Dundee Labour News Digest Week ending 16th. March 2013
Jenny Marra MSP Police Centralisation speech in the Scottish Parliament 14 March 2013
The cabinet secretary’s words today have done little to alleviate the frustration that is felt around the chamber about the progress that is being made towards our single service. Chief among our concerns is his continuing assertion that there are 1,000 extra police officers on our streets.
Time after time, Labour has told him what Unison and Audit Scotland have also told him, which is that those officers are not on our streets but are filling backroom posts in police stations. His own figures show a drop of 907 police staff since 2010. We know from the chief constable, and from leaked documents from the police reform group in the cabinet secretary’s department, that the 1,000-officer commitment will be unsustainable in the single service as more staff jobs are cut. Why is the commitment to 1,000 extra police officers a matter for the cabinet secretary but, according to the answer that I was given earlier, police station closures are not and are, instead, an operational matter? The truth is that bad news is an operational matter and good news is a political commitment by this bountiful Government. The gulf between what the cabinet secretary says and the reality of what is happening in police stations across Scotland is astounding. In his own constituency, police custody officers are being replaced by police officers. The people of his constituency and the rest of Scotland are looking to the cabinet secretary to make the decisions that will keep their communities safe, and they are being let down time and again by his lack of leadership on police reform. Nowhere is that more demonstrable than in his handling of the power struggle at the top of the single service.
Yet again, the cabinet secretary has told us that responsibilities are clear between the SPA and the chief constable, but that is in deep contrast to the views of the chief constable himself. As Lewis Macdonald said in his opening speech, that uncertainty could have been avoided if the cabinet secretary had accepted many of the amendments from across the chamber, including Labour’s amendments to increase accountability and transparency in the SPA and the police service of Scotland. However, those amendments were rejected out of hand and, as Alison McInnes said, we still need meaningful action. It is because of the cabinet secretary’s refusal to commit to greater accountability from the outset, and his sustained denial of the power struggle between Mr House and Mr Emery, that we believe that the Government should urgently consider the way in which the legislation is being interpreted. With the single service starting in just over two weeks, we share the concerns of police staff, unions and the public that the cabinet secretary’s lack of leadership is posing a risk to its success. People need to know that their jobs are secure and that cuts will not creep in through the back door as “operational decisions”, and they need to be clear about who is in charge of the day-today running of the service. It is for them that we urge the cabinet secretary to take ownership, display leadership and commit to taking action to protect local policing today. Most important of all, we urge him to open his ears and start listening to the reality of what is happening on the ground.
Download Jenny’s speech : http://www.dundeelabour.org.uk/jennymarraspeech14032013.pdf
Web link : Jenny Marra MSP : http://www.jennymarra.com
Councillor Lesley Brennan Last week’s £28 billion deficit and this week’s oil boom 15 March 2013
Last week was a particularly bad week for the SNP when a Scottish Government report leaked by an insider showed the world of difference between the public and the private views of the SNP Government on the financial deficit that a newly independent Scotland would face and its difficult consequences for public expenditure, pensions and benefits. What has made these difficult consequences so politically significant is that the SNP ‘s opponents have always warned that the Nationalists repeatedly dodge the hard questions about how an independent Scotland would pay its way.
Those who challenge the SNP on this are dismissed by the Nationalists as “scare-mongering”. Now it turns out that those who are dismissed as “scaremongering” are asking the same questions that John Swinney was asking his Cabinet colleagues to face up to. In his report that was leaked, Mr. Swinney emphasised the restraints that the fluctuating revenues from a finite resource with an oscillating price such as oil would have on government spending on social services. By 2015-16, Scotland’s net fiscal deficit is forecast to rise to £28 billion. This £28 billion deficit is where the Nationalists’ claim - that in an independent Scotland , high class Scandinavian public services will be paid for by low rates of taxation as in America - runs into deep trouble, having to confront reality. Where will the money for these services come from with such a large deficit ? This is another challenging question for the Nationalists when the natural source of revenue for such spending has already been rejected, because John Swinney has ruled out both higher income taxes and higher taxes on the oil companies operating in the North Sea Further still, the SNP wish to lower corporation tax on business. On top of that , part of the oil revenues – around £1billion a year – were to be put away in an Oil Fund for future use , despite the massive fiscal debt.
However, after robust scrutiny by opponents, the idea of the Oil Fund was downgraded , and will now come into being but “only if fiscal circumstances allow” The authoritative Institute for Fiscal Studies has already indicated that North Sea oil revenues could drop by as much as 17 per cent in the current period from 2011-2017. Such are the challenges that still remain difficult for Mr Salmond on the Nationalists’ claims that Scotland would fare far better on its own after independence. However, over the weekend the Scottish Government, which had previously found no fault with the statistics from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that troubled John Swinney a great deal, produced its own fresh estimates which Mr. Salmond said showed that there can be “little doubt that Scotland is moving into a second oil boom”. This “boom” would ensure much more oil revenues than had been forecast the previous week in John Swinney’s leaked document Political opponents accused Mr. Salmond of “cooking the books” Others pointed out his highly selective choice of statistics. Rather than clear up any uncertainty about oil revenues , Mr. Salmond’s actions have merely served to emphasise what the “No” campaign in the Referendum have been saying – predictions are not facts and it is very risky to base the long-term future of a new state on one major but declining natural resource which is at the mercy of market forces.
Next week, the Office for Budget Responsibility will present its updated projections for oil revenues from the North Sea . What awaits us in response to these updated projections in the week after that is anyone’s guess. Download Lesley’s article : http://www.dundeelabour.org.uk/lesleybrennan15032013.pdf
Web link : Lesley Brennan : http://www.lesleybrennan.com
Jim McGovern MP Jim McGovern presses Government over Bank mis-selling victims 12 March 2013
Dundee West MP Jim McGovern today pressed the government during Treasury Questions in the House of Commons to take action to support the victims of mis-selling by the banks. Small business owners in Dundee contacted Mr McGovern to complain that they had been sold so-called ‘interest rate swap’ products that were designed to protect small businesses who had taken out loans from increases in interest rates. The FSA ruled that consumers had not been properly informed of the risks associated with the products, had not explain the significant cost of discarding the product or nor that repayments may inflate if interest rates decreased, as they did.
The banks also failed to support customers who did not have access to sophisticated and independent financial advisors. A review is underway of products sold by RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays however customers of Clydesdale Bank and others will not have their own predicaments investigated by the FSA, as they claim the products sold were unregulated commercial loans which included elements of interest rate swapping, and were not separate interest rate swap products as sold by the big four banks which are regulated under EU law by the FSA. Clydesdale Bank and others accepted that a much more limited review would be done by them. However, this review is not on the same scale as those done by the other banks, they do not fall directly under the supervision of the FSA nor is it clear which products these banks will regard as appropriate for investigation. It was unclear from Minister Greg Clark’s response whether or not the limited review that had already been agreed would continue, or if a new review would be undertaken. Jim McGovern said; “I sought greater clarity about what will be done to support the victims of the sharp and unfair practices conducted by the banks. "Unfortunately I did not receive it. “It beggars belief that products that look like, sound like and smell like the products currently being investigated by the FSA have not been included in the thorough review now underway.
“The limited review being done by the banks themselves will give no confidence to the victims who need to know that their cases are being looked at comprehensively and impartially.” Mr McGovern concluded, “I will be seeking further clarifications from the Government. "It appears to many that they are letting the banks get away with shocking examples of bad practice. "They are badly letting down small businesses who are struggling to cope with the costs being inflicted on them because of these products.”
Web link : Jim McGovern http://www.jimmcgovern.co.uk
Councillor Richard McCready No Place for Loan Sharks 15 March 2013
As a Labour and Co-operative Party councillor I think that there should be no tolerance of loan sharks, both legal and illegal, and Dundee City Council and others should be promoting credit unions. I think that everyone should take a close look at the report issued by the Office of Fair Trading on Payday Lending. I have been saying for some time that there is no place for loan sharks in Dundee.
I have called on the council to take action against illegal loan sharks. These difficult financial times are pushing people into the hands of loan sharks both legal and illegal. I am pleased that the police and organisations like Stop Loan Sharks. At a recent briefing from Stop Loan Sharks I heard about legal loan sharks charging an APR of 719,000%. I am also concerned about the expansion of what I call legal loan sharks, who charge APR such as 4000%. It is important that we offer alternatives and I believe that credit unions are that alternative. In November I got the council to agree to bring forward an action plan to promote credit unions. I am writing to the City Council's Chief Executive to ask about when we can expect to see that action plan. On Wednesday the Office of Fair Trading issued a report about Payday Lending and highlighted the many many problems associated with this phenomenon.
I am very concerned that this industry preys on the misery of others. Credit Unions on the other hand are owned by their members and offer an ethical means of accessing credit. There should be no place for loan sharks in our society and I think that there is a need for more support of alternatives such as credit unions. My Labour and Co-operative Party colleagues Stella Creasy MP and Kezia Dugdale MSP are doing a great job with their great campaigns. Please take the time to have a look at these campaigns. Stella Creasy : Campaigning to Tackle Legal Loan Sharking http://www.workingforwalthamstow.org.uk/campaigning-totackle-legal-loan-sharking Kezia Dugdale : Debtbusters http://www.keziadugdale.com/debtbusters web link : Richard McCready http://www.richardmccready.org.uk
Marlyn Glen The Mummy Tax 15 March 2013
In opposition, David Cameron made a bold promise . When in power, he promised to lead a Tory Government that was not just “ a family-friendly government”, but the “ most familyfriendly government ever”. Promises of these historic proportions easily become hostages to fortune which is one reason why the latest Guardian/ICM UK opinion poll this week gives Labour a resounding 19 per cent lead over the Tories amongst women voters. It’s not difficult to understand why. Women look beyond their individual self interest to the broader aspect of the entire family.
If David Cameron’s original mission when he became Tory leader in opposition was to “de-toxify the Tory brand”, his policies in Government have gone a long way to re-toxifying it on issues that are important to women such as the NHS, care of the elderly, pensions, education, childcare, child benefit, child tax credits , work-life balance, and jobs in the public sector. Women are at the forefront of the daily conflict between squeezed family budgets on one hand and rising prices, frozen wages and a dormant economy on the other. The most recent manifestation of the family-friendly Tories has been their cut in maternity pay – a “Mummy Tax” , a phrase coined by Yvette Cooper, who pointed out that low-income women are less likely to take their whole maternity leave because they cannot afford to stay off work. The income of working mothers will be cut because George Osborne’s Plan A is definitely not working. The Tory-led Government will reduce the increase on statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance to a 1 per cent annual increase, making new mothers set to lose £180 a year by 2015. Those who rely solely on statutory pay, about 210,000, will feel the cut the most. The think tank Resolution Foundation declared that families with children, particularly single mothers, are to be the biggest losers from Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement last year, from the imposition of a cut in benefits in real terms in the years up till 2015.
Wille Bain MP quotes the Resolution Foundation on the effects of the same Autumn Statement , forecasting that “ real wages in 2017 will be no higher than they were in 1999” Over 80 per cent of the revenue from the extra direct tax, tax credit and benefit changes in the autumn statement will be taken from women, that is £867 million of over £1 billion of revenue raised. As my former Holyrood colleague, Cathy Jamieson MP commented, “ Women are being hit three times harder than men by a Cabinet with three times more men than women—perhaps no surprise there.” That the Tories have little or no conception of what everyday life is like for most women in Britain is taken as a given. Words such as “We’re all in this together” and “ the mostfamily-friendly government we’ve ever had in this country” may sound as if the Tories do understand what women’s priorities are , but the actions of the Tories towards women show the words to be nothing more than political irony. Web link : Marlyn Glen http://www.marlynglen.com
Councillor Laurie Bidwell Consultation on the Proposals for the Merger of Dundee and Angus Further Education Colleges 14 March 2013
Dundee and Angus Further Education Colleges have this week published a detailed set of joint proposals for their merger: Decisions and Ambitions for a New College Serving Dundee and Angus. In the introduction they say: "In response to the (Scottish) Government’s aims for the reform of further education in Scotland, Angus College and Dundee College are currently working to create a strong and influential college for Tayside. The target vesting day for the new college is 1 November 2013. "As part of the merger planning process, we are holding a formal consultation on the proposed merger, which will run from 8 March to 19 April 2013.
"You can read our consultation document online - we would welcome your views on the proposed merger. "The responses will help inform and shape the new college. "We consider it critical to our future success that the new college meets the needs of all of our stakeholders, not least our students, staff and employers. "You can respond by submitting your comments online or you can download a printable version of the Consultation Response Form. If you would like to request a printed copy of the Consultation Document or Consultation Response Form, please contact Dundee College Marketing Department on 01382 834948 or marketing@dundeecollege.ac.uk " Given the importance of Dundee College to the breadth of educational opportunities in our city, I have written to the Director of Education to urge that the prepares a draft response to this consultation and brings this to the next Education Committee for approval.
Web link : Laurie Bidwell http://www.lauriebidwell.org.uk