February 2011

February 2011

The Budget

This week has been budget week at Holyrood, and the Liberal Democrats have been working hard with the Government to get the best deal possible for Scotland.

One of our priorities throughout the whole process has been protecting funding for further education colleges. Last year we negotiated for an extra 7,500 college places across the country. This year, we are again asking the Government to do everything it can to protect college places and to look at creating new training opportunities and apprenticeships. We want as many young people as possible to have access to further education, to continue to develop and to gain extra training and skills. That's why one of our key demands this year has been for the restoration of funding for college bursaries that help secure opportunities and support for some of the poorest learners in Scotland.

We've also been looking out for Scottish business, voting down the proposed tax on large retailers. I've spoken before in this column on the challenges that many local businesses have faced in the wake of the business rates revaluation, and this tax would have represented yet another hurdle for our retail businesses to overcome. Worse, while it was initially claimed that it would only target out-of-town supermarkets, it was soon revealed that many city centre shops might also be hit with the bill.

I know that with a tight financial settlement other avenues need to be explored, but I'm certain that an arbitrary tax that will hit our fragile retail sector is not a sensible solution.

Coastguards

Also in the news recently have been the proposals to reform how Scotland's - and the UK's - coastguard rescue operations are managed. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency have been consulting on plans to reduce the number of operations centres around the country, and to keep just a single 24-hour station in Scotland.

Not surprisingly, I've heard from a large number of constituents who are very concerned about these proposals. I certainly agree with the view that, when it comes to safeguarding the wellbeing of Scottish Mariners, local knowledge is vital. I also think it's inevitable that by cutting the number of coastguard stations, a good deal of that local knowledge will be lost.

There is a certain parallel with the Government's consultation on creating a single unified fire brigade in Scotland. That could result in the closure of many small fire stations, which, again, would lead to vital local knowledge being lost. I firmly believe that when it comes to safety - at sea, or at home - reducing costs should never be the primary concern. Rather, the priority must be quality of service, and I think that means ensuring that services - management, decision-making and operations - remain truly local and responsive to the needs of the area they serve.

Securing Support for Students in Budget

The Scottish Budget reached its final parliamentary stage earlier this month. As I wrote previously, my liberal democrat colleagues and I were very concerned that the first draft of the budget did not go far enough to support young people through college and into work. As the minority SNP government needed Liberal Democrat support to ensure that the budget bill passed, we negotiated improvements to the budget. My colleague and liberal democrat finance spokesperson Jeremy Purvis led the successful negotiations.

In a move that was praised by the National Union of Students and by college principals, the Scottish Liberal Democrats obtained money for student bursaries, extra college places and more modern apprenticeships. Thanks to the £15 million of funding the Scottish Liberal Democrats have secured, thousands more students will have access to extra financial support. We have also made sure that another £8 million will go directly towards paying for a thousand new places at colleges across Scotland.

I received hundreds of letters and emails from students and young people in the area about this issue and I am delighted to have been able to stand up for them. Many more will now have the opportunity to attend college and gain the skills and qualifications that they need to help them find ways into work. This will prove a huge boost for both Banff and Buchan College and Aberdeen College at a time when they are facing significant financial pressures.

We have also secured £2m of funding for modern apprenticeships and training opportunities. This will benefit local businesses and provide a boost for the local economy.

The final budget is far from perfect, but the extra funding that we have obtained means this is a much better budget for our young people.

Post office Diversification Fund

A further concession that we won during the budget negotiations was securing a second year of

funding for the Post Office Diversification Fund - a scheme which helps Post Offices branch out and take their business in new directions. Fifty post offices benefited from this scheme last year, including two here in the North East, ensuring that they remain viable and at the heart of our local communities. This further year's money will help secure the long-term future of our post-offices and put a stop to the closures that have blighted a number of our local communities. This new funding will undoubtedly mean that there will be new opportunities for Post Offices in the area and I have written to all the Postmasters and Postmistresses to alert them to the fund.

Property Factors (Scotland) Bill & Greenbelt Ltd

Many readers will have contacted me at some time about Greenbelt Ltd, the company responsible for maintaining some of the open spaces in housing estates. I am sure many other readers will have followed the sagas of local residents' battles with this company. There is perhaps, at last, some light at the end of the tunnel. The Property Factors Bill has been drawn up and introduced in Parliament. I voted in favour of the Bill at Stage One and it is now in its committee stage of scrutiny. This is a Bill to establish a register of property factors and require property factors to be registered; it makes provision for establishing who is fit and proper to be a factor and it makes provision in relation to the resolution of disputes between homeowners and property factors.

The Bill's definition of what constitutes a property factor includes someone who owns and manages or maintains land and buildings, which is available for use by the owners of any adjoining or neighbouring residential properties, where those owners are by the terms of their title deeds to pay for the cost of management or maintenance the land.I believe that this means that the Bill would apply to Greenbelt. As I have been actively involved in the issues surrounding the Greenbelt Company for many years, I will do what I can to ensure that the Bill is as tightly drawn as possible in order to give some much needed protection to homeowners faced with poor maintenance regimes and heavy handed tactics to recover 'monies due'.

Finally, with Parliament having only a few weeks left to go before dissolution, there is a flurry of activity to try to finalise all the outstanding pieces of legislation. This month we will see the final stages of the Patients Rights Bill ,the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill, the Damages Bill , the Property Factors Bill and the Private Rented Housing Bill - so quite a busy time ahead!