MSP WELCOMES CLEAR ENDORSEMENT OF SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT POLICY

Christina McKelvie MSP has welcomed NHS Lanarkshire board’s strong support for the Scottish Government’s Alcohol Bill, including the proposal to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol.

NHS Lanarkshire’s submission to the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee’s call for evidence on the issue notes that, in Lanarkshire alone, a minimum price per unit of only 40p would reduce hospital admissions by 367 annually and save the local health economy over £6 million in a decade.

The board’s submission goes on to state:

“Setting a minimum price for alcohol and ending deep discounting and promotions across the board will reduce the price gap between the off-licensed and on-licensed trade. Regardless of the level of minimum price set, the combination of these measures will have a major impact on the health of Scotland. It will lower overall consumption with significant health benefits for the Scottish population and will curb the ability of problem drinkers to get drunk cheaply.”

NHS Lanarkshire joins all of Scotland’s Public Health Directors, all four UK chief medical officers, the House of Commons Health Select Committee, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, Tennent’s Caledonian brewery and a growing number of other organisations and individuals who have voiced their support for minimum pricing.

Welcoming NHS Lanarkshire’s support for minimum pricing, SNP MSP for Central Scotland Ms McKelvie said:

“NHS Lanarkshire board is in an ideal position to know exactly the real price that is paid for cheap drink, in the form of alcohol-related illness, accidents and violence. The outcomes of these are seen every day in hospital wards and A&E departments in the area.

“The board’s evidence is striking, with the figures on hospital admissions and costs providing a crystal clear illustration of the positive effect that a minimum price for alcohol would have in helping to counter some of the worst effects of alcohol misuse.

“The case for minimum pricing becomes more overwhelming by the day, as near unanimous support among health and criminal justice experts is joined by growing cross-party support in Westminster and endorsement from responsible voices in the alcohol industry, such as Tennent’s.

“Minimum pricing is a proven, sensible, positive approach, which will target only the worst offending, dirt cheap alcohol products without penalising responsible drinkers.

“The opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament must now stop playing politics with the nation’s health and back these proposals.”

Christina McKelvie MSP has welcomed moves to put E-Clear, who reportedly owe collapsed airline company FlyGlobespan up to £35 million, into administration as part of efforts to recover the monies owed to Globespan customers.

However, she has also urged greater protection for online customers and called for them to get more protection from the industry.

Ms McKelvie, the SNP MSP for the Central Scotland said:

“If the administrators can recover any money from E-Clear, it may repay credit card companies who have paid out to their customers, but the people who have really lost out are those who have booked online with debit cards.

“The current system gives them no insurance and no support. It is these people who are dependant on the money being recouped by the auditors and I hope that sufficient funds are available to help them.

“If any constituents from Central Scotland are having problems recovering any monies paid by them to Globespan via E-Clear, I would urge them to contact me at my office on 01698 337 302 or through my website www.christinamckelviemsp.org and I will do my very best to help them at this difficult time.”

Stop the Traffik: That the Parliament supports the work of Stop the Traffik, the international campaign against people trafficking; notes that people trafficking is a growing concern, with up to an estimated four million men, women and children being trafficked across borders and within their own countries every year; joins Stop the Traffik’s 1,000 member organisations in 50 countries worldwide in condemning the outrage of this ongoing enslavement of human beings; further notes the reported success that Stop the Traffik has had in forcing Cadbury, Mars and Nestlé to reduce the amount of chocolate that they use from Côte d’Ivoire, where thousands of children who have been trafficked are used to harvest the cocoa beans that make over a third of the world’s chocolate; endorses the campaigns at www.stopthetraffik.org to encourage confectionary manufacturers to increase their use of certified fairly traded cocoa beans, to encourage business travellers to learn how to recognise and report incidences of trafficking and to raise awareness of the dangers of the 2012 Olympic Games being used as an opportunity by people traffickers, and congratulates the Rev John Carswell and his colleagues at Cadzow Parish Church in Hamilton on organising a fundraising and awareness-raising concert in aid of Stop the Traffik, which will take place on the evening of 20 February 2010.

£1000 funding available from Scottish Government

Christina McKelvie, SNP MSP for Central Scotland, has welcomed the launch of a new initiative by the Scottish Government that will give businesses of all sizes and in all sectors the opportunity to receive £1,000 to take on a new apprentice. The £4million funding is open to businesses across Scotland, and Christina has encouraged businesses in the Hamilton area to apply to the scheme if they would benefit from taking on an apprentice.

The scheme is part of ScotAction, the Scottish Government’s skills support package for leading Scotland out of recession and on to economic growth. It combines new and improved measures to help individuals and businesses through the recession and will provide skills assistance – including wage subsidies in some circumstances – for training for work, training in work and training from work to help people and businesses in Scotland survive the downturn and thrive when the economy starts to recover.

Businesses can find out more by visiting http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/scotaction.aspx or calling Skills Development Scotland on 0808 100 8095.

Commenting, Christina said:

“This initiative from the Scottish Government could make a real difference to businesses of all shapes and sizes across the Hamilton area.

“The offer of £1000 to take on a new apprentice will benefit our hard working companies and employers who continue to fight the effects of the recession. It will also provide increased skills training opportunities to thousands of individuals across Scotland.

“Apprentices are vital for Scotland’s recovery. The Scottish Government’s action shows that it wants to make sure that businesses continue to invest in training for the people who will be our workforce of the future.

“I would encourage any local business that might be interested in the scheme to contact Skills Development Scotland on 0808 100 8095.”

Christina McKelvie MSP has warmly welcomed an investment of close to £1.5 million in programmes to safeguard and create jobs in South Lanarkshire.

The funding is South Lanarkshire’s share of a total of £34m in European cash to support Scotland’s economic recovery. It was announced last week by First Minister Alex Salmond, who said:

“The Scottish Government is doing all we can to ensure a strong economic recovery and to secure and safeguard jobs. We are using all our economic levers to support individuals, businesses and communities through the downturn and towards sustainable economic growth.

“This announcement of more than £34 million European funding will deliver vital support such as training opportunities to communities across Scotland, helping 28,000 individuals find fresh employment while assisting business growth, urban regeneration and rural development.

“This Government is committed to working with our partners in local authorities, enterprise networks, voluntary sector, business community, unions, colleges and universities to ensure Scotland is an attractive environment for investment, with the skilled workforce and quality infrastructure required for success.

“Our Economic Recovery Plan has directly supported up to 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy and this further investment will build on our efforts towards ensuring people across Scotland can achieve their potential through employment and make a valuable contribution to increasing Scotland’s sustainable economic growth.”

Responding to the First Minister’s announcement, Central Scotland SNP MSP Christina said:

“Employment in South Lanarkshire has been badly hit by the recession, so the First Minister’s announcement of this investment to help thousands of people in the area to find jobs comes at a crucial time and is extremely welcome.

“Creating and protecting jobs is the number one priority of the SNP Government, which is using all the tools available to it to drive forward Scotland’s recovery from recession and get people back into work.

“This £1.5m cash injection will considerably enhance South Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership’s abilities to support people back into employment and give a real boost to the local economy.”

The funding will be used to assist Community Planning Partnerships’ (CPPs) ongoing work to support employability in their areas. The allocation is:
South Lanarkshire – £1.2 million from the European Social Fund, £258,000 from the European Regional Development Fund

Join Christina at an evening of music in Hamilton on Saturday 20 February top raise funds and awareness for Stop the Traffik, the campaign against people trafficking.

www.stopthetraffik.org

Charity Awareness
CONCERT

Saturday 20th February at 7pm
CADZOW PARISH CHURCH
Woodside Walk HAMILTON

To include pieces by:
Debussy, Mozart, Handel,
Labi Siffre, Carole Bayer Sager

Featuring:
SoundRoutes Communities Choir
Colin Towers (Clarsach)
Rev.John Carswell (Flute)
Shona Brown (Flute, Choral Director)
Christina McKelvie MSP (speaker)

with
Douglas Muir (soloist, presenter)
David Stewart (accompanist)
Stuart Park (accompanist)

Tickets: £5 (donation) available at the door,
or at St. John’s Centre, Duke Street, Hamilton

S3M-05551 Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): A New Campus for Motherwell College and a New Era for Ravenscraig— That the Parliament welcomes the official opening on Friday 15 January 2010 of Motherwell College’s new campus on the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks; notes that the £70 million project provides state-of-the-art facilities for learners in Lanarkshire, including an automotive shop, a dance studio, training kitchens and an onsite nursery; congratulates the Motherwell College Board of Management, staff, students and College Principal, Hugh Logan, on the time and effort that they have put into the realisation of this inspiring learning environment; believes that the opening of the campus marks a milestone in the regeneration of the iconic Ravenscraig site, and looks forward to Motherwell College continuing to produce high quality graduates who have the skills and knowledge that Scotland needs to flourish in the years to come.

Scotland’s government needs flexibility to respond to demographic change, MSP tells Stormont Conference

Need for separate Scottish immigration policy endorsed by Nick Clegg

Christina McKelvie MSP will today (Tuesday 18 January 2010) tell a conference in Northern Ireland that devolved administrations have a right to speak out when UK government policies contradict the needs and aspirations of the devolved countries.

SNP MSP Ms McKelvie will make her remarks in the context of immigration and asylum policy, the subject of a conference taking place at Stormont today at which she is a keynote speaker. The conference, organised by the the Northern Ireland Law Centre and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly, is entitled Immigration and Devolution: Lessons from Scotland.

Ms McKelvie will contrast Scottish Government efforts to attract skilled migrants to help meet the economic and employment challenges caused by an ageing population, with Westminster government policies which directly undermine these efforts:

“At UK level, [there will be] a tightening up of the points system leading to a drastic reduction in the range of professions for which migrants from outside the EU will be allowed to work, as announced by the Prime Minister last November. Among the restricted professions will be care work and engineering – both key areas in which Scotland needs to attract workers,” Ms McKelvie will tell conference delegates.

“The announcement came just three days after the Scottish Government’s then external affairs Minister met with Phil Woolas MP, the UK immigration minister, and impressed on him the need for Scotland to be able to respond to our specific migration needs. Yet, the new points system still makes no allowance for Scotland – or any other devolved administration – to be able to act flexibly.

“The UK seeks to restrict immigration in exactly the same areas where Scotland wishes to encourage it. It is a clear-cut illustration of…contradiction between UK master policy and devolved needs and aspirations. It is why the Scottish Government will continue to press for Scottish-specific flexibilities within the immigration system in order to allow it to respond to Scotland’s demographic challenges.”

Ms McKelvie and the Scottish Government’s position has been backed up this week by UK Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg MP, who has confirmed that he is considering a Scotland-only immigration policy to help address labour shortages.

Ms McKelvie will also condemn the UK government’s “punitive” approach to asylum-seekers and particularly the practice of child detention, saying:

“I do not believe that the UK’s immigration ministers are deliberately cruel or callous people, but, perhaps because they have become so wedded to a political rhetoric that emphasises toughness on asylum seekers and migrants, they persist in pursuing a cruel policy… Detention wrecks children’s lives, pure and simple. No immigration or asylum policy justifies it, and it must end now.”

Ms McKelvie will conclude her address by arguing that devolved administrations should use the powers they have to mitigate the “distorting” effect Westminster’s policies have on their own priorities and ambitions:

“Holyrood and Stormont may not – yet – have the power to determine how we organise and manage immigration within our devolved jurisdictions, but we do have the power to encourage in our citizens an understanding that in welcoming newcomers to our countries and providing them with the support and services they need to thrive, we all have a great deal to gain.”

Christina spoke in the debate on 14 January.

“I welcome the report of Labour’s literacy commission. Indeed, I am delighted to find my Labour Party colleagues so intent on making such a positive contribution to the education debate. I hope that they will be similarly constructive in all our other public policy debates…

“I pay tribute to the commission for producing a concise report of 24 pages from tip to tail. If more of the documents that we got were as brief, we might save a forest or two. That said, although I welcome the report and the contribution that it will make to the debate, I have a couple of queries that I hope the sponsoring Labour members will be able to clear up, and one small point of disagreement…

“Reluctantly, I must take issue with the comment in the introduction that Scotland has “tolerated the intolerable” and accepted the fact that some youngsters leave school “functionally illiterate”. I simply do not believe that. A quick search on the Scottish Government website reveals that concerns about literacy rates were raised and action taken as far back as 1999. The actions that Scottish Government ministers have taken since 2007 to improve literacy mirror the efforts made by previous Administrations and their education ministers. Indeed, the literacy commission refers to one of the fruits of the efforts of the first Scottish Executive: the 2001 publication “Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland”, which laid the foundations for the subsequent work that has effectively tackled literacy rates in Scotland…

“The commission can be easily forgiven for using a bit of hype to give its points some bite—something, of course, that no politician would ever do, honest. I hope, though, that Des McNulty or one of his colleagues might, in the winding-up speeches, clear up a couple of points of information for me. The commission defines literacy as the ability to function in an adult society, which

“equates to a midpoint between levels C and D in the 5-14 programme”.

“Given that, according to the 2005 attainment figures, only 9 per cent of primary 7 pupils failed to reach level C in reading or writing and only 16 per cent failed to reach level D by the second year of secondary school, I was left wondering where the commission got the figure of 18.5 per cent for the percentage of pupils leaving primary school who were functionally illiterate. Unfortunately, the report provides no reference for the figure, so I was unable to check it for myself. The fact is that three quarters of Scotland’s pupils reach level D by the end of primary school—in other words, above the level of literacy that the commission wants for adults. While, of course, keeping a weather eye on those who need a bit more help, we should celebrate and applaud such success and congratulate pupils as well as their teachers and parents for hitting that standard. They will only continue to improve throughout their school career.

“I would also be grateful if Labour members could clarify the report’s claim that 1 million Scots adults are illiterate. Again, there is no reference for the figure. However, according to the 2001 publication mentioned in the report, the figure at that time was 800,000. Also, the Scottish Government labour market statistics show that the percentage of adults with literacy issues has fallen from 23 per cent in 2001 to 14.8 per cent now, due in large degree to the efforts of the previous Administration. However, 14.8 per cent of Scotland’s adult population is about 607,000, which is some way short of the million highlighted in the report. As I say, I would be grateful for some clarification to help to inform the debate.”

Read the full speech and debate here.

Christina McKelvie MSP has welcomed the publication of a major report by an influential cross party committee of Westminster MPs, which has recommended the UK Government follow the Scottish Government’s lead in proposing a minimum price for alcohol.

The House of Commons Health Select Committee acknowledged the crippling effect of alcohol on society and said that imposing a minimum price could save up to 3000 lives a year in the UK. The report “flatly rejects as a myth” the suggestion that minimum pricing would unfairly affect moderate drinkers.

Releasing the report, Committee Chair and senior Labour MP, Rt Hon Kevin Barron said:

“The facts about alcohol misuse are shocking. Successive governments have failed to tackle the problem and it is now time for bold government.”

Welcoming the Committee’s conclusions, SNP MSP for Central Scotland Ms McKelvie called on Members of the Scottish Parliament currently opposing similar measures in the Scottish Government’s Alcohol Bill to follow the lead of their UK counterparts and back this crucial legislation.

Ms McKelvie said:

“This very timely report adds yet another powerful voice to the growing support for the SNP Government’s positive policies to change our relationship with alcohol for the benefit of health and public order in Scotland.

“Members of the Select Committee from all political parties agree that minimum pricing is a bold, practical policy that will tackle the worst effects of problem drinking without penalising the majority of responsible drinkers.

“Their report drives a coach and horses through the arguments of those who oppose the Scottish Government’s proposals.

“In Lanarkshire, the equivalent of one person dies as a result of alcohol every single day, a shocking waste of life and human potential. We cannot stand back and allow this to continue.

“The SNP Government’s minimum pricing policy is based on clear evidence and would have a real and positive impact.

“Just as they did with the smoking ban, MSPs from all parties must unite to support it. The health and wellbeing of Scotland’s communities is too important to be cynically used for scoring party political points.”