John Bell's blog

Sultans of Spin

2012-02-22T10:40:00.001-08:00

When the SNP Government announced that it was to finally start on the long awaited Dalry Bypass in their budget statement on 8th of February it seemed like good news for North Ayrshire. I have written previously how much this area needs investment in infrastructure to provide both construction jobs in the short term and improve the areas competitiveness long term. While Scottish Government statisticians have identified North Ayrshire as an area of deprivation it has always invested its capital in other areas.
I looked at the Transport Scotland web site for more details on this new funding and was surprised that it stated that the funding was for £10million of a £28million project. Previously there were plans for some safety related works on the A737 which included roundabouts installed at the junctions for the roads to Barmill and to Gateside and for the realignment of the road at The Den. These works have been repeatedly delayed over the past 5 years and it has been suggested that their estimated cost of around £7million was diverted towards the Forth Bridge project.
The Dalry bypass is a priority that we need fully completed as soon as possible and North Ayrshire Council Labour group have lobbied government extensively to get this road on their capital programme, I welcome this initial funding but we must continue to press them to make sure all of the funding is available to complete the project.

Budget 2012-13

2012-02-01T10:48:00.001-08:00

This years budget meeting at North Ayrshire Council took on a different style with opposition parties for once putting forward alternative priorities, there must be an election coming. The SNP group, however, seemed to have written their amenments on the back of a fag paper on the way into the meeting. Their excuse was that some of them hadn't received the papers was right up there with the dog ate my homework. among their suggestions was that the council should not take the savings from the sickness absence budget, achieved through more robust procedures and better management of absence, but should leave the money in the budget. Presumably they want to encourage more staff to go off sick.
A strange claim was made in a question from anti St Matthew's councillor Hunter who claimed that the cost of the school project over its lifetime would be as he put £548million or thereabouts. When I responded that the cost to the council was expected to be £211million he questioned my sources despite them being provided by the councils finance team and claimed his sources which seemed to include everyone but the people who have knowledge of the project. council minute

The council received £0.8million cut in its funding for the next financial year, however the level of cuts required was not as bad as had been expected mainly due to the impact of last years savings being better than expected..

The headlines from the meeting are as follows.

Early intervention and Prevention, including parenting programmes, child protection, family centres and tackling domestic violence - £920,000
Investment in a range of schemes to stimulate economic activity and job opportunities across North Ayrshire – over £1m
Mentoring vulnerable children, supporting educational attainment and developing excellence among young people – almost £300,000
Increasing Council living wage to £7.20 per hour
Increasing level of funding to the Older People Change Fund

Agreed efficiency options totalling £4.9m in 2012/13 include improved contracts and tenders; the personalisation of care for people with disabilities, and a redesign of Council services.
A total of £126m is available to fund a wide range of capital projects between 2012 and 2016. Projects approved include:

Additional investment in the school estate, including Irvine East Primary School and Garnock Campus – approximately £43m
Investment in core infrastructure, including roads, lighting, vehicles and waste – approximately £16m
Resources for first phase of Upper Garnock Flood Prevention Strategy - £2m

The Council also agreed a lower rent increase than had been anticipated and potentially increasing investment in Council Housing stock. In 2012/13 rents will increase by 2.25% rather than the anticipated 5.5%. Additional resources will also be made towards achieving and exceeding the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.
Further investment in the Council's housing in 2012/13 includes:

Improvements to existing housing, including a minimum of 1,290 window replacements, 850 new kitchens and 720 new bathrooms - £26m
Redevelopment of sheltered housing units in Dreghorn and Ardrossan - £1.8m
Development of 56 new Council Houses in Kilwinning and Millport

Enterprise zone

2012-01-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

Labour in North Ayrshire have been lobbying Scottish and UK Government for help in tackling worklessness and we welcome the designation of the sites in Irvine and will continue to press for further intervention from both Governments.
There are doubts about the effectiveness of Enterprise zones, and in the past it was claimed that they simply moved jobs from one area to another. This time the latest allocations are on a business segment basis and three sites in Irvine have been designated as a Life Sciences enterprise zone. While this is good news it does raise some questions, why was the former Roche site DSM in Dalry not included in the enterprise zone as a large local employer in Life sciences.
We need more interventions in North Ayrshire to get us on a level playing field with the rest of Scotland in terms of employment and social deprivation.
There are other measures which would improve opportunities for business in North Ayrshire, the much needed Dalry bypass, and the flood prevention for the River Garnock would improve the basic infrastructure for getting people and goods in and out of North Ayrshire and provide much needed construction jobs in the process. The SNP government unfortunately have targetted such spending elsewhere.

Focus on the priorities, focus on the issues.

2011-11-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

The October Employment figures have just been released showing North Ayrshire as the local authority area with highest unemployment and with highest youth unemployment. Still the press concentrates on the if buts and maybes of a referendum on independence and let the SNP off the hook for their failure to use the powers they already have to provide assistance for the area. At a recent sitting of the Scottish Youth Parliament at St Matthews in Saltcoats and SNP activist sneaked into the vent and cornered the Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and questioned him at great length on the possibilities various outcomes of a possible referendum. Never once did it occur to the individual to question him on the economic policy of the coalition government or demand action to improve the outlook in North Ayrshire. Ironically Michael Moore did focus on these issues when he gave his address to the the Youth Parliament.
Much has been made of the councils objection to the proposed coal power station at Hunterston and how its construction might provide up to 1000 jobs. If the plan really had been designed for clean call it would have been viewed much more favourably however it was not clean coal. The plans were for a conventional dirty coal plant with the possibility of it being made clean some time in the future when the technology was available. North Ayrshire needs jobs but we need jobs that will not worsen the already poor life expectancy rates of North Ayrshire residents, will not destroy the areas tourist industry and will not be a major polluter.
The Scottish Government had the opportunity to improve North Ayrshire by a more strategic use of its capital spending, an A737 uprade with a Dalry bypass would provide construction jobs and improve the areas communication links, a Garnock flood prevention scheme would provide construction jobs and improve the quality of life for those who are regularly affected by flooding. Instead they have chosen to fund another Forth Bridge, Edinburgh trams, and a new railway to the south of Edinburgh areas where unemployment is half of the rate in North Ayrshire.

Kilbirnie Regeneration

2011-09-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Work is progressing with upgrading Kilbirnie Town Centre and the preliminary work is being considered for Beith. Having fought long and hard for investment for the Valley towns it was a great to be able to be part of the Labour Executive making the decision to invest in Kilbirnie and Beith town centres, following on from the pilot in Dalry.

The work started with demolishing the old police station and putting the site into temporary use as additional town centre parking. Improving the layout and appearance of Bridge Street was next and similar work will take place to the area leading into the Main Street and in front of the Knox Institute Building. Local businesses have been supported with marketing advice and a shop front grant scheme which is best shown with the improvements to the shops in the Knox Institute. The Newton Street Car park has been extended to include the area of the demolished Tamsons Pub and is already being well used. Further works will include upgrade the Zebra crossing and upgrading the street lighting.

Demand for progress in Flood Prevention Scheme

2011-06-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

At the meeting of the council's Executive, I demanded that the Council be more proactive in approaching the Scottish Government for funding to address the scale of the flood prevention works required in North Ayrshire. It was proposed that in submitting the Flood Risk Management Action Plan to the Scottish Government, the Corporate Director (Finance and Infrastructure) should also prepare and submit a detailed and costed Scheme for the Upper Garnock Catchment and request that the Scottish Government fund it.

Friends Of Spiers

2011-06-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

I was privileged to be invited to officially open the new pathways at Spiers School grounds in Beith on Tuesday 14th June. The work of the Friends groups has been very impressive, and working with the council they have managed to open up this valuable community asset. Thanks must be expressed to Donald Wilson, North Ayrshire's Streetscene Manager who spent many a long hour completing the grant application to the Woodland Trust. The clearance of dead and dangerous trees and the magnificent path network pay tribute to his success. A mention of Cameron Sharp, Country Parks Manager must also be made. He has been very supportive of the works already completed and also those currently works-in-progress. For example the soon to be installed picnic tables. Tom Barr, the contractor who carried out the path works must also be thanked for going the extra mile as should John Smith who's has helped considerably. Roger Griffith, Park Ranger, who's enthusiasm, hard work and knowledge have been invaluable. All the young volunteer groups have put in tremendous efforts and finally Fergus Highgate chair of the trust and all the other members who have worked really hard.

New Garnock

2011-06-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

At the turn of the year the council began the consultation process for the new Garnock Campus. Parents children and the community were invited to give their views on the proposals, as part of the process I chaired consultation meetings in all the schools impacted.
A number of concerns were raised, mainly regarding the councils then preferred sites at South Lochshore. Primary and nursery parents from the Kilbirnie primaries expressed a preference that the school should be more central to its catchment area to make walking to school viable. Beith parents were concerned that there would be no right to free transport, and the safety of any walk to school routes.

The council altered its preferred site in favour of a more central site at North Lochshore near to Stoneyholm Road, North Paddockholm and the Sustrans cycle track.

Unfortunately a group of councillors from outwith the area (2 SNP and an independent) decided to call in the decision to be reexamined. The scrutiny process at the council itself needs to be reexamined as the grounds of the call in were spurious, clear conflicts of interest were ignored and call-ins seem to be on the basis of political whim rather than legitimate concerns over decisions.

The choice of the Stoneyholm Road site is the best compromise in terms of accessibility, of maintaining the viability of Kilbirnie Town Centre, and on costs. The SNP have succeeded in delaying the project but hopefully the right decision will be confirmed in the end.

Community Facilities

2011-03-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

At last Tuesdays meeting of the Council Executive the decision was made to reconsider the position with local community facilities. Review groups have been looking at the way council delivers services and provides facilities and it was thought that there may be a way of being able to transfer local halls and centres into community ownership. With the facilities being run by volunteers the facility could possibly be provided more cheaply than is currently the case. A report was commissioned from consultants who would look at the usage rates and condition of buildings and identify any which could be successfully transferred. All Councillors were issued with the reports recommendations, which included the recommended closure of some facilities and transfer of others. The councils executive decided to reject the recommendations contained in the report and instead to establish a Member/Officer short life working group to consider an approach to the future of community halls and libraries and that the Finance Director provide a report on the level of associated budget changes required in removing the possible closure of some Halls from future years budgets.

Subsequently at a full council meeting the members of the SNP group refused to play any part in the working groups, and take no part in the discussion on how we can continue to provide these facilities. Instead they continue to pretend that the cuts to the council budget aren't happening.

Beith Astroturf pitch at Meadowside to be upgraded

2011-03-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

It was really pleasing to be able to get the council to allocate funding to resurface the old astroturf pitch at Meadowside.
Since 2007 I have been getting regular complaints from local teams about the lack of playing facilities in the area, and indeed the council has put in a lot of work in improving drainage for the grass pitches at Valefield in Kilbirnie and Beith Public Park.

The Executive agreed to approve £0.282m for the resurfacing of Meadowside Park, Beith in the 2011/12 capital programme, to be funded from the projected underspend in 2010/11. This will upgrade the only full size AstroTurf pitch to 3G standard and provide a great benefit to local teams.

North Ayrshire Council Budget

2011-02-20T01:58:00.000-08:00

So it's done the council has set its budget for 2011-12.
There is still a lot of confusion among the public over the budget process. All councillors attend a series of seminars starting in December after the Scottish Government sets out how much each council will get in grant funding for the following financial year. The council's financial officer sets out the spending requirements which take into account cost increases like expected inflation, wage rises and changes to legislation which will impact on the next years spending. This year the councils budget will be cut by almost 2% when the impact of the other costs are taken in to account the council was looking for £7million in cuts from services.

Services are asked to provide options for cuts which will meet the savings targets and also to suggest further options to cover the expected reduction for the following two years. Councillors discuss the options at these meetings and the officers produce a budget document which contains an outline of what has been agreed at the meetings.
In North Ayrshire the Executive Committee examines the proposals and amends to form a budget which goes forward to the council budget meeting for all councillors to vote and make any further amendments.

This year the Executives budget was passed by the council with the only major modification being an SNP amendment to cut £500K to Infrastructure and Design. A proposal which accepted that the council needed to find £7million but not to find the cuts was soundly thrown out. The other issue was an odd notion of the SNP to delay making some of the cuts to Education for a month in order they could look at them in more detail. They claimed they needed more time despite the fact they had had 3 months to look at the options.

As member with responsibility for Children's Services, including school education, it is depressing to have to find £3million in cuts from the service, even though this is proportionately less of a cut than other areas are taking. The council settled on savings from a reduction in management posts within the schools, which will still maintain the number of teachers. Next area was implementing a 33 period week means the council will be able to timetable teachers for the full amount of their agreed teaching time. Another area was a reduction in the allocation of non-teaching staff, classroom assistants and clerical staff, who provide a valued addition to schools. This reduction was the most difficult but again maintains teacher in classrooms.
In social work the children and families area has also been relatively protected but there are a number of difficult proposals coming forward in other areas of the service.

The main positives came in a further Labour amendment which saw the creation of 46 new Modern Apprenticeships and the introduction of a living wage minimum of £7.15 per hour for the lowest paid Council workers.

Garnock Valley Area Committee demand flooding public meeting

2010-11-26T04:16:00.000-08:00

The councils recently appointed head of Infrastructure and Design, Angus Bodie, attended the November meeting of our local area committee, the committee where members can question officers on ward issues. He outlined the work that has been done previously on flood prevention and how he planned to make progress with reducing the incidence of flooding. While the much needed major program of flood defence works requires funding from the government he outlined some of the other measures that can be taken to limit the impact on flooding incidence such as more regular inspection of culverts and drains. Members discussed options for providing residents with help to purchase equipment to help protect their own property. The committee asked Mr Bodie to arrange a public meeting in Kilbirnie to inform the local community on the issues and measures being taken
25th November 2010

Labour 'has cost the rich £25,000 every year'

Institute of Fiscal Studies has laid bare the scale of redistribution since 1997. Sean O’Grady reports
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-has-cost-the-rich-pound25000-every-year-1928007.html

The richest households in Britain are about £25,000 a year worse off as a result of changes to the tax and benefits system introduced by Labour since 1997 – while the "working poor" are better off by almost £1,700, or 13 per cent of their income.

The very poorest sections of society – those with a typical annual income (after tax) of £9,000 or so – are about £1,200 better off. "Middle England" – those households with a typical joint income of £28,000 or more after tax – are a little worse off as a result of the changes to taxes and benefits, about £175 a year poorer.

Seems fine to me

Lies damned lies and SNP statistics

Once more we have the usual reponse from the intellectual vacuum of our SNP representatives. The Scottish Budget was cut they say, £880 million he claims.

The SNPs budget report gave the following figures

		Scottish Budget	Millions
		2009	34,760.50
		2010	35,144.10

That is an increase of £383million.

Following the budget an extra £76million will come to the Scottish government, can we expect investment in education, social services, community facilities or a new TV series on Scotlands greatest ever haggis maker.

A source close to

Why is it SNP ministers are unable to speak for themselves. On a recent report on the expenses scandal

A source close to Mr Salmond said: “The First Minister has given fair notice that the status quo for SPT is not an option"

A source close to Mr Swinney said: “Ministers are understandably concerned by the details that have been published, and will be looking further at matters to ensure that all expenditure is entirely appropriate.”

Natty Propaganda, SNP responsible for The Bill being dropped in favour of Shortbread Television.

Sometimes it's difficult to believe the cynical manipulation of the SNP. We all knew about the expensive Homecoming advert, supposedly made to encourage ex-pat Scots and those abroad of Scottish ancestry to visit the country, but hardly shown outside of Scotland. We know about the attempts to hijack the Saltire and the vast sums expended to make the symbol the homepage on every Scottish civil service computer. We knew about the vast sums to change the name of the civil service organisation from a Scottish Executive to the Scottish Government, or "Scorrish Govament" as every nat politician calls it.

But now the story comes out that STV were funded by the SNP Government to make the dreadful Made in Scotland, The Greatest Scot and Sword Dancing for beginners programs that were used to replace the popular series broadcast in the rest of the UK.

Obviously plans for a Nat version of "Come Dine with Me" have had to be put on hold following advice from the presiding officer. Its hoped to have a version of "I'm a Celebrity get me out of here" starring Sir Sean.

Class Sizes

Local SNP councillors are celebrating the fact that the council allocated £300,000 towards 13 additional teachers in North Ayrshire in an attempt to reduce class sizes to 18 in another 16 P1-3 classes, money which could have been better spent on other services were it not for the SNP Scottish Governments obsession with P1-3 class sizes of 18. Other worthwhile services like Primary School Transport and Afterschool care will have to suffer as funding is diverted to support a policy that will make little difference in raising attainment in North Ayrshire where we already have a maximum class size of 25 in P1-3.

The SNP have been trying to shift blame for not achieving their manifesto commitments onto local councils. The fact of the matter is that if the SNP wanted to achieve 100% of all P1-3 classes at 18 or below they could have changed the legislation, which currently sets the maximum size at 30, and directly funded local councils for the extra costs of the provision.

While most people think that lower classes is a good thing to do, when money is being diverted from local government it is a cost too far. The SNP have dropped their unaffordable election promises one by one, they need to be honest for once and come clean in admitting that they can't pay for referendums and other "badge kissing" exploits without taking the money from important public services.

Michael Foot

A Labour leader who was a member of CND, a republican, and a socialist.

He became leader in 1980 and in 1983 led the party into a General Election, with the manifesto which was nicknamed ‘The longest suicide note in history.’ Labour had suffered one of the worst losses in over 50 years.

Wabbit Twouble as Alex might say

SNP RABBIT CONSULTATION IS WASTE OF TIME

Responding to the publication on the Scottish Government website that the SNP is to launch a consultation on the welfare of rabbits, Labour has suggested that SNP ministers might better spend their time on helping people back into work.

Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, said:
"My constituents are worried about jobs, crime, education, and health. All these are far more important than the welfare of rabbits, no matter how well-intentioned. We are coming out of the worst economic crisis since the Second World War but it seems to have escaped the attention of SNP ministers. Their job is to help get people back into work. Instead of cutting teacher numbers or cancelling vital capital investment, they are worrying about rabbits. They'll probably want a referendum on the outcome of their consultation."

Source: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Forthcoming/Q/rowId/8#conRow8

Education is suffering in the face of swingeing cutbacks

An article from the Herald that speaks for itself

From nursery education right through to Advanced Highers, teachers report damaging economies. Issues include falling numbers of teachers and support staff, shortages of basic materials, glaring inadequacies in teaching particular subjects, particularly modern languages and PE, the exploitation of probationers, lack of sickness cover, stress about looming closures or mergers and completely inadequate preparation for the Curriculum for Excellence, the major change being implemented in secondary schools this August. Cuts are already impacting on the policy of inclusion and efforts to tackle truancy. Soon musical instrument tuition is likely to be available only to those who can afford to pay.

In response to this alarming catalogue, Education Secretary Michael Russell merely repeats the usual mantra about protecting front-line services and implementing free school meals and smaller class sizes in lower primary, in the face of cuts “imposed by Westminster”. He repeats the assertion that the Scottish Government is giving councils a fatter slice of the Scottish budget pie. Yet, as The Herald reported recently, Scotland’s 32 local authorities are preparing to cut their education budgets by an average of 6% and there is worse to come. Only basic numeracy is required to calculate that something here does not add up.

Ritual assurances about policy implementation and protecting frontline services are meaningless in the face of a concordat between central and local government that seems incapable of delivering that implementation and protection. If Scotland is to emerge from recession to become a strong dynamic economy, it will need a new generation of intelligent, well-motivated, well-educated citizens. Imposing swingeing cuts on schools is the educational equivalent of gobbling up our seed corn.

Co-operatives

Caught the latest, I'm not a Tory, pitch by David Cameron. His latest wheeze is that local schools and facilities should be able to form co-operatives. My issue with this is, he wants to take already community owned facilities and make them operate independently, where most of us see the co-operative movement as providing community facilities and services, for the benefit of the community rather than business profit. If Eton is first co-operative school I might begin to believe him.

Cuts and more cuts

North Ayrshire Council has an agreed budget after yesterdays Executive and council meetings. Most of the recommended measures were accepted apart from the Executives amendment to the savings in afterschool care. Instead of the planned phased withdrawal of the service over the next 3 years, an option paper is to be brought forward to the Executive detailing the savings available by increasing prices and working with the private and voluntary groups to ensure continuity of provision to support our working parents. Similarly an assurance was brought forward that Social Services would work with respite group Care Partners to try and maintain the services.

People have been asking why the cuts have been so severe this year, its mainly down to the SNP's priorities. From the councils papers the grant funding for NAC increases by £190,000 this year. Teacher’s salaries alone are due to go up by £1.6million this year. Other staff pay increases bring this total to £5m. Add the extra duties imposed for lower class sizes, free school meals etc and it's no wonder the budget faces severe cuts. We tried to protect school education as far as possible but that meant some hard decisions like increasing school meal prices, reducing clothing grants, and taking primary school transport to the statutory 2 miles. Proposed closures of libraries, community halls and schools were delayed in order to review the options more fully.

Meanwhile Salmond's free meals policy has been extended to cover lunches for donors to the SNP, and judging from the pictures it's a good thing he has cancelled a few. Unfortunately he hasn't cancelled the £12m referendum, the £1m conversation, the £256K on flags for St Andrews Day, the £18million for European relations or the £2billion for another Forth Road Bridge.

SNP'S £270 MILLION RIP-OFF

Scottish Labour’s Michael McMahon has accused the SNP of ‘ripping off’ local government. He was commenting in response to newspaper reports that Scottish Councils will have to find savings of £270 million in the next financial year.

Official budget tables published by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre show that the share of the total Scottish Government budget provided to local government has fallen from 34.7 per cent in 2006-07 to 33.9 per cent in 2010-11.

If John Swinney had maintained local government’s share of the overall Scottish budget of £35,029.9m at 34.7 per cent, as it was under Labour, councils could expect to receive an extra £270 million in 2010-11.

This means that the SNP's cuts in funding for councils over the last two years equate exactly with the savings that local authorities are now having to find from frontline services.

Scottish Labour Local Government Spokesman Michael McMahon said:

“The SNP Government is ripping off local councils by £270 million. Their decision to spend less than Labour on locally delivered services, like education and social work, is already having a real impact on the front line.

"This represents a massive cut for local government and John Swinney needs to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He should stop trying to shift the blame for his own misplaced priorities and financial mismanagement.

"It is no coincidence that John Swinney's cut in local authority funding over the last two years equates exactly with the savings that councils are now having to find from frontline services.

“Let's not forget that this is happening at a time when the Scottish Government has almost £1 billion more to spend than last year and greater resources than any previous administration. The SNP have brought in Tory capping by the back door . "

The Salmond jinx strikes again.

Poor Andy Murray. In any other country in the world reaching the final of a major sporting event is an achievement on its own, in Scotland however you are set up as a failure in waiting. To add to his woes the Salmond smirk appeared on TV trying to muscle in on his success. You just know when he appears the chances of a Scottish success disappear.

Budgets, banks and bonuses

Councillors in North Ayrshire are analysing the options for next years budget. Major savings have to be identified due to the poor allocation from the SNP Scottish Gorvernment.

Much has been made of the global crisis and world wide recession but it does seem totally unjust when you identify the cause.

Banks encourage people to take out loans that they can't afford to make sure they get their bonuses.

The people can't afford to repay the loan and the downward cycle begins.

The banks taken to the brink of bankruptcy need bailed out by governments.

Governments have to borrow heavily to fund the bailouts and to boost the economy brought down by banks. In order to pay for this they have to cut spending, so reducing the number of public sector workers.

The banks demand the right to pay bonuses to the employees who made record losses. The taxpayers who bailed out the banks are at risk of losing their jobs and the pensions they pay into are greatly devalued.

We must find a way to make those responsible pay, a one off tax on bonuses is a start, but more action needs to be taken, the example set in the US of splitting the banking functions might prevent it happening again, but there must be some way to limit the amount of bonus payments.

Peace at Last

Doh. My spelling/typing is now news.

The official minute of the November Council meeting has been published. I attach part of the document for the benefit of the council's SNP members.

(b) a question from Councillor Hunter to the Education Portfolio-holder (Children's Services) in the following terms:-
"Will the Education Portfolio-holder (Children's Services) explain why it was necessary to deduct over £700,000 from the PPP payments to the contractor from April 2008 to July 2009 and what happens to the withheld monies?"

Councillor Bell responded in the following terms:-

"North Ayrshire Council’s PPP School program has the advantage that in the event of some part of a building or facility not being available, the council is able to reduce payment to the contractors.

Like most building projects there have been a number of teething issues with the schools. Delays in finishing and subsequent maintenance issues led to parts of the facilities being unavailable for a time, and consequently to deductions in the Councils payments. Examples include the roof leaks in Arran High and in Stanley Primary School’s kitchen.

However the vast majority of issues reported to the contractor’s helpdesk relate to minor issues, bulbs requiring replacement, or waste paper bins not emptied. Each issue has a defined rectification period, and if this is not met, results in an automatic deduction to the contractual payment.

The withheld funds remain part of the Educational Services budget and some has been used to fund items to enhance the levels of equipment at the schools, also a Repairs and Renewals Fund has been created, which will be used to replace furniture and equipment over the life of the contract."

As a supplementary question Councillor Hunter, referring to detailed information he had received on the nature of reported faults within the PPP schools which he felt were serious and persistent, asked the Education Portfolio-holder (Children's Services) when the Council would see the schools and associated facilities brought up to and maintained to the standard promised.

Councillor Bell responded that repair works will continue to be undertaken as required. He emphasised that there was no cost to the Council arising from any ongoing repairs and that no class time was lost as a result.

(d) a question from Councillor Gurney to the Education Portfolio-holder (Children's Services) in the following terms:-
"At a recent meeting of the Education Executive the decision was taken to remove the highly successful breakfast clubs. This was to be subject to budget approval in 2010. In the meantime a pre-emptive decision was made to close four breakfast clubs including the one at Winton Primary School. Can the member assure me that there are plans in place to re-visit this discriminatory decision?"

Councillor Bell responded in the following terms:-

"The Education Executive Committee took the difficult decision to close the 13 Council run Breakfast Clubs by next June with great reluctance and for purely financial reasons.
The four clubs to be closed in January have the lowest numbers of children attending and are running at considerable losses. In the past funding has been available from the previous governments Childcare Strategy to make up the shortfall. This funding is no longer available and in light of current budget pressures Education Services can no longer sustain these losses. Children's Outreach Services are working with head teachers, and other potential partners, to identify alternative ways of delivering cost effective before school provision at these schools.
The Scottish Government plans to significantly cut local Council budgets over the next 5 years, and have admitted this will mean major reductions in jobs and services. Given the current, and likely future, financial conditions the Education Executive agreed that the breakfast clubs no longer be funded from the core Education budget, but requested that the remaining, most viable clubs, be the subject of a bid to the council for further funding."

As a supplementary question, Councillor Gurney asked if Councillor Bell would undertake a full review of the department in his control to ensure that no managerial excesses are present in the system.

Councillor Bell responded that in the current climate all Services of the Council were under constant review.

The Scottish governments change of heart on class sizes and school meals mean we may be able to maintain some of the clubs.

Friday, 01 January 2010

Posted by: John

Best wishes for 2010

I wish everyone a happy and successful new year, and hope you all manage to stay warm in this extreme weather.

I have posted a link to the councils emergency contact numbers.

http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/NewsArticles/InfoZone/AdverseWeather.aspx

Ripped off North Ayrshire.

The SNP Governments bias in council funding is again made obvious as they publish their proposed council allocations. North Ayrshire will see a 20% cut in its capital funding allowance, and a small 2.4% increase in its revenue funding. Highland , Moray and Perth and Kinross will see increases ranging from 4% to 5%.

The Government obtains reports on deprivation so that they can target funding to the areas which need it, but that hasn't happened, it's time they put their funding where it's needed. Major infrastructure projects like the Dalry bypass and the Kilbirnie and Glengarnock flood prevention scheme would provide direct employment and improve the future opportunities for North Ayrshire residents as well as peace of mind for householders living in fear every time it rains.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/CoreRevenueFunding/LGfinancesettlement201011

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Posted by: John

Show me the money. NAC Leader to write to Scottish Government re Flood Risk Scheme.

North Ayrshire Councils Labour led Executive Committee have asked Council Leader David O’Neill to write to the Scottish Government for clarification on how they will fund capital projects of the scale of the proposed Garnock Valley flood prevention scheme.
David O’Neill said “The previous Scottish Executive scheme funded 80% of capital flood defence works and the SNP Scottish Government is not making clear how they are going to fund major projects. We need to implement a Garnock flood prevention scheme, currently estimated to cost around £20million, and need a funding commitment from the SNP Government, to ensure we get the best possible flood prevention scheme in place for the Garnock Valley without further delay. Following last years flooding in Kilbirnie and Glengarnock the council made repairs to the existing flood defences but we need a long term solution, which will take account of the increased rainfall and consequent flooding risks.”

Friday, 30 October 2009

Posted by: John

Deprivation

On studying the report one of the main concerns is the level of crime reported in the local area. Kilbirnie actually has gone down to two deprived "datazones" but Beith and Dalry have each gained one. Apart from the known issues of unemployment and subsequent low incomes the main concern is in the level of reported crimes in these areas. I have contacted the police for their view on these statistics.

SIMD Report

The SNP Scottish government published their latest report on relative areas of deprivation in Scotland http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/10/28104046/3 once again it makes depressing reading for anyone from North Ayrshire. Most people are aware of the high unemployment levels locally but the fact that it now seems to be getting worse is very disappointing. At a meeting of the council there was unanimous support for a call to central government to take action to halt the decline.

North Ayrshire Council to Lobby for ‘Special Status’

North Ayrshire Council is to lobby the Scottish and UK Governments to achieve 'special status' for the North Ayrshire as a destination for future significant inward investment.The need for priority to be given to investment in infrastructure, including the proposed upgrade to the A737, and other roads in the area, was strongly emphasised.
The Council agreed to
(a) restate its commitment to tackling poverty and deprivation as a priority for all Council services; and
(b) lobby the Scottish and UK Governments to respond to North Ayrshire's decline and to seek 'special status' recognition for the area to attract a significant increase in inward investment and support.
Leader of North Ayrshire David O’Neill said as a result of the disappointing figures of the SIMD the Council agreed that we should lobby for ‘Special Status’. "We have the highest levels of unemployment in Scotland and rising levels of deprivation. It is time that the Scottish Government recognised the urgent need for better infrastructure links and employment incentives for this area to lift our communities out of poverty. We have seen other areas being given additional support to address deprivation it is time that North Ayrshire was given this special status”.

Ripped Off North Ayrshire!

Every new announcement from the SNP Government reinforces the feeling they are moving Public Investment to their heartland areas and areas like North Ayrshire suffer. North Ayrshire has not had any major infrastructure projects from the SNP Government. When they were allowed to bring forward roads spending the urgently required Dalry and Kilwinning bypass was ignored, when we need major investment in flood prevention the SNP chose to fund another Forth Bridge. They can find £12million for a pointless independence referendum and a million for a National Conversation and goodness knows how much was wasted on a Homecoming Year which they hijacked into a cringeworthy Tartanfest instead of a celebration of Robert Burns.

August 2009

Back from Holiday to a series of meetings regarding the budget difficulties ahead for the council. New NAC Chief executive Elma Murray has been taking a look over the existing services prior to taking over from the retiring Ian Snodgrass. All Scottish public services are going to have financial difficulties over the next 3 years at least, Budget cuts imposed by the SNP Government and councils no longer able to raise their own income with the Council Tax freeze will cause great pressures on public services. New ways of delivering services will have to be found if the council is to maintain the level of service. It has been estimated that a £30 million reduction in costs will have to be found by 2012.
I've had a number of meetings with the Police regarding their ability to respond to emergencies in the Kilbirnie and Beith area, especially in the off peak times. Despite receiving some assurances that emergencies are dealt with quickly I've asked for statistics to back this up. The Police have also agreed to recognise the difficulties that Kilbirnie and Beith junior football teams will have over the season and to police "big games" effectively. Unfortunately the Regeneration bid to the Scottish Government for redevelopment of the flooded Police station building was not able to be progressed as the Police are still undecided on the buildings future.
Over the summer the councils grounds maintenance teams have been working on the Vale pitches in the hope of improving the drainage and allow more games to be played. Most of the pitches were looking great but it seems to have poured down for the complete month of August so we'll see how they hold up.
With the Walker Hall due to be closed for refurbishment for about 8 months from 1st September, I needed to arrange a new venue for my Kilbirnie Surgery. No sooner had I arranged to use a room at Radio City when I was told the refurbishment start had been delayed for two to three months, with the surgery advertising arranged and new posters printed, I will go ahead with the Radio City venue from September.
Radio City itself has been feeling the financial pressure following an unsuccessful lottery bid. Much of the projects funding comes from the rental of the business startup units in the building, in the current difficult economic times much of them are currently unlet. NAC agreed £40000 funding to allow the project some breathing space to find alternative clients and funding. The council has agreed that an urgent, rigorous assessment be made of the potential of the Radio City building and facilities to contribute to the overall delivery of Council and community services in the Garnock Valley. I obviously could take no part in the decision still being a director of the association.
We had an interesting Garnock Valley Area committee meeting where we had a presentation from Scottish Enterprise regarding the Lochshore project. Their representative confirmed the project had been delayed while SE was restructured and responsibility for taking on the project was unclear, this was then followed by the "Credit Crunch" meaning the house building which will finance the project was not currently attractive to builders. It concerns me that the SNP representative seems to be pushing for a large private housing development in Largs Road rather that the mixed private and social housing project that was planned for Lochshore, I still feel we need to deal with our Brownfield sites first and that the Lochshore plan is a great opportunity to have a direct link from Kilbirnie Town Centre to the Loch and the Leisure amenities it could provide.

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Posted by: John

What have you done for me lately?

Much has been written about the SNPs abandoning manifesto committments. The fact that they had to do it was no real surprise as they were obviously unaffordable at the time, the fact that the press let them off so lightly is the interesting factor. First time buyers grant, class sizes of 18, cancelling student debt, 1000 more police, the list of policies they have thrown away is huge, their activists claim that it is ok to produce a manifesto you dont plan to keep.

I decided to look at the election committments from the local labour party as a contrast.

Labour will Keep Council Tax rises below inflation for the next 4 years.
To retain Housing Stock under council control.
To continue to provide good quality housing for rent by effective Estate Management, and regular maintenance.
Work in partnership with all agencies to ensure a safer community.
CCTV will be supported and expanded.
Continue to fight for upgrade of A737
We will lobby for improved rail services and for improved Park and Ride at Glengarnock.
Lobby for increased Roads and Lighting maintenance.
Continue to Urge Scottish Enterprise to progress Lochshore regeneration plan.
We will invest in our Town Centres.
We will lobby all agencies for jobs to be relocated and created in North Ayrshire.
We will increase spending on adaptations to allow people to stay in their own homes.
We will encourage and develop Home Care Services.
John Bell & Donald Reid support the aims and objectives of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, and oppose contrary developments.
We will reduce waste going to landfill.

In contrast to the SNP we have kept our promises and if we had not lost our local MSP I'm sure we could have delivered more. The much needed A737 is a case in point, National government allowed the SNP version to bring forward roads spending to fight the recession, they chose to spend in the North East of Scotland rather than North Ayrshire. More and more we are seeing the result of losing a local MSP, with the SNP version scurrying around trying to be the best councillor, but being totally ineffective as an MSP, allowing the spending to go to the SNP heartland in the North East instead of fighting for the projects we need here. No money for flood prevention, the Lochshore project allowed to wither due to SNP Dogma. The Labour party will stand by our pledges and fight for these projects, we will fight to get Garnock Academy upgraded, we have managed to get more social housing with the CHA build on Largs Road which I was proud to help name Jennings Gardens.

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Posted by: John

June 2009

I've lost the habit of updating this, but since for once I've had some good news it seems the ideal time to do it.

Firstly the news came through that the SNP government has finally made some funding available for school improvements. The program in North Ayrshire came to a grinding halt while they messed about with Scottish Futures Trusts before finally coming to the conclusion that the late model PPP wasn't so bad after all. The government are still trying to take the credit for the schools programs started by the previous Labour Administration. It will be another year or two before the building program totally dries up due to the SNP inaction and no doubt they will bluff through it.

North Ayrshire Council leader David O'Neil is to write to Education Minister Fiona Hyslop in a bid to secure a share of the £800 million of government money earmarked for new school build programmes. Now that we finally see an opportunity to continue our investment in schools we need to lobby the Scottish government to try and get our share of the funding. Recent government spending has been skewed to the SNP heartlands in the North East and we have lost out on roads and housing money. Garnock Academy is one of the schools likely to be replaced if the council can secure the funding this time.

On Friday evening 26th I had the honour of opening the new Gallery in Kilbirnie Library. The Gallery was suggested when the decision was taken to turn the former Youth and Community Wing at Garnock Academy, which was being used as the Valley Arc arts centre, at Garnock Academy into a skill centre. A good turn out was present to view the inaugural exhibition by Adam McLean of the Art of Tarot. Adam has amassed a large collection of Tarot card sets and the exhibition fresh from being viewed at Glasgow Arts school was of Japanese cards and included childrens sets, it seemed curious to me until Adam explained that it does not have the same occult connotations there as Japan is not a Christian country.

Monday, 01 June 2009

Posted by: John

May 2009

A mixed month with both good and bad news. MP Katy Clark safely gave birth to a baby girl and the long campaign to have a path beween Glengarnock and Beith has finally come to fruition as SPT have agreed to fund the project to install a cycleway and footpath between Longbar and the Manrahead roundabout.

The SNP Scottish Government passed their Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill but unfortunately have not identified funding for the major works needed in Kilbirnie and Glengarnock, there are concerns that the budget has been cut in an effort to fund an additional Forth Bridge. A number of residents have been raising issues of Police respose with me and I raised it at the local area committee the Police are going to get the area superintendant to report to the next meeting

At the councils executive committee we decided which projects go forward as bids to the Scottish Governments Town Centre Regeneration Fund. Possible projects for Kilbirnie include clearing the former Police station and redeveloping as car parking, clearing the site of the former Tamsons pub as a car park extension, the compulsory purchase of the fire damaged insurance office at 2 Main street, a bid for CCTV, and the redevelopment of the Knox Institute building as community space. The view was taken the the Police Station and CCTV projects were most likely to succeed but subsequently the Police decided that it would go to the authority board for ratification and this project missed the entry deadline. It is hoped that it will be included in the August funding round.

Tuesday, 05 May 2009

Posted by: John

April 09

You would think that with an easter break and improving weather people would be happier, but no.

This month we had the publication of the HMIE Inspection of the councils Educational Services, which was very positive and supported the priorities we set out at the beginning of the council. But a report in the Herald newspaper, which was in the main positive and accurate, was headlined to make it look that the council had been criticised. The report highlighted examples of good practice throughout the service.

One thing bound to cheer people up is to be found on youtube. Alex Salmond really shouldnt surround himself with yes men. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqXM614itRU

Wednesday, 01 April 2009

Posted by: John

April Fool

The BBC website today carries a story, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7976409.stm on how Kilbirnie has the second highest number of nominations for Scotlands town most in need of regeneration. This is a campaign, ironically run by the Tories who made no attempt to regenerate the town when in power, to publicise a £60million budget identified by the Scottish Parliament in this years budget.

The idea is thes nominations are made by local people for their own town and it is gratifying that enough local Kilbirnie residents were able to get Kilbirnie on the board. Whether this will be enough to make a difference when any money is allocated remains to be seen.

Kilbirnies main chance for regeneration lay in the Lochshore project where a proportion of the profits from the scheme were to be allocated to a Kilbirnie and Glengarnock Regeneration Fund. The Lochshore Project has been stalled for two years with the SNP Governments preoccupation with splitting Scottish Enterprise, and now we have a credit crunch which will again delay the project and most likely the income to the Fund if and when the scheme progresses. Once again SNP Dogma gets before helping the residents of North Ayrshire.

March 09

The SNP Government has overturned North Ayrshire Councils decision to approve planning permission for a windfarm at Kelburn estate.

Its not often I agree with Largs Local newspaper editor Drew Cochrane but just this once I'll give you his take on it.

"Published: Wednesday, 4th March, 2009 12:30 SNP dilemma blowing in the wind...THE ONLY way that the SNP government will achieve their target of Scotland having 50 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 will be to allow every wind farm application to go through. An indication of Alex Salmond's determination to make the country rich in renewables is the decision to overturn North Ayrshire Council's refusal of the wind turbines on the hills of Kelburn Estate."

This is the Alex Salmond who stated in Kilbirnie that he was against windfarms in the regional park, and with a local SNP MSP who seems able to put forward parliamentary motions on his daughters homework but not on issues on which he made a commitment to get elected. The electorate are beginning to realise SNP promises are worth nothing and their political dogma gets in the way of helping their constituents.

Sunday, 30 March 2008

Posted by: John

March 08

I had the pleasure of introducing a seminar on Youth crime in North ayrshire which was attended by a number of professionals present the findings from a piece of research commissioned from Glasgow University School of Research,by the Childrens Services Steering Group, presented by Dr Fergus McNeill and his colleague Dr Susan Batchelor. This will guide the future provision of services.

I had the pleasure of chairing the primary schools Question Time event on 6th March where a number of council and other figures answer questions from the audience of Primary seven pupils which was very enjoyable. Also on 6th as chair of the Childcare Partnership I accompanied staff to the Cosla awards ceremony where they won a deserved award for the inclusive childcare project, this eases access to mainstream childcare for pupils with additional support needs.

On 11th I spoke at an event for the carers who take part in our very worthwhile daycarers project, which provides daycare for families with difficulties on referral. On 14th I attended the North ayrshire Head teachers Conference and listened to avery interesting presentation by Professor Dyson on raising attainment and regeneration.

On the 26th I had the great honour of officially opening the new Stanley Primary school in Ardrossan. So all in all it was a very busy but rewarding period.

February 2008

This month saw the councils budget being agreed. Despite the hype from the Scottish Government, council departments were asked to find 3% savings on their budgets this year. Councillors had a series of seminars where possible budget savings were identified and discussions took place on their acceptability. It was agreed that for susequent years all party working groups be setup to examine the service groups budgets in more detail prior to the budget setting process. When this years budget meeting took place the opposition agreed most of the measures, but when it came to the revenue spending thse SNP tabled an amendment asking that the proposed replacement of the sheltered housing warden service with an improved electronic alarm service be remitted to the Social Work service review group. This was defeated by a narrow majority.

I attended a series of public consultation meetings with the parent councils of a number of schools affected by the recommendations of the Schools Estate review group which has proposed the amalgamation of a number of primary schools which are now operating with less than half occupancy.

I had the pleasure of presenting awards to schools who have signed up to the Health promoting schools agenda

January 2008

At the January Council meeting I was asked the following question

a question by Councillor Brown to the Children's Services portfolio-holder in the following terms:-
"What urgent steps are being taken to correct the truly appalling situation whereby the three secondary schools in the three main population centres of North Ayrshire Council are recording among the worst examination results and truancy figures in Scotland?"

Councillor Bell responded in the following terms:-
"North Ayrshire Council recognises the issues of attendance and low attainment in secondary schools within our regeneration zones. While there have been considerable efforts made in recent years to bring about change in these areas, there is a clear need for focused and concerted action to improve outcomes for young people.
The new Director is fully cognisant that this is the key priority for Educational Services and improving attainment will be the main focus of the Educational Services Improvement Plan."

As a supplementary question, Councillor Brown asked what urgent action was being taken to address this problem, particularly given that North Ayrshire's regeneration areas' performance was worse than other comparable regeneration zones elsewhere, and asked for clarification on how frequently this matter will be reported to elected Members.
Councillor Bell responded that a number of initiatives had been put in place over recent years to tackle this problem and that regular reports would be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee on progress. He commented that, with many external factors impacting on educational attainment, including parental input and social problems such as unemployment, it was difficult to give a fair assessment of the quality of educational input in different areas of the country.

While we have to better for our young people we need to keep a perspective on the challenges facing North Ayrshire.

Issues affecting attainment and attendance cannot be solved solely within schools, North Ayrshire is an area with high deprivation counts, and of high unemployment, all services need to work together to solve that problem, and so raise the expectations and motivation of our pupils.

EditDeleteChangeWrite commentWednesday, 02 January 2008

Posted by: John

December 07

December has been particularly busy on a personal level with the safe arrival of our 3rd child Scott on the 10th, so sleepless nights are back on the agenda as we try to organise the family into a new routine. Its been an experience just getting the other two children up dressed and out to school in the mornings before I could head to work. I was relieved when the school holidays came round, and Linda and baby came home.

A quiet surgery this month and not too many local meetings. At the council the budget process has begun with the Executives financial allocations being anounced on the 13th. The concordat between local councils and the Executive will bring new challenges as some of the ring fenced initiatives are funded in the block grant and already some organisations previously funded directly by the executive are now looking for local councils to take up the slack. against these and other extra demands on services will mean some difficult decisions to come.

I had a meeting with some of the parent councils who are to be consulted regarding possible amalgamations on 7th December and explained the rationale behind the recommendations of the Schools Review group. I also chaired a meeting of the Childcare partnership where future funding and the priorities of the new Scottish Government were high on the agenda.

I wish all a good new year.

November 07

November flew in, with a busy surgery in Kilbirnie on the third, the Kilbirnie age concern Christmas dinner on the 10th and Kilbirnies Christmas lights event on Saturday the 24th. In between I had various meetings concerning the report of the School estate review group as well as the ususal round of Council and Executive meetings. On St Andrews day I was privilidged to attend the Councils Awards ceremony and present certificates to employees of Educational Services who had gained an additional qualification. Later I took part in Glencairn Primarys Tartan Walk round Stevenston and had a brief chat with Scotlands Minister for Children Adam Ingram regarding a number of issues. Later in the afternoon I had a tour of the new Greenwood Academy, and was very impressed with the facilities.

I took part in the shortleeting and interviews for the Head teachers post for Stancastle school one of the special schools in North Ayrshire. I attended the Eco school celebration at Mayfield primary, where they dedicated a garden to theri former janitor. The schools pupils have built a greenhouse out of old plastic drinks bottles.

Locally I wrote to Scotlands Finance Minister John Swinney regarding his proposed changes to the Scottish Local Enterprise Network which have raised doubts on the future progress of the Lochshore regeneration project, which was being led by Enterprise Ayrshire.

Thursday, 08 November 2007

Posted by: John

October 07

October was a busy period for me getting to grips with a number of issues around school attainment. On Friday 5th i had the pleasure of opening a new training facility in Irvine for a company called "Spark of Genius" this organisation have a number of units providing education for pupils excluded from school, and resdential accomodation for looked after children. the new facility will provide some skills courses for the children they are education and is opposite another unit which provides courses to help school leavers access further education or employment.

I visited the new PPP Stanley Primary school and was very impressed with the building and facilities, particularly the IT facilities and smart boards installed. I also visited Irvine Royal Academy where staff have put in major efforts to improve the school after it was criticised in an HMI report last year. I was involved in interviews for the new head teacher of Kelburne primary school in Largs, chaired the Childcare partnership and attended the North Ayrshire Healthy Schools awards. I met educationalists from all over Europe who were visiting North Ayrshire to look at the use of ICT in schools as part of an EU study. I chaired a meeting of the Education Executive and attended the main executive where a proposal to bring in an alternate weekly refuse collection was referred to a Working Group for closer scrutiny. I also chaired a further meeting of the School Estate review group where we unanimously agreed the recommendations. This group have put in a lot of time and effort and approached the problem rationally and logically and i am very grateful to the councillors involved.

Locally I attended the Community Council and Town Centre Management Initiative where plans for further fundraising and for the festive event on Saturday 24th November were discussed. News that the NATs decision to reform Scottish enterprise might block progress with the Lochshore Regeneration project has caused much concern and I have written to John Swinney the minister responsile to ask for clarification.

This month saw the first local area committee meetings in the new council, the members are the local councillors representing the Kilbirnie and Beith, and Dalry and West Kilbride wards. The group elected Craig Taylor as chair. Meetings with Social Work centred on the increasing costs of covering young people remanded in secure accomadation which is putting severe budget pressures on the department.

Thursday, 18 October 2007

Posted by: John

September 07

The month started with my surgery on Saturday the 1st. Reasonably busy with a number of people complaining about trees. The common theme was that their gardens were being made very dark by the extensive growth on the trees this year.

On Monday 3rd I had a tour of the new Dalry Primary school, this is a super building which includes a number of innovative design features. I was especially taken with the theatre/Games Hall which will be a tremendous facility for the townspeople of Dalry. With the councils Director of Education, John Travers, due to retire in December I had to spent a couple of days this month as part of the group shortlisting and then interviewing candidates for this prestigious position. We finally decided on an internal candidate, Carol Kirk who is currently a Head of Service in Education for the council, she will take up her position at the end of December. I attended the funeral of our local Labour Party Chair, Ann Harrison. Ann was a great character who will be fondly remembered by all who knew her, and will be a great loss to the local party.

Friday, 14 September 2007

Posted by: John

August 2007

August saw the council find its feet after a slow start since the elections. As member of the Executive I have weekly meetings and also the responsibility for meeting with Education and Social Services on a regular basis. I chair the Child Care Partnership which had an interesting meeting this month and discussed Nursery Provision, and new funding from the Executive among other things. This month saw the death of Irvine Labour stallwart and long term councillor Jack Carson. He had been ill for some time and had stood down at the last election, he was a great character and will be sadly missed.

I had a meeting with cunninghame Housing Association regarding the proposed development of Homestake and Rental Housing in Largs Road in Kilbirnie and popped in to visit the George Steven Centre which specialises in respite care and transition for the disabled.

I Chair the Member Officer Working group looking at the school estate in North ayrshire and we have had a number of useful meetings. All the members are taking this very seriously and approaching it with an open mind so hopefully we will be able to agree on our proposals to the Executive.

July 2007

Surgery was quiet this month just a few complaints about overgrown trees and bushes. No Council meetings this month so spend a lot of time catching up on paperwork. Off to France on hoiday with the family which was a very welcome and relaxing break. Stopped in to visit Legoland on our way home which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

The dreadful floods which had affected a lot of the country caused some disruption in my absence, but fortunately we were let off easy in comparison with the damaged caused down south.

June 07

June Started in the midst of Kilbirnie's Civic Week, indeed on the 1st I helped out at the youngsters disco in a local Church Hall, parents needn't worry primary school kids play tig to music. On Saturday 2nd June The Civic Queen visited the KCFC Saturday sports club at Garnock Academy, and then to the Cafe in Radio City to start the great Balloon Race. On Sunday 3rd the Royal Party went to the Vale to visit the NASA Football Festival and present medals to the teams.

At council I had the first serious meetings with the heads of Social Work and Education regarding my new role as spokesperson on Children's Services, as well as the first Executive Meeting. I was able to visit a session by the Child Protection Committee where Kathleen Marshall Childrens commissioner gave a presentation.

I took in the open day at Achnamara a new child care facility for looked after children, and attended the launch of the councils Summer Arts program at Radio City in Kilbirnie.

The end of the month brought the round of local Labour Party Branch meetings which included the MP reselection ballot, both Beith and Kilbirnie branches voted unanimously to reselect Katy Clark as our candidate.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007

Posted by: John

May 2007

Well I'm back. After a very strange election with spoiled papers, refused recounts and controversy in North Ayrshire, I was elected as one of the three councillors for Kilbirnie and Beith unfortunately the other Labour candidate Donald Reid did not get through and even worse we lost our local MSP Allan Wilson who was beaten by 48 votes. The MSP election may be the result of legal action as a manual recount of all votes was refused, seemingly the new e-counting system does not allow for the actual ballot papers to be viewed or counted manually. The count was delayed after the boat bringing papers from the island of Arran broke down, and rumours claimed papers were missing and or damaged and even that 100 more arrived than left the Island.

Things get more farcical as the winning MSP candidate the SNPs Kenny Gibson is featured on the front page of the SUN wearing only a nappy as he is exposed by a kiss and tell story, later there are allegations he tried to buy off a former girl friend with a job offer.

At the first council meeting the Labour group successfully have leader and deputy leader David O'Neill and John Reid appointed but lose the Provost position to the SNP by a cut of the cards. Unfortunately one of the labour members had gone on holiday. The council is now made up of 12 Labour, 8 SNP, 3 Tories, 2 Lib dems and 5 independents.

The councils second meeting decends into farce as an unholy alliance of SNP, Tories and independents vote through an amendment to the proposed cabinet structure, which strengthens the powers of the scrutiny committee but reduces the size of the executive by one member. The amendment was only distributed at the meeting, not enough copies were available so most members weren't able to read the proposals, but the amendment was forced through by the aforementioned alliance. One of the implications is that the SNP have refused the Lib Dems any committee positions as a punishment for not backing their candidate for Provost who won anyway. The reasons for the blind loyalty become clear as they next tried to bounce through a proposal to increase the number of promoted positions, inventing salary increases for vice-chairs and increasing payment to chairs of scrutiny, licensing and planning. Fortunately on this occasion some of the independents refuse to back the amendment, so those whose support was bought will not get their promised payments. But dont just take my version, read Iain Dale of the local lib dems.

It is going to be an interesting four years, I was pleased to get the cabinet position of spokesperson for children’s services which will deal with the integrated services for young people.

Wednesday, 18 April 2007

Posted by: John

April 2007

Well this might be my last entry as we are heading towards the elections on May 3rd. Been a very busy month trying to get a lot of loose ends tied up before the Election itself. We've been busy delivering leaflets throught Kilbirnie and Beith. Actually this is the part I most enjoy, meeting and talking to people.

Managed to get a small committee together to organise a civic week program, and they have chosen a Queen and attendants, so that should run in the last week of May. My Surgery was quiet this month with only 3 cases but it did fall on the Easter Holiday weekend. I've been really busy with case work though, there is nothing like delivering an election leaflet to boost the numbers of calls to my house.

As the election gets closer the campaign is getting very messy and I seem to be the main target of the independents locally. Every local issue is blown out of proportion and becomes a subject of a letter writing campaign. Among the political parties there have been some gaffs by the opposition candidates, the Tory candidate is making promises to prioritise council housing lets toward local residents, which sounds good but is totally illegal under the Housing Scotland Act. The SNP are promising to replace the council Tax with a local income tax, but for the first two years freezing the tax at current levels, this will mean 2 years of inflation rate decreases in real terms and makes no account of the wage demands of council employees. They are also promising to increase spending on free preschool, and out of school care which would be very expensive, but have made no mention on where they will cut services to fund these new commitments. They do however mention bringing in "one stop shops" for Council Services and as we currently have Housing, Social Work, Registration and Police Offices in Kilbirnie it could mean the closure of 3 of the offices currently used.

March 2007

Attended the final meeting of the Garnock Valley North Coast Area Committee which was held in Skelmorlie on Friday the 2nd. The meeting was the last Chaired by Largs Conservative Richard Wilkinson who is standing down at the elections, while I disagreed with his politics Richard was always able to be pleasant and interested in others.

Surgery on the 3rd was quieter than normal a few complaints about housing repairs and dog fouling. Other meetings this month included Property Services, Corporate Policy, and the full council. I attended a Strategy Meeting at SPT where there priorities for the next 10 years were identified, and was successful in getting the A737 included along with a proposed hub at Ardossan.

Beith Labour held a Coffee morning to raise fund for our election campaign which was well attended and included visits from MP Katy Clark and MSP Allan Wilson.

We held another meeting of Kilbirnie Town Centre Management Initiative which was again well attended. Officebearers were elected and the group heard from Robert Kirk of NAC on the logistics of installing improved Christmas lights.

I had a meeting with Jim Traynor of WJ Knox Ltd one of the largest employers in the town and was advised of the issues affecting their business.

February 2007

February surgery was reasonably quiet with no particular theme developing. Council was mostly taken up with budget decisions and negotiations. Measures put forward by officers for savings included charging for special uplifts and the removal of holiday cover for Sheltered Housing wardens, after long discussions the Labour group put forward a budget with these changes taken out and setting a 2.4% Council Tax increase which was approved by the council. I held a meeting to try and get new members to join Kilbirnie Town Centre Management initiative and was very gratified to have 25 people turn up and 15 volunteers join. Mrs Pierce of JD Pierce bought plans for improved Christmas lights which her company are willing to fund so the new members got off to a successful start, and we arranged a further meeting for end of March.

Met up with some people to try and organise the Kilbirnie Civic Week, the chair of the group who usually arrange it has been very ill and the group has not been meeting so try to organise a few things with some of the group to make sure something happens

Met with the User Group from the Valley Arc and listened to their views regarding the proposed relocation. They feel the alternative accomadation being offered is not good enough and that they have not been fully consulted or treated with respect. I agree that they should have been consulted before the relocation proposal was announced in the press.

Have began delivering an introductory leaflet for both the Labour candidates in the new Kilbirnie and Beith ward for the local election. Donald Reid from Beith and I are the 2 Labour candidates, which should be a very strong team and hopefully we will both get elected in the 3 member ward.

January 07

The New Year came in with a blast with the celebrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh cancelled. Our celebrations ended with me using the washing line to tie down part of our garden fence at about 3 am. My first surgery of 2007 was pretty quiet considering the amount of storm damage there had been. Mixed news arrived with the Councils Education Department announcing plans to set up a skill centre for those about to leave school with no destination in mind, what they call NEET not in education, employment or training. While this is in itself great news the downside is that they want to use the building currently housing the Arts centre, and to relocate the arts workers to other local venues.
At the council the main topic is on setting the budgets for next year. Additional money from the Scottish executive will enable the Council Tax rises to be held at inflation rates but there will still have to be savings across the council to fund the single status and fulfil the teachers conditions agreed under the McCrone agreement. I attended another busy meeting of the community council, the official opening of MSP Allan Wilsons new Kilbirnie office, and a meeting with the Arts Centre users group. At council as well as a number of Budget Seminars I was involved in Property Services Committee, I chaired the Garnock Valley North coast Committee, and attended the Social Services committee. I also had a meeting with Development and promotions regarding Kilbirnie's Town Centre Management Committee. This month also saw the official ratification of Labours Local Election Candidates, so I am now officially a candidate. I had meetings with the Beith branch of the Labour Party and agreed that Marie Cherry of Beith will be my election agent jointly with Donald Reid the other candidate for the new ward of Kilbirnie and Beith. Donald will be an excellent candidate a retired Police Superintendent he has been involved in many local voluntary organisations and has been the local newspapers Beith correspondent for a few years.

December 2006

Big news this month for the area with the council signing up to the framework agreement with SEA on the regeneration of the steelwork site at Lochshore. Part of the agreement is that income generated from the project will be held in a Kilbirnie and Glengarnock improvement fund, which will use this to improve the town centre and link in with the conservation area. Again a quieter surgery with only 4 new cases, most people contact me by email now but sometimes it is better face to face. A number of important meetings this month particularly the Corporate Policy meeting where Lochshore was agreed, Full council, and I chaired a difficult meeting re budgets at Clyde Muirshiel Country Park. I attended both the launch and closure of GVFM the local community radio who provided some excellent programs through their allocated 4 weeks licence. The members and coordinators are to be congratulated on their efforts. Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to all.

November 2006

A quieter surgery this month with only a couple of planning issues and a housing problem. I attended a Parental Involvement presentation for the Garnock cluster at Beith. There was a disappointing turnout but some lively debate on the issues. The Labour parties nomination meetings were held at the Garnock club at the same time as the Loadingbank tenants and residents groups AGM. I was pleased to be reselected as a Labour Party candidates along with Donald Reid from Beith. Had a meeting with the councils Grounds Maintenance Dept re the Christmas lights hopefully we should be able to collect enough money to fund the replacement lights. I attended council meetings on the Area committee, Social work, Property Services, and the Corporate Policy sub committee. I chaired a positive meeting of the Kilbirnie Loch Management Committee and attended my first Christmas Dinner with the Age Concern group. Chaired the local Community Council Elections, it is good to see so many people come forward who are willing to take part. I attended an informative meeting of the Garnock Academy school board and a number of areas were covered including the HMI report and the councils PPP project, we discussed the possibility of having lifts installed to comply with the DDA

October 2006

Things starting to hot up this month with people looking towards next Mays elections. Plans are being drawn up for selection meetings and the Labour panel of candidates for the local elections has been announced. Kilbirnie and Beith branches of the party will have a meeting on 8th November to select the candidates. I will be up against two other local members in Gordon McKay and Donald Reid for the two available positions. My surgery was a little quieter this month but I had a number of meetings to attend at council Property Services, Corporate Policy sub and service committee meetings as well as the full council meeting. I also attended a Radio City Board meeting and another well attended community council meeting. For the first time I can remember it looks like there will have to be an election for the council as there are more nominees than places. There was also a meeting of the planning committee which approved another two test masts on Ladyland Moor. I was unable to attend but objected to the proposals.

Tuesday, 30 January 2007

Posted by: John

September 2006

Busy surgery this month with, strangely, a lot of complaints about trees. Full session of council meetings Corporate Policy, Social work, Full Council which included Irvine councillor Jack Carson being awarded the freedom of North Ayrshire and many entertaining speeches were heard in a reception following the meeting. I also attended a Clyde Muirshiel meeting, an area Waste strategy meeting, and chaired meetings of the Speirs Trust and the Property services sub-committee. This months community council was well attended and featured a talk from Katy Clark MP and a presentation on behalf of the Muir Group. Some lively discussion took place on the options for the regeneration of the town and the Steelworks site.

August 2006

Council meetings restarted after the summer recess. This month attended Social Work Committee, Local Area Committee and the Property Services meetings. Heard update on Scottish Ents plans for Lochshore, spoke to Grounds maintenance re Play Areas in Kilbirnie and dealt with a large number of constituency issues. With my family, I visited the Community Football Clubs open day which was a great success. Managed to to see a few of Ladeside’s games, they are looking good at the moment and playing lots of good football. Hopefully the young team will manage to gain promotion this season.

Tuesday, 30 January 2007

Posted by: John

July 2006

Always a quiet time, usually the only complaints are over unruly kids annoying neighbours and of garden parties getting out of hand. The weather has been exceptional over the last few weeks. I have received a number of compliments on the Council grounds maintenance departments summer planting.

Tuesday, 30 January 2007

Posted by: John

June 2006

Good news for Radio City this month as an agreement has been reached with the building contractor, which will allow the Association to come out of administration and restart normal trading. It is hoped this will happen before the end of August.

My surgery was quiet this month although a number of people came forward with ideas, which if all goes well I'll be publicising later in the year.

This month saw the years Community Development grants funding fully expended. I feel that Kilbirnie does not get its fair share of these awards as we dont have the organisations in position to bid for the money.

On 8th June I attended the primary schools competition. the local community police organise this as part of their drugs education programme.

I attended Moorpark School board meeting, and was impressed by the enthusiasm of the members. Unfortunately Head Teacher Mrs Gavin announced she is to retire in January.

Attended a number of council meetings including the GVNC, Corporate Policy and the full council meeting. I also attended the community council meeting and explained the thinking behind the proposed conservation area fro the town centre.

Tuesday, 30 January 2007

Posted by: John

May 2006

Radio City board meeting no real developments a settlement with the builder can still not be reached.

Council meeting featured the acceptance of the Council Plan a document which outline the councils objectives for the next 5 years.

Kilbirnie Community football club launch on 24th was well attended and a professional presentation by Richard Wilson of SFA and guest speakers Gordon Mcqueen and Tommy Bryce informed and entertained an interested audiance.

Kilbirnie Loch Management Comm meeting this is a committee with representatives from the organisation using the Loch. Good new that the toxic Blue Green algae which affected the loch some years ago has still not reappeared.

April 2006

Surgery on Saturday 1st was quiet again, a few housing issues and some concerns over roads and lighting in the town. A number of people came in to voice their concerns over the wind farm proposal. Attended meeting for local tenants who are to have central heating renewed. Attended Social Work and Property Services council meetings and met with the Community council. The follow up from the Muir builders town planning meeting was held at Radio City, their presentation was interesting but didnt really bring anything new. The planners seemed a little surprised that locals are against the idea of building more housing at Largs Road, and were surprised by the level of debate.

March 2006

attended Garnock Valley and North Coast meeting these meetings are where community development grants are distributed but this being the end of the financial year this part of the meeting was very short. We had a presentation from North Ayrshire leisure on the local facilities and from the councils Education Department. We then heard from the Grounds Maintenance Supervisor Robert Kirk and unusually for these meeting he received unanimous praise for the work they have been carrying out. In Kilbirnie this includes the old Place Bing play area which has been greatly improved by removing bushes and refurbishing the equipment, at the Park Gates memorial where the garden walls have been reconstructed, and of course the area in Bridge Street which has been the subject of a project involving young skillseekers.

My surgery on Saturday the 4th was reasonably quiet, only 6 customers, so I was able to get some paperwork done.

I chaired the Property Services meeting of the council it passed reasonably quietly with little controversy.

Had a board meeting at Radio City on the Wednesday evening, the administration period has been extended for another 6 months so that settlement may be reached with the builder. The building is now fully let out which is good news and the gym is busy so things are looking hopeful at present

Attended a speculative "community planning" meeting at Radio City. This was organised on behalf of Muir builders who want to develop housing on Largs Road, they invited locals to get involved and provide ideas for the regeneration of the town centre. It was reasonably well attended although there were some concerns about the firm raising expectations which they may not be fulfilled.

Spoke to Scottish Enterprise who are soon to announce there proposals for the Lochshore, Glengarnock and Kilbirnie Town Centre regeneration.

Monday met with the newly formed Community Football club and was greatly encouraged by their enthusiasm and commitment. They hope to tap into funding to encourage local youngsters into and to continue in sport.

Attended Funeral for Sam Harrison probably best known as the Labour club bus driver, he was a popular and caring person and a committed labour party volunteer.

Met with Katy Clark our MP regarding a number of issues and to catch up

On Saturday went to Ladeside game with my 4yr old son caught up with a few people including Allan Wilson. Discussed many issues including the regeneration meeting and the windfarm proposal. I am strongly against this proposal and feel the negatives in environmental damage to the regional park, and the disruption the construction would cause, far outweigh any community benefits.

Corporate Policy meeting at council. PPP schools project underway.

Community Council public meeting re windfarm proposal in Walker Hall. Around 300 people, about 250 from Kilbirnie, turned out on the night, great to see the Hall filled. Meeting very well chaired by Jim McHarg. Local protest group and WHL representatives made their case followed by a Q&A. Later a vote taken and all the audience were against the windfarm proposal.

Chaired Speirs trust meeting at council. this body gives small grants to students who may be in financial difficulties to help them complete their studies.

Labour group at council followed by an office bearers meeting at Radio City.

Tuesday day of industrial action over pension changes, schools closed and other services severely curtailed. Have sympathy with strikers but feel they should find a way of targeting central government with their strike. Iains mini-kickers held in Radio city as school closed. Labour party Branch Meeting in GLC.

Attended public meeting of Loadingbank residents and tenants assoc. This group have newly formed and have already made progress in improving their area. Fencing of the railway banking and resurfacing of car parks in the area are high on the agenda.

Council meeting brightened by Largs member make untrue allegation which she then refused initially to retract despite the others Conservative members telling her to.

Kilbirnie Volunteer of the Year presentation at Bridgend, Rose Bowl Trophy in memory of Helen Graham, was presented to Brian Hewitson, a scout and leader former chair of Community Safety Forum.

Tuesday, 30 January 2007

Posted by: John

February 2006

Community Council meeting was interesting this month. Very well attended, mostly by people against proposed windfarm at Ladyland moor. CC listened and agreed to hold a meeting for local residents to voice their opinions and guide the council in their position as statutory consultees. Protest group had arranged meeting for following week at a local church. When asked for my opinion tried to explain the position the council is in, should be against wind farm as is against local and structure plans but if the development is forced through by Scottish Exec, who are the planning authority and who have set the renewable targets which are unlikely to be met, the council should try and gain the best possible community benefit and minimise the disruption, from the scheme

Attended protestors meeting and listened with interest to the arguments. I went into the meeting opposed to the development as its scale and location are totally inappropriate. The arguments put forward strengthened my view but I am concerned about some of the rabid anti-english views expressed at the meeting.

Chaired the councils property services sub-committee meeting, concerns were expressed at the loss of the Garden tidy scheme as part of the budget cut. More pleasing was the news that the council is achieving the 25% recycling target and likely to exceed it.

John Bell's blog

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Beith Astroturf pitch at Meadowside to be upgraded

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Ripped Off North Ayrshire!

August 2009