“At the weekend, I watched with interest “The Politics Show”, because that is what all of us do at the weekend. Glenn Campbell was interviewing Colin Sutherland, head of North Berwick high school and chair of School Leaders Scotland, which is the new incarnation of the Headteachers Association of Scotland. If I recall Mr Sutherland’s comments correctly, he said that the Scottish Government had issued all the high-level documents for the curriculum for excellence, that the preparatory work had been done properly and that, as long as the implementation timescale was followed properly, we were, in his words, “good to go”.

“Mr Sutherland told all of us who had gathered around our tellies for our weekend fix of political news that the Scottish Government had already given teaching staff extra time to prepare for the introduction of the curriculum for excellence—extra in-service days and so on—and that headteachers were grateful for that consideration. He winged a wee warning or two across the bows, saying that we are now trying to peer into the future with the curriculum for excellence, that staff need to know where it is leading, that timelines must be adhered to and that qualifications must be well prepared. However, by and large, he was positive and upbeat about the implementation of the curriculum…

“As with everything else in these times of tightening fiscal belts, finances are a worry, but Mr Sutherland made clear on the BBC that implementing the curriculum for excellence should not cost money in most subjects and can be done at nearly neutral cost overall; he is very positive. Where there are funding requirements—I assume that the cabinet secretary will correct me if I am wrong—the Scottish Government will ensure that the resources that are needed to implement the curriculum will be made available…

“In my opinion, the curriculum for excellence is a good move for Scottish education. For the first time ever, Scotland will have a unified system from three to 18—a through-school experience to aid pupils’ learning. That is a prize for which it is worth competing and undertaking some change.”

Read the full debate here.

The evening of song and musical performance was organised by Cadzow Church minister Rev John Carswell, who also played flute in the concert, and addressed by Central Scotland MSP Ms McKelvie. Dozens of appreciative concert-goers filled the church to enjoy the music and support the anti-trafficking cause.

Ms McKelvie told the audience that although awareness of human trafficking has increased in recent years, the problem has also got worse.

“We should never forget that this most vile form of exploitation is done to human beings by other human beings for their own and others’ material enrichment,” she continued.

“Human trafficking is a massive global issue. Between two and four million men, women and children are trafficked every year and the equivalent of one person a minute is trafficked across international borders…Trafficked people are not only ripped away from their homes and their families and forced into labour, sexual slavery and worse, they are also almost always subjected to physical and psychological abuse, threats and even torture.”

Ms McKelvie explained that human trafficking is not “just a problem on the other side of the world…It happens right here in Scotland, on our own doorsteps and under our noses.”

Ms McKelvie commended the SNP government for taking action against trafficking in Scotland. She concluded:

“The facts about trafficking are tough to hear and can seem overwhelming. But we’re not powerless and we all have the ability to make a stand against trafficking, however small.

“Talk to your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, tell them about human trafficking – bore them daft about it – tell them what to look out for, how to recognise it when they see it and how to take action, and tell them to sign Stop the Traffik’s online declaration at www.stopthetraffik.org.

“Human trafficking doesn’t have to be inevitable – working together, we can Stop the Traffik.”

Christina McKelvie MSP has warmly welcomed news of a cash injection for six South Lanarkshire voluntary sector organisations, which will help them to continue to provide much needed services, despite the difficulties caused by the recession.

The groups each receive a grant from the Scottish Government’s Third Sector Resilience Fund, which has been increased to £2.2 million to help organisations providing vital frontline services to survive these difficult economic times.

Central Scotland MSP Ms McKelvie said:

“The Third Sector Resilience Fund is a very welcome initiative by the SNP Government and I’m delighted that so many excellent South Lanarkshire groups will benefit.

“The staff and volunteers of organisations such as Childcare in the Community, Liber8 Lanarkshire and Lanarkshire Rape Crisis work incredibly hard to provide a range of crucial services that are of enormous benefit to all sorts of people in South Lanarkshire. The principles and service ethos of these six organisations represent the best of Scotland’s third sector.

“These groups were facing financial difficulties, such as increased costs and lower incomes, as a result of the recession but the grants will help them to get through these tough times and continue to provide the services that are of such value to their users and communities.”

Details of South Lanarkshire projects to receive grants from the Third Sector Resilience Fund:

Childcare in the Community
Provide childcare from 0-15 yrs in Hamilton and South Lanarkshire area. Arose from SIP in these areas – working in most disadvantaged communities. Funding will bridge a gap until elements of the Recovery Plan bring expenditure and income in line.

Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre
The Centre has experienced cuts in its funding. They are reviewing their delivery model by using more volunteers – seeking funding to free-up managers time to focus on recruitment and training of volunteers.

Liber8 Lanarkshire Ltd
Aims to limit damaging effect of alcohol/substance misuse on individuals, family and local community. Funding will be used to reinstate youth service capacity and specialist youth counsellor which have suffered as a consequence of a drop in income.

Up For It Lifestyles
Provide health checks for people in SIMD area of South Lanarkshire and subsequently support and advice to help people move to better lifestyles/behaviours. Tailored support on a client-by-client basis is provided to improve individual health outcomes. Service currently limited to SIMD areas, but finding that adjacent areas have been badly hit by recession yet they are unable to deliver their service in these areas. Funding would enable them to meet this demand and in the longer term demonstrate need for an SLA in the wider area.

Relationship Scotland Family Mediation South Lanarkshire
The overall aim of Family Mediation South Lanarkshire is to support vulnerable families affected by separation and divorce and major family change by providing information, family mediation, child contact centres, parenting workshops and children & young people’s counselling free at the point of delivery. The grant will be used to cover increased hours of staff to meet increased demand for the services.

East Kilbride & District Dementia Carers Group
Provide a range of activities within a day care centre. Have experienced loss of income as well as increased running costs, the latter which is attributable to the recession. Funding will cover increased revenue costs.

Start Freedom is a campaign for schools and young people across the world to raise awareness of human trafficking, how it affects their lives and what they can do to fight it. Schools and individual young people can sign up to the campaign at www.startfreedom.org.

Central Scotland MSP Christina said:

“Human trafficking is one of the worst violations of human rights taking place in the world today. It is a crime committed against human beings by other human beings out of greed and profit.

“Human trafficking is a massive global issue – between two and four million men, women and children are trafficked every year and the equivalent of one person a minute is trafficked across international borders.

“Trafficked people are not only ripped away from their homes and their families, they are also almost always subjected to physical and psychological abuse, threats and even torture.

“Human trafficking is not just a problem on the other side of the world – it also happens right here in Scotland, on our own doorsteps.

“Children and young people make up a large proportion of the victims of human trafficking. Start Freedom Week is an opportunity for young people here to learn not only about the impact that trafficking has on their peers across the world, but also to find out how to spot and report signs of trafficking in their own communities and to join the global fight against trafficking.

“I hope that school students in Hamilton and Blantyre will sign up to the Start Freedom campaign and make their voices heard.

“If they speak out together, young people have the power to Stop the Traffick for good.”

Start Freedom Week is a campaign of Stop the Traffik, the worldwide coalition against human trafficking. Further information can be found at www.stopthetraffik.org and www.startfreedom.org.

“I firmly believe that women who have mental health issues need care rather than imprisonment. There has been some mention of social inquiry reports not addressing such issues. I believe that the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 contains a provision whereby a court can request a social inquiry report from a mental health officer. If courts and sheriffs made such requests, perhaps women with mental health issues who are at present incarcerated would have better outcomes.

“I applaud the steps that the justice secretary has taken to address the gender imbalance in sentencing that has been all too apparent in Scotland. Mr MacAskill, along with other colleagues, has pointed to the harsher sentencing that women have faced in Scotland’s courts. I was astonished to discover that 70 per cent of the women who have been sent to Cornton Vale over the past 10 years have served a maximum of six months in prison. It is incredible that we spent public money in that way over such a long period when we know that short sentences are ineffectual at best and may even be counterproductive.”

Read the debate here.

Writing the Scotsman newspaper, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Bill Hewitt, said:

“The cost of alcohol abuse is not just financial but gnaws at the very souls of families who have to cope with its effects. It doesn’t just affect the drinker, it affects everyone. So we need to change our collective attitude to alcohol. That is why the Church of Scotland is supporting minimum pricing by asking our membership to write to drinks producers to say that they should work with the government on this issue.”

Commenting, Ms McKelvie said:

“This is very welcome news. The Kirk joins a host of organisations and producers who recognise the need to change Scotland’s relationship with alcohol through sensible and proven means.

“One person dies in Lanarkshire every single day as a result of alcohol. This not only creates pain and misery for families, it is also a massive burden on our public services.

“Minimum pricing is a workable approach to tackling the problem and has drawn support from all quarters, from health experts to the police to responsible representatives of the alcohol industry, such as Tennent’s. It is past time for the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament to stop playing politics with the nation’s health and back these proposals.”

Describing the funding as a welcome boost for a local service which has been under huge pressure in recent years, Christina said:

“This announcement shows that the SNP is focused on protecting important frontline public services in these troubled economic times.

“£1 million is a substantial amount to help local post offices in Scotland survive and offer expanded activities. It is a significant investment from the Scottish Government at a time when difficult decisions are having to be made.

“Post offices in Quarter, Coatshill and many other Lanarkshire communities have been lost in recent years, so investment that will help to prevent further closures is particularly important in this area.

“Post offices play an important role in the life of many communities. As well as postal services, they can provide access to money and banking facilities, support for local shops, and a hub for the community. This is reflected in the high value that local people attach to their post office.

“It’s very disappointing that Labour MSPs voted against this important investment in Parliament, particularly after local Labour MPs Tommy McAvoy and Jimmy Hood both voted in favour of the post office closure programme that led to the loss of the Coatshill and Quarter offices. It’s further proof that only the SNP can be trusted to defend vital local services.”