January 2011
January 31, 2011 10:52 AM
A good New Year to all readers!
Winter Hazards
Like me, I expect that you will be glad to have had some temporary respite from the snow. Winter certainly arrived with a vengeance! While the north east is more used to severe weather, and our local council has generally handled snow clearing much better than many of the central belt councils, it has still been a challenging time for everyone. We saw real community spirit before Christmas with many neighbours working together to keep pavements clear, but local authorities need to make sure pavements are gritted as well as keeping our roads clear, as such a prolonged icy spell makes it particularly hazardous for the elderly, disabled or infirm to get out and about. I have written to the Council and Royal Mail asking them to consider paying more attention to clearing the ice from the stopping points for the mobile post office vans.
My colleague Ross Finnie, the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, found out that there has been a 147% increase in the number of ambulances sent to falls during the recent cold weather conditions. Between 26 November 2010 and 12 December 2010, the Scottish Ambulance Service responded to 3,231 "fall" incidents. This compares with 1,306 over the same period in 2009. That's a staggering increase in the number of falls requiring an ambulance. For most people falling in the cold weather means at most bruises, embarrassment and wet clothes. But for older people it can mean broken bones, an ambulance trip to hospital and months of rehabilitation. Extra resources spent on gritting and clearing pavements would reduce that burden on our health service and cut the number of preventable injuries and the pain and misery they bring.
Potholes
As sure as night follows day, potholes are a consequence of the snow and icy weather and the council will now face a hefty bill to mend our roads. That will be difficult given the budget cuts the council face this year. I was pleased therefore that the government responded to my call to provide some extra funding for emergency road repairs. The government has said it will make an extra £15m available to be shared amongst all councils. I am calling on John Swinney to share out this additional money fairly. The North East never receives a fair share of local government funding as the funding mechanism is so complicated (it includes weightings for things like deprivation, number of people over 75yrs, the number of school pupils and so on). However, in this case, there should surely be more straightforward to share out the additional "pot-hole" fund on a mile-for-mile basis, so those with the most extensive road network get a fair share of the pot. Aberdeenshire maintains 5400km of roads which represents around 10% of the whole Scottish road network.
Threat to local Police & Fire Services
Last week in Parliament the Justice Secretary announced proposals for radical reforms of our local fire and police services. Over the last few weeks there have been hugely exaggerated, dubious claims made by the Scottish Government about the alleged money that can be saved from this move. Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, Kenny MacAskill presented his plans for a single police force and fire board without giving the slightest indication of what savings and benefits Scotland would gain as a result. Grampian's chief constable Colin McKerracher said there was "not a shred of evidence" for a single police force.
There has been no clear reason given by any of the supporters why moving towards a single Scottish police force will improve policing or make Scottish streets safer. With the creation of a single police force, there will be no real local accountability for communities. Instead centralised bureaucrats will be given too much say over how local policing decisions are made without being aware of local problems and issues. I am very concerned that political concerns will outweigh local priorities. I believe communities will instead suffer as local accountability is eroded and local police services damaged. My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I remain committed to opposing any move towards a single police force in Scotland.
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