employers, however, have their pick of applicants.
Moreover, around 15% of the working age population in Dundee are not working but wish to work (NOMIS, 2011).
In trying to understand that figure, it is important to recognise the proportion of Dundee’s residents who have no qualifications is 14% (NOMIS, 2011) and the collapse of Dundee’s manufacturing base over the last three decades.
Dundee’s worklessness problem needs to be addressed.
Policy makers need to heed the warnings from the USA where economists are describing a ratchet effect among the least qualified of the community (The Economist, 28 Apr 2011).
This effect describes the concerning trend where the proportion of low or unqualified workers employed falls during a recession and this lost ground is not regained when the economy recovers.
Thus, over time, more and more people in this group in Dundee could remain unemployed if effective interventions are not implemented.
Another consequence of Dundee’s weak labour market relates to those workers who face redundancy or have been made redundant.
Facing difficulties in securing employment locally, especially home owners who cannot afford any period of unemployment, some members of this group are seeking employment outwith the local area and deciding to apply for posts in the south east of England.
However, with housing costs so much higher there, many families are deciding not to relocate. This new group of super commuters include professional, skilled and semi-skilled workers such as accountants, electricians, shop fitters, bus drivers, and teachers.
Many of these super commuters hope the local economy will pick up so that they can find a job closer to home.
Although, super commuter households may face difficulties, they do not face the levels of hopelessness experienced by the long term unemployed, who are the real losers of the recession and the governments’ cuts.
So what can we do?
*Tap into and exploit our local networks by working closely with Dundee’s two universities and its further education college to develop and implement cost-effective systems for raising educational attainment for our most disadvantaged members of our community.
*Create an environment for more local entrepreneurs. An economy built on hundreds of small and medium size businesses creates a more sustainable economy. A local entrepreneur set-up and runs the personal development company Insights. This company runs its international operations from the city.
*Attract more head quarters of national and international businesses. Dundee is home already to lots of vibrate employers such as Tesco Customer Service which employs 850 people in its head office in the city.
*Create opportunities for the long term unemployed to gain real work experience and support them back into work.
Policy makers in Dundee need to ensure a sustainable and equitable economy and continue to have the vision that championed the bold Waterfront project, which attracted the exciting V&A museum.
Confidence is already to beginning to build with respect to Dundee’s future as illustrated with Malmaison’s plans to rejuvenate the Tay Hotel.
This success and confidence must be translated into real jobs for all especially the long term unemployed.

Bringing the future of football to Dundee - Jenny Marra MSP

2011-09-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Jenny Marra MSP has launched a campaign to bring the new National Football Academy and the new National Indoor Football Academy to Dundee.
She said, "I have written to Shona Robison the Sports Minister asking her give serious consideration to putting the new National Football Academy and the new National Indoor Football Centre in Dundee.
"The SNP pledged a new National Football Academy and indoor centre in its manifesto.
"Shona Robison repeated this promise in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament last month.
"I think Dundee is the ideal place to host the National Football Academy and the new indoor facility.
"Dundee has a long and proud history of footballing excellence, in the professional clubs, juniors, amateurs and schools.
"Our clubs' glory days are known throughout Europe.
"With the Commonwealth Games investment based in the West, it is only fitting that Dundee gets a slice of the sports investment.
"I would ask anyone who supports this to sign up to the campaign on my website.
"Dundee is the ideal place to train football stars of the future.
"We have two great clubs with a proud record of training and development in our community.
"I have no doubt that the whole city would welcome the National Academy with open arms, be generous hosts to young footballers coming here to train, and make a great success of this exciting national initiative.
"I am urging the Sports Minister Shona Robison to deliver for her own city and bring the future of football home to Dundee."
Members of the public can sign up for the campaign by visiting www.jennymarra.com/nfa

Councillor Richard McCready - St Johns High School Bus Service

2011-09-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Councillor Richard McCready writes :

The underlying factor in the problems faced by St John's pupils trying to get from the West End to their school and back is that bus companies are under no obligation to operate non-profit making services.
Both bus companies in Dundee can focus on profitable routes and they do not have to provide a social service to anyone.
This is a legacy of bus deregulation implemented in the 1980s.
I think that this issue along with a number of other issues, such as the inability to go by bus from parts of the West End ward to Lochee High Street, make the case for more regulation of buses.
I think that in return for licences to run profitable services there should also be an obligation to provide socially useful services such as a service to St John's and services for many areas with an elderly population.
The City Council, though, needs to act and find a solution for those pupils who are at St John's just now. These pupils generally live within the catchment area of the school, they generally attended one of the feeder primary schools for St John's, namely St Joseph's Primary.
The lack of an adequate bus service is making many parents question whether they would want to send their children to St John's.
To replace the number 4 service which National Express Dundee withdrew the City Council replaced this with a subsidised bus service the number 204.
This service does not include services to St John's at the beginning and end of the school day. The Education and City Development Departments should look at this issue.
Subsidised bus services run to St Paul's Academy, as the council report from June points out, and parents of pupils at Harris Academy have rightly been promised that when the school decants to the Rockwell site during the rebuilding of Harris Academy that buses will be provided from the West End, and elsewhere, to the Rockwell site.
I do not see what the difference is here.
Parents and pupils at St John's should receive the same consideration.
I am pleased that my colleague Jenny Marra MSP, herself a former pupil at St John's, has made clear her support for West End parents who are concerned about getting their children to and from St John's High School in a reasonable time.

Jim McGovern MP calls upon the Government to back Remploy

2011-09-18T08:31:00.002-07:00

Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to back Remploy and protect the jobs in the Dundee factory.
This question was the first in Wednesday’s questions to the Scotland Office, and was supported by Tom Greatrex MP, the Shadow Scotland Office Minister.
The question comes after Mr McGovern met with Peter Luff MP, Minister for Procurement and Equipment in the Ministry of Defence in June this year, about the future of MOD contracts to Remploy.
At the time the Minister confirmed that there would be some contracts made, but he could not go into details.
Recently the Sayce report has been published, which has made recommendations for future work opportunities for disabled people.
This report recommends ending government involvement with Remploy.
There are fears within the company and those who work for Remploy that this will lead to job losses.
Jim McGovern said;
"Remploy is an important company that provides much needed jobs for disabled and non-disabled people alike in Dundee.
"They produce high quality products for the Ministry of Defence, for good value for money."
"It is clear that the Sayce report could lead to job losses, as government contracts are an important part of Remploy’s work.
"This is particularly so in Dundee.
"Given the economic situation across the country, the government should not be acting in a way that will mean fewer jobs."
"The Minister was correct in saying that the consultation to the Sayce report is on-going, which makes this the best time to make clear the concerns of Remploy and their employees."
Mr McGovern concluded;
"I very much welcome the support of the Labour front bench. It is clear that there is support across the House for Remploy.
"I hope the government listens to that and they opt not to follow the Sayce report, so the future of Remploy and these important jobs are protected."