Week
beginning Monday 23rd January 2006
A local
day on Monday – Motherwell and East Kilbride constituencies, visiting
residents and calling into our Motherwell office to go over case
progress with Davie. A disturbing
case has recently arrived on my desk, yet another problem with waiting
lists in the health service. This time the case of a gentleman who
suffered a heart attack many months ago. After he himself had to
pursue his test results to be told the prognosis was not good, he was
then informed that he will not be given another appointment until near
the end of 2006! Unacceptable, so a letter is on its way to the Health
Authority to see what can be done to speed things along. The strain of
knowing you’ve got a medical problem which no-one will consider for
months and months must be awful and certainly not conducive to
recovery.
Took the opportunity to
call into the Access Group whilst I was in Motherwell to see whether
their funding has been sorted out for the coming year. This is the
group which does such innovative work for young people who’ve missed
out on education, social and employment opportunities for a variety of
reasons. In a time when youth homelessness is rising, and there is
such an emphasis by Government on employability, it is crucial that
initiatives which clearly work should be maintained. I’ve raised this
issue many times in Parliament, always to positive response from
Ministers, but Access’ future is still uncertain. The good news is
that they won’t be shutting down at the end of March as feared, but
have further interim funding. But, it is hard for employees and
clients to work and progress whilst constantly worrying about whether
the door will close – funding guarantees are required, and we’ll work
to that end. I really do think though that there is a will by all
concerned to ensure the future of the Access Group, so positive
thinking!
Access members at Parliament
recently
Local SNP meeting on
Monday night to discuss the forthcoming Council by-election in
Avondale South, caused by the recent sad death of the well-respected
Conservative Councillor, Mr. Hector McDonald. So, we have to choose a
candidate for the by-election on 30th March. Avondale South
includes around half of Strathaven along with Sandford, Drumclog,
Gilmourton and Dungavel, so is a mixed farming (32% of jobs in
agriculture) and commuter belt area. So, lots of issues relevant to
the residents of the Ward, not least the potential closure of
Strathaven Academy for two years with the pupils being commuted to
East Kilbride every day, and the worry that Hairmyres Hospital will
lose its Accident and Emergency Unit.
Through
to Edinburgh after the meeting so I could get an early start on
Tuesday morning. Also, we had a visitor for a few days last week – an
East Timorese lad who’s studying English at college in Leeds –
visitors are always good for making you take the effort to go out
walking and see what’s around about, but I’m afraid I was so busy that
the poor lad had to just take directions and see Edinburgh for
himself. Still, I think he had a good time – folk are always stunned
by how beautiful the city of Edinburgh is, and yes it is, but being
from Glasgow I guess it’s always hard to admit that! The Norwegian
Ambassador asked me whether Scotland has any divides amongst its
people – where do you start? Edinburgh/Glasgow, Highlands/Lowlands,
Glasgow north of the river/Glasgow south of the river – and that’s
only the geographical ones!
You
know, I can’t remember what I did last Tuesday, but I know I was in
the office, so I must have done something! Lots I hope – there
certainly seems to be less in my ‘action’ pile. You see, both Morag
and Calum have been off this week and last with various lurgies and
long overdue annual leave, so I guess I’m just rattling through what I
can, and probably having to spend much time on things that they
normally would just do automatically without even bothering to let me
know. Calum says that’s the best way to deal with me – what I don’t
know won’t bother me and he can just get on with it. Sometimes I think
he knows me just too well!
I well
remember Wednesday though – Burns’ Day, and a grand early start with a
Burns’ breakfast in the Parliament restaurant courtesy of Grants of
Galston who supplied the Haggis. The event was run to raise funds for
‘Realise’ – a charity that helps recovering alcohol and drug addicts
back into work. First time I’ve had haggis with bacon and eggs (no
whisky – far too early), but it was good and certainly sets you up for
the day – I couldn’t eat again until teatime. I took the young
Timorese lad with me for his first Burns experience. Before we got
there I told him about Robert Burns – the poetry and songs, the Scots
language – and about the food he would eat. He was quite fascinated by
the whole experience, but I realised my teaching skills were in doubt
when I heard him tell a fellow MSP that he was looking forward to
“telling all the people in his English class about Robert Haggis”.
Still, I guess he caught the spirit of it! The strangest Burns Supper
I ever attended was in Fiji in 2004 – it was held in July, we ate
chicken and the Suva Scottish Country Dancers (mostly indigenous
Fijians) danced some very precise and serious reels. We then had some
songs from a musical trio – they sang “My Love is like a Red, Red
Rose”, “Green Grow the Rashes O’”, and “My Heart’s in the Highlands”.
There was a pause, the band went into a huddle and then struck up
Abba’s “Dancing Queen”! Bizarre, but again, the spirit was there – our
own Bard celebrated all over the world.
Meetings, meetings, meetings all day Wednesday – European Committee
Clerks, Citizens Advice Bureau representatives from Northern Ireland,
Wales and England, and with a representative of the British Transport
Police. I have concerns you see about the talk of merging the Greater
London Transport Police with the Metropolitan Police – how will this
affect the Transport Police operation in Scotland? What input is the
Scottish Executive making to the consultation? Questions to be asked,
answers to be had. The afternoon debate in Chamber was the
introduction of a Bill to abolish Prescription Charges – I wasn’t
involved but our Shona Robison was certainly giving it laldy! You see,
the Welsh Assembly abolished prescription charges, and Shona wants us
to progress this particular Bill to the next stage. Unfortunately, we
were voted down, with the Executive announcing yet another
consultation and review.
Happy
on Wednesday evening to be interrupted at work by some of our members
from Cumbernauld who were visiting the parliament – came in, sat in my
window seat, ate my sweeties and moved on! Quite right too.
Thursday was very much a Europe day for me with the Austrian
Ambassador visiting Scotland to discuss the Austrian presidency of the
EU at a public meeting hosted by me – Her Excellency Dr. Gabriele
Matzner-Holzer was a treat to be with, and her informal style was much
appreciated by the public audience who came along to listen to her
presentation about Austria’s priorities for the European Union, and
the need for citizen engagement. This is something of course which is
the subject of much discussion – how remote people feel from the
institution that is the European Union. There’s a big study going on
just now about it across Europe, but I have to say the language used
in the consultation document shows exactly why people find it
difficult to relate! After a few readings when I first received it I
was left thinking “and what exactly are they trying to say?”.
Eurospeak/bureauspeak. The start of the public meeting was delayed
whilst one of the Parliament staff tried to hoist the Union flag along
with the Austrian flag, the Europe flag and our own Saltire. it
refused to be hoist and tools had to be sent for! I of course would
have been happy to carry on in its absence, but I’m afraid protocol
had to prevail – our day will come!
Austrian
Ambassador
My
favourite kind of day on Friday with two school visits: the first to
St. Patrick’s primary school in Strathaven which has just become the
third Fair Trade School in Avondale – great work by the pupils, staff
and parents. Three down, four to go! We had a special assembly to mark
the occasion and it was made even more enjoyable because the
Strathaven Extra had carried the story of St. Pat’s triumph on their
front page, with a great photograph of the children marching in the
local gala behind their Fair Trade flag, and handing out teabag/coffee
samples. The pupil council were the ones who promoted the whole ethos
and come up with ideas of how the commitment could be shown, and they
had been backed by all. Their families must be really proud. I had a
funny moment on Saturday in the local co-op when I heard a wee lad
saying to his mum “no, we can’t buy that juice until we check if
there’s a fair trade one!”. I was delighted, so introduced myself and
said how great it was to hear him say this (he was primary 4). It
turned out he had been at the assembly in St. Patrick’s the day
before, and was quite amazed to have come across me again so soon – he
probably thinks I personally police the co-op to make sure they’re all
buying fair trade!
Strathaven Fair Trade Group have revamped their website, with lots of
information about the schools - have a look at
http://www.fairtradestrathaven.org.uk
The
afternoon’s visit was to Chatelherault Primary School in Hamilton –
this school got a really good Inspection Report and I was so
interested in the work they’re doing in their Autistic Spectrum Base
where they have around 12 pupils who need intensive tuition. A real
feeling of warmth in that school, generated by obvious teamwork and
inclusion. They also have a brilliant eco-project which involves all
the youngsters.
The
Bard again on Friday night at Kilsyth SNP’s Burns’ Supper where I was
giving the Reply to the Toast to the Lassies – I really enjoy having
the chance to publicly have a go at the lads. As I said, it’s the one
occasion in the year where men have to sit and listen to a woman
berate them without interrupting, falling asleep or constantly
glancing at the television! Super fun – I’d like a bit more of that
please. Even Mr. Salmond had to listen – now that’s a treat in itself!
Alex rounded off a grand evening with his combined Immortal Memory and
Toast to Scotland.
By-electioneering in Dunfermline at the weekend again,. We’ve been so
lucky with the weather – there’s nothing worse than trying to speak to
folk at their doors in wind that blows you away, or trying to stuff
soggy leaflets through letterboxes in the rain. Well, there is
something worse actually – these awful wee dugs that await you
silently behind the door and leap at the letterbox just as your
fingers appear with the leaflet! None of that at the weekend though –
sunshine and happy folk out washing cars and doing their gardens.
Last
call on Sunday evening, meeting up with one of the Committee Members
of Stresswatch, an organisation in Kilmarnock which I’ve mentioned
here many times before. They do such useful work in helping people
will all sorts of stress-related problems and phobias. I wanted some
background information for a meeting we were having with Executive
officials the following day to discuss the progress of the
organisation and its plans for the coming year (the organisation gets
some of its funding from the Scottish Executive).
I was
telling Mrs. E. about my experience with my relaxation CD which one of
the consultants who had attended the AGM had given to me some months
before. You see, for some reason I’d been having trouble getting to
sleep at night – frustrating. I remembered the relaxation CD and
thought I’d give it a try. Anyway, the first night I barely got past
the introduction before I was out like a light. Grand, but the second
night I was determined to have the whole experience – it was lovely,
the voice warm and soothing. I could feel myself relaxing as
instructed – start with the toes and move up to the scalp. At one
point he counted down from 10, saying that as he counted down I would
relax more and more. Yes, it worked and I was in a real limbo state,
felt like I was floating gently off to sleep. Then, he said he was
going to count down from 10 again – marvellous. However, this time he
said that by the time he got to one, I would be more alert than I had
felt for some time! By the time I got out of bed to turn off the CD he
was at 2, and I was wide awake! And yes, more alert than I’d felt for
some time – which was why I was sitting up in bed doing Sudoku puzzles
and crosswords at 4 am that morning! I really must contact him and get
a ‘help you sleep’ CD.
Linda Fabiani
31st
January 2006
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
