Night cycling

Into the fifth month of cycle-commuting now ... it's been thoroughly pleasurable and I'm pretty certain I won't be going back to the bus - except on the very odd occasion :-)

Last few weeks have though been a bit more challenging - especially since the clocks went back, which means it's dark even if I manage (which isn't a frequent occurrence!) to escape the City Chambers early.

... but, I've invested in a decent set of lights - which are so much better now than when I last bought any - and also a good, reflective jacket ... and am determined to keep going right through the winter.

I will report if my resolve fails :-(

Hallelujah

As an atheist, I don't often use the word Hallelujah ... but I can't think of a better heading for this particular post :-)

At long last, the new Council Administration has seen sense over the rationalisation of the school estate. It's taken 5-months ... but I do very much welcome the change of approach.

Have a quick read at this short report - here - which is now going to next Monday's (19th November) Education Committee ... and then compare it with our earlier Council Executive motion of 19th June 2007, as contained within my earlier blog entry - here.

I'll say no more.

A majority for STV-PR

Interesting occurrence at the Scottish Green Party conference yesterday - I know it seems an unlikely statement :-)

Haven't seen any press coverage of it yet, but the Greens voted to support STV-PR for Scottish Parliament elections ... as long as there is an average of 5-members per constituency; which there almost certainly would be for any National scheme, as opposed to the Local scheme were the Ward numbers are 3 to 4 members.

This is a clear change in Scottish Green Party policy, and the interesting point is that it now means there is a definite majority in favour of STV-PR within the Scottish Parliament:

• Scottish National Party 47
• Scottish Liberal Democrats 16
• Scottish Green Party 2

I make that 65 out of 129 :-))

Now, I know the voting system for Holyrood is a Westminster issue; but given the ruminations over the Gould Report, that could well change ... and even if it doesn't, why should the three Parties above not now move a motion to change the electoral system to match their Party policy?

It would certainly make a point.

Class size confusion

Appears to be continuing confusion over the SNP class-size pledge ... to be perfectly blunt, as far as I can make out, there's just NO WAY they are going to deliver what they said on this in their manifesto:

"Smaller class sizes in P1-P3
We will reduce class sizes in Primary 1, 2 and 3 to eighteen pupils or less to give children more time with their teacher at this vital stage of their development."

... that's pretty unequivocal, but it's now being openly contradicted even by their Minister in charge of Education - i.e. see here. Why can't she just be straight and admit that the manifesto-pledge is now a busted-flush?

And I see that a bit of a smokescreen is being thrown up by some, claiming that other Parties had 'similar' pledges - well, to an extent that's true, but to be specific the Labour manifesto pledge was this:

"WORLD CLASS TEACHING IN SMALLER CLASSES
We will agree, early in the new Parliament, a detailed plan to bring class sizes in Scottish schools below the OECD average and keep them there."

OECD average class-size for Primary Schools is 21.5, not 18 ... it's a pretty significant difference.

I do think the Opposition Party Leaders would do better to concentrate some political fire on this issue ... I get the sense that 1,000 Police Officers (whether old, new or re-cycled - never mind that the pledge was 'new resources' for 'new police officers'!) may well be found from somewhere before 2011; but I can't see ANY possibility of class sizes in Primary 1, 2 and 3 being at 18 by 2011.

It was a truly undeliverable promise and needs to be exposed as such.

Edinburgh forward not back?

I see that those currently in charge of the City Council are continuing to look to the future with an ever-positive attitude that must continue to be hugely uplifting to all those looking to live and do business in Edinburgh - NOT :-(

I've gone over this territory so frequently - but for a quick summation, do have a look at this earlier entry and the links therein.

As I've said frequently before, a huge sum WAS taken out of reserves to settle the equal pay bill (and it was right to do so!) leaving the balance some £2.5million in the negative. That was replenished to the tune of nearly £3million in 2006/07 (the last year of the previous Administration) despite the huge budgetary pressures that were assailing the Council - much the same pressures that are assailing the Council now; a 70% increase in child-referrals leading to a £7.3million pressure being the most significant.

What else can I say - Labour controlled the Council for some 23-years; of course not everything was perfect, but I don't recall any of those years having a puerile, backward-looking, budgetary panic negatively affecting services for the vulnerable and the young.

It's taken the Libs and Nats less than 23-weeks to do just that.

Why can't they just get on and govern constructively, whilst trying to positively promote Edinburgh ... 'any' Administration that did that would have my moral support.

Glasgow wins race for 2014 Games

Just heard - great news for Glasgow and the whole of Scotland.

... I'd better get that training programme moved up a gear pronto :-)

Actually - just realised that junior will be 16-and-a-half ... wonder if he'll be old enough to compete??

Go on Glasgow!

As someone who originates from the West Coast, I really do hope that Glasgow wins the 2014 Commonwealth Games this afternoon ...

... would all make for a fantastic two-summers of sport with the Olympics in London in 2012 :-)

... not to mention the huge boost it could bring to an area of Scotland that would undoubtedly benefit from emulating Manchester's 2002 success.

Parents evening and a missed meeting ...

Juniors Parents' Evening tonight - all went well - but unfortunately meant that I missed the second South West Neighbourhood Partnership meeting which was also taking place this evening.

Mind you - much as I love evening Council meetings, I do know which event was more important to attend tonight!

The end of local autonomy?

I've outlined my serious worries before about the potential problems on the horizon, as regards local government finance and the "Central/Local" relationship - see here, here and here.

Well, I guess D-Day in this regard is now on the horizon with the Scottish Budget about to be set next week and, I have to say, I'm increasingly convinced that we are about to see a bit of an emasculation of local government powers ... it will, undoubtedly, be branded as a "Council Tax freeze" but in reality what we may well be about to witness is the virtual elimination of local councils' ability to decide their own levels of revenue, which is weak enough at the moment as it is.

All rather ironic from a Parliament that is currently decrying its own lack of powers and, in particular, its lack of revenue-raising autonomy ... that same Parliament could be about to remove all fiscal autonomy from Scottish local government.

Devolution of power - don't make me laugh :-(

... and so much for "parity of esteem" :-((

Parking woes

Increasingly difficult parking woes have formed a hefty part of my mail-bag in recent weeks ... unfortunately for me, the area of contention is right outside my front door :-(

Regular Council watchers will know that Shandon (where I live) was originally to be zone S5 of the recently extended CPZ - general details here - and specific details about the removal of S5 can be found in this report here.

Well, after a huge number (nearly 2,000 if memory serves me correctly?) of objections to the original traffic order, S5 was removed from the scheme. To be perfectly honest, hindsight should have many of us reflecting on whether that was the right long-term decision? Result today is a lot of pretty indiscriminate parking in parts of Shandon, which is now 'just outside' the new zone.

There is, undoubtedly, a particular problem around Craiglockhart Primary School and the surrounding streets with a serious local worry over child safety being foremost in many residents minds - including myself, as my own son attends that very school!

So, today a whole array of officers (Police, Fire and Council) - who have all been extremely helpful - did a bit of a walking-tour with me around the area and further remedial measures have now been agreed: corner double-yellows, access protection markings, and give-way markings etc.

I do hope these measures will alleviate some of the safety issues, but I'm not so optimistic that the general parking pressures in the local area can be so readily resolved. That, more longer-term solution, may well come at the 6-month review period for the whole scheme ... not now far away, around January/February 2008.

Recruitment training earlier today

Yes, surprising I know, but Councillors do occasionally receive some training ;-)

Attended a short-session on current Council recruitment procedures earlier today - and despite being personally CIPD qualified I did find it very useful as a reminder of the up-to-date legal framework and current best practice.

Mind you, not at all sure how much I'll get to use this new-found knowledge in my current exalted position :-(

Spooks ...

No, not of the Halloween-type, but the BBC TV Drama ... as friends know, I'm not that much of a TV-person but am somewhat addicted to the Spooks series :-(

... don't always catch it, but have managed to rush home tonight and will actually see this evening's episode.

I know it's only a placebo for my ER-addiction :-)

School leaving age ...

The "Education and Skills Bill" announced in today's Queen's Speech at Westminster has had quite a bit of trailing over the past few days.

I'm convinced it's a very positive move and do feel that when it's considered in an historic context, it really is nothing that extraordinary:

1870: First compulsory school for younger children
1880: Attendance enforced for 5-10 year olds
1899: Leaving age raised to 12
1918: Full-time education compulsory up to 14
1944: Education Act raises leaving age to 15
1964: Raising of school leaving age to 16 announced, but not in place until 1972
2007: Raising of school leaving age to 18 announced, but not in place until 2015

What I do find worthy of note, is that I think it's probably the first significant and progressive step for Education since devolution that is NOT going to apply to Scotland.

I'm not complaining - that's devolution, which I remain an ardent supporter of. That said, I can't help but reflect that Labour's local Edinburgh manifesto had the following commitment:


"Make sure every young person leaving school is qualified to go straight into work, or into training, or into more education. We don’t want anyone left aside."

... and Labour Scottish manifesto had this commitment:

"We will make leaving school at 16 and 17 conditional on a young person staying meaningfully engaged in higher or further education, skills training, or full time volunteering."


In a sense, it's too early to say if this will be another policy-divergence as the purely 'England and Wales' change announced today won't come into full force until 2015 ... but even if Scotland 'catches up' it is the first time since 1999 that I've felt that we, North of the Border, may have some catching up to do at all.

To date, post the 1999 devolution settlement, I've felt that the most progressive changes to social and educational policy have happened right here in Scotland - no longer I'm afraid.

Unlocking Democracy?

Didn't really get much of a rest today, after the frantic weekend ... still the usual swirl of 'truly gripping' meetings to attend :-(

... anyhow, putting truly gripping meetings to one side - I forgot to mention that I did go to at least one good meeting last Tuesday evening! Unlock Democracy (Charter88/NPN), of which I've been an active member for longer than I care to remember, had its Scotland AGM and there was a refreshingly non-Party political discussion about the ongoing trajectory of constitutional reform at the wider UK-level ... and not just a fixation with all-things Scottish.

There was a particularly interesting thread of discussion around the devolution (or lack of it!) of power to Local Councils ... and by coincidence the Local Government Association in England was trumpeting a report on this very issue a couple of days later - see the BBC coverage here.

In essence, a pretty senior cross-Party group down South is calling for a genuine devolution of power from Whitehall to local government. 'The Chamberlain Group' says councils should have greater financial freedom and have their constitutional role monitored and protected by Parliament. This would reinvigorate democracy and boost political engagement, it says.

Of course, this all applies to England and Wales and I have to say that I'm unaware of any such serious thought being given to 'further devolution' to the local authority level in Scotland?

Obviously, the report has come out just days before the Queen's Speech and the publication of a Constitutional Reform Bill. It sets out 10 principles including letting councils make more decisions about finance and local tax revenue. It suggests central government should accept the need for less ring-fencing of grants (to be fair, the rumour-mill indicates this may be about to happen in Scotland?) so councils can spend according to local people's priorities.

The report is the result of two years' work by the Chamberlain Group, named after the pioneering Victorian Mayor Joseph Chamberlain.

Former Labour local government minister Nick Raynsford said: "To counter public cynicism about political institutions and low levels of turnout in elections, we have to find new ways to engage citizens in the political process. More devolution of power and the active involvement of local communities in decision-making are essential if we are to rebuild confidence in our democracy locally and nationally." Former Conservative local government minister David Curry said government closest to the people was always left out in debates about constitutional change.

I think there's a possible hint in all of this on just how devolution (from the UK-perspective) may be about to develop ... I do wonder if Scotland's unionist parties (I've bemoaned the new Scottish Government's approach to this already) are paying enough attention to the detail of this debate?

Guy Fawkes weekend

Back in Edinburgh after an exhausting "Guy Fawkes weekend" of child-centred activities in the North West of England - I must be getting old :-(

I should first report that the train travel all went remarkably smoothly, with everything running on time and no engineering works to be seen anywhere. Amazing.

Here's a flavour of what we got up to, so you can appreciate (if not sympathise!) with my state of exhaustion:

• Imperial War Museum, in Salford, on Saturday morning was really excellent - the kids particularly enjoyed The Animals' War exhibition and got a lot from it
• Climbing Wall in Warrington later in the afternoon - kids absolutely loved it!
• Firework display on Saturday night at our hosts' house - again, the kids loved it all
• Cycling around Risley Moss Local Nature Reserve on Sunday morning

Of course, this is not to mention the inescapable socialising that occurs when you haven't seen friends for a while - especially after said-children are all safely asleep :-)

Back to work tomorrow for a rest :-))

Canal crisis ...

Before jumping on the train to sunny North West England, have just been on a brief (but formal) site visit to the Canal [at Ogilvie Terrace] by the Council's Regulatory Committee.

Bit of a local issue bubbling away re- the application for a traders license (food) at the canal edge ... I have to say, I've been assuaged by a very large number of objectors and a smaller number of supporters.

On balance, I think the majority have it right this time ... Council-watchers will know that I'm not one for automatically going with the majority - often to my cost! ... but do feel strongly that the location is just not appropriate in this instance.

The application now goes, for final decision, to the Regulatory Committee Meeting in a couple of weeks. Watch this space ...

Heading South ...

We're off down 'Manchester-way' this weekend - visiting some old friends - so blogging may be a bit light :-(

... doing the whole trip by train - bit of a trial-run as we're actually on the verge of selling the infamous Citroen Saxo :-((

Not been car-less as a family for some 8 or 9 years, so it may all go horribly wrong?

Soon find out ...

League Cup voting scandal

Rumour has it that Ron Gould has been called in by Dundee United to report urgently into the CIS League Cup voting scandal :-))

... personally, I think the guy in the middle of this picture should be given the job of running Scotland - the other two can't draw four-balls out of a bag properly :-(