SNP MSP Christina McKelvie will today (24 June 2009) call for the contribution made by social workers and social carers to improving the lives of people across Scotland to be properly recognised as she hosts a debate in the Scottish Parliament.

The debate comes as new figures show that the number of qualified social workers employed by local authorities has increased over the last year and that the number of people working to support child services is at its highest since the figures were first collected in 2002. The debate also comes in the wake of discussions between the Scottish Government and Dundee City Council about improving social work services for children in the city and as a report shows significant progress in improving social work services in Aberdeen.

Speaking in the debate Ms McKelvie will say;
“Social Workers and Social Carers are the professionals who are there when society needs a safety net for some of our most vulnerable and it is essential that we recognise their work and their achievements.

“You can judge the health of a society by the manner in which it protects the weakest. Our social workers and our social carers are society’s improvement corps and, while politicians should ensure proper regulation and offer constructive criticism, we should also support the professionals who are working to improve the lives of others. What does not help is the blame culture where a scapegoat is sought rather than a problem solved.

“Social workers and social carers are people whose employment sends them into some of the most challenging situations in domestic life, who seek to mend some of the damaged lives in our society and who seek to improve other people’s lives. They’re not angels or saints, but they are dedicated and compassionate hard-working people who are there to help when we are at our weakest.

“When so many of us will need help for ourselves or for our families at some point in our lives we need to value our social carers.

“When we as a society demand so much from these professionals we should let them know we value their contribution.”

Christina McKelvie MSP has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating ten members of NHS Lanarkshire’s laundry services team, who were the first in the West of Scotland to successfully complete the Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) level 2 in laundry services.

Central Scotland MSP Christina said:

“This is a significant achievement by these ten members of staff, which I thought deserved recognition by the Scottish Parliament. The importance of services such as laundry to the provision of high quality health services is often overlooked, but these support functions play a crucial role in patient care. For that reason, it is essential that non-clinical staff are given the opportunity to develop and extend their skills through study for professional qualifications such as the SVQ.

“The specialist skills that these ten newly qualified staff will bring to their jobs will help to improve patient care, enhance the support that they already provide to clinical colleagues and make an important contribution to the drive to improve hospital hygiene and wipe out infections. They fully deserve to be congratulated on their hard work and achievement.”

The text of Christina McKelvie’s Scottish Parliament motion is:

NHS Lanarkshire’s Qualified Laundry Team—That the Parliament congratulates Jackie Currie, Cathie McIvor, Kim Carroll, Louise Ledwith, Brian Monks, Margaret Hendry, Elaine Sneddon, James Lennon, Sandra Park and Alison Grier of NHS Lanarkshire’s laundry team on their successful completion of the Scottish Vocational Qualification level 2 in laundry services; notes that they are the first NHS laundry workers in the west of Scotland to achieve this qualification; commends NHS Lanarkshire’s recognition that non-clinical as well as clinical health service staff should be given opportunities to pursue training and education, and believes that patients and staff alike will benefit from the enhanced skills that these 10 newly qualified professionals will bring to their specialist area of work.

Christina McKelvie, MSP for Central Scotland, has welcomed the publication of statistics which show that there are now a record 17,038 police officers in Scotland, including close to an additional 400 in the Strathclyde Police area since the SNP Government came to power in 2007.

When the SNP came to Government there were 7,822 Police Officers in Strathclyde (Q1 2007), now that figure stands at 8,204 (Q1 2009), an increase of 382.

Ms McKelvie said:

“These extra police officers delivered by the Scottish Government are ensuring that our homes, businesses and streets in communities throughout Strathclyde are safer.

“Thanks to the SNP we now have almost 400 extra police officers in Strathclyde providing a visible, reassuring presence in our communities.

“The SNP promised in our manifesto of 2007 that we would put more bobbies on the beat, that is exactly what the Scottish Government has done.

“Today’s figures show that the Scottish Government, after only two years in office, is well on our way to deliver on our commitment to have an extra 1000 officers by March 2011 and that the SNP are delivering on their promise to create a safer Strathclyde and a safer Scotland.”

The full statistical publication can be found here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00739.

SNP MSP Christina McKelvie has branded the UK Borders Agency actions over the case of Fatou Gaye and her son Arouna, detained at Dungavel and deported to the Ivory Coast “utterly chaotic” as the two were rejected by the Ivory Coast after deportation yesterday and are now back in the UK.

It is understood the UK Borders Agency chartered a plane to take the two to the Ivory Coast but that officials in Ivory Coast would not permit Fatou and Arouna to enter the country
and have rejected her as a citizen.

Ms McKelvie, who has been campaigning against the detention and deportation said;

“This ridiculous farce has exposed the utterly chaotic nature of the UK Borders Agency.

“Hurriedly taking a single mother and her son into detention days before they were due to report to the Home Office and shortly before the young boy was to undergo medical examination, deporting them and then being forced to bring them back is humiliating for UKBA but more importantly will have been deeply distressing for Fatou Gaye and her son.

“Before Fatou Gaye and her son Arouna were bundled onto what is reported to be a chartered jet bound for the Cote d’Ivoire with five UKBA officers, the Border Agency was assuring us that she had travel documents that were all in order and that the UKBA had arranged for her to be received by Cote d Ivoire.

“Now we find that all was not well and she has been refused entry to the Cote d’Ivoire because they do not consider her a citizen.

“Fatou and her four-year-old Scots born son are now back in the UK and back in a detention centre, held there by a Government that has promised time and time again to end the practice of holding children in detention centres. Holding children in these prisons is inhumane at the best of times, but this boy, too young to have started school, is now serving his fourth term in a detention centre.

“Given that her home country has refused to let her return, she is now a stateless person.

“Her son was born in Scotland and needs medical treatment which can be provided here. Fatou Felicite Gaye and Arouna should be allowed to return to Scotland and resume living in the community they were ripped out of last week. If for no other reason than compassion, they should be granted indefinite leave to remain. This family has suffered more than enough.”