Local Government Elections

ACT WILL SEE ELECTIONS HELD ON DIFFERENT DAYS

MSPs have today passed a Bill that will lead to local government elections being held on a separate day from Scottish Parliamentary elections from 2012.

Decoupling local government elections from the Scottish Parliament elections was one of the recommendations of the independent review of the Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections 2007 (the Gould Report).

Welcoming the successful passage of the Local Government Elections (Scotland) Bill, Bruce Crawford, Minister for Parliamentary Business said:

"Local government elections are an important part of the democratic system in Scotland. Our councils do a vital job and it is right that elections to these bodies are given their proper place, rather than overshadowed by national elections on the same day.

"Holding the elections on different dates will help eliminate the voter confusion that was experienced in 2007 and give Scottish local government elections the prominence they deserve."


As a result of the change proposed in the Bill, the next local government elections in Scotland will take place in 2012. The dates of future Scottish Parliamentary elections will be unaffected.

The second part of the Bill includes provisions to allow certain post election information which is already available at ward level, to be made available at sub ward (or polling station) level.

Lagavulin Fundraisers Rowing Challenge

The beautiful skiff ISIS will be put through her paces once again this year in a series of timed challenges as she is rowed round a course by crews of five sturdy oarsmen and women.  

The Clearwater Marine Challenge will be in Port Ellen on Sunday 28th June at 13.00hrs, 

The Laphroaig Challenge will be in Port Ellen on Tuesday 21st July at 17.00hrs, 

The Malltings Challenge is on Saturday 1st August at 14.00s in Port Ellen, 

The Ardbeg Challenge is held at Ardbeg on Saturday 22nd August at 14.00hrs 

The Lagavulin Challenge is on Saturday 12th September at Lagavulin at 14.00hrs.

Crews can book their own start times.  Please call Kevin and Marjorie at Lagavulin on 302400 or Phil at Clearwater Marine on 300301 for more details 

A+B Council increases spend on roads

The amount of money to be spent on roads in Argyll and Bute in the current financial year has been increased by £1.5million. The Council’s Executive Committee took the decision today to accelerate the capital spend on roads in 2009/10 from £4.5million to £6million – a 33% increase. Councillors heard how a national road condition survey last year had concluded that Argyll and Bute Council had the highest percentage of roads needing attention of any Scottish local authority. However, Argyll and Bute’s variation to the Scottish average is already reducing, and the gap is now likely to narrow further with the extra money committed this year. The Council’s spokesperson for Transportation and Infrastructure, Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, said: “The key performance indicators showed that the condition of our roads network improved by 5.2% between last year and the year before, but we obviously still have some way to go. “Roads maintenance is a priority for this Council. Argyll and Bute has nearly 2,500 kilometres of roads, the vast majority of which are A and B classifications, and for several years we have significantly increased the amount of money we spend on maintaining them.  “Even before the extra £1.5million agreed today, we were spending more than double what was being spent four years ago in this area. “By accelerating the work yet further, we are ensuring that the roads maintenance backlog is being tackled now, rather than waiting for future years.” Councillor MacIntyre added that Argyll and Bute is also constantly looking at new, innovative solutions to roads maintenance.  “Recent work at in Helensburgh and Dunoon involved methods such as COLAS Repave which are not only cheaper and faster, but which are more effective, look better and are carbon neutral,” he said. “We will continue to investigate all possible options in terms of improving our roads system as quickly and efficiently as possible.” A 10-year maintenance strategy for the roads network across Argyll and Bute is currently being drafted and will be put to Councillors later this year. The extra £1.5million will come from the capital budget for the next financial year (2010/11). The Colas Repave process involves hot in-situ recycling of carriageways, with the existing road surface heated to 150º C. Shallow cuts are then made to a depth of 30mm before an oscillating, floating screed re-profiles and corrects levels for the required crown or crossfall.  The process is completed by the immediate application of either a 25mm bituminous wearing course, hot rolled asphalt with 20mm pre-coated chippings, high stone content asphalt or a proprietary thin surfacing.  Material is recycled in-situ, cutting lorry movements, considerably reducing the use of new aggregates and minimising waste material.

FARMING UNIONS BULLISH ABOUT BEEF AND LAMB MARKETS

Representatives from the UK Farming Unions and the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) have met in Belfast this week to discuss a number of issues concerning livestock market conditions. 

The viewpoint was that while both beef and lamb supplies remain short across the UK and Ireland, demand and market conditions remain stable and positive. The group believes that this should ensure that prices will be strong throughout the remainder of 2009 and producers are well placed to demand appropriate prices for their livestock over the coming months. 

Speaking after the Belfast meeting, NFU Scotland’s Livestock Committee Chairman and Borders livestock farmer, Rob Livesey said: 

“Having sat down with fellow producers from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Eire, the general consensus was that producers should take much-needed confidence from the current beef and lamb market situation and the positive outlook for the rest of the year.  A prolonged period of confidence and profitability is needed if we are to halt the steep fall in the numbers of sheep and cattle being kept. 

“Scotland is not alone in facing this issue and this meeting highlighted that livestock numbers are down right across the UK and Ireland and a similar scenario is being seen within the rest of Europe.  This is at a time when consumer demand for beef and lamb is remarkably steady. 

“Following the meeting with colleagues from the UK and Ireland, we want to put a clear message out to producers that they should take encouragement from current market conditions, continue to sell their livestock strongly and be prepared to negotiate for higher prices.”   

Alan Reid MP - Expenses Statement

This is not an article for publication – it’s far too long for that. It is background information about my expenses. Feel free to phone me for more details

 

Having obtained all the details from the House of Commons Fees Office, I have published my expenses on my website www.alanreid.org  The details comprise claim forms and receipts. Some information like bank account details, home addresses and staff names and addresses have been blanked out for security and data protection reasons.

 

The expenses details comprise the years 2004/05 to 2007/08. The Fees Office is still working on the claims and receipts for 2008/09. I will be able to publish these shortly.

 

Expenses totals for each year can be found at http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/alan_reid/argyll_and_bute

 

I was one of only 27 MPs who voted against the attempt that many MPs made in 2007 to block the publication of these expenses. I was on the losing side of the vote that day, but the High Court forced the Commons authorities to publish all expenses details. So I am pleased that the Fees Office have now supplied me with the necessary files. 

 

The following is background information about my expenses.

 

I will deal with each category of expenses in descending order of total amounts.

 

1. Staff.

 

More than half the annual cost. I employ four staff in my Dunoon office, not all full time, and pay a few thousand pounds each year to Lib Dem research staff to produce research documents which I find very useful. Most of this money is pooled with other Lib Dem MPs so that we can share the costs of producing research papers. All the parties adopt this practice. But the vast majority of my staffing expenses are paid to staff who live in Argyll & Bute and so goes into the local economy. None of my staff are related to me.

 

2. Incidental Expenses Provision.

 

This is office costs. The largest single item is the rent for my constituency office. Because my office is part of a building with a common heating system, the rent also includes rates, electricity and heating. I pay £8,100 a year to Argyll & Bute Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats rent a floor in the building from a landlord. They use one room on this floor and sub-let the rest of the floor to me. The floor space of the Liberal Democrat room is 10% of the total floor space of the floor. So my rent to them is 90% of what they pay to their landlord. Because of a possible conflict of interest I obtained a valuation by an independent surveyor. His valuation concluded that the rent was a fair market rent.

 

3. Travel

 

I fly between Glasgow and London. The House of Commons Travel Office makes the bookings and buys the tickets. These are fully flexible because travel plans are often changed at the last minute due to unexpected events. I use the train and underground to get from the airport in London to Parliament. I use ferry and car to get from home to Glasgow Airport. I also drive several thousand miles a year within the constituency and also use planes and ferries to get about the constituency.

 

4. Additional Costs Allowance.

 

This is the allowance used by MPs to live away from home on Parliamentary business. My main home is in Dunoon. I stay in hotels when in London. Hotels in central London are expensive, but staying in hotels has worked out far cheaper than buying or renting a flat in London. If I had bought a London flat, the taxpayer would pay mortgage interest, Council Tax, repairs and maintenance, furniture, utility bills etc. Because of the fall in interest rates, buying may be temporarily the cheapest, but, over a long period, staying in hotels is definitely far cheaper.

 

The London hotel market is an example of a market in which, because of the high costs of a new supplier entering the market, the supply is fixed, but the demand varies hugely over time. As a result, hotel prices vary wildly according to the time of year. They are highest in summer and on dates on which there is a big event on in London. My average nightly stay, bed and breakfast, since I was elected in 2001, has been £169 a night.  This has varied from year to year and the following table shows prices tracking the boom and bust of the economy.

 

Year                             Average Nightly Amount

2001/02                                               £123

2002/03                                               £124

2003/04                                               £150

2004/05                                               £167

2005/06                                               £185

2006/07                                               £233

2007/08                                               £198

2008/09                                               £184

2009/10 (to date)                                 £137

 

Because I am usually in my Commons office until about midnight and back in it by early the next morning, I stay in hotels within walking distance of Parliament.

 

Because of the size of Argyll & Bute, the Fees Office allow me to stay in hotels and B&B’s when on Parliamentary business in parts of the constituency from which it is not reasonable to return home at night. I am also allowed a second home in the constituency. I have a second flat in Cardross. I use this flat when going for an early flight or coming off a late flight at Glasgow Airport. I also stay at the Cardross flat when attending events in that part of Argyll & Bute. I bought the Cardross flat without any help from public funds. I have no intention of selling this flat, but, should I do so, I will return to the taxpayer any profit made whilst I was claiming the mortgage interest from the taxpayer.

 

The arrangement of two flats in the constituency costs me a great deal of money from my own pocket. I am prepared to spend this money because it helps me to represent Argyll & Bute to the best of my ability.  I own the flat in Cardross and rent one in Dunoon. I claim for the Cardross flat, not the Dunoon one, because the Cardross one is the cheaper of the two and I spend more time at the Dunoon one. Buying is cheaper than renting. For the Cardross flat last year, my only claims from public funds were £2,204 in mortgage interest and £1,494 in Council Tax.  In contrast, I paid, out of my own pocket, £5,100 in rent and £909 in Council Tax for the Dunoon flat. I also pay two sets of utility bills. I have never claimed for repairs or improvements, furniture or fittings, house cleaning or utility bills. If, for example, I stayed in hotels when in the Helensburgh/Cardross area and at the Airport, claimed these costs from public funds, and rented the Cardross flat out, I would be far better off.

 

MPs are allowed to claim up to £400 a month on food without receipts. I have only ever claimed for food when I have eaten out when on Parliamentary business and have receipts to back this up. My food bill has only been a few hundred pounds a year, well below the annual limit of £4,800.  Although I could claim for food eaten in my Cardross flat I have never done so.

 

5. Communications Allowance

 

This was introduced in 2007. Prior to then, the expenditure under this heading could be claimed from the Incidental Expenses Provision. This allowance is to enable MPs to communicate with their constituents. The two main uses I make of it are surgery adverts and Parliamentary Reports. For example in 2008/09 I claimed £7,080 for surgery adverts in the local press, £2,978 for printing a Parliamentary Report, and £2,240 to Royal Mail and £252 to Database Direct for delivering it. The remainder of the allowance was £38 spent posting letters to constituents. The Parliamentary Reports have to be approved by Commons officials to ensure that they have no party political content.

 

6. Miscellaneous.

 

This comprises, Staff travel, House of Commons Stationery, House of Commons Pre-paid envelopes and computer equipment.

 

Contribution to local economy.

 

Something not mentioned in press articles on MPs expenses is the contribution these make to the local economy. I employ 4 people who live in Argyll & Bute. I stay in hotels and B&B’s in Argyll & Bute. I put surgery adverts in the local press. I use a local printing company.

 

Extra costs of representing a large rural and island constituency.

 

I haven’t worked out the extra costs involved., but these must amount to over £10,000 a year.

 

Staff Costs. Because of the long hours driving and the need for someone to help supervise queues at surgeries and summer tour stops, I often take a member of staff with me. In terms of salary, overnight stays, ferry fares, meals this must add up to well over a thousand pounds a year.

 

Overnight stays for myself within the constituency adds up to a few thousand pounds a year.

 

Travel costs within the constituency are a few thousand pounds a year.

 

I need to pay Royal Mail £2,240 to distribute my Parliamentary Report. If I represented an urban constituency this would be carried out free by volunteers, but this is not practical in Argyll & Bute.

 

Surgery adverts. These would cost a lot less in an urban seat because one advert would cover the whole constituency. I know the cost per advert would be more, but with a lot less adverts, the annual cost would surely be a few thousand pounds less.

 

At a rough estimate, the extra costs of representing Argyll & Bute must be over £10,000 a year compared to an urban constituency.

 

Could Costs be Cut?

 

I have been looking at ways of cutting costs. It’s easy to cut costs by doing less work. However, the key aim must be to find a way of cutting costs without giving a worse service to constituents.

 

Staff Costs. No real option to cut costs here. Staff are on fixed contracts.

 

Office Costs. Again no obvious option. Rent is fixed. Most office consumables can’t be bought any more cheaply. When my present phone contract with BT expires, I will look at other options.

 

Travel. Only real cost cutting option here would be to buy non-flexible plane tickets in advance, rather than fully flexible ones. Inevitably, because of last minute changes to travel plans, some of these would be forfeited and costs could even rise as a result. I already travel second class on the train between the airport and Parliament. I already buy books of ferry tickets where this makes sense.

 

Hotel Bills. I could cut my London hotel bills by travelling out of central London. However, this fails the ‘doing less work’ test. The time spent travelling to these cheaper hotels would mean I had less time to work. Also, since I would often be travelling to the hotel after midnight a taxi fare would need to be factored in.

 

Communications Allowance. I could cut this, but, at the expense of giving a worse service to constituents. Not distributing Parliamentary Reports to constituents would cut costs, but constituents would not get my contact details and information on local issues. For the one Report produced in 2008/09, £2,240 went to publicly owned Royal Mail, therefore the net cost to the taxpayer for this transaction was zero. The rest, £3,230 went to local companies for printing and distribution. I could cut costs by using a printing company from outside the constituency, but that would take money out of the local economy. I could stop putting surgery adverts in local newspapers. I could advertise them on my website and Parliamentary Reports instead. About half of those who come to surgeries do so as a result of phoning my office to ask when the next surgery is. The numbers who phone as a result of newspaper adverts is small and it may be that this £7,080 of expenditure could be cut. On the other hand some constituents would be unaware of my surgeries and less money would be spent in the local economy.

 

As you can see from the above, finding cuts that do not impact on the service I give to constituents is not easy.

 

I have always tried to follow the principle that I should not derive personal financial gain from my expenses. I have always been well down the bottom half of the expenses league table. Over the three years of this Parliament for which expenses totals have been published, I am the third lowest of those Scottish MPs who have served throughout these three years. If I had bought a London flat when I was elected in 2001, I would have made a substantial profit by now.  I consider being an MP to be a full-time job and so I have no outside earnings.

 

If you have any queries about my expenses, please phone 07787-570-961.

 

Alan Reid MP              17 June 200

The Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Keen eyed walkers and modern technology are combining to help save a rare jewel
of the Scottish landscape. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is asking people to
join the hundreds from all over Scotland who have already submitted records over
the internet for the lesser butterfly orchid, Platanthera bifolia. This
beautiful wild orchid with creamy white flowers with a short flowering season in
July has been reported from more than 260 sites over the past three years. 

In 2006 little was known about its exact whereabouts in Scotland, although it
was known to have declined significantly across the United Kingdom. The launch
of a special website by SNH with its partner organisations Plantlife Scotland,
the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) and the Royal Botanical
Gardens Edinburgh has helped gather information about the orchid’s ecology and
present distribution. 

SNH’s plant specialist Robin Payne said: “We’re grateful to all those who
have taken part in the survey and submitted records on the website so far. Now
that we know so much more about the lesser butterfly orchid we can take real,
well informed action that will protect and conserve this species. We’d still
like to know more about its distribution so if anyone does come across the plant
they can enter the detail of their findings on the SNH website
www.snh.org.uk/orchid2009/ .”

Lesser butterfly orchids grow on the edges of moorland or in damp grassland,
often along the edge of ditches or even on roadside verges. The slender white
flowers appear from early June through to mid-July. Surveys in recent years have
revealed the flower has declined, leaving the West of Scotland as the remaining
stronghold in the UK. 

The orchid can still be spotted in a wide variety of habitats, particularly in
wet heath, bog, woodland edge, wet meadows, dunes, machair and the occasional
golf course. Some good sites have also been found in the East of Scotland and
four of the best Scottish sites had over 1000 flowering plants.

The Lesser Butterfly Orchid is one of 32 species listed for conservation under
Scotland’s Species Action Framework and is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan
species. 

Jim McIntosh, BSBI Scottish Officer said:
“The short flowering season of the orchid and the general scarcity of
botanical experts mean we would struggle to achieve widespread coverage of the
areas where we would expect to find it. The website makes it possible for people
across the country to help by responding to this appeal and submitting their
records.”

Liz Lavery, who analyses the results each year for SNH, said: “The more
records we receive the better picture we have of its spread across Scotland and
records for 2009 from known sites, reported to us in previous years, means we
are able to see any changes in populations over the past twelve months.”

Please send any records of the orchid for the survey through the website at
www.snh.org.uk/orchid2009/   

Or write to Lesser Butterfly Orchid Survey, SNH, Battleby, Redgorton, Perth PH1
3EW. 

Taic do chothroman ionnsachaidh

Taic do chothroman ionnsachaidh 

cànain le Colmcille

Gheibh luchd-labhairt Gàidhlig na h-Alba a tha airson Gaeilge na h-Eireann ionnsachadh agus a leithid eile bho thaobh thall Sruth na Maoile  an cothrom cànain a’ chèile ionnsachadh agus a thoirt air adhart tro chùrsaichean a thèid a chumail anns an Eilean Sgitheanach agus an Ìle air an t-samhradh seo.

Tha na cùrsaichean, a bhios a’ frithealadh agus a’ togail air diofar ìrean cànain, ’gan cur air dòigh le Sabhal Mòr Ostaig agus Ionad Chlm Cille an Ìle agus bidh iad a’ dol air adhart fad mhìosan an t-samhraidh. Tha taic airgid ’ga thairgse tro ghrantaichean bho phròiseict Cholmcille (a bha roimhe seo air ainmeachadh mar Iomairt Cholm Cille, ICC no an Columba Initiative), agus a tha a-nis a’ tighinn fo sgèith agus stiùireadh  Bhòrd na Gàidhlig and Foras na Gaeilge mar phàirt dhen obair aig an dà bhuidhinn ann an Alba agus Eireann.

Thuirt Oifigeach Leasachaidh Cholmcille an Alba Màiri Mhoireach: “Tha sinn airson cothrom a thort tro na cùrsaichean seo do dhaoine aig a bheil ìrean eadar-dhealaichte dhen dà sheòrsa Gàidhlig an sgilean còmhraidh is eile a thoirt air adhart anns a’ chànan eile mar gum biodh.  Tha an seòrsa cùrsa seo a’ toirt fìor dheagh fhuasgladh dhuinn airson a bhith a’ brosnachadh iomairtean càch a’ chèile agus a bhith a’ togail air feumalachdan an dà chànain ann an Alba agus Eireann.  Tha e a’ toirt togail dhan ìomhaigh aig an dà chànan air feadh Eireann agus ann an Alba. Tha ar cànan ’na dhualchas a tha ’gar ceangal agus ’gar tarrainn ri chèile agus mar is mò a bhios sinn an coluadar agus a’ co-obrachadh, ’s ann as fheàrr a tha cothrom gu bhith againn saoghal seasmhach a chur romhainn.”

Tha taic airgid ’ga thairgse do luchd-ionnsachaidh airson nan cùrsaichean agus cuid-oidhche (5 oidhche). Bidh cothrom ann cuideachd na h-uibhir de chuideachadh fhaighinn le cosgaisean siubhail.  Ma tha luchd-ionnsachadih a’ fuireach ann an Alba, agus a’ còmhnaidh barrachd air 25 mìle bhon ionad ionnsachaidh, tha suas ri £25 ri fhaighinn. Taobh-muigh na h-Alba, ach taobh-staigh an UK agus Poblacht na h-Eireann, gheibhear suas gu £75.  Gheibhear na cosgaisean air ais le dearbhadh cunntasan is cosgaisean an dèidh làimhe.

Ma tha luchd-ionnsachaidh a’ fuireach ann an Alba, agus nas sinne na 16 agus a’ cosnadh nas lugha na £18,000, tha cothrom air taic airgid suas gu £200 bho ILA Scotland. Ghiebhear barrachd fiosrachaidh mun sin bhon fheadhainn a tha a’ cur nan cùrsaichean air dòigh.

Tha barrachd fiosrachaidh mu na cùrsaichean le cinn-latha, ìrean cànain agus eile ri fhaotainn air an làrach-lìn:  HYPERLINK "http://www.colmcille.net/" www.colmcille.net 

Bu chòir iarrtasan-taice a chur a-staigh ro Dihaoine 03 Iuchair aig 5 uairean feasgar. Seach nach eil ach na h-uibhir de thabhartasan rin toirt seachad, bu chòir fios a chur a-staigh cho luath sa ghabhas.

Colmcille promotes Gaelic and 

language learning opportunities

Speakers of Scottish Gaelic who wish to learn Irish Gaelic and speakers of Irish Gaelic who wish to learn Scottish Gaelic are being offered the chance to share in each other’s linguistic heritage through a series of summer courses in Skye and Islay this summer. 

The courses, which will offer learners with a variety of levels of fluency the chance to enhance their skills, are being organised by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye and Ionad Chaluim Cille in Islay and will be held in throughout the summer months until September. Financial assistance through bursaries is being offered to support learners by the Colmcille project (formerly known as Iomairt Cholm Cille, ICC or the Columba Initiative), which is jointly managed by Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Foras na Gaeilge as part of their mainstream activities in Scotland and Ireland.

  

Colmcille’s Scottish development officer Mairi Murray said:  “The courses we are offering provide Gaelic and Gaeilge speakers the chance to come together to improve their skills in each other’s language. This kind of initiative is the perfect platform for us to develop our activities jointly to promote the use of the Gaelic languages, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, in and between Ireland and Scotland. It helps us to raise awareness of the shared Gaelic heritage, language and culture of Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.  Our common language is the shared heritage we all want to use to build a sustainable future and the more we can engage with each other in this way, the further we can take that shared heritage together.”

Financial assistance is available to learners to cover tuition fees for the courses and accommodation for the duration (5 nights). A contribution can also be made towards travelling costs.  For residents of Scotland, living more than 25 miles away from the course venue, up to £25 is available.  For those outside Scotland, but within the UK and Republic of Ireland, up to £75 is available.  This is payable at the end of the course on production of receipts showing expenditure.

Residents of Scotland, aged 16 and over who earn less than £18,000 or who are on benefits, may be entitled to support of £200 from ILA Scotland.  Please contact the course provider in the first instance.

Application forms for the courses and full details of the various levels, including dates and other arrangements are available at  HYPERLINK "http://www.colmcille.net/" www.colmcille.net 

The closing date for applications is Friday, 03 July at 5.00pm. However, as bursary numbers are limited, and they are awarded on a first come, first served basis, it is recommended that learners submit applications as soon as possible.