Stewart comments on current affairs

2012-02-07T17:00:00.000Z

Tacklingyouth unemployment

Thedifficult economic times that Scotland has endured over the last fewyears has had damaging consequences in a number of areas. It has seenbusinesses run into extreme difficulties, threatening the jobs andlivelihoods of all too many people. It has seen massive budget cutspassed on to the Scottish Government as a result of UK Governmentspending decisions, hindering our ability to grow the Scottisheconomy. Yet perhaps the worst consequence of all is the growth inyouth unemployment that has accompanied the economic downturn.

Thelong term impact of youth unemployment should not be underestimated.Being unable to enter the job market at the start of a person’sworking life can have hugely damaging consequences for the rest oftheir life. If somebody cannot get experience of work at the lowerrungs of the ladder, they will in time be competing with a newgeneration of young people for the same positions and struggle togain employment throughout their life.

Therate of unemployment for 16-24 year olds is unacceptably high,running as it is at 24% - although it should be noted that because ofthe way the figure is measured, 35% of this figure is made up ofpeople currently in full time education. High youth unemploymentrisks creating a legacy of people having a lifetime out of work thatwe will all pay the price for in years to come and is a threat thatthe SNP Government takes extremely seriously. It would be wrong tosuggest there is a single solution to what is ultimately a complexproblem, which is why we have appointed a dedicated Minister forYouth Employment to draw together the diverse strands of actions thatthe Scottish Government is taking on this issue.

Underour Opportunities for All programme, we have given a guarantee toevery 16-19 year old not currently in work, training or receivingeducation that they will be offered a learning or trainingopportunity. As part of this, there will be 46,000 training placesavailable in every single year of this current parliamentary term.This includes 25,000 Modern Apprenticeships which are directly linkedto real jobs, a record number in Scotland.

Wehave also included a provision in the Scottish Government’sInfrastructure Investment Plan that every single company in receiptof significant government contracts must produce a training andapprenticeship plan outlining how they will provide opportunities foryoung people. This will ensure that when major public infrastructureinvestments are being made, opportunities for training and employmentwill accompany them. These are important actions and demonstrate howdetermined we are to tackle this issue.

Afuture for Sangs

Peopleacross Banffshire & Buchan Coast will undoubtedly share myconcern over the sudden entry into administration of soft drinkproducer Sangs in Macduff recently. Whether they are directlyaffected by the move or simply people who enjoy the fantasticproducts Sangs produce, it is undoubtedly a matter of great concernto a huge number of people in the area.

Itis clear to anyone who knows the business that Sangs remains a whollyviable business, but what is needed is time while potential buyersare identified. Both myself and Eilidh Whiteford MP have met withstaff at the company and the Scottish Government is doing what it canto try and secure the breathing space that Sangs needs to secure adeal for the future.

Thefact that this has happened is an extremely worrying symptom of thecurrent state of the economy, but everyone involved is working hardto secure a viable future for Sangs and its workforce.

Stewart's Rio+20 Green Dream

2012-01-19T14:05:00.000Z

Stewart Stevenson is the Scottish Government's Environment & Climate Change Minister. He is working to ensure that Scotland is a world leader when it comes to taking positive action to reduce the impact of climate change, and he hopes people will be inspired by the green dreams of others to make changes in their lives.

This is his contribution to the Green Dream website set up in advance of the Rio+20 Climate Conference which will take place in Brazil in June 2012.

Supporting Scotland's Creativity

2012-01-10T18:30:00.000Z

The celebrations the length and breadth of Scotland which marked the passing of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 are something which will have been enjoyed by many thousands of people from all over the world. Scotland has a well deserved reputation of being able to mark such occasions in style, but Hogmanay is just one of the many key dates on Scotland's cultural calendar in a cultural year that will be even more packed than usual.

With the new year upon us, the Year of Creative Scotland has begun which will showcase the best of Scotland's rich culture and creative heritage. Yet for Scotland’s cultural sector to truly thrive, it needs to be fully nurtured and supported.

One of the early actions taken when the SNP Government was first elected in 2007 was to phase in the abolition or substantial reduction of business rates for small businesses. Such enterprises are the lifeblood of Scotland's economy and by reducing the burden of taxation that they have faced, the Scottish Government's actions have enabled many to survive the current economic difficulties where otherwise they would not have.

That support in the form of reduced rates bills has been particularly important to the tourism and culture sectors, with 57% of such premises in Scotland paying no or reduced rates in the current financial year. That boost to both our tourist and culture sectors will enable more people to visit Scotland with the economic benefits that such visitors bring with them.

Promoting our cultural sector and tourist industry in this way is an essential part of drawing in visitors to Scotland and helping our country weather the economic storm. Attracting tourists to Scotland has never been more important and this Year of Creative Scotland gives us a fantastic opportunity to do so. I am looking forward to the many events and attractions that will take place across Scotland over the course of the year, and in particular to those in Banffshire & Buchan Coast.

Past and present failures

The closing months of last year saw the hopes of jobs and investment through the development of carbon capture and storage technology in Peterhead raised and then severely undermined by the UK Government. Their decision to reallocate the bulk of funding that was to be available to develop this technology until the next parliamentary term is a deeply disappointing one and comes on the back of a previous project to develop CCS technology at Peterhead Power Station collapse in 2007, again as a result of the Westminster Government.

Yet such failings when it comes to creating jobs and boosting the economy of Peterhead are not a new thing, as papers from the 1980s recently released under the 30 year rule have made clear. It has come to light that in 1981, Margaret Thatcher vetoed plans for a £1.5 billion oil pipeline that would have created 15,000 jobs in Peterhead and Nigg.

Whether it is repeated let-downs over developing Carbon Capture technology at Peterhead Power Station today, or decisions not to see massive numbers of new jobs created 30 years ago, the UK Government has a long legacy of neglect when it comes to Peterhead and the wider region. Jobs on this scale would have benefited not just Peterhead itself, but households and businesses across all of Banffshire & Buchan Coast.

The repeated and infuriating failings on the part of Westminster are the clearest possible demonstration, if any more were needed, that we need the power to make these decisions ourselves in Scotland before any more opportunities are allowed to slip away.

A Momentous Year

2011-12-27T17:00:00.001Z

As another year draws to a close, it is only fitting to look back on what has been quite an extraordinary year and once again look forward to what the next year might have in store.

There can be little doubt that for almost everybody one of the biggest issues over the last year has been the state of the economy and the impact it is having on people’s day to day lives. Already low levels of economic growth in the UK economy are falling and there is a significant danger of a plummet back into recession. That will have a real and damaging impact on jobs and livelihoods and will undoubtedly be the biggest issue facing us in the year to come.

Measures that will encourage economic growth are desperately needed, yet it is against this background that Scotland is facing sharp reductions in our budget as a result of spending decisions made by Westminster. The budget for capital spending has been reduced by 20% in this financial year compared to the last and by 2014/15, will be 32% lower than it was in 2010/11. It is capital spending that provides the greatest stimulus to an economy, which is why the Scottish Government is using every lever at its disposal to increase spending on infrastructure despite the handicap imposed on us by the UK Government. With greater powers over our own finances, we would be able to do substantially more and the case for doing so is one we will continue to press despite the intransigence of the UK Government.

No look back over the past year in Scotland could fail to mention the Scottish Parliament elections and the incredible faith that the people of Scotland placed in the SNP. To win a majority in an electoral system designed to make such an outcome highly unlikely was in incredible feat in anybody’s book. It has taken Scotland into new political territory and with a pro-independence majority in Holyrood for the first time, it will continue to have a huge impact on the shape of our country in the years to come.

In the run up to the election, we promised to hold a referendum on independence in the second half of the parliamentary term and that is a timetable we fully intend to keep to. Yet there will undoubtedly be extensive discussion and debate on the constitutional future in the coming year and that is something I am sure people across Banffshire & Buchan Coast will want to play a full and active part in.

The fishing industry in recent weeks faced a huge threat of a reduction in its days at sea as a result of an utterly wrong-headed interpretation of EU fishing rules. Frenzied negotiations successfully staved off this threat in the end, but it is once again a clear demonstration that the rules governing the Common Fisheries Policy are simply not fit for purpose and their reform cannot come soon enough. The annual danger that the industry is put in is simply no way to manage fish stocks. What will be welcome though is that quota increases for some key stocks were successfully secured, in clear recognition that the conservation efforts of the Scottish fishing fleet are paying off.

I hope that everyone in Banffshire & Buchan Coast has a merry Christmas and a very happy new year when it comes.

Stewart's Christmas Poem

2011-12-23T15:52:00.003Z

the "message‬"
‪‬
‪In the sense of a year’s work over,
Defined by honest weariness, not by pain,
Promising us rest from our endeavour,
Entering now into emotional gain,
Denying us nothing we ever wished for,
Certain Christmas will bring us all succour.‬

‪In the dark midwinter’s gloom,
Depression seems round every turn,
Pending spring’s hints, none too soon,
Delivering us from winter’s icy burn,
Not for aught do we wait all that while,
Certain the New Year is to bring a smile.‬

‪Instead of idleness and excess,
Delivered from all gluttony and drink,
Perhaps now even more success,
Now working, now read, now think,
Denying ourselves no efforts to win,
Certain two-twelve, a great year to be in.‬

stewart stevenson
Christmas 2011‬

(copyleft 2011, fair re-use permitted)

An opportunity slipping away

2011-12-13T17:00:00.001Z

In my column a few weeks ago I wrote about the hope that was growing that Peterhead power station could once again be in line to benefit from the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Previous efforts to bring this world leading technology to Peterhead collapsed in 2007 as a result of UK Government dithering and the project was transferred to Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile the hopes of a separate project at Longannet in Fife were brought to an end a few months ago, again by a lack of sufficient support from the UK Government.

It was this most recent failure to support Longannet which many believe has put Peterhead back at the head of the race for support from a £1 billion fund to develop the technology. Such a project could create an estimated 937 jobs over the construction and lifetime of the project, providing a real boost to the economy of Banffshire & Buchan Coast.

I wrote in that column that Westminster had twice failed Carbon Capture projects in Scotland and it simply must do better with the opportunity Peterhead represented. How infuriating then, that just a few short weeks later the Treasury has delivered a hammer blow to the future of this project.

At the time the plans to fund a CCS plant at Longannet collapsed, UK Ministers promised that the £1 billion fund would be ring-fenced for a new carbon capture competition and it was widely expected that the funds from this would be disbursed within this Westminster parliamentary term. However, all that was undermined by a recent radio interview in which Danny Alexander revealed that the Treasury had raided that funding to reallocate to different sorts of projects.

This means that the UK Government intends to spend little to nothing on developing CCS technology before 2015, pulling the rug out from underneath investment plans that were gathering pace following a recent deal between Scottish & Southern Energy and Shell. With financial and political uncertainty obscuring what money will be available following 2015, the certainty that businesses need to invest in this technology has been shattered at a stroke.

History seems once again to be repeating itself and the UK Government has for the third time undermined the future of CCS technology and severely let down a local community in Scotland. I am appalled by the ineptitude that has again been displayed and I have no doubt that there will be real anger in Banffshire & Buchan Coast, especially from the many people who would be hoping for jobs as a result of this project.

Progress on emissions

Developing new technologies such as CCS has a huge part to play if Scotland is to meet our world leading carbon emission reduction targets of 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. Significant progress is already being made, however, with an audit Scotland report showing that Scotland has successfully reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 28% in the period to 2009.

There is still a long way to go and we cannot afford to be complacent or let up in our continuing efforts if we are to reach those targets. Even in these difficult financial times, we should not accept anything other than further progress towards meeting these targets and seizing the economic opportunities that they also represent.

Developing technologies to harness the vast wind, wave and tidal energy resources that Scotland enjoys will play a key part of our economic future and the level of investment that is already taking place demonstrates how confident businesses are in our energy future.

Video Diary From the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban - Friday

2011-12-09T13:00:00.000Z

Video Diary From the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban - Wednesday

2011-12-07T22:00:00.000Z

Video Diary From the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban - Monday

2011-12-05T23:59:00.000Z

Safety off our shores

2011-11-29T17:00:00.001Z

The close relationship that people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast have with the sea, whether through recreational sailing, working in our fishing industry or our proximity to the offshore oil and gas sector means that we all have a healthy respect for the need to stay safe at sea.

When things go wrong, lives depend on a well co-ordinated response reaching them as swiftly as possible. That is what makes the UK Government’s decision to cut the provision of Coastguard Marine Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) in Scotland extremely damaging and disappointing.

Scotland is home to 60% of the UK length of coastline yet as a result of decisions to close coastguard stations on the Forth and the Clyde, will be home to only 33% of Coastguard stations.

On top of this, and of particular concern to the North East, the level of staffing in Aberdeen will drop by 25%. Coastguard staff in Aberdeen have built up an invaluable expertise in working with the oil and gas industry during emergencies and that experience will be severely disrupted by the decision to reduce staff. That expertise can simply not be replicated by additional staff working remotely from other coastguard stations or from their headquarters near Portsmouth in the event of a major oil industry incident.

Aberdeen MRCC is now expected to cover a far larger area with significantly fewer members of staff. It is a move that will cause a great deal of concern to many people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast and has come at the end of a process that has been characterised by poor handling and short-sightedness.

The original proposals would also have seen either Stornoway or Shetland MRCC close in addition to the closures that are taking place, and it is welcome news – not least to the fishing industry – that they will remain open. Yet just because the closures are not quite as severe as originally intended does not by any means make these moves anything other than severely damaging.

These moves have come soon after the scrapping of the fleet of fixed-wing long-range search and rescue aircraft and at a time when the future of the air rescue coordination centre at Kinloss is in doubt. There can be little doubt that safety at sea is being reduced in the name of the UK Government’s cost-cutting.

When lives are at stake, it is simply not acceptable and the UK Government’s approach is completely unjustifiable. If they are not prepared to ensure that such a vital service is provided as fully as possible, then they should be prepared to see it devolved so that the Scottish Government is able to in their place.

Confidence in Scotland

Recent weeks have seen a lot of hot air and scaremongering from the UK Government regarding the confidence that businesses have when it comes to investing in Scotland, in light of the coming independence referendum.

What is notable from these assertions is that not a single individual or company has been identified as previously considering investing in Scotland and now refusing to do so. This is in stark contrast to the long and growing list of major companies which clearly have no concerns over what Scotland’s future will be, given that they have made major investments and brought important jobs to Scotland.

The fact of the matter is that Scotland is the most supportive business environment in the UK and continues to work hard to support businesses of all sizes. Perhaps the many companies that have recently invested are simply convinced we can do even more with the powers of independence.

Capturing An Opportunity

2011-11-15T17:00:00.002Z

When it comes to benefitting from the development of new technology, it is often the case that there is a limited window of opportunity to fully reap the opportunities that are on offer. A few months or years can make all the difference when it comes to either being a leader on a technology or playing catch up.

In 2007 it seemed that the then UK Government had completely failed to grasp this fact when its dithering and delay led to plans to develop a world-leading carbon capture facility at Peterhead power station being dropped. The proposed development instead transferred to Abu Dhabi and Peterhead had lost an incredible opportunity to be at the cutting edge of a hugely important technology.

Recently it seemed as if history had repeated itself, when a revived effort to create a Scottish carbon capture facility in Scotland – this time at Longannet in Fife – collapsed. Once again a UK Government had failed to stand behind a hugely important project which would have brought jobs to Scotland, brought opportunities to export technology and expertise in the future, and significantly reduced our carbon emissions.

It was a hugely disappointing development and a bitter blow to everyone who had been working to bring the technology to Longannet. However, the collapse of that proposal may have once again opened the door for carbon capture at Peterhead.

Such a prospect, if it does prove possible, has been made more likely by the fact that Scottish & Southern Energy have signed an agreement with Shell to store carbon dioxide from Peterhead power station under Shell’s Goldeneye gas field in the North Sea.

A report earlier this year concluded that developing this technology in Peterhead could lead to up to 937 jobs over the construction and lifetime of the project, generating £590 million GVA and £130 million per annum during its lifetime. Quite clearly it would be hugely significant to the town and to the whole of Banffshire & Buchan Coast.

Westminster has twice failed Carbon Capture projects in Scotland and it simply must do better with this opportunity. Significant amounts of time have been lost in which Scotland could have been leading the world on this technology because of their previous failure. People in Peterhead deserve better and the UK Government must commit its backing to this essential project for the area.

Supporting people with autism

Recent days saw the publication of the Scottish Government’s much anticipated Autism Strategy, aiming to significantly improve on the services offered to people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and their families. People with autism needs a wide range of services that cut across different aspects of the public sector, and this strategy will help to ensure better coordination to deliver higher quality support.

Local Autism coordinators will be appointed to help ensure this change in approach takes place and support is offered in a way that promotes the independence, dignity and emotional wellbeing of people with Autism. Funding will be provided to the Scottish Autism Services network to provide training and expertise to public sector workers to assist them in providing post-diagnostic support. One stop drop-in shops for people with autism to access services will also be created, to make it easier to benefit from all the support on offer.

Publishing a strategy is of course only a first step rather than a final outcome, but it is an important building block for the future and once which should significantly improve the quality of support available to people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Banffshire & Buchan Coast.

It’s Starting

2011-11-01T17:00:00.002Z

While the party conference season south of the border may have concluded some time ago, the same is far from the case in Scotland. Recent days saw the SNP hold its biggest ever conference in Inverness, where around 2,000 delegates, members and visitors flocked to Eden Court for the four day event.

It was always inevitable that the first party conference since winning an outright majority in the Scottish Parliament earlier this year was always going to attract a lot of people, but I don’t think anyone could have anticipated just quite how well attended the event would be.

During the rousing address from our First Minister Alex Salmond, there was such a demand for seats that as well as packing out the main auditorium, five additional theatres were pressed into action as overspill rooms to watch the speech via video and still more people were only able to listen in over speakers in the foyer area.

While the leader’s speech is undoubtedly the highlight of conference though, there were a huge number of impressive speeches throughout the four days and many significant decisions on party policy were debated and voted upon. Perhaps most significant of all events at this year’s conference, however, were the events of the final day in Inverness.

The late Scots Makar, our national poet, Edwin Morgan left the SNP the staggering sum of £918,000 to take forward our efforts to build the independent Scotland he wished to live in. In Inverness it was announced that this transformational sum would be ring-fenced for the referendum campaign and even more significantly the starting gun on that campaign was fired.

During the election we promised to hold a referendum on independence in the second half of our parliamentary term and this is precisely what we will do. Yet beginning now we will embark upon an unprecedented campaign to talk to and enthuse people of all party political persuasions and none, on how our nation will benefit from the power to take our own decisions.

With the publication of our vision for an independent Scotland at scotlandforward.net, the campaign has begun in earnest and will reach out to every street and household to shape the future of our country.

The words “Scotland – It’s starting” may have been an understated launch to the campaign for Scottish independence, but their impact on improving our country may be felt throughout history.

No place for bullying

You would hope that elected parliamentarians would at all times set a good example of acceptable behaviour, particularly when it comes to something as serious as intimidating and threatening behaviour. Yet it seems this is sadly not the case, with a Labour MP, the chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee Ian Davidson, having threatened my colleague at Westminster Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP with “getting a doing” during a private meeting.

This kind of behaviour is utterly unacceptable in any walk of life and there is absolutely no place for bullying and intimidation in any workplace. Such disgusting attitudes belong in the dark days of the past and it is extraordinary that anyone would seek to defend such behaviour as some are trying to do.

Mr Davidson has shamed Scotland, shamed his constituents and most of all shamed himself with his actions and should step down from his position as a matter of urgency. Eilidh has had the courage to speak out and condemn his behaviour and refuse to be threatened or intimidated by Mr Davidson. That is something she should be commended for and I know she will have the backing of people throughout this area.

A Minister writes – Stewart Stevenson on SNP Conference Saturday

2011-10-22T17:00:00.001+01:00

A great day at the SNP Conference in Inverness

Every day at conference is precious and as that great Scot Andrew Carnegie said, “The early bird gets the oyster, the second gets the shell”. So it's online at 0715 to read the media comment from yesterday and orient myself for today.

And today is FM's speech, the Donaldson Lecture and, for me, Ministers' Moments at 1030. I’m also on the agenda committee that selects topical motions so lots to do.

Like the first SNP Conference I attended in the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in the mid 1970s, this is the highlight of the activist's year. Every time a familiar face appears in the conference environs, people sidle up to talk, to listen, to persuade. And to check that the Minister's feet are firmly on the ground. That's the activist's right.

And even though the formal sessions are an hour away, the buzz, that palpable sense of excitement is abroad at Eden Court when I arrive.

1000 Bruce Crawford briefs Ministers before our hour's report to Conference. I follow Alasdair Allan and have a strict 4 minutes.

1030 A full house in the auditorium again. And halfway through Alasdair's speech a frantic signal from Bruce to me – please take 6 minutes – OK boss.

Always worth a laugh reminding colleagues that it's Sno joke being Minister for snow but now I' m environment. Appropriate laughter a good start.

All went well.

Spending time at conference means everyone has the chance to meet with you, so the break is a photo with a Council candidate, agreeing to do Atholl Branch Burns Supper, discussing the impact of sea lice on salmon. Variety is the spice of conference.

By lunchtime I’m on my second box of throat lozenges, but no lunch and then collared by one of the staff – Do I know any funny stories Nicola can use to introduce the First Minister for his speech at 3 pm? On tenterhooks to see if any are used.

1330 Mark MacDonald tells me the joke he intends to use at 2 pm when he makes the financial appeal to conference. Mixture of pleasure and fear. It's about me. It's about me.

1345 Am sitting near our support team in the hope that this a quiet corner to work on this blog. Failed.

1355 Head off for seat in auditorium, Just spotted tweet from Brewdog “Great speech Stewart”. Can my cheerfulness rise even higher?

1400 Mark Macdonald makes superb financial appeal speech. Not sure about the reference to me.

1455 Announcement of International climate change award for First Minister.

FM with activists at the North-East reception

1500 The man himself, Alex Salmond, wows an audience so large that we need five overflow halls.

And well – you can read the speech here for yourself

http://www.snp.org/blog/post/2011/oct/alex-salmond-delivers-keynote-speech

Critical decisions

2011-10-18T17:00:00.001+01:00

When it comes to Europe, the next year or so can only be regarded as critical to many people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast and across the whole of Scotland. There is the ongoing crisis with the Euro and the risk of financial collapse in several European countries that must be resolved. How this happens will have a profound effect on the shape of the EU for decades to come and its impact here should not be underestimated.

Negotiations to reform the Common Fisheries Policy will take place, providing Scotland a critical opportunity to replace the discredited and damaging current system with one that sees decisions taken on a regional basis rather than centrally in Brussels. The CFP has destroyed communities and careers and has utterly failed as a means of protecting fish stocks.

There is opportunity for a better future for the fishing industry as a result of these negotiations, but there are also dangers if they are mishandled and Scotland's voice is ignored. The Scottish Government will be working hard to ensure the best possible outcome from these discussions and there is simply too much at stake for us not to succeed.

At the same time as this, the Common Agricultural Policy will also be facing reform with the recent publication of the Commission's proposals signalling the opening of negotiations. A lot of work has already been done in Scotland to prepare for this, not least with the publication of the hugely important Brian Pack report into our farming sector.

The current CAP which prevents new entrants into farming from benefiting from payments while enabling some farmers to receive subsidies for what they produced a decade ago, while no longer working their land, is clearly something which needs to change. There will be immense challenges in moving from historical payments to area based payments, but changes to address the problems that currently exist are necessary.

The Scottish Government's priority is of course to secure the best possible deal for Scotland, but we believe the key to this is to ensure that the new CAP is fairer, more flexible and simpler. It should encourage new entrants and reward genuine activity.

In all these areas there are enormous challenges and tough negotiations ahead which will substantially affect the economic prospects of people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast. The Scottish Government will put its case in Europe as ably as possible, but as we remain part of the UK in these negotiations, surely these discussions clearly demonstrate that Scotland needs a greater role when it comes to the UK taking part in European negotiations?

The farming sectors north and south of the border are substantially different and as such will have differing priorities. Meanwhile the vast majority of the UK's fishing fleet is in Scotland so it is inevitable that the outcome of CFP reform will be of greater importance north of the border than in the rest of the UK. This was an industry that was once described by a Tory UK Government as “expendable” after all.

A formal role in negotiations for the Scottish Government that reflects our distinctive needs in Europe is one of the entirely reasonable changes to the Scotland Bill at Westminster which we are currently seeking. The intransigence we are facing even on this issue is extremely frustrating to say the least and does Scotland a grave disservice.

Of course better still for Scotland would be to speak with our own voice in Europe as an independent country and the chance to choose that will be coming for Scotland in a few short years.

Taking The High Road on GM

2011-10-07T12:00:00.004+01:00

The Scottish Government continues to be fundamentally opposed to the cultivation of GM crops. Scotland’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson, explains why

[from the Food Standards Agency's 'Bite' magazine - edition 06 11
www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/bitesummer11.pdf]

Some have asked whether the Scottish Government has softened its position on genetically modified (GM) crops since it was first elected in 2007.

The answer to that is no – we remain fundamentally opposed to growing GM crops. That is why we support in principle the European Commission’s attempts to bring in changes that would allow countries and regions freedom to choose whether or not to grow GM crops on their territory.

The reasons for our position are multi-faceted. First, scientists cannot give categorical assurances that there is no risk to the environment from growing GM crops. The EU risk assessment of GM crops cannot take into account all Europe’s regional variations in landscape, climate and agricultural practice. Scotland has many unique features and a rich biodiversity, which we will not put at risk by growing GM crops.

There is also Scotland’s reputation for quality food and drink – a reputation we believe could be jeopardised if Scotland became known for growing GM crops.

We know that European consumers have little confidence that GM food is safe to eat. Some will argue that robust coexistence measures can counter the problems of cross-pollination or encroachment of GM crops. But, even if that was the case, there are costs involved in keeping GM and non-GM crops and products separate along the supply chain, which nobody will want to pay.

We accept there are a number of approved and labelled GMOs in use in Scotland, as there are elsewhere. Imported GM soya for animal feed, various therapeutics (for example insulin) for human and animal use, and some food technology aids may have been derived from GM sources. We supported the EU’s 0.1% threshold for unapproved GMO material in imports of non-GM animal feed in order to ease the supply problems and escalating feed prices experienced by our livestock farmers. We will, however, argue strenuously against extending the threshold to food imports – something we’re confident UK and European consumers will support us in.

There are a number of countries and many regions within the EU that take a similar stance to Scotland. Within the UK, agriculture is devolved and all four countries have their own views; but that is no reason why we can’t all coexist. If, for example, England decided to grow GM crops, we should be able to manage any cross-border issues just as they are managed in the rest of Europe.

Some claim our position could adversely affect Scottish biological research institutes that wish to carry out GM research. Whilst we do not fund any research that leads directly to the production of GM crops, we do support modern plant breeding techniques.

Research and innovation, and conventional plant breeding, offer many possible solutions for the challenges for food production. Crop breeding is an important income earner for Scotland – our crop scientists and breeders generate around £160 million of business for the Scottish and UK economies every year.

In summary, we remain fundamentally opposed to the cultivation of GM crops, a position which we strongly believe will protect Scotland’s precious environment.

Connecting With Our Neighbours

2011-10-04T17:00:00.000+01:00

Recent days have seen the future for renewable energy in Scotland take centre stage in no small part due to the Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference being held for just the second time. Despite the relative youth of the event, it is a clear sign of Scotland’s renewable energy potential that it has already become internationally significant, with former Vice-President of the United States Al Gore jetting in to address delegates.

Mr Gore’s praise for Scotland’s leadership when it comes to tackling climate change and setting ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions and increasing renewable energy was extremely welcome, but of more lasting significance are two other developments which coincided with the event.

The first of these was the publication of a report by Scottish Enterprise which identifies the important role that skills and expertise which people in Scotland have developed in the Oil and Gas industry can bring to bear on offshore renewables. The report identifies that if these skills are properly harnessed, cost savings of at least 20% can be made to offshore wind projects.

Those savings add up to hundreds of millions of pounds which can go a long way towards improving the viability of projects and giving developments in the waters off Scotland’s coast a tangible competitive advantage. There is no room for complacency and we must do more to ensure that this kind of collaboration takes place, but the early signs that the Oil & Gas is becoming involved in offshore renewables are positive.

Perhaps even more significant, however, was the announcement that a consortium of companies has made an application to build an underwater electricity connection between Scotland and Norway, coming ashore near Peterhead. This type of connection is absolutely fundamental to achieving the full economic benefits of renewable energy as it will allow Scotland to export its surplus energy to our European neighbours.

The fact that the Peterhead area has been chosen as the landing point is a welcome sign of the significance that renewable energy will play to the economy of Banffshire & Buchan Coast in the years and decades to come. This kind of project has been identified by the EU as a project of “European Significance” and is one of the most important developments that Scotland needs to see happen to secure our economic future.

A worrying proposal

Less promising for people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast, although no less significant, are the latest round of proposed fishing quotas. Despite the scientific advice recommending a 410% increase in West Coast Haddock following the recovery of that fish stock to sustainable levels, the European Commission has proposed an increase of just 25%.

People in the fishing industry will know that there would be no hesitation on the Commission’s part in proposing to follow the scientific advice to the letter if it called for a reduction in quotas, so the lack of consistency that has been displayed is extremely frustrating to say the least.

When the enormous sacrifices that have been made by the fishing industry in the name of improving conservation and sustainability pay off with improved fish stocks, it is simply wrong to punish the fishing industry by not rewarding them for their efforts.

The quota proposed will only increase discards in the area, something that surely nobody would wish to see. The Scottish Government will be making strong representations to Europe to secure a fair deal for our fishermen and ensure that the industry’s willingness to take part in conservation efforts is not undermined by the Commission’s approach.

A programme for Government

2011-09-20T17:00:00.001+01:00

With the Scottish Parliament’s summer recess over, Holyrood has wasted no time in getting back to the business of legislating. The Scottish Government has set out a wide ranging Programme for Government which will see 15 pieces of legislation brought to parliament over the coming year, an ambitious level of activity for the coming twelve months.

These bills cover a wide range of topics affecting a variety of different aspects of Scottish life. They include an Agricultural Holdings bill which will implement the recommendations of the Tenant Farming Forum to encourage more landlords to let land to tenant farmers and make it easier for a new generation of farmers to inherit tenancies by including grandchildren in the definition of a near relative.

There will be a Rights of Children and Young People Bill, enshrining the principles of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child into Scots law and spelling out the basic human rights that people under the age of 18 are entitled to. Additionally, a Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill will improve current FoI legislation and add strength and clarity to efforts to ensure open, democratic government and responsive public services.

There will be an Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill to revisit the important health measure which was wrongly stripped out of last session’s Alcohol Bill by opposition parties. It will ensure that it is no longer possible to purchase cheap alcohol for less than the cost of a bottle of water and have its main impact on the dirt cheap ciders and own-brand vodkas which are favoured by problem drinkers.

As with every year there will be a Scottish Budget Bill which will have to cope with the continuing cuts to Scotland’s budget being passed on as a result of the UK Treasury’s obstinate determination to slash budgets when the OECD and IMF say it should be stimulating growth in the stagnating economy.

And amongst other things, there will also be legislation to move Scotland towards single, national police and fire services. This will bring an end to the unnecessary duplication of back office functions such as payroll, IT and human resources departments and will make the police more locally accountable by giving every local councillor a role in overseeing police activity in their area where it is currently restricted to the limited numbers who sit on one of Scotland’s eight police or eight fire boards.

However, legislation is only one part of the activity that any government undertakes and the Scottish Government’s plans for the coming year are no different. We will launch a programme called “Opportunities for All”, guaranteeing every 16-19 year old in Scotland an education or training position. The economic problems we have faced have affected young people particularly severely and it is only right that they are given the opportunities they need to ensure they have the skills to face the job market with confidence.

We will also continue to push for improvements to the Scotland Bill which is currently progressing through Westminster. People in Scotland voted for a stronger bill than the current damaging proposals and Westminster cannot continue to bury its head in the sand and refuse to recognise the ambitions of people in Scotland. We have outlined six key areas where we believe progress is essential to making the Scotland Bill workable and the Scottish Government will continue to make the case for their inclusion in the Scotland Bill.

With such high levels of activity ahead, it is sure to be a busy parliamentary year ahead for the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.

One hundred days on

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000+01:00

When the SNP took office in 2007, we were determined to hit the ground running and start work on an impressive array of tasks within our first 100 days in Government. Work was begun on abolishing the Graduate Endowment, recruiting 1,000 additional police officers and saving A&E departments from closure amongst many other things. With the first 100 days now having come and gone since we were re-elected as a majority Government in May this year, our intentions have been no different and we have again sought to use these early days of the new parliament to build momentum for the months and years ahead.

We have launched a Renewables Routemap outlining the steps Scotland needs to take to capitalise on the vast potential renewable energy offers us and meet the ambitious target we have set of generating an equivalent of 100% of Scotland’s electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020.

We have published a plan to increase the number of Scots diagnosed in the earliest stages of cancer by 25% to improve cancer survival rates and spare more people the agony of losing a loved one to the illness. And we have started a fresh approach to involving the fishing industry more in the decisions that affect it through the launch of the Fisheries Management and Conservation Group and the Scottish Seafood Partnership.

We have done these things and numerous others in our first 100 days and we will do many, many more in the days still to come. No Government can even come close to achieving all it sets out to do in its first 100 days and nor should it. But those early days do set the tone for what is to follow. In both this new term and the 100 days that marked the start of our previous term in Government, I firmly believe that we have begun our term with energy and direction and established a solid base for our work in the months and years ahead.

Minimum pricing

Scotland’s damaging relationship with alcohol is not new to anyone or something that can be solved overnight. The impact of excessive alcohol consumption costs people in Scotland £3.56 billion every single year and places an incredible strain on our health and justice systems in these difficult economic times. Yet what is new is just how much the scale of the problem is increasing.

New figures show that people in Scotland buy 23% more alcohol than people in England and Wales, the biggest difference ever recorded in the 17 years since the figures were first measured. This works out as an additional 2.2 litres of pure alcohol per adult in Scotland sold than in England last year, at 11.8 litres compared to 9.6. It can be little coincidence that last year also saw a 3% increase in alcohol related deaths. In the last session of parliament, we sought to bring in a range of measures to address this growing problem and the costs that come with it through the Alcohol (Scotland) Act.

While this Act was passed by parliament, important measures such as a minimum price per unit for alcohol were stripped out by opposition parties. Minimum pricing is by no means a silver bullet, but studies have shown it can help to reduce alcohol consumption and that is something that is urgently needed in Scotland.

That is why the Scottish Government intends to introduce a Minimum Pricing Bill as a matter of priority this Autumn and correct the mistake that was made when opposition parties stripped it from last session’s Bill.

Driving the North East forward

2011-08-23T17:00:00.003+01:00

Anyone who lives in Banffshire & Buchan Coast will be only too aware of the lengthy delays to people’s journeys that are often faced when travelling to other parts of Scotland. A journey to anywhere south of Aberdeen can often involve spending an inordinate amount of time negotiating your way through the city’s streets, especially during rush hour.

This is inconvenient for motorists, but it is a particular problem for businesses which need to get goods to and from Banffshire & Buchan Coast as swiftly as possible. The longer they are delayed in slow moving traffic, the more the financial costs stack up.

That is why the SNP, and indeed almost everyone in the North East, is so steadfastly in favour of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. It is a long-needed piece of infrastructure that will ease congestion within Aberdeen and significantly improve journey times for those travelling to the north or south of the city. After many long years of dither and delay under the previous administration, significant progress was made towards building the road during the SNP’s first term in office only for a handful of objectors to hold the project up in the courts.

However, recent days have finally seen the Court of Session pass its judgement on the legal objections that were raised to the project and the protests against the road have been roundly rejected. Work can now proceed to dramatically improve the infrastructure of the region; something I know will be welcomed by people across the North East. Funding the construction of the AWPR was an important part of the SNP’s manifesto and nobody is happier than I am that we have taken a step forward towards delivering the road.

The North East of Scotland has huge potential to be at the heart of Scotland’s growing renewable energy industry and is of course already at the centre of Scotland’s fishing and oil & gas industries. Yet all of these businesses need good infrastructure links to the rest of the country to operate successfully and the AWPR has been a long missing development in the area.

In difficult economic times like those we are currently going through, good infrastructure can be more important than ever to the profitability and successful operation of businesses. The AWPR can be a prime example of that and I am looking forward to more progress being made on the road.

Scotland’s drugs strategy

The scourge of drug abuse is something that still affects far too many communities across Scotland, devastating the lives of both drug users and those around them. Yet in some regards at least, Scotland is making welcome progress with the announcement that the number of drug related deaths has again dropped.

In 2010 there were 485 drug related deaths in Scotland, an 11% fall from 2009 and 16% less than 2008.

Tackling drug problems is by no means an easy or straightforward issue, but the welcome reduction in fatalities does show that the Scottish Government’s drug strategy is delivering tangible improvements. Clearly any drug related death is one too many, but progress is at least consistently being made.

There can be no room for complacency as there are still serious problems to be addressed, but every life that is saved through successful treatment programmes is a small step towards reducing the monstrous toll that drug abuse has inflicted on Scottish society for far too long. With record investment going into front line services, I am confident that we will continue to see improvements in years to come.

Learning the results

2011-08-09T17:00:00.002+01:00

Recent days saw school pupils in Banffshire & Buchan Coast and across the whole of Scotland receive their exam results and find out how their hard work in preparing for them had paid off. This year saw record high pass rates in almost all exam categories, which is something that Scottish pupils and the teachers who have prepared them for the exams should rightly be immensely proud of.

Of course it is also the case that not everyone receives the results that they were hoping for and this can throw plans into disarray and be an extremely stressful time for pupils and parents. Skills Development Scotland run a hugely useful exam results advice line which can be contacted on 0808 100 8000 and is a source of advice and information I would thoroughly recommend. There are always options out there and good advice can be immensely helpful in weighing up what they are.

Whatever the results received by pupils, the coming days and weeks are a time when important decisions must be made which have the potential to shape the course of a young person’s life. Those still at school will use the results to choose which areas to specialise in, which will in turn determine their next steps further down the line. Those coming to the end of the school career, however, will be using their exam results to choose the best option for them, whether it is entering the working world, attending college or going to university.

Whether university is the option a young person chooses to take or not, it is essential that the ability to attend higher education institutions is maintained regardless of the personal means of a family. Access to education should be solely based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay which is why the SNP is firmly committed to preventing the introduction of any kind of tuition fee.

In the last parliamentary term, one of our earliest actions was the abolition of the Graduate Endowment, the backdoor tuition fee that had been brought in by the previous administration. Our record of restoring Scotland’s proud tradition of free education stood in stark contrast to the tuition fees that were introduced south of the border and even more starkly when compared to the current moves which will see universities in England charge £9,000 a year to their students.

At the same time, the Coalition Government is also removing public funding for universities, effectively privatising them and shifting their costs onto the shoulders of students. A generation of young people will graduate with a crippling mountain of debt to pay off which will hinder their opportunities later in life. It is inevitably the case that these costs will deter young people south of the border from gaining a university education, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, and will make universities there the preserve of the select few. If student numbers go down as a result, surely the financial strength and quality of education will swiftly follow. It is scarcely any wonder that young people south of the border feel particularly betrayed by the actions of the Coalition Government.

It is an approach which is utterly wrong and misguided and is something that the SNP will never support for Scotland. School pupils in England will receive their exam results later this month. How many of them will then view the prospect of university with dread of the financial impact rather than as the incredible opportunity to learn that it should be?

Moving towards reform

2011-07-26T17:00:00.003+01:00

When it comes to changing long standing policy across the EU, the pace of change is inevitably slow and the competing concerns and interests that must be juggled is a complicated task to say the least. Yet change does come and with the recent publication of the European Commission’s proposals for changes to the Common Fisheries Policy, we are finally getting closer to seeing fundamental changes to the system of fisheries management take place.

The CFP as it currently stands is rightly regarded universally as an unmitigated failure which has failed both to conserve fish stocks and protect the livelihoods of fishing communities. That fundamental change to it is needed has been accepted for some time and that is something we are now moving closer towards.

However, the European Commission’s proposals contain measures which are both positive and negative for the industry in Scotland and as such we must continue to push for a better deal to be reached.

The Scottish Government and the fishing industry in this country have long been calling for a more regional basis to fisheries management to replace the annual negotiations in Brussels which sees land-locked Luxembourg hold more sway than Scotland. The Commission’s plans seem to accept the need for this decentralisation and that is something which is to be warmly welcomed providing it is properly implemented.

The Scottish fishing fleet has been leading the way in Europe when it comes to conservation measures such as using selective fishing gears, real time closures of breeding grounds and perhaps most significantly with the introduction of the catch quota scheme which sees vessels receive a larger quota allocation in return for landing all the fish they catch without any discards. It sees skippers catch less, but land more.

Nobody wants to see the abhorrent practice of discarding perfectly good fish to comply with EU regulations brought to an end more than the fishing industry itself. However, simply proposing a blanket ban on the practice as the current European Commission proposals do takes no account of the challenges of fishing in a mixed fishery, where several types of fish are caught in a single catch. A more radical change to current practice is needed if we are to avoid the CFP simply repeating the same old mistakes in introducing ill-fitting, top-down decisions to the fishing industry. The only real way to solve the problem of discards is to work the fishing industry to find solutions that are practical and can work in a mixed fishery, not to issue central diktats which could prove counter-productive in the long run.

Also of great concern is the threat posed by the proposal that international trading of fishing quotas should be expanded. In time this would almost undoubtedly see a handful of large multi-nationals end up controlling the bulk of all fishing quotas and ruin businesses and fishing communities in Scotland and further afield. It is a measure which must be vigorously resisted or areas like Banffshire & Buchan Coast could see the heart torn out of our fishing communities.

In all there are both good and bad elements to the proposals that have been put on the table, but the fact that reform will take place at all is perhaps the biggest positive. There are two years of negotiation ahead to improve upon what has been proposed and ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. The Scottish Government has already made our views clear and in the coming months and years it is more essential than ever that Scotland’s voice is heard in Europe.

An opening for the people

2011-07-12T17:00:00.002+01:00

After a hectic few weeks following the election in May, the Scottish Parliament began its summer recess at the start of this month. Over the coming weeks I will be taking part in events and meetings across the country in my capacity as Minister for the Environment and Climate Change and also be taking my annual surgery tour of the constituency in August to give people who might otherwise not have the chance an opportunity to raise their concerns with me.

However, before the recess officially got under way there was one final piece of business in Holyrood; the official opening. While it might initially seem odd that the opening is the final thing that happens before Parliament goes into recess, it is the entire five year term of the Scottish Parliament that is being opened and officially gotten under way.

As on previous occasions, the Queen addressed the chamber and gave us all food for thought with her reflections on how the Scottish Parliament has developed since it reconvened in 1999. There were also outstanding speeches from Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick and the First Minister Alex Salmond as well as a host of musical performances throughout the day for MSPs and members of the public.

The highlight of the day though, as in previous years, was the riding. An updated interpretation of the ceremony which used to take place before the Treaty of Union in the old Scottish Parliament, the riding sees groups from all over Scotland take part in a highly colourful and musical procession down the Royal Mile to Holyrood. Each MSP was asked to invite a “local hero”, an unsung member of the community who has worked to improve the lives of people in their area.

It was my privilege to invite Stephen Bruce to take part in the procession in recognition of the outstanding work he has done for JogScotland Peterhead. He has done fantastic work over the last four years in encouraging people in the area to take up jogging and become more active, successfully recruiting over 300 people in that time and last year raised over £17,000 for charity with a series of fun runs. Peterhead JogScotland also set a Scottish record for the highest attendance at a JogScotland event last year when 276 people took part in a night time jog on the streets of Peterhead. He is also currently arranging Peterhead Running Festival which takes place this September and I’m sure will be another fantastically well attended event.

Encouraging people to have a healthier lifestyle is more important than ever given the strains on NHS budgets and I am sure that under Stephen Bruce’s leadership more and more people in Peterhead and the wider area will take part in JogScotland’s events in years to come.

Portsoy Boat Festival

Recent days have also given me the opportunity to take part in another fantastically successful and well attended event; the Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival. With fantastic weather for this year’s event, an estimated 16,000 visitors came to Portsoy to take part in the activities taking place.

The festival is going from strength to strength and the large numbers and sheer enthusiasm from those who took part is a testament to the work that goes in to organising it each year. I was delighted to once again attend and alongside my colleague Eilidh Whiteford MP held constituent surgeries during the event.

Anyone who attended this year will know that next year’s Boat Festival will have to go a long way if it is to beat this year’s event!

Measuring our worth

2011-06-28T17:00:00.000+01:00

The election of a pro-independence majority in Holyrood and the certainty that there will be a referendum on Scottish independence has understandably excited much comment in the media over recent weeks. Clearly political discourse in Scotland is moving into new territory and although the referendum will not be held until the latter part of our term in office, as we promised in our manifesto, there will be much debate and discussion to come between now and then.

One of the perennial topics that are inevitably raised in any discussion on independence is Scotland’s finances and our ability to afford independence. If you were to read some of the claims in newspaper columns published south of the border which seem to have only a passing familiarity, let alone interest in Scotland, you might think that people north of the border did not pay any taxation and Scotland existed only on the generosity of taxpayers elsewhere in the UK.

The truth is of course somewhat different. The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland figures or GERS are the most comprehensive set of statistics that exists on how much Scotland generates in taxation and spends on public services in both devolved areas and on things still reserved to Westminster’s control. While it is not perfect, given that there areas where it has no choice but to rely on estimates because the UK Treasury simply doesn’t separate out the level of some taxes contributed from Scotland when gathering statistics, it is the most useful starting point in any discussion on how much Scotland generates and spends on the public sector.

The most recent of these GERS statistics covering the 2009/10 financial year was published in recent days and paint an interesting picture of Scotland’s finances. During that year Scotland generated £48.1 billion in taxation, or 9.4% of the entire tax take for the whole of the UK. This compares to having a population that makes up 8.4% of the UK total and public spending levels which represented 9.3% of UK expenditure. Those figures show that Scotland generated a greater share of tax revenues than its population share of the UK and saw a slightly lower proportion of money spent in Scotland than the share of tax revenue that went to the UK Treasury from Scotland.

The 2009/10 financial year was of course when the recession was biting hard and it is therefore no surprise that the figures for that year show a current spending deficit of £9 billion or 6.8% of GDP in Scotland, as reduced tax income had not been matched by reduced expenditure. When capital spending is included, this deficit increased to £14 billion or 10.6% of GDP.

Although it is normal for countries around the world to run deficits, ones on that scale are not healthy in the long term. However, the size of Scotland’s deficit for that year was entirely a result of the recession and does not measure poorly when compared with the rest of the UK. The same financial year saw the UK run up a deficit of £107.3 billion or 7.6% of GDP on current spending which rises to £156.5 billion or 11.1% of GDP when capital spending is also included. In both cases, Scotland’s deficit as a percentage of GDP remained lower than the figure for the UK as a whole.

What this shows is that Scotland had a stronger budget position than the UK as a whole, just as it has in each of the last five years. Scaremongering over Scotland’s financial strength is clearly just that, given that even in tough economic times we outperformed the UK as a whole.

Measuring our progress

2011-06-14T17:00:00.001+01:00

During the election just passed, we in the SNP made standing by our record of achievement during the last four years of minority Government a big part of our successful campaign. It is a record that I believe we can be proud of, despite the challenges we faced, and while much of the recent focus and analysis in Scotland has been on our plans for the next five years as a majority Government, it is important that the signs of how far we have come so far should not be overlooked.

Recent weeks saw the publication of quarterly registration figures for NHS dentists. Across Scotland, an additional 1.2 million people are now registered with an NHS dentist compared to when the SNP took power in 2007. For a country the size of Scotland, that is progress on an impressive scale although there is of course still much to do, not least in the Grampian area.

Dentist registrations are well behind the national average in this area and we can all well remember how bad the situation was allowed to become under the previous administration. When the SNP came to power, just 35% of people in Grampian were registered with an NHS dentist.

That figure was a scandal and as a Government we took action to address it. A major part of that was the opening of a £20 million dental school in Aberdeen, training dentists in the region so that there are more dentists in the area for people to access. The latest figures show the progress that has been made, with over 51% of people in the area now registered with an NHS dentist.

Clearly there is much more progress still to be made, but that things are moving in the right direction is undeniable. As more and more newly qualified dentists graduate in Aberdeen, I believe that progress will continue and the disparity in dentist provision can finally be brought to an end.

Recent days also saw statistics demonstrating the progress that has been made in policing under the past four years of SNP Government. We were elected to office in 2007 with a promise that we would recruit an additional 1,000 police officers to protect our communities. The recently published statistics show that having met that promise well ahead of schedule, we finished our first term in office having maintained that increase.

There is now a more visible police presence in our communities, with 142 additional officers in the Grampian area, and crime has been reduced to a 32 year low. It has been one of the most significant achievements of our first term in office and we are determined to maintain that achievement throughout our second term.

The parliamentary term just passed saw progress in many aspects of Scottish life of which we can be proud. Yet I know that we will not rest on our laurels, but will instead work tirelessly to ensure that at the end of our second term in office people can again look back and see that we have come even further.

Carers Week

It would be remiss of me not to mention that Carers Week takes place from the 13th to the 19th of June. The many unpaid carers across Scotland are without doubt unsung heroes without whom the NHS and local Government would be overwhelmed. It is extremely challenging work that carers do and I warmly welcome the recognition of their efforts that Carers Week provides. As a society we all owe a debt of thanks to Scotland’s army of carers.

The Scottish Government’s new team

2011-05-31T17:00:00.001+01:00

Recent days have seen the shape of the new SNP Government become clear as the First Minister appointed his team of Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. I am immensely proud to have been asked to be part of that team and return to the Scottish Government as Minister for the Environment and Climate Change.

Having campaigned on the strength of the SNP’s team in Government, it is probably not surprising that the changes in personnel have been kept to a minimum. There are welcome and well deserved promotions for Bruce Crawford, Alex Neil and Fiona Hyslop from Minister to Cabinet Secretary and along with my own return, Michael Matheson, Alasdair Allan, Aileen Campbell, and Brian Adam enter the Scottish Government for the first time and will all bring immense talent to the pool that already exists.

Jim Mather, who stood down at the election, and Adam Ingram, who is moving to the backbenches, will both leave the Government after four years of service and I know that the many individuals and organisations they have worked with over those years will undoubtedly miss the energy and enthusiasm with which they both filled their roles.

I am looking forward immensely to the challenges and opportunities of my new position. Having held responsibility for Scotland’ world leading climate change legislation in my previous Ministerial position, it is welcome to again be working on that portfolio and the on-going action that needs to take place.

Taking Scotland Forward

Following the initial procedural steps of the Scottish Parliament electing Presiding Officers, the First Minister and approving the new Ministerial team, the first full debate of the new session in Holyrood was entitled Taking Scotland Forward. On the back of a positive campaign that focused on our vision for Scotland and how we can make our country better, there could scarcely be a more appropriate title on which to start the work of the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament in earnest.

In his excellent opening speech to the debate, the First Minister set out the work that lies ahead of us. To build the better Scotland which we surely all want to see, we need the tools to achieve it. It is not acceptable for a lack of Scottish control over policy or finance to continue to be a barrier to improvement and the historic election result has clearly demonstrated that people in Scotland want to see things change in this respect.

If it is acceptable to devolve control over corporation tax to Northern Ireland then surely it is indefensible for Scotland not to gain similar power. We need to have the ability to attract more businesses to Scotland and to reap the economic benefits when Scotland’s economy is successfully grown.

With some control over broadcasting, we can finally see a Scottish digital tv network established encouraging creative talent in Scotland and redressing the pitifully low levels of Scottish broadcasting that currently appears on our screens.

By gaining control over excise duty, we can ensure that it is the Scottish taxpayer rather than the supermarket chains that benefit from the introduction of a minimum price per unit for alcohol.

The purpose of all this is not to gain these powers merely for their own sake, but to enable us to grow our economy, protect and create jobs and to improve many other aspects of Scottish life. If this debate set the direction of travel, the next five years of the parliamentary term will see us walk that path and make Scotland a better nation.

An Incredible Result

2011-05-17T17:00:00.000+01:00

In many ways, the past seven weeks from the dissolution of the last term of the Scottish Parliament to the swearing in of MSPs for the new term following the election feels like it has both lasted an eternity and passed in the blink of an eye. The last few weeks have seen huge amounts of activity across the country as SNP activists worked tirelessly to campaign for the team, the record and the vision of the SNP.

That hard work clearly paid off with the unprecedented SNP election victory. For the first time ever, the people of Scotland have entrusted a single party with a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament.

For my own part I am extremely humbled to have been re-elected with the highest share of the vote of any seat in Scotland. I am immensely proud to have won that backing from people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast and can only express my sincerest thanks for the trust that has been placed in me.

I have now represented people in this part of Scotland for almost 10 years, however this election also saw changes to constituency boundaries which means that some of the areas I have previously worked for are no longer within the constituency, while new communities have been added to the redrawn seat in the west. While I am saddened to see those areas go, I am looking forward to working as hard for the new parts of Banffshire & Buchan Coast as I previously have for the rest of the constituency.

The new balance of the chamber in Holyrood, with 69 out of 129 MSPs coming from the Scottish National Party, will undoubtedly give this parliamentary term a very different feel to the one which preceded it. Where the Scottish Government operated as a minority before, it will this time hold a majority and be able to pass the legislation it wishes without opposition parties blocking their efforts.

Perhaps most significantly this means that we can now say with certainty that a referendum on Scotland becoming and independent country will take place during the course of this five year term. People in Scotland will be given a voice on their constitutional future where before the other parties were determined to deny them one.

Having spent my entire time in politics working towards achieving the powers of a normal independent country for Scotland, it is a contest I am looking forward to immensely. Nowhere more than Banffshire & Buchan Coast do people understand the need for Scotland to be able to make our own decisions and speak with our own voice on the world stage.

In Europe we need a Scottish voice articulating the needs of Scotland on issues such as fishing and farming, where we have suffered from our lack of representation in the past. With reform of both the Common Fisheries Policy and Common Agricultural Policy coming up, this is more essential than ever if we are to ensure Scotland’s interests are protected.

We need control over our own finances to ensure that economic policy is set in the interest of people in Scotland rather than as a cash cow for the UK Treasury, as we recently witnessed with the North Sea oil industry tax raid which threatens jobs and investment in the area.

Although there are undoubtedly many challenges ahead, the next five years promise to be an exciting time for Scotland and I am looking forward to getting down to business and continuing to work for people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast.

Looking back on the Parliamentary term

2011-04-05T17:00:00.001+01:00

The memories of the 2007 election that saw the historic result of a first ever SNP Government elected are likely to always remain fresh for many people. Yet four years have passed and once again elections to the Scottish Parliament are underway.

The Scottish Parliament has gone into dissolution and politicians the length and breadth of the country have hit the campaign trail. It has been an honour to serve as an MSP over the course of the last parliament and there are a number of important achievements over that time which I believe we can be proud of.

The Scottish Government brought an end to the constant rises in council tax which we saw under the previous administration, with a freeze that has lasted for four years now. It has made a real difference to households that lived in fear of the annual rise in council tax they used to see, and has put money back into the pockets of people across the country at a time it was needed most.

We introduced the Small Business Bonus, which abolished or substantially reduced local business rates for 80,000 businesses across Scotland and allowed them to employ 40,000 members of staff. In these difficult times, that support worth thousands of pounds to businesses made the difference between survival and going under. It has been a key part of the Scottish Government’s economic recovery strategy and I strongly believe that the scheme must continue in the next parliament.

In the North East, we approved the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and an upgrade to the A90 between Balmedie and Tipperty. It is a disappointment that only the selfish legal action of a few protesters has stood in the way of work commencing on the project, but funding for the project was approved in the recently passed budget and I am confident that people in the North East will soon be seeing the benefit of improved journey times in the region.

Funding is also in place to deliver a replacement prison in Peterhead, with planning for the project having been approved. The prison is an important employer in the region and securing its future has been a vital step forward for Banff & Buchan.

The Scottish Government has also renovated or rebuilt 330 schools across Scotland, reducing the number of pupils being taught in schools classified as ‘poor’ or ‘bad’ by 130,000. There is still more to do to reduce that figure further, but there can be no doubt that substantial progress has been made.

The last four years have also seen the delivery of an additional 1,036 police officers across Scotland compared to the time of the last election. They have made a real difference in local communities, helping to drive crime in Scotland to a 32 year low.

Perhaps one of the most significant achievements of all, however, was the abolition of the Graduate Endowment, the back door tuition fee that was introduced by the previous administration. That move re-established the principle of free education in Scotland and the recognition that we all benefit from having a well educated population. Access to education should be based on the ability to learn not the ability to pay and despite these difficult economic times, that is a principle I will always support.

I have been privileged to represent Banff & Buchan for the past four years and I hope that I will again be able to represent people in the redrawn Banffshire & Buchan Coast constituency during the next parliamentary term.

Fishing Review 2011

2011-03-24T17:00:00.000Z

An Escalating Crisis

If there has been one major benefit to the increased coverage that the practice of discards has gained in the last year, it is perhaps the greater public awareness of sustainably caught fish. In particular, there is now a more widespread knowledge of Marine Stewardship Council certification and hopefully more consumers looking for fish products that have achieved that standard.

MSC certification is an important indicator that the fish consumers buy in the shops has been sustainably caught. It provides added value to the product and the Scottish industry has been leading the way in achieving certification for several fisheries. Nowhere is that more the case than with the pelagic fleet, which earlier this year entered its fourth fishery for MSC assessment. If that it is successful, 98% of pelagic quota by volume and value will have achieved Marine Stewardship Council certification for being caught sustainably.

However, the sustainability of the fish stocks that the pelagic fleet relies on has been put under severe pressure by the reckless actions of Iceland and the Faroe Islands, in unilaterally setting their own Mackerel quotas. Mackerel represents the most valuable fishing stock of all to the Scottish economy, and was worth £135 million in 2009 as well as supporting around 2,500 jobs. It is absolutely integral to the local economy of Banff & Buchan and the threat that the pelagic fleet is currently facing is a crisis that we should all be concerned about.

Just a few years ago Iceland’s agreed Mackerel quota was 2,000 tonnes, yet it has set itself a unilateral quota of 147,000 tonnes for 2011. The Faroe Islands’ quota for the year should be 29,700 tonnes if it was abiding by the Coastal States management plan it signed up to, but instead it too has set itself a massively inflated quota of 150,000 tonnes.

These increases have no basis in scientific advice and represent a beggar-thy-neighbour approach of the most grossly irresponsible kind. If they were allowed to pass unchallenged, then the only options for existing mackerel fishing fleets would either be to catch less or allow the stock to be overfished, causing long term ruin. It is scarcely any wonder then that the Faroe Islands were rightly rejected in their attempt to apply for MSC certification of their Mackerel fisheries.

The sad fact is that the fishing industry has been here before, when a lack of international agreement on blue whiting led to a free for all and the decimation of that stock. A situation where there is no international agreement on how much each country is entitled to fish is quite simply a disaster for everyone.

It is not just the pelagic fleet which will be affected by the ongoing reckless behaviour of Iceland and the Faroes. As long as there is no agreement in place, parts of the whitefish fleet that fish in Faroese waters will be denied access to those fishing grounds. It is another obstacle which the fishing industry can ill afford.

What makes the behaviour of Iceland in particular all the more extraordinary is that it is a country which is currently seeking to join the European Union. How it expects to operate in an organisation which is based on reaching international agreements, when it is not even prepared to negotiate seriously on this issue is simply baffling.

The EU has responded robustly so far by banning the landing of Mackerel by Icelandic vessels in EU ports. However, that can by no means be the end of the pressure that the EU should be prepared to bring to bear and more meaningful sanctions against Iceland and the Faroes should follow. A successful resolution to the dispute should also be an absolute prerequisite before any discussion on accession to the EU for Iceland can take place.

The ongoing crisis in Mackerel fishing will not be resolved in any way other than through around the negotiating table. However, until Iceland and the Faroes are prepared to seriously negotiate, the SNP will continue to press for tough and sustained action from Europe in order to protect what is arguably our most successful, sustainable fishing fleet from these unacceptable smash and grab tactics.

A vision for Scotland

2011-03-22T17:00:00.002Z

Ask any SNP activist and they will tell you that one of the highlights of their calendar are the two points in the year when the party gets together at our party conference. They are opportunities to catch up with old friends from across Scotland, to discuss and debate party policy, and to hear speakers set out their vision for the future of Scotland.

However, particularly in a run up to an election, they are a time when the party makes key policy announcements that are of importance to people across Scotland. These are developments that are not just of interest to party members, but which set the direction of government for people all across Scotland. Our recently completed campaign conference in Glasgow was no exception to this. The last time the SNP met in that city was in 2007 in the run up to the last Scottish election, where we set out our positive vision for Scotland and we have aimed to repeat that in 2011 ahead of the coming Holyrood elections in May.

Over the last four years the SNP has seen 330 schools across Scotland built or refurbished, reducing the number of pupils in schools in ‘poor’ or ‘bad’ condition from 256,794 in 2007 to 119,188 this year. That is a substantial reduction of 53% but clearly there is still a lot more to do which is why we have made the pledge that a returned SNP Government will halve that number again over our next term in office. New buildings alone do not guarantee good educational results, but they do create an environment that helps pupils want to learn.

That commitment to education is a significant one, but just as important to many people is how the SNP will continue to fund higher education, particularly given how spectacularly students south of the border have been sold out since the Westminster election. One of the proudest achievements of the SNP Government was the abolition of the graduate endowment; the backdoor tuition fee which undermined the principle that education should be based on ability to learn not the ability to pay. That principle still guides our intentions and despite the funding cuts that are being handed down by Westminster, the SNP Government will not permit the introduction of tuition fees in Scotland either up front or by the back door.

In areas like Banff & Buchan, the provision of college places and apprenticeships are critical. They help young people enter the industries that are such an important part of the area, such as the oil & gas sector or the fishing industry. That is why our commitments to provide a record 25,000 modern apprenticeship places, 1,200 additional college places and increased funding for college bursaries were all reiterated and will all form an important part of our priorities for a second term of government.

On these and so many other issues I am proud of our record over the last four years, but equally excited about the vision we still have for improving Scotland further. These are extraordinarily tough times, given the massive cuts that are being imposed on Scotland by the priorities of the Westminster government. Yet despite that we are providing a positive message of what the SNP can still deliver. As the parliament dissolves and the election campaigning steps up into top gear, I am looking forward to meeting as many people as possible across the length and breadth of the constituency and explaining how the SNP wants to build on what we have already achieved.

Abolishing prescription charges

2011-03-08T17:00:00.002Z

There can be few people anywhere in the country who have not had experienced the National Health Service in operation, whether receiving treatment personally or knowing a loved one who has been helped. The NHS holds a special place in the hearts of many people, and in no small part this is down to the incredible work that the many nurses, doctors, health professionals and everyone else in the NHS do on our behalf.

However, that special significance of the NHS also comes from the principle that it represents. That everybody should be able to access medical treatment free at the point of access, because nobody chooses to require medical assistance and it is therefore wrong for personal wealth to determine whether or not you can access that help. It is a principle that we can all be proud of and it is one that is as relevant today as it was when it was first introduced.

The SNP are firm believers in the importance of the NHS and the principles underlying it, which is why we have take then decision to increase the health budget for next year despite the massive cuts that are being handed down to Scotland’s budget from Westminster. It is also why we moved ahead to complete our fulfilment of the promise we made at the last election to abolish prescription charges.

When prescription charges were introduced, they were a backwards step that moved away from the fundamental principle underlying the NHS. They were a tax on ill health which charged people for receiving medical treatment. Thousands of people on modest incomes have been hit financially and have had to face the choice of whether to pay for their treatment and have less money for other things or to forego that medical treatment to make sure they can pay their household bills. Prescription charges were wrong when they were introduced and they remain wrong today.

In the 2007 election, the SNP promised to lower prescription charges year on year before their total abolition. Those reductions have taken place and it is a promise which we have now completely fulfilled. A successful vote in the Scottish Parliament’s health committee recently was the final step that needed to be taken, and prescription charges will now be totally abolished from April 1st.

It is another manifesto commitment that the SNP is proud to have been able to deliver. That these are difficult times financially is not in question, but the principle that we as a society should provide healthcare to everyone who needs it is an important one. Without prescription charges, many people will now have more money in their pocket and I am delighted that their abolition is imminent.

Our own voice

It is a source of constant frustration that Scotland is denied the opportunity to stand up for our own interests in Europe on a regular basis. That is never more the case than when it comes to fishing.

Recent days saw a critical negotiation take place in Brussels on finding a solution to the problem of discards, yet as each member state was only allowed one representative Scotland was excluded from the discussion. Land locked states with no coastline, let alone any interest in fishing, were able to take part, while Scotland had to rely on the UK to hopefully make our case.

It is a situation which time and time again damages Scotland’s interests but which will only end when Scotland is independent. We need our own voice in international discussions as a matter of urgency.

Boosting Scotland’s recovery

2011-02-22T17:00:00.001Z

Anyone in politics who is able to remember Norman Lamont’s ill judged claims that he could see the green shoots of economic recovery has a natural wariness of making similar claims. When times are hard economically, the last thing that struggling households want to hear is that their government does not understand how difficult their situation is.

It is an unfortunate certainty that for many people times will remain tough, with interest rates having reached 4%, double the 2% target. This means the price of everything we buy will rise and as incomes will not, almost every household’s purchasing power will be reduced as a result.

However, despite the enormous challenges that remain ahead of us, there is some comfort that can be drawn from recently released employment figures in Scotland. In the last quarter, unemployment in Scotland fell by 13,000 while employment rose by 23,000 – the seventh consecutive reported rise. Contrast this to the figures for the UK as a whole which are moving in the opposite direction with unemployment rising by 44,000 and employment falling by 68,000.

The employment rate in Scotland is now 71.1% compared to 70.5% for the UK as a whole. The figures show that Scotland was the only UK nation with rising employment and falling unemployment over the quarter, and this trend in the statistics is no accident.

The Scottish Government has been working hard since the start of the economic crisis to secure the recovery in Scotland, by putting in place a robust and comprehensive Economic Recovery Plan to support jobs and training. The employment figures show that this action is paying off and the budget which was just passed in Holyrood will go ever further with this approach.

The SNP Government has committed to creating a record 25,000 modern apprenticeships in the next financial year, which will provide real help for young people - who are amongst those currently struggling the most - to increase their skills and make it into work. The budget also contains more support for Scotland’s small business community, with funds to help them take on a member of staff and create valuable employment opportunities.

There is still a long and difficult road ahead of us as Scotland’s economic recovery continues, but the Scottish Government is demonstrating its effectiveness in tackling the problems it has power to address. Even as budgets are squeezed as never before, I know that the SNP Government will not let up in its determination to further improve Scotland’s economy and help support hard pressed families across the country.

Progress on discards

I have written many times about the efforts of Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry to lead innovation across Scotland in fishing both sustainably and profitably. One such measure which was successfully trialled last year was the catch quota scheme, which allowed the 17 vessels taking part to catch less, but land everything they catch. The amount of cod skippers can land increases, while discards are reduced.

This scheme has now been expanded to 26 vessels following negotiations in Europe by the Scottish Government. This is a welcome step forward, although given that 58 skippers or around half the whitefish fleet applied to take part, it is disappointing that other countries blocked greater expansion in the scheme.

Although it will undoubtedly be disappointing for those vessels not able to take part, the expanded scheme does present a real opportunity for Scotland to demonstrate once again it can lead the way and strengthen the case for responsibility for fisheries to be managed on a regional basis.

Setting Scotland’s Budget

2011-02-08T17:00:00.001Z

There can be no doubt that one of the most important points in the annual parliamentary calendar is when the Scottish Government’s budget is set. More than at any other time, it demonstrates just how reliant the Scottish Government is on securing the support of other parties when the SNP wish to pass legislation. As a minority government with no overall majority and just one seat more than the next biggest party, getting a budget passed is an extremely challenging process.

In 2007 when the SNP took office, many commentators predicted that our first budget would prove to be an insurmountable obstacle and the Government would fall. Yet we now find ourselves approaching the end of our first four year term and setting our last budget of this parliament.

That budget is undoubtedly more challenging than any other since devolution began. Without control over our own finances, Scotland has been handed a £1.3 billion cut to our budget and that will inevitably have a real impact. The challenge before us is to ensure that the reduction is managed wisely and money is allocated in the most effective way possible.

The SNP has recognised that there is a social contract which exists between people and Government and that when times are tough, ordinary people should not pay the price through massive tax rises or savage cuts to the services they rely on.

That is why the Scottish Government has made clear its determination to fund the council tax freeze, which has already saved substantial sums for people the length and breadth of Scotland. To protect the National Health Service, which will actually see its funding increase despite the financial pressures we face, because of the extraordinarily important work that it does. And to maintain the 1,000 additional police officers that have been recruited under the current Scottish Government and who have helped bring levels of crime in Scotland to a 32 year low.

I believe that the Scottish Government has made the right choices in its budget, particularly for the North East given that it contains funding for the AWPR and recently announced upgrades to the A90. I believe that it makes the right choices for Scotland in these difficult times and that opposition parties should give it their backing. More than anything else, however, they should resist the temptation of uncosted spending demands and blind opposition that has all too often characterised their approach in the past.

Repairing our roads

The severe winter conditions we have experienced in recent weeks have been difficult for many people. Yet with the snows having cleared, at least for now, one of the big challenges the conditions have left behind is the state that many roads have been left in.

Potholes are an inevitable consequence of freezing conditions and it is a regular battle to repair them as quickly as possible. Having seen some of the worst conditions in living memory, the Scottish Government has taken the welcome decision to provide an additional £15 million towards road maintenance. Although it is local councils who are responsible for maintaining local roads, the extraordinary circumstances we have faced make this the right decision.

Aberdeenshire will receive an additional £1,336,000 as part of this funding, a welcome recognition that the area faces one of the biggest challenges to maintain roads at this time of year. Although the amount of repairs and maintenance necessary will take time to complete, I know that there are a large number of people working hard to deliver and that this extra funding will undoubtedly help.

Making Scotland a global player

2011-01-25T17:00:00.000Z

People in Scotland have always taken an immense amount of pride in the influence that Scotland has had in shaping the modern world and the innovations that Scottish pioneers have made. Advances such as logarithms and the television, penicillin and Radar to name but a few have transformed the world and can trace their roots to these shores.

These historic achievements are rightly given great importance by people in Scotland, but just as important for Scotland’s future must be the innovations that are still to come. The Scottish economy, like that of any developed country, relies on people creating technological and scientific advances which can then form the basis of commercial success. And it is in the renewable energy sector, perhaps more than any other, which Scotland has the potential to be a world leader with all the jobs and economic benefits that brings with it.

With 25% of Europe’s offshore wind and tidal energy potential and 10% of Europe’s wave energy potential, the quantity of clean, green energy that Scotland could produce is immense. Yet just as important economically, is the potential to export technology and expertise that being a world leader in the field allows.

That is why it was so heartening to see that Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang chose to start his recent visit to the UK in Scotland, where he attended a presentation on Scotland’s developing offshore renewables technology and visited Pelamis Wave Power in Edinburgh. A number of highly lucrative trade agreements were signed during the visit, but more than anything else it was a clear demonstration of Scotland’s role as a world leader in offshore renewables technology.

Much of the credit for the visit must go to the First Minister thanks to the delegations he has led to China, seeking to encourage greater business and cultural ties between China and Scotland. The potential that the Chinese and other international markets offer to Scottish businesses that are at the forefront of new developments is immense, and in the current economic climate it is more important than ever that this potential is realised.

These opportunities are important not just for Scotland as a whole, but specifically for Banff & Buchan. With Peterhead having been designated as a key hub for the developing offshore renewables industry, there is real potential for the local economy to benefit from future trade deals. Just as the oil & gas industry has seen expertise built up in Scotland exported around the world, there is the real possibility for Scotland’s offshore renewables industry to follow suit in time.

That, perhaps even more than the welcome gift of a breeding pair of pandas to Edinburgh Zoo, could be the real legacy of Vice-Premier Li Keqiang’s visit.

New opportunities

With the Parliament now back from its Christmas break, I am adjusting to the new challenges and opportunities that life on the backbenches offers. In particular, I am now a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee and the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee.

With Banff & Buchan’s strong fishing and farming interests, the Rural Affairs committee in particular will give me a welcome chance to be involved in matters of key importance to many of the communities I represent. While it may only be a matter of weeks until Holyrood dissolves for the coming election, I fully intend to make the most of this new opportunity and continue to speak up strongly for the fishing industry, farmers and the rural economy in Banff & Buchan in the time that remains.

The year’s end

2011-01-04T17:00:00.002Z

As is becoming customary when the year draws to an end, it seems a good time to cast an eye back over the highs and lows of 2010 and to look ahead to what lies in store next year.

Without any doubt the biggest issue that has faced Scotland is the need to cope with the cuts that have been caused as a result of spending decisions in Westminster. These have been on a scale never before seen in Scotland and have been far more severe than was previously anticipated. With next to no control over the financial levers, the Scottish Government has no option but to find a way to make the cuts handed down to us. More than anything else, this situation has underlined the stark need for Scotland to gain the financial powers it needs to determine which services are essential and to find the most appropriate way to pay for them, rather than picking up the pieces after Westminster wields the axe. It is an issue that is more pressing than ever and will no doubt be one of the key issues in the coming Scottish Parliament elections.

One of the most significant pieces of legislation that was debated in Holyrood this year was without doubt the Alcohol bill. However, in many ways its significance lies with the measures that were removed from it rather than the legislation as it was eventually passed. The much publicised minimum price per unit for alcohol sales was called for by doctors, police officers, the licensed trade, and even Tesco and Tennants. It would have made a significant impact on Scotland’s damaging relationship with alcohol, which costs the Scottish economy £2.25 billion every year. Yet as a result of political manoeuvring, it was stripped out of the bill by opposition parties. I continue to believe that this was a grave mistake and it was a bitterly disappointing outcome for the many campaigners who had sought to improve Scotland’s health.

This year also saw the passage of the Housing Bill which brought an end to the right to buy for new council tenants. Without doubt the most common issues MSPs deal with is constituents having problems with council housing thanks to the chronic shortage that exists in Scotland. With new council houses being quickly sold at a discount, councils simply stopped building. The legislation that was passed will not affect the rights of existing tenants, but already we are seeing a new generation of council homes under construction in stark contrast to the mere 4 that the previous administration managed to build.

With the Holyrood election taking place in May, people across Scotland can expect that to dominate much of early 2011. The first ever term of SNP Government will come to an end and we will go to the people of Scotland to stand on our record and seek a mandate for a second term. I believe our record has been a strong one and I am looking forward to the contest ahead.

The end to the year and the fallout from the unprecedented amount of snow we have experienced would certainly not rank amongst the highlights of my year. Yet I have been deeply touched by the many messages of sympathy and support I have received and will be kept busy over the festive break responding to them.

Finally, let me take this chance to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. I hope that 2011 proves to be a good year for everyone in Banff & Buchan.

Difficult conditions

2010-12-21T17:00:00.001Z

I don’t think many people will have failed to notice that the weather has been rather inclement. Or as a senior police officer at Strathclyde said; “unprecedented”. There is a ready debate as to whether it has been the worst weather since 1993 or since 1963, but no debate that it has been bad.

That has meant that my investment in a 4x4 in spring this year has definitely paid off. With the help of a neighbouring farmer my wife was able to open up our track down to the house and communication with the outside world restored – albeit with care.

For those of us who live in a rural setting a degree of self-sufficiency and mutual aid is a normal way of life. As yet, the snow fall at home – about 2 feet – is well short of last winter. But many of our old folk have needed a helping hand and I’ve been heartened to see many people doing just that – keeping an eye out, clearing the path, doing the messages.

As a Minister – or as you will now all know, former Minister – in the Government, the weather has been a pretty full-time pre-occupation. I have attended 15 meetings of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Resilience to discuss the bad weather in the last few weeks and many other meetings forbye. I have also worked with three UK Ministers to co-ordinate action – in particular to get relaxation of drivers’ hours restrictions.

But back to that word “unprecedented”.

On Sunday when we received the forecast at 4 p.m., it said there would be snow in the central belt of Scotland – 2 to 5 centimetres generally, up to 10 cm on the hills.

We sent out the gritters to prepare. And indeed they went out many times overnight.

Later in the evening the forecast was updated but the necessary preparations indicated by that forecast remained the same – and continued.

At 8 a.m. on Monday morning there was still no suggestion that the depth of snow fall would be of the 20 cm depth that areas in the central belt – definitely not “on hills” – actually received.

But at 10:41 a.m. the first confirmation that the snowfall was much greater than expected came in. Too late to pre-emptively close our main roads and prevent an almighty snarl up. Indeed so unexpected, so unforecast, was the snowfall that BBC reporters were going out on routine assignments with no expectation of such a fall. The same BBC that later complained that the Government had not been listening to their forecasts.

But don’t let’s kick the forecasters too hard. It is not an exact science and cannot be. It is a statistically, a mathematically, derived prediction with inbuilt margins of error. Too often by the time it reaches your TV it assumed an entirely false sense of absolute certainty that cannot be true.

Now there are many lessons we can all learn, particularly regarding communication. People who have been caught up in such conditions want to know what is being done to help them and just as importantly, what will be done to improve future responses to extreme weather. It is an area where I believe I could have done better and that is why I offered the First Minister my resignation on Thursday evening.

While I am saddened to have left the Scottish Government, I am immensely proud to have had the opportunity to serve as a minister in the first ever SNP Government. I am now looking forward to a bit more time in the North East and bit less time with the BBC.

Parliament at its best

2010-12-07T17:00:00.003Z

This week saw the Scottish Parliament discuss one of the most contentious pieces of legislation to have come before it since devolution began. Margo MacDonald’s End of Life Assistance Bill, which proposed the legalisation of assisted suicide, has seen widespread activity amongst both supporters and opponents of the measures over the course of this parliamentary term. The passionate arguments over the issue culminated in the Stage 1 debate on the bill last week, an example of parliament working at its best.

That this a difficult issue should go without saying and every single MSP in the parliament has received a huge volume of correspondence from constituents arguing both for and against the legislation. With every member having been given a free vote on the issue, each MSP was left to examine their own conscience in reaching their conclusions.

Absent from the debate was any form of partisan or personal attacks and instead we saw speaker after speaker from all parties make impassioned but well reasoned arguments in favour of the conclusions they had reached. Each member was forced to study their conscience and consider the moral and philosophical implications of the way they would cast their vote. It was perhaps politicians acting in the way that members of the public so often hope they will but which political differences often make difficult.

For my own part, I did not feel able to support the legalisation of assisted suicide. The Hippocratic Oath which has governed the behaviour of doctors for centuries explicitly states that: ‘I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; … But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.’

I do not believe it would be right to fundamentally change the relationship between doctors and their patients by asking them to administer death, even for the best of intentions. To do so would undermine a healthcare relationship that has been fundamental to society since the ancient Greeks and would represent an extremely worrying change in the role of the medical profession.

Other MSPs reached their own conclusions by varying paths and at the end of the debate the legislation was voted down. This will come as welcome news to some and a great disappointment to others. Yet regardless of what position one holds on the issue, I believe people should be able to take pride in the way the debate was conducted in such a mature and responsible manner.

Negotiating priorities

The same day in Parliament also saw the annual debate on fisheries negotiations take place, where the negotiating priorities of the Scottish Government are discussed. Scotland is of course hindered in achieving such priorities by the fact that despite being home to 70% of the UK’s fishing fleet, it cannot speak with its own voice but must first convince the UK Government of our position and hope they will argue effectively on our behalf.

That said, a key priority in these negotiations is to secure EU support for the wider roll out of catch-quotas, where instead of limiting what can be landed fishing vessels are allowed to catch less but land more. This rewards skippers for greater conservation and also helps to end the heartbreaking sight of perfectly good fish being discarded. Scotland has shown the way in developing this practice and now it is time for full EU backing.

Budgeting for difficult times

2010-11-23T17:00:00.001Z

In these difficult economic times, many families have faced the challenge of restructuring their household budgets to cope with a reduction in finances. Difficult choices must be faced up to and sacrifices made to make sure that money is available for essential things.

In many ways, the process of setting the Scottish Budget for next year has been similar in nature. Faced with a budget that will fall by £1.3 billion in cash terms next year - or £1.8 billion in real terms - as a result of Westminster’s spending decisions, hard decisions have had to be made.

Without the full fiscal powers of a normal independent country, the Scottish Government has no choice but to accept the reduced finances handed to it and budget accordingly. Where other Governments can borrow, alter the full range of taxes used in their territory and balance their economy to meet their needs, Scotland is forced to confront these spending cuts with one hand tied behind its back.

Yet despite this, the SNP Government has faced up to the difficult choices it has had to make and produced a budget that puts the priorities of people across Scotland first. The Scottish Government recognises there is a social contract with people in Scotland who are enduring difficult financial times, and we are determined to do what we can to assist them.

Funding has been put in place for local authorities to continue to deliver a freeze in the council tax, ensuring that family incomes are not put under further pressure as a result of increased taxation. The abolition of prescription charges will go ahead in April as planned, ending the unfair tax on ill health and reaffirming the principle that the NHS should be free at the point of delivery. Additionally, the Scottish Government will work with local councils to ensure the provision of free personal care for the elderly continues.

These decisions are positive and I believe are the right ones, despite these difficult times. However, we have no choice but to cut Government expenditure and as a result the decision has also been taken that public sector pay should be frozen at current levels for everyone earning over £21,000 in order to protect jobs and try to ensure that no compulsory redundancies are necessary. Furthermore Scottish Government departments and agencies will be asked to find significant savings in order to balance the budget.

Yet what is key from this budget is the need to ensure that economic growth in Scotland continues. With the limited financial powers the Scottish Government has, infrastructure spending is perhaps the key way in which the Scottish Government can boost the economy and encourage that growth. That is why the decision was taken to transfer £100 million from revenue to capital expenditure and ensure that key projects go ahead.

This will be particularly welcome for people in Banff & Buchan given that both the AWPR and a replacement prison in Peterhead will proceed as a result of decisions made in this budget. This is good news for people in the area and acts as a further demonstration that the SNP Government understands the needs of the North East.

These are difficult times and as a result this budget has forced difficult choices on the Scottish Government. Yet within the scope available to us, I believe the right decisions have been taken to encourage economic growth and maintain the social contract that exists between this Government and hard pressed households across Scotland. This is a sensible budget for the circumstances we face.

Investing in our future

2010-11-09T17:00:00.000Z

The economic potential that exists off Scotland’s shores thanks to the renewables industry is something that I have written about in several previous columns. The scale of the resources that can be harnessed make it a compelling topic and one with real opportunities for people in Banff & Buchan.

The offshore renewables industry will require significant infrastructure to support it and it is ports like Peterhead which are set to benefit from the manufacturing and maintenance businesses that will be created. Some months ago, the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan identified Peterhead as one of 11 key sites for Scotland’s offshore renewables future and highlighted both the investment needed and the potential economic returns for Scotland.

That investment came closer recently with an announcement from the First Minister that a £70 million fund would be opened for applications from ports seeking to develop infrastructure necessary for the renewables industry. This fund compares with a similar scheme in England and Wales which totals just £60 million. That extra investment for Scotland is intended to give us a competitive advantage and underlines our commitment to the future of this industry.

There are still significant barriers that must be overcome before we can achieve our potential in this area, not least of which is the UK’s transmission charging system which unfairly penalises electricity generators in Scotland. The case for change is overwhelming if the UK Government is serious about meeting its climate change obligations and further obstruction would be inexcusable.

The UK Government should also end its obstruction on Scotland accessing the £191 million Fossil Fuel Levy which is currently idling in a Treasury bank account. This is money which by law can only be spent on renewables projects in Scotland, but which Treasury rules block the Scottish Government from accessing without penalty. Rather than attempting to con Scotland out of this cash as they recently tried, the UK Government should accept that it should be put to work investing in our future and release the money to help grow Scotland’s renewables sector.

Ending the wait for new homes

Recent days have seen the completion of the final stages of the Housing (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament, a measure which will be of enormous significance to many people across Scotland. The new legislation brings an end to the right-to-buy council homes for new tenants and will help to increase the availability of social housing.

One of the most common issues that constituents bring to all MSPs is the problems they face with the waiting lists for council homes. With the right-to-buy meaning that people are able to snap up new council homes, there is little incentive for local authorities to construct new properties.

This has led to poor conditions and massive waiting lists, a situation that was certainly not helped by the fact that the previous administration only oversaw the construction of 6 council homes across the whole of Scotland during its last four year term. The SNP Government has invested a significant amount of money in sparking a new generation of council house construction, but the end of the right-to-buy for new tenants will be the real catalyst for change.

Although the rights of existing tenants to purchase their property will be unaffected by the measure, it will untie the hands of local authorities and let them address the chronic availability problems that have been allowed to build up. In time it will make a real difference to people who are stuck on interminable waiting lists, and is a positive step for Scotland.

Westminster’s axe hits home

2010-10-26T17:00:00.001+01:00

The months leading up to now have been filled with nervous anticipation for people who work in the public sector, or rely upon public services. Everybody has known that cuts have been coming as the chancellor wields his axe with abandon, but until the publication of the Comprehensive Spending Review, nobody has been sure quite how severe they would be.

Unfortunately, it seems our worst fears have come true and Scotland is set to see its budget slashed even more severely than was anticipated. Although initial Treasury soundbites claimed that Scotland had gotten off lightly from the cuts, the devil –as always- is in the detail. Those details revealed that far from the £900m total that the Treasury suggested, Scotland’s budget from this year to the next will reduce by £1.8bn in real terms, a fall of 6.3% in a single year.

As part of that Scotland’s capital budget will reduce by £800m, a reduction of 25% in a single year. Yet capital spending is possibly the biggest driver of economic growth that the Scottish Government can control. Recent figures show that in the last quarter Scotland’s GDP increased by 1.3%, the biggest rise in four years, as a direct result of the SNP Government’s decision to accelerate capital expenditure to support the construction industry. The scale of these cuts to the capital budget alone puts 12,000 jobs at risk and is a deeply worrying development.

Scotland’s revenue budget, meanwhile, will fall by £1bn from this year to the next. This is the money that goes on day to day services and its reduction will be keenly felt across Scotland. These cuts go too far, too fast and smack more of ideological opportunism than sensible policy. Scotland’s future growth will be put in danger by the speed and scale of Westminster’s cuts and we face challenging times ahead as a result.

In the next few weeks, the Scottish Government will publish its budget for next year now that we finally know the level of resources that will be available. There will inevitably be extremely difficult decisions ahead in order to balance the books and we will again be hampered by trying to deal with the effects of the downturn with one hand effectively tied behind our backs.

If Scotland had the full economic powers of a normal independent country, we would not have been left in a position waiting to see how much less of our own money would be returned from Westminster to us. We would have been able to find the correct balance of cuts and investment that is appropriate for the Scottish economy, in order to drive growth and protect services while managing the deficit. Until Scotland has those powers, however, the Scottish Government has no choice but to administer the level of cuts being imposed on us.

There are enormous savings that must be found across departments, but the SNP Government is committed to protecting the front line services which we rely on as much as possible.

Indefensible cuts

Recent days have also seen the publication of another UK Government review which will have a disproportionate impact on Scotland. The Strategic Defence and Security Review has put the future of RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth in Moray in extreme jeopardy. Having myself made a submission to this review calling for those bases to be retained, this development is extremely disappointing.

The local economy heavily relies on these bases and will be hit hard should they close. Scotland already sees a geographic underspend of defence funding, and this review will only make this disparity worse.

Internal democracy

2010-10-12T17:00:00.001+01:00

As sure as night follows day, in the political world conference season follows on from the summer months. For each party, their conference is an opportunity for several days of activity and publicity, as party members gather together to discuss the issues facing the country and the solutions they would like to see.

However, while they might seem superficially similar, different parties use their conferences in different ways. Labour used its conference this year to reveal that thanks to their convoluted voting system, Ed Miliband had emerged as leader despite the greater proportion of party members and MPs wanting his brother.

For the SNP, our party conference is an important chance for ordinary members to shape the policies of the party. When delegates of what is now the largest party in Scotland meet in Perth from the 14th of October onwards, we will see four days of debate and discussion. Each decision is made on a democratic basis and has a real impact on the direction of the SNP. For other parties, the idea of such internal democracy in policy making is completely alien.

That is not to say that policy has no place at their conferences, but it is top-down in nature and not nearly as open to debate. The recent announcement that the Tories plan to build high speed railways from London to Manchester and Leeds, but no further north, is one such policy announcement which could have benefitted from greater debate.

All the studies that have been conducted into the benefits of high speed rail have conclusively stated that the maximum return on investment can only come when high speed rail links Scotland to London. To leave Scotland unconnected in its plans for the new network is a betrayal of Scots and a clear sign of where the party’s priorities lie. For residents of Banff & Buchan, who face massive journey times should they wish to travel to London, a high speed rail network which only goes as far as Leeds is next to useless, given that savings in journey times will inevitably be largely negated by the need to change train repeatedly.

For Scotland to be treated as some backward branch line is unacceptable, and is a real snub for people in Scotland. It is also the Tories in Scotland which have provided that other occasional feature of the publicity which accompanies party conferences: the embarrassing gaffe.

This year has seen two in quick succession from Conservative candidates for 2011’s Scottish Parliament election, with one apparently branding Scots as “thick” and another describing carers as “the great unwashed”. Quite what possessed them to make either of these comments is beyond me, but it is perhaps a worrying insight into the minds of people the Conservatives are deeming suitable to be MSPs.

For the SNP when it comes to selecting our MSPs, democracy rules the day again. Both for constituencies and regional lists, candidates are democratically elected by a ballot of all party members in the relevant areas. This commitment to a clear and transparent system of internal democracy is a constitutional hallmark of the SNP. I believe it is something that all members can be proud of and it stands us in good stead when tough decisions have to be made.

The SNP has selected what I believe are a strong team of candidates to fight next year’s important Scottish Parliament election across the length and breadth of Scotland. These are vital elections, but I know that I and my party colleagues are looking forward to the campaign ahead.

A step backwards

2010-09-28T17:00:00.002+01:00

For as long as the UK has been in existence, Scotland has maintained its own systems of law and education, and in more modern times its own health service, amongst other aspects of Scottish life. Much of this stems from the Church of Scotland having remained fully separate from the Church of England in the days when it provided much of what the state now does. Yet it has also historically maintained its own control of another area which is often overlooked, and that is the charity sector.

As a result of the distinct nature of Scots Law and the different historic religious landscape north of the border, charity regulation in Scotland has been different in nature from that south of the border. This was formalised by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in 2005 and there is a stronger line on the required public benefits that an organisation must perform to be considered a charity in Scotland.

Yet that historic situation has been put under threat by a bizarre part of the proposed changes to Scotland’s devolved powers contained within the Calman Commission’s report. One of its measures calls for charity regulation to be taken out of Scottish hands and given to Westminster. When the majority of opinion in Scotland favours greater powers for the Scottish Parliament, such a retrograde step is difficult to understand.

This has caused significant disquiet in Scotland’s charity sector, which rightly recognises the need for different regulation in Scotland as a result of the distinctiveness of Scots Law. The Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations, which represents the majority of Scotland’s 45,000 charities, has called the proposals a muddle and rightly questions why the submissions of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland and a single independent academic appear to have carried more weight than that of the SCVO and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

These are not just abstract legal concepts, but have real potential to hinder the activities of charities in Scotland. Housing Co-operatives have been held back in the rest of the UK by a lack of a clear framework and lack of UK Government support, but in Scotland they have been allowed to register as charities. They are delivering affordable housing across the country and have the potential to do even more in coming years. Yet all that would be severely put at risk if UK was to take control of charity regulation.

There is no support for these proposals amongst the people who will be affected the most and sending some of the powers that Scotland already has to London flies in the face of public opinion. The London based parties that are currently working on implementing the Calman Commission’s recommendations should distance themselves from these proposals and accept that what the Scottish Parliament needs is more powers, not fewer.

With more powers, the Scottish Government can do more to encourage growth in the Scottish economy. With our hands on the economic levers, Scotland would have a flexibility when it comes to tackling budget cuts that we simply do not have at present. While we must currently wait to find out exactly how much less money will be returned to the Scottish Government to spend, with real economic powers we would be able to make the balance of investment and cuts that will best secure recovery in Scotland.

The incredible work that is done by so many dedicated voluntary staff across Scotland should not be jeopardised by short sighted Calman Commission recommendations and responsibility for charity regulation must remain in Scotland.

Safety in numbers

2010-09-14T17:00:00.002+01:00

It is often said that you can prove anything with statistics and indeed it is certainly prudent for people to look more closely when they are presented with claims about what figures show. Yet there are times when statistics do tell a clear and unambiguous story about the state of the country, be it positive or negative.

The recent publication of two sets of figures is one such example, which paints a striking picture of how our communities have become safer places to live in recent years. In the run up to the 2007 election, the SNP promised to put an additional 1,000 police officers on the beat, providing a more visible police presence and deterring crime in neighbourhoods across Scotland. The latest figures show that since we took office there are now 1,190 additional officers across Scotland, 183 of whom are operating in the Grampian area.

It is a manifesto commitment that I am proud the Scottish Government has successfully delivered and the tangible effects of it can be seen by another set of statistics, published on the same day, which show crime in Scotland has fallen to its lowest level in 32 years. In Aberdeenshire reported crime has fallen by 23% since the SNP took office, falling from 10,527 cases in 2006/07 to 8,088 in 2009/10.

This is testament to the incredible work that Grampian Police does to make our streets safer for everybody and the scale of the reduction in crime is exceptional. While it would be simplistic to make a simple correlation between police numbers going up and crime rates falling, it seems fair to say that giving the police the resources and manpower they need to tackle crime has played an important part in this success.

The challenge we face now is what will happen as Westminster imposed cuts continue to bite with ever increasing severity in Scotland. As a result of Holyrood’s lack of financial powers, the Scottish Government will not know its budget until the Treasury’s Spending Review in October, but the fact that cuts on a scale we have not seen before are coming is undeniable.

There will be unprecedented challenges ahead as all parts of the public sector try to find ways of balancing the books while continuing to deliver the services we rely on. Ensuring that the progress that has been made in recent years in areas such as policing is not undone by budget cuts will not be an easy task, but it is something that must be faced up to. The Scottish Government will be making every effort to protect frontline services as these difficult cuts hit home.

Claiming what is entitled

It is sadly often the case that when times are tough, it is older people who find coping financially the biggest struggle. It is vital that when people are entitled to financial support, they are made aware of it and are helped to claim it. Some people can believe there is a stigma attached to such support and not claim it as a result, but this is money that they deserve and helps nobody by remaining unclaimed.

It is estimated that every year as much as £5.4 billion of benefits goes unclaimed by older people in the UK, which is why the Scottish Government has been working to ensure this situation changes. So far more than £4 million has been added to the incomes of Scottish pensioners as a result and I would encourage people in Banff & Buchan to check and claim what they are entitled to.

Standing together against irresponsible actions

2010-08-31T17:00:00.003+01:00

When it comes to fishing, you will be hard pressed to find anyone with a positive thing to say about the approach of the European Union. The Common Fisheries Policy has been an abject failure, driving people out of business and doing little to conserve fish stocks. Yet the fishing industry now finds itself in a situation which requires a strong and concerted EU wide response.

The decision by Iceland and the Faroe Islands to unilaterally award themselves a massive increase in Mackerel quotas is as irresponsible as it is utterly unacceptable. As other fisheries have declined, Mackerel landings have risen to become a vital fish stock in Scotland, worth an estimated £135 million in 2009. Just as important as the value, however, is that great efforts have been made to achieve Scotland’s status as the first large-scale Mackerel fishery in Europe to be accredited by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Both of these things are threatened by the actions of Iceland and the Faroe Islands. By taking the decision to massively increase their quotas, they have engaged in beggar-thy-neighbour practices which are understandably causing fury amongst skippers in Banff & Buchan.

The sustainable fishing techniques required to achieve Marine Stewardship Council accreditation are not something that has fallen into the Scottish industry’s lap, but are the result of strenuous and deliberate effort on their part. Yet their good work is now threatened by the decision to ignore international agreements.

Such an approach could scarcely be in greater contrast to that of Norway, which agreed a ten-year deal on Mackerel management and shares with the EU in January this year. They are understandably just as angered by the actions of Iceland and the Faroe Islands as the industry in Scotland, and have already taken the decision to ban fish processors there from receiving Mackerel from Icelandic or Faroese vessels.

Clearly the current situation cannot continue and all parties need to get round the negotiating table to agree a sustainable level of quotas as quickly as possible. However, in the meantime the EU must make it clear that this kind of behaviour is utterly unacceptable and take a strong and unified approach.

So far the EU is treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves, and the Scottish Government will keep pushing to ensure this continues. It may not come close to redeeming itself for the failings of the CFP, but at least the EU can take a step in the right direction by standing up for the Scottish fishing industry in the face of this challenge.

Remembering fallen rescuers

I recently had the privilege of attending the unveiling of the new RNLI memorial statue in Fraserburgh, which commemorates the lifeboatmen over the years who lost their lives as they attempted to rescue others.

Since the organisation’s inception in 1824, the RNLI has time and time again seen brave volunteers risk life and limb to rescue countless numbers of people who have found themselves in trouble off our coasts. Given the maritime heritage of many part of Banff & Buchan, you would be hard pressed to find a part of the country that is more familiar with the risks that the RNLI have taken on peoples’ behalf or more appreciative of their continuing efforts.

It is perhaps therefore unsurprising that the fundraising appeal for the memorial statue found itself over-subscribed to the tune of £18,000, such was peoples’ determination to remember those who have given up their lives to rescue others and applaud those who continue to put themselves in harm's way.

Empowering rural communities

2010-08-17T17:00:00.004+01:00

The summer months have particular significance for rural communities across Scotland, bringing as they do the annual agricultural shows. In the North East there are the hugely successful Turriff and Keith shows, both of which I was fortunate enough to be able to attend, which bring together people from across the region. I know that many people from Banff & Buchan will have taken the chance to enjoy themselves at these events and they are firm fixtures on the local calendar.

These are important events not just for farmers, but for the many people who travel to these shows. They are certainly significant in economic terms, but just as significantly they help to foster a greater understanding of farming and rural life. Agriculture continues to play a key role in Scottish life and the Scottish economy, but the rural economy clearly has its own unique challenges to face.

It is because of these challenges that the Scottish Government runs a variety of schemes aimed at supporting rural communities, such as the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). Under the Rural Priorities strand of the SRDP alone, over 4,000 projects across Scotland have been supported to the tune of £338 million since it was established in 2008. This has seen the improvement and creation of recreation facilities in rural communities, vital jobs created through supporting rural businesses and work to protect and maintain Scotland’s natural environment.

Even relatively small investments can make a critical difference to the quality of life in rural areas, which is why this funding has been so important and widely welcomed. Yet it is local communities that are best place to decide what community facilities are most needed in their area and as such the Scottish Government recently announced its decision that funding for such projects would be allocated by Local Action Groups under the LEADER programme.

This move will help empower communities to make the best use of the funds available and ensure that the projects most desired by the people living there are the ones which receive funding. The SRDP still has several years left to run and will support many more schemes in that time, but this move towards greater local involvement is an encouraging one that I am sure will be welcomed by many people.

An alarming echo of the bad old days

One of the most enduring memories people have of the last time we were faced with a Tory Government in Westminster is the decision to axe free milk for school children and the storm of controversy that justifiably followed it. It is striking, therefore, that one of the first proposals from the coalition Government was to repeat the move for under fives.

Although the scheme north of the border is funded by the Scottish Government, it is a policy which is still controlled by Westminster underlining the absurdity of some of the dividing lines between devolved and reserved matters.

While the proposal may now have been stopped in its tracks, at great embarrassment to a number of UK Government ministers, it is a worrying indication of where the coalition Government’s instincts lie. It should also serve as further proof that decisions over such aspects of every day Scottish life should be made in Scotland and underlines the need for Scotland to gain power over its own affairs. On this and so many other issues, large and small, the decisions affecting people in Scotland should be made here and not by a party in Westminster that voters north of the border overwhelmingly rejected.

Transparency and accountability

2010-08-03T17:00:00.001+01:00

The hallmark of any open and accountable democracy is the way in which information is made accessible to ordinary members of the public. Without knowledge of what public bodies such as the Government, the parliament or local councils are doing on people’s behalf, it is extremely difficult to build the kind of civic engagement amongst ordinary members of the public that should be present in any democracy.

That is why when the institutions of devolution in Scotland were being set up there was a conscious effort made to ensure that they should be as open and transparent as possible. Debates in the parliament and committee sessions are all available to watch online at holyrood.tv and in comparison to Westminster it is very easy for members of the public to turn up to Holyrood and see most of the debates that take place.

Even more significant is the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee which has enabled thousands of groups and individuals in Scotland to have issues that concern them considered by the Parliament and has attracted interest from legislatures around the world. It is a way in which the Scottish Parliament has been at the cutting edge of empowering people to bring their concerns to Parliament and the sheer range of topics it has considered since 1999 is truly extraordinary.

However, perhaps the most important way in which Scotland has become more open and transparent was with the Freedom of Information Act which enshrined the right to access information held by public bodies into law. With a few exceptions, when members of the public want to know a piece of information held by a public body in Scotland, they can simply write a letter and expect to receive the information.

The Scottish Government is committed to this principle of openness and is now consulting on extending the terms of the Freedom of Information Act further, to bring in some of the bodies that are not covered by it. This could include things like trusts established by local authorities to provide cultural or sporting activities, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, and contractors who provide public services under private contracts.

The principles of openness and accountability are important ones, and it is perhaps not only in the form of Freedom of Information that they should be extended. The Crown Estate is responsible for, amongst other things, managing the seabed up to 12 miles from the UK’s shore. Currently it is overseen from Westminster, despite the fact that the majority of issues that take place within that 12 mile limit from Scotland’s shores are devolved to Holyrood or are likely to become so in the near future.

With Scotland’s vast offshore energy potential and the increasing importance that such developments will have, it is surely right that the Crown Estate in Scotland becomes accountable to the Scottish Parliament so that future developments are fully compatible with other marine activities such as the fishing industry.

It is an anomaly that should be brought to an end and is something that the Scottish Government is currently pressing the Westminster coalition to change.

Coast Festival

I was delighted to hear that the popular Coast Festival in Banff and Macduff will be continuing next year despite its previous funding having finished. The dedication of everyone responsible for organising it over the last three years has been tremendous and I sincerely hope that everyone who has enjoyed attending it will take part in the planned fundraising throughout the year to ensure it has a long and successful future.

A delayed but welcome development

2010-07-20T17:00:00.001+01:00

When it comes to the fight against climate change, the development of new technologies for generating the electricity we rely upon is essential. That is why I was delighted to hear recently that Peterhead power station is set to develop a demonstration Carbon Capture and Storage project which will take carbon dioxide emissions generated by the station and store them instead of releasing them into the atmosphere.

This is not the first time that such a development has been proposed for Peterhead. A previous project had to be abandoned in 2007 as a result of the previous UK Government’s refusal to provide financial support or certainty over the policy framework surrounding the technology. This was a massive opportunity to pioneer the technology in Banff & Buchan and to export the expertise that would be built up in developing it to other projects around the world. Yet thanks to incompetence in Westminster, it was an opportunity that seemed lost.

Second chances to lead the world in a particular field do not come along often, particularly during such difficult economic times, which is what makes the announcement by Scottish and Southern Energy particularly welcome. Three years of development at Peterhead may have been needlessly lost and projects in other locations around the world may have stolen a march as a result, but developing this technology still has the potential to provide an important economic and environmental boost to the area. Westminster must not let down Banff & Buchan with their lack of support again.

Of course in this area, the track record of successive UK Governments has been less than stellar. UK policy on transmission charges for electricity generators remains massively discriminatory and penalises suppliers in Scotland. Indeed, Peterhead power station was forced to announce a few months ago that it had no choice but to consider closing unit two of the power station as a result of transmission charges. A system which sees Peterhead forced to pay £29 million a year to sell its energy while an identical power station in the south east of England would receive a £3 million subsidy is manifestly unfair.

Yet while this is clearly a serious problem for existing energy providers, it is the potential it has to hold back the development of Scotland’s renewables industry that should be making alarm bells ring.

Scotland’s renewable potential, particularly offshore through wave, tidal and wind power, is staggering and can create an economic boom to rival the impact of North Sea oil. However, that industry will not simply fall into our hands, it needs to be nurtured and grown through these critical early days. By its very nature, the renewables industry tends to be located in more remote locations and is therefore on the receiving end of the current transmission charge policy.

It is a situation which is untenable and which people across Scotland must continue to push for change in. If the UK Government is serious about reaching its climate change targets then it cannot continue to operate a transmission charging regime that penalises renewable energy developments. There are clear economic and environmental imperatives that transmission charge policy should recognise and reflect.

Scotland, and places like Banff & Buchan in particular, is losing out as a result of UK Government policy and unnecessary obstacles are being put in the way of future economic developments. Putting in place a fairer system would be a real example of the new UK Governments self-proclaimed respect agenda towards Scotland and is something the Scottish Government will continue to press for.

The need for reliable evidence

2010-07-06T17:00:00.002+01:00

As summer rolls around again, the preliminary discussions that come before annual fishing negotiations once again begin to take place on the continent. Many previous years have seen the industry asked to give up much in order to protect fish stocks and have had a significant economic impact for many involved in Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry.

Yet for all the sacrifices that the Scottish fishing fleet has made to improve the sustainability of fish stocks, there is a real concern that more is to be asked of them on the back of uncertain scientific advice. This year’s recommendations from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which play a key part in setting annual fishing quotas, admitted that ICES has incomplete scientific information, despite their position that Cod stocks may not have risen quite as high as they hope. The ICES recommendations have an automatic effect on the number of days fishing vessels are allowed to spend at sea.

With skippers reporting improvements to Cod stocks that far surpass what ICES has assessed, the fishing industry in Banff & Buchan is understandably concerned that they may be asked to make unwarranted sacrifices. With people in the industry facing further financial hardship as a direct consequence of the recommendations that ICES makes, the need for the evidence it provides to be as robust and accurate as possible is critical.

The fishing industry in Scotland has already done much to increase its efforts to make the industry both sustainable and profitable. It has pioneered measures such as the Conservation Credits Scheme and catch quota trials, which the rest of Europe is slowly adopting. The great efforts that the Scottish fishing industry has made should be rewarded with a deal that is fair to them and recognises the leading role they have played on conservation. What is needed more fundamentally, however, is a change to the way European fish stocks are managed.

The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy has been damaging and thoroughly discredited, and there is a real need for fisheries management decisions to be taken on a regional basis, so that those who have the biggest stake in effectively managing the fish stocks off our coasts are able to make decisions based upon what can be seen first hand.

The SNP Government understands this and will continue to press both the UK Government and the EU to accept the need for such changes in discussions on the future of the CFP. Although Scotland is undeniably hampered in this by not having our own voice as an independent member-state of the EU, the issue is too important for such challenges not to be overcome.

Portsoy traditional boat festival

One of the highlights of the year in Banff & Buchan comes at the start of summer, in the shape of the Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival. Now in its 17th year, it has become a hugely successful and entertaining fixture on the calendar that draws in people from far and wide to Portsoy.

Once again this year’s event did not disappoint, and I was delighted to be able to attend the festivities. Banff & Buchan’s coastal heritage and traditions are a core part of the area’s identity, and people of all ages value the chance to experience the traditional fishing and sailing skills which the festival offers.

I know that the dedicated team of volunteers behind the festival work hard throughout the year and I can only applaud them for delivering an event which seems to get better and better every single year.

Facing up to Scotland’s problems

2010-06-22T17:00:00.001+01:00

Discussing somebody’s troubling relationship with alcohol is never an easy thing, but how much harder do things become when it is a nation rather than an individual that has a problem with dangerous drinking? In fairness it has long been the case that Scotland’s relationship with alcohol has been widely recognised as damaging and spoken about in those terms, however it seems reasoned discussion is still far from easy when it comes to trying to find a solution.

The societal and economic cost of alcohol to Scotland is staggering. Alcohol misuse annually costs the Scottish economy in the region of £3.56 billion, an eye-watering sum in these difficult financial times which works out as the equivalent of £900 for every adult in Scotland. The human cost, however, is simply incalculable.

One in twenty deaths in Scotland are attributable to alcohol, the devastating consequence of Scots having the eighth highest alcohol consumption rate in the world. In our prisons, half of all offenders were drunk at the time of their arrest. We need radical action if we are to address this problem, which is why the Scottish Government has brought forward a bold range of measures aimed at improving the situation.

The Alcohol Bill, which recently passed its first parliamentary hurdle, contains a variety of elements that will provide new tools to fix the damage caused by damaging levels of drinking. It will introduce restrictions on discounting and drinks promotions which will bring the off-licence trade into line with licensed premises and make it harder for alcohol to be sold as a loss leader to attract people into shops to purchase other items. It will introduce a Social Responsibility Levy which will help raise money for local authorities to deal with the costs of alcohol misuse while rewarding good practice amongst retailers.

The most talked about measure, however, is the plan to introduce a minimum price per unit for alcohol sales. As alcohol prices have dropped over the years, consumption levels of alcohol in Scotland have risen along with the associated health and justice problems. The best academic information available shows that minimum pricing would reduce alcohol consumption rates, which is at the absolute heart of tackling the problem which sees enough alcohol sold in Scotland to allow every adult to exceed their weekly recommended limit every single week of the year.

Studies show that harmful drinkers spend far less per unit then moderate drinkers do, so a minimum price would have its greatest effect on those it is intended to reach. A moderate drinker would expect to see an increase of around £10 per year as opposed to £126 for a harmful drinker, while the anticipated reduction in hospital admissions would be most marked amongst harmful drinkers too.

Minimum pricing is of course not a silver bullet for all of Scotland’s problems with alcohol, but it is an important tool that should be utilised. This is why health professionals, chief police officers, the licensed trade, the Church of Scotland and even Tennents and Tesco have all made their support for the proposals clear. It is a radical measure for a serious problem, but what is disappointing is the refusal to engage in serious discussion by other parties. With no credible alternatives to offer, flatly opposing the measure seems at best like a failure to take Scotland’s alcohol problems seriously and at worst like partisan game playing with the health of the nation. It is unacceptable and Scotland needs better if we are to make a dent in our alcohol epidemic.

Making criminals pay

2010-06-08T17:00:00.001+01:00

The damage that those who make their living from criminal activity do to their communities is far reaching and insidious. Whether it is through the supply of drugs or other activities, those affected can spread far beyond the area where criminals live.

There is little more galling to honest, hard-working people than others accumulating money and power at the expense of the law abiding majority. That is why I welcome recently announced figures which show that in the last year more than £5.5 million has been seized from criminals and used to fund worthwhile activities in communities across Scotland.

The Cashback for Communities scheme has seen projects the length and breadth of Scotland receive funds that have been seized from criminals and put to work to benefit the communities that have been blighted by crime. It is an approach that I am sure people support across Scotland, and particularly in those areas that have seen that money used to try and repair some of the damage that criminals have done.

Yet combating organised crime is far from an easy task, which is why Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill recently launched a new public campaign to encourage ordinary people to help make criminals pay for their illegal activities. Where people have suspicions that something just doesn’t add up about a person’s lifestyle and wealth, they will be able to provide information anonymously which could be the vital bit of intelligence that lets the police disrupt a criminal empire.

By sharing information in this way, ordinary members of the public can help make Scotland a harder place for criminals to operate and protect our communities from their illicit activities. The police have made significant strides in the fight against organised crime recently, but with the help of individuals and organisations across Scottish society more can be done to make Scotland a safer, stronger place for everyone to live in.

Record low NHS waiting times

My last column dealt with the importance that the Scottish Government places on protecting the funding that the NHS receives during these difficult economic times. The incredible efforts that NHS staff go to in order to help people across Scotland is something that we have all experienced, but recent statistics show that people are receiving treatment faster than ever before.

They show that 99.5% of patients referred for inpatient and day case treatment are now waiting less than the target of nine weeks; that 99.9% of all patients were waiting less than the targeted twelve weeks for new outpatient appointments; that 99.8% of patients were waiting less than four weeks for key diagnostic tests, compared to the target of 6 weeks and that 96.6% of those attending Accident and Emergency are seen within four hours.

These figures are the best ever performance by the NHS in Scotland and show that waiting times have reached an all time low. When people need medical treatment, it is in nobody’s interest to face the stress and anxiety of unnecessary delays so these latest improvements are welcome news and demonstrate what the resources going to the Health Service are delivering.

The Scottish Government is determined to build upon this progress and has set even more challenging targets for coming years. However, even in these financially difficult times I am confident that the dedication and professionalism of NHS staff will be able to deliver further improvements to the service that patients in Banff & Buchan and across Scotland receive from the NHS.

Protecting the NHS

2010-05-25T17:00:00.001+01:00

There are few people who are valued more in our society than the hardworking doctors, nurses and other staff members in the NHS who strive constantly to care for us in times of ill health. People in Scotland have a special place in their heart for the NHS, so it is scarcely any wonder that claims of cutbacks and job losses are deeply alarming to people.

South of the border, the previous Labour government cut back spending on the NHS by more than £3 billion which inevitably had a knock on effect to the amount of money that Scotland receives under the Barnett formula. Yet, in contrast to that decision, the SNP Government committed to protecting the NHS and as a result it saw its budget in Scotland rise above inflation despite Scotland’s funding being cut.

In response to some of the irresponsible claims that other parties have put about, the Health Secretary has made a guarantee to NHS workers that there will be no compulsory redundancies. Times are certainly tight, and like all public services the NHS must seek to operate as efficiently as possible, but I know that this commitment will be enormously comforting to NHS staff and to members of the public.

With record funding levels and record low waiting times, the NHS in Scotland faces the challenges ahead from a position of strength and the SNP Government will continue to protect it during the difficult times ahead.

Scotland’s offshore potential

I have written before about the enormous economic potential that Scotland’s developing offshore renewables industry has for Banff & Buchan yet that potential was recently put into figures that would surely make anyone sit up and take notice. The Offshore Valuation Study which was published to coincide with the All Energy conference in Aberdeen found that the practical offshore resource in Scotland’s seas is a staggering 206 Gigawatts.

To put that figure into some kind of context, if just one third of that resource was successfully harnessed then the value in electricity sales would be an estimated £14 billion by 2050. Scotland has the advantage of having 25% of Europe’s offshore wind and tidal energy potential and 10% of Europe’s wave potential in the waters off our shores.

Across the UK it is estimated that up to 145,000 jobs could be created as a result of the emerging green industry and a significant number are likely to be in Peterhead, with the town having recently taken another step towards becoming a hub for the industry thanks to progress on Scottish Enterprise’s plans to develop an industrial park for the offshore renewables industry.

Yet to fully take advantage of the potential that exists, as the Offshore Valuation Study rightly points out, will require the development of a European super-grid. With such a grid, which has been identified by the European Union as a key infrastructure project, Scotland will gain access to a continental marketplace where we can sell the excess renewable energy we produce. The importance of developing that infrastructure to Scotland’s economy can scarcely be underestimated.

The SNP has long been calling for support for such a measure, and we will continue to do so, but as long as Scotland does not have its own voice in Europe, we need the new UK Government to live up to its responsibilities and take a leading role in pushing for the construction of such a super-grid. Its commitment to doing so will be an early test it can expect to face and for the sake of Scotland’s future it must not be found wanting.

Scotland’s funding

2010-05-11T17:00:00.001+01:00

With the sound and fury of the election now behind us, the next big issue on the horizon is the referendum bill which will shortly be introduced into the Scottish Parliament, proposing to give people in Scotland the choice of what our constitutional future should be. I, and my colleagues in the SNP, strongly believe that the full powers of independence are what Scotland needs if we are to grow our economy, fundamentally address some of the social problems prevalent across the country and stand up for Scottish interests in Europe and the wider world.

As a firm believer in democracy it is of course right that the people of Scotland should be given the right to decide for themselves what future they want. However, the London parties have signalled their intention to conspire to block such a referendum taking place. As well as being fundamentally undemocratic, this raises serious questions about what alternative Scotland is likely to see.

Scotland’s tax revenues currently travel south to the Treasury before a certain amount, determined by the Barnett Formula, is returned to the Scottish Government to spend on devolved matters as it sees fit. This amount rises and falls based on spending decisions in England on those services that are devolved to Scotland north of the border. While I would certainly not describe this situation as satisfactory, especially as projects are often classified as being of “national” importance in order to avoid Scotland receiving its share of spending that takes place south of the border, it does at least have the virtue of stability.

In the Calman Report, the union parties’ alternative to the National Conversation that the Scottish Government held, a proposed replacement to the Barnett formula was made that would see up to 10p of income tax and certain other taxes devolved to Scottish control with a reduction in the Barnett Formula’s block grant to compensate for this. However, while this may seem at first glance like a sensible way of making the Scottish Government more accountable for its spending, in reality it is the worst of all words and would be a disaster for Scotland.

Any fluctuation in income tax revenues would have to be met with immediate cuts in Scotland in advance of the final revenues being known. That would send Scotland into a vicious cycle of having to make cuts or raise taxes which would in turn lead to a further fall in income tax receipts and necessitate another round of cuts or tax increases. Scarcely any wonder that the proposals have been described by some members of the expert panel that drew them up as “seriously flawed, if not illiterate”!

The only sensible alternative to the Barnett Formula that has been proposed is for the introduction of fiscal autonomy, whereby Scotland keeps control of all tax revenues generated north of the border and, as long as Scotland remains in the Union, the Scottish Government pays a certain amount to the UK Treasury for shared services such as the armed forces. This is manifestly a far fairer solution. It would give the Scottish Government the control over the financial levers it needs in order to drive Scotland’s economic recovery and to build for the future.

Economists and leading business people have reached the conclusion that this is the best option when any consideration of a replacement to the Barnett Formula is being made. If our proposed referendum on independence is blocked by the other parties, then fiscal autonomy is the only acceptable alternative to the Barnett Formula for Scotland.

Making fuel prices fairer

2010-04-20T17:00:00.001+01:00

The cost of filling up the car with fuel is again frequently at the forefront of people’s minds as the average price of a litre of petrol across Scotland has risen to £1.20 and is over £1.30 in some areas. At a time when budgets are already tight, this is an extremely unwelcome additional cost for families to bear.

For many in rural areas, the relative remoteness and weather conditions such as those we saw earlier in the year make regularly using a car an absolute necessity rather than a personal choice. This inevitably means that when we see a spike in fuel prices, those who have to use their car most often are the ones that pay the biggest price.

In Banff & Buchan, fuel prices have a significant impact on many aspects of the fishing industry and the profitability of their businesses. The road haulage industry too, relying as it clearly does upon fuel, is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in what they pay at the pumps. Any business needs to be able to predict what its operating costs will be with some degree of certainty if it is to be successful, but this is obviously extremely difficult when a business relies so heavily upon variable fuel prices.

This is why the SNP has long been pressing for the introduction of a fuel duty regulator which would see the substantial tax duties placed upon road fuel go down when the price of oil goes up. When the price of oil goes past a certain point, a freeze in fuel duty would kick in while any extra cash raised from increased VAT receipts on higher fuel prices would be used to fund a corresponding reduction in fuel duty. This would give much needed stability to fuel prices at the pump and even out the spikes in forecourt prices that we see when the price of oil rockets.

This measure has the backing of numerous industry groups that rely upon petrol or diesel to operate, including the Road Haulage Association, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and the National Farmers Union Scotland. However, each time that the SNP group in Westminster has tried to introduce it in recent years, the London parties have joined forces to block the measure. This makes some of the fuel related promises trotted out recently in other parties’ election manifestos hypocritical at best and downright disingenuous at worst.

Motorists, the haulage industry and other businesses like the fishing and farming sectors don’t need empty promises trotted out during election campaigns when it comes to fuel prices, they need the kind of action that only the SNP group in Westminster has been consistently pressing for over the years.

Leading the way

I have written frequently about the way in which Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry is leading the rest of Europe when it comes to introducing pioneering new techniques aimed at securing a sustainable, profitable future for everyone in the sector. This was recently underlined by a recent visit from a Dutch delegation to Scotland, examining the way in which the Conservation Credits Scheme operates.

The Dutch delegation looked at a range of conservation measures that are in use across the Scottish fishing fleet, such as real time closures and selective fishing gears, and how they feed in to the Conservation Credits Scheme. With other European Union countries adopting the measures pioneered in Scotland, I have a feeling that the Dutch will not be the last visitors who come to learn from the example our fishing industry continues to set.

The importance of coastal traditions

2010-04-06T17:00:00.001+01:00

The rich and extensive nature of Scotland’s museums and historic collections is something that many people often take for granted, but knowledge of the past is essential to understanding where we have come from as a people and to considering where our nation is going in the future. That is why I was delighted by the recent announcement which saw Museums Galleries Scotland invest in historic collections across the country and in particular by the news that the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh is to receive £63,063.

Coastal communities across Banff & Buchan know just how important the fascinating industrial and social history of Scotland’s lighthouses is, and the museum in Fraserburgh is rightly considered home to a Recognised Collection of National Significance. It is an important educational resource to children and adults across the region, but is also a key attraction for visitors to the region.

I recently had the chance to speak about the prospects for tourism in Banff & Buchan as a guest of the Portsoy Boat Festival Dinner and while the economic downturn has clearly proved difficult for the tourism industry, fantastic facilities like the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses create real opportunities for growth in Banff & Buchan.

The area’s coastal heritage and traditions draw in visitors to a variety of events across Banff & Buchan. Last year’s Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival saw well over 20,000 visitors to the town over the four days it ran and has exciting plans for the future as it aims to bring in more overseas visitors. The aquarium in Macduff draws in visitors all year round and wildlife tourism in the waters off Banff & Buchan’s coast is an increasingly important lure for tourists.

However, it is perhaps food and drink tourism that has the most potential to make Banff & Buchan a more obvious tourist destination. Scotland was recently acknowledged as one of the world’s most attractive destinations for this sector and with so much quality produce available, there is a real opportunity for businesses in Banff & Buchan. Whether it is the fantastic fresh fish, the high quality of our farms or the reopened distillery at Glenglassaugh, there is real potential for increasing visitor numbers.

As more and more people choose not to holiday abroad, we can all hope that Banff & Buchan may become a tourist destination for greater numbers of people.

Banff & Buchan paying the price

In my last column I wrote about the damaging effect that transmission charges were having on energy producers across Scotland as a result of the manifestly unfair way in which they are set. My point could not have been more clearly demonstrated when just days later Peterhead power station announced that the high cost of transmission charges were forcing it to consider closing unit two of the power station.

This closure would cost numerous people their jobs in Peterhead and is the direct result of the UK Government’s continued failure to address this issue and bring about a fairer system for transmission charges, as the SNP continues to call for. It is not only affecting the potential for creating future jobs in the energy industry, but jeopardising exiting jobs in Banff & Buchan.

As an issue it is gaining in urgency and I have no doubt that it will be an important part of the coming election campaign in Banff & Buchan. A system of transmission charges that does not penalise Scotland is essential to our future, and the case for changing the system has never been stronger.

The energy off our shores

2010-03-23T17:00:00.001Z

Scotland has long had reason to associate the waters off our coast with the production of energy and wealth in the shape of the North Sea oil industry. Over the decades it has provided jobs to many in the North East, seen innovations made that have been exported around the world and of course provided billions of pounds to the Treasury in London.

Latest Treasury estimates anticipate that the North Sea oil and gas sector will provide £50 billion in tax revenues over the next six years, a particularly substantial sum given the dire state of the UK’s current finances. Yet as significant as the oil industry has been, and clearly continues to be, Scotland has an incredible opportunity to harness a new energy boom in the waters off our coasts.

Scotland has a quarter of Europe’s offshore wind and tidal energy potential and 10% of its wave energy potential. The scale of the green, renewable energy that can be produced in these waters is immense and has granted Scotland an incredible economic opportunity which we must do our best to take.

It is an opportunity that Banff & Buchan can play a key part in grasping, securing important investment in the area and providing a range of skilled jobs for local residents. Peterhead was recently identified as one of Scotland’s 11 strategic hubs for the future of offshore renewables, a designation that could prove critical to the economic future of the region. A report to be published later in the year will identify the public and private investment needed to create the infrastructure and facilities needed to make Peterhead a centre for the manufacture and maintenance of offshore renewable technology.

As with the oil industry, a key benefit from successfully harnessing the renewable potential off our shores will be the ability to export technology and expertise to other countries. Our aspirations of achieving this took a step forward recently with the announcement of the most ambitious plans in the world for the leasing of sites to generate 1.2 G/W of wave and tidal power, the equivalent of either of Scotland’s nuclear power stations. With such ambition we have stolen a march on our competitor countries, but there can be no room for complacency.

There are still obstacles that must be overcome, and chief amongst them is the discriminatory nature of transmission charges in the UK. When electricity producers in Aberdeenshire face a charge of almost £20 per k/W that they send to homes and businesses through the National Grid while companies in the south of England receive a subsidy of over £6 per k/W, there is clearly something very wrong with the system.

By penalising the development of renewable energy projects, which are inevitably located in more remote areas where the local weather conditions are more powerful, the current system is acting as a deterrent to future developments. As it is these penalties are completely unacceptable, but the situation would have been even worse if Ofgem had not finally been persuaded recently to drop plans to further penalise Scottish generators.

A National Grid that sees Scottish generators currently produce 12% of UK electricity but pay 40% of transmission charges is not acceptable and as more and more renewable developments are created, the situation will become even more unfair. My SNP colleagues and I have long been calling for a wholesale review of UK transmission charges and the introduction of a fairer system. The economic future of Scotland is at stake and we will not let up on our calls.

Scotland’s future

2010-03-09T17:00:00.001Z

Scotland recently took another step towards being able to decide its own future recently, with the publication of a draft independence referendum bill by the Scottish Government. It follows the National Conversation which engaged thousands of people across the length and breadth of Scotland, seeking their views on the shape Scotland’s constitutional future should take.

I and my SNP colleagues are in no doubt that Scotland fundamentally needs the normal powers of an independent country if we are to successfully meet the challenges and opportunities that face us as a nation. With independence we would gain our own voice in European and international affairs, giving us the ability to stand up for Scottish interests such as fishing more effectively. We would gain control of the economic levers needed to grow Scotland’s economy and speed our recovery from the current downturn. We would gain the ability to make the decisions that affect Scotland, in Scotland. Independence is not an end in itself, but a starting point from which we can use the powers we need to build a more successful future for our country.

However, it is perfectly valid that others hold different views on the future they would like to see for Scotland. There is a widespread consensus that the Scottish Parliament should have more powers, but the extent of those powers is open for debate. That is why the proposed referendum will ask two questions, one on whether Scotland should gain further powers and a second on whether Scotland should become an independent country. The consultation that was launched accompanying the bill seeks to establish which of the options for further devolved powers should also appear on the ballot paper.

More than a decade on from the referendum that saw the Scottish Parliament reconvened, the SNP will once again be going to voters and asking them to vote yes-yes in a referendum. If they believe in their position, other parties should be willing to go to the people of Scotland and campaign for the constitutional position that they support.

Regardless of how they would vote in it, opinion polling has shown time and time again that the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland want the right to decide upon Scotland’s constitutional future for themselves. It is not for politicians of any political stripe to dictate a position on such an important issue to people, but rather for the public to decide for themselves in a referendum. For other parties to seek to block such a vote, as they are currently threatening to do, is simply unacceptable and is something that they will have to explain to the people who voted for them.

At a time when the UK Government is preparing to hold a referendum on changing the voting system for Westminster elections and the National Assembly for Wales is planning one over increasing their devolved powers, it is clearly the right time for Scotland to make our own decision on our constitutional future too.

Being vigilant for scams

Aberdeenshire Council recently issued a warning over reports of telephone scams from people pretending to be conducting a survey on behalf of the council. Although there are times when organisations like Aberdeenshire Council may undertake telephone surveys or residents may wish to pay bills over the phone, I would encourage everyone in Banff & Buchan to remain vigilant when it comes to giving out their personal or financial details.

Taking the time to be cautious is a small price to pay if it stops identities from being stolen or bank accounts being emptied.

A focus on the future for fishing

2010-03-09T16:56:00.001Z

That the last twelve months have been tough for Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry is something that will not come as news to anyone. The economic problems that have affected so many businesses have not spared the already hard pressed fishing industry, with many skippers and processors feeling the squeeze. However, despite the immediate challenges the industry faces, the past year has also been a time when discussions on the future of fishing have been at the forefront of many people’s minds.

The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy has been an abject failure since its inception, neither preventing a decline in fish stocks nor supporting fishing as a viable industry. Annual gladiatorial battles between member states over quotas have seen rigid and inappropriate measures introduced to mixed fisheries and have left skippers unable to plan their livelihoods with any degree of certainty.

Yet at last there is the possibility of change, with the EU having accepted that the CFP must be reformed. Although it will not happen overnight, discussions are currently in full swing in Brussels and in fishing communities across Europe about what kind of model should replace the CFP.

An over-centralised approach has been at the heart of the CFP’s failure to secure a sustainable, profitable fishing industry in Scotland, and I am in no doubt that what replaces it must see responsibility for managing fisheries returned to Europe’s nations, working together on a regional basis. Fundamental to this is the protection of historical fishing rights, to ensure that decisions are taken as close to where it matters as possible.

Ending these historical rights could see a free-for-all in Scotland’s waters and threaten the livelihoods of many people in Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry, yet that is exactly what the UK Government has recently sought to do by recommending that MEPs back the abolition of historical fishing rights. It is the action of a Government that does not understand the fishing industry and does not care for its future, yet it is what we have come to expect from administrations of varying political hues in London over the years.

Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry and the hard working men and woman in it need their voices to be heard in Europe, particularly as high stakes discussions on the future of the CFP are being held. However, as long as the UK is responsible for discussions with Europe, that voice will never be heard as effectively as it should be. Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry needs a distinctive Scottish voice in Europe to fight its corner, a voice that will only come with Scottish independence.

The Scottish Government and my SNP colleagues in the European Parliament are clear about the need for a return to regional management of fisheries, based on historical fishing rights and will continue to do all that they can to see that brought about. Working together, the Scottish Government and Scotland’s fishing industry are better placed to find solutions to the challenge of managing fish stocks than centralised decision making in Brussels ever could be.

The Scottish fishing fleet has been at the forefront of introducing innovative conservation measures to try and increase the sustainability of the industry while maintaining its future as a profitable venture, demonstrating just how effectively Scotland could manage its own fisheries. The challenge is now to ensure that we are given the opportunity to do so.

Helping households make ends meet

2010-02-23T17:00:00.001Z

In these difficult economic times, many people in Banff & Buchan are facing enormous strains on their budgets as they struggle to pay the bills. As a result of this, the fact that Aberdeenshire Council has joined local authorities across Scotland to deliver another year’s freeze to the council tax is welcome news to local residents who will not have to stretch their finances even further to meet rising costs.

In the decade before the SNP Government came to power in 2007, average band D council tax payers in Aberdeenshire saw their bills increase by an incredible 93%. Since 2007 those taxes have not risen by a single penny. Had it not been for the Scottish Government’s determination to put an end to the inexorable increases in council tax that was the policy of previous administrations, local residents could now on average expect to be paying an extra £142 a year.

This freeze is important because as well as putting money they would not otherwise have had back into people’s pockets at a time of economic difficulty, it does not increase the financial pressures on those who already struggle most to pay council tax. Pensioners in particular are often hard pressed by the nature of the council tax, which can penalise them for the value of the home they have lived in for many years whilst taking no account of their current income. By having delivered a freeze in council tax for three consecutive years, the Scottish Government is helping to ensure that the pressures faced by many of the most vulnerable in Scottish society do not increase.

Although some other parties in the Scottish Parliament may have refused to back the council tax freeze, it is a policy which the Scottish Government is rightly proud of and one I was glad to vote for and once again see delivered.

Exceeding our targets

Recently published NHS statistics must have made welcome reading for all those involved in caring for cancer patients in the Grampian area. The national target is for 95% of patients who are urgently referred and subsequently diagnosed with cancer to be treated within a maximum of 62 days. Across Scotland this target has been met in each quarter since October-December 2008, with 96.8% of patients in the Grampian area having been treated within the target time in July-September 2009.

While the fact that the target of treating patients within 62 days is being met is encouraging, the figures also show that the average waiting time is just 35 days. This is excellent progress and puts the NHS across Scotland in a good position to meet its new, more challenging target of seeing patients treated within 31 days of a decision to treat them being made, however they are referred, by the end of 2011.

This success at reducing waiting times is a testament to the hard work and dedication of health professionals working in NHS Grampian and across Scotland. Given that only 84.5% of patients were being treated within the target time prior to the Holyrood elections in 2007, it is clear that significant strides have been made to improve the service offered to cancer patients.

Being diagnosed with cancer is obviously an enormously worrying time without the added stress of having to wait an undue length of time before treatment can begin. I believe that the progress that has been made to see national waiting time targets being exceeded is fantastic and reflects the invaluable work being done by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon to improve our NHS.

A budget for difficult times

2010-02-09T17:00:00.001Z

The Scottish Parliament recently debated and passed the annual budget for the coming financial year, the first that sees spending fall in real terms since the start of devolved government.

In these difficult economic times, people have little patience for political games when it comes to funding the kind of measures that make a real difference to people’s lives. It is unfortunate that not all parties were able to resist the temptation to indulge in such antics, but people in Banff & Buchan will welcome the fact that this year’s budget was passed without the chaos that some parties created last year.

It is a budget that protects frontline services from the cuts in Scottish funds being created by the UK Government. There is funding for council tax to be frozen for a third successive year under the SNP Government, putting money back into people’s pockets at a time when they need it most, while the thresholds for the small business bonus are being increased to further help the businesses that form the lifeblood of Scotland’s economy.

There is also increased funding for training places to meet the rising demand created by those who have lost their jobs and are seeking to learn new skills, and more money for the NHS to continue its efforts to improve the health of people in Scotland.

It is a budget that is about choosing the right priorities for people in Scotland and it is one that I believe delivers for people in Banff & Buchan. It will protect jobs and livelihoods in these difficult times and I welcome its passage.

An unacceptable distortion

As a publicly financed organisation that receives generous funding from our TV licences, the BBC has a responsibility to provide impartial and balanced coverage of the issues in our society. Because of that unique responsibility it is an organisation that commands a great deal of trust, so when it fails to provide balanced coverage there is quite understandably a great deal of anger.

It is hardly surprising then that many people in Banff & Buchan will have been outraged by the recent programme, Britain’s Really Disgusting Food, shown by the BBC which claimed that the fishing industry was committing a slow suicide by over-fishing stocks to the brink of extinction.

Not only is this viewpoint entirely misleading, given that it fails to recognise the enormous strides that have been made by the Scottish fleet when it comes to conservation measures as witnessed by the signs of recovery amongst Cod stocks, but it also is one that could cause serious financial damage to a struggling industry.

Recent years have been difficult for Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry, but its viability will not be helped if it is falsely portrayed to consumers as being reckless and failing to fish sustainably. Scotland’s fishing industry has been at the forefront of efforts to make the industry more sustainable and over 50% of Scottish fisheries by value have received Marine Stewardship Council accreditation, the international Gold standard for sustainably caught fish, with more on the way. For the BBC to have failed to acknowledge the success of these efforts is completely unacceptable.

Nobody wants to secure a sustainable, profitable future for the fishing industry more than the people who work within it and I believe that the BBC owes the industry an apology for broadcasting such a ridiculously misleading programme. It has betrayed the trust that licence fee payers in Banff & Buchan have placed in it and it is time for it now to make amends.

On Patrol with the Fraserburgh Police

2010-02-07T05:00:00.002Z

There are times when one simply yearns for a slow boring evening; which failing - a slow interesting evening. But I didn't expect Saturday's patrol with Inspector John Esson's team until 4 a.m. in Fraserburgh to fit either description.

When I last did the night shift with the Broch police on St Andrew's Day 2002 a rough old time was had by all. Then, like in towns across Scotland, the main issue for the forces of law and order was mopping up the after effects of excess alcohol. The inebriated needing protection from their own folly; the public needing defence from the misdirected spleen of the drunks; businesses needing protection from random drink-fuelled violence.

From the team briefing in the police station to what was for me the night's end when the night clubs closed, the atmosphere was markedly different from last time.

Yes, there was still the substantial focus on known “faces”, mainly involved in the supply of dangerous and illegal drugs, but it was clear from the moment we left Dennyduff Road that the streets were going to be several notches calmer than last time.

So why? In 2002, there was no CCTV in the Broch. Street drinking had not yet been banned. And there were no fixed penalty notices for low level offending.

Almost as soon as we were off in the police minibus, it was a stop to deal with a young lass drinking from a bottle outside one of the town's hostelries. With assistance from a steward on the door, like others playing their part in Fraserburgh's effective pub-watch scheme, we saw the cheap supermarket booze rapidly disappearing down a drain. A wry smile on the owner's face. And a first indication of why the Scottish Government is right to pursue minimum pricing for alcohol. Better to have supervised imbibing inside licenced premises than a free-for-all driven by unsupervised consumption from supermarket shelves.

With a break in the weather seeing the ice and snow of recent weeks deserting our streets, and a temperature with a “+” in front of it, I expected the town to be milling with revellers enjoying their Saturday.

In fact it was quietish. The advent of CCTV has clearly had precisely the effect I always knew it would have. People behave better knowing that their actions are recorded. And the street drinking ban that I advocated has clearly made a difference.

As the clubs started to empty from about 3 a.m., the crowds seemed good-natured and with a ready banter for the bobbies. As last time, the occasional half-hearted attempt to persuade our mentors for the evening that “a lift hame widnae go amiss”. A joking, but clear no received with good humour.

But human nature being what it is, two cases of “nature's call”. A night swilling beer has inevitable consequences. The new response to public urination is, by comparison with my last tour with the police, swift and effective. Ten minutes to issue a fixed penalty notice instead of a trip to the police station. Keeping the police on the street. And by having an effective remedy for public nuisance, a way to allow the 1,000 extra police delivered by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, to calm the streets and direct our police to more serious matters.

By 4.00am I was pretty tired. If the police were, it didn't show. John Esson and his team, I'm sure like colleagues across Scotland, showed what intelligent policing can deliver. And in Fraserburgh this Saturday night, deliver they did. Boring it wasn't.

A positive development for farmers

2010-01-26T17:00:00.001Z

I was happy to hear that the UK Government has at long last accepted the calls of farmers and agreed to establish a supermarket ombudsman to oversee the relationship between food producers, sellers and consumers. The farming sector has long been calling for the establishment of this kind of body, calls supported by the Scottish Government, but it has taken a considerable length of time for the UK Government to accept the need for it.

Although many food supply chains work well, benefiting producers, consumers and retailers, many farmers have felt that they are the ones to suffer when these relationships break down. The Competition Commission has recommended the creation of an independent body to police these situations, and it is welcome news that the UK Government has now accepted this.

A supermarket ombudsman will go a long way towards ensuring that food producers are able to gain a fair deal for the food they put on our tables. The economic situation has not passed farmers by and many are struggling during these difficult times. If they are then faced with being squeezed by the supermarkets many can face going out of business, something that is in nobody’s interest. Dairy farmers in particular have struggled in the last year as the price they receive for the milk they produce has fallen rapidly.

The scope and powers of the ombudsman are currently being consulted on, but I believe that the body needs to be as strong as possible if it is to be successful in ensuring a fair deal for everyone. The UK Government has made progress in accepting the need for this ombudsman, but it must ensure that it completes this process by giving the body real power. For the sake of Scotland’s farmers, their consultation much reach a swift conclusion and give the ombudsman the powers it so clearly needs.

Improving access to NHS Dentists

The recent official opening of the new dental school in Aberdeen is an important step forward in the Scottish Government’s continued efforts to improve access to NHS dentistry across the Grampian region. For all too many years under the previous administration, the number of people registered with an NHS dentist was allowed to collapse and create the very real problems that many people in Banff & Buchan and across the North East have experienced.

The SNP went into the 2007 election promising to improve access to dentistry and there are clear signs of progress being made. Between March 2007 and June 2009, there were an additional 10,681 residents of Banff & Buchan registered with an NHS dentist, taking the total up to 47,619.

There is still a significant amount of work to be done if access to dentistry is to reach the levels we would like to see in Banff & Buchan and across the NHS Grampian area, but the purpose built facility for the Aberdeen Dental School will play an important role in those continuing efforts. Built on time and significantly under budget, this facility will train 20 postgraduate students every year and help provide ever greater numbers of dentists in the North East.

People in Banff & Buchan know that dentistry is an issue that should not be neglected and there is real and justified anger about how bad the situation was allowed to become under the previous administration. It is a situation that cannot be allowed to happen again and I am confident that this Scottish Government will do its utmost to ensure that improvements continue to be made.

Ending a tax on ill-health

2010-01-12T17:00:00.001Z

The Scottish Government has taken great strides since 2007 towards bringing an end to policies that seek to tax ill-health. Hospital car parking charges have been abolished at all NHS hospitals, except at the three hospitals that were built under PFI schemes and have contracts for car parking services that would be hugely expensive to buy out. The cost of visiting hospital, whether for patients or relatives, could be prohibitively expensive before this step was taken and ran counter to the principle of having an NHS that is free at the point of delivery.

In addition to abolishing these parking charges, we have also seen year on year reductions of prescription charges with the latest reduction recently having been placed before the Scottish Parliament for approval. This move will reduce prescription charges from £4 to £3, reduce four month pre-payment certificates from £13 to £10 and reduce twelve month certificates from £38 to £28.

This reduction is the final step before the planned abolition of prescription charges is delivered next year, as was promised in our election manifesto. The cost for many patients, particularly those with chronic conditions that require medication throughout a patient’s lifetime, is one that can be extremely challenging for them to meet and one that does not sit well with the principles behind the National Health Service.

Ill-health or injury is something that is not a choice, but rather a circumstance that is beyond an individual’s control. It cannot be right to then financially penalise people who find themselves in these circumstances if we wish to remain true to the values of the NHS.

There is no fundamental difference between believing that hospital treatment should be free at the point of need and believing that prescription drugs also should be. This is a core part of the universal health care which the NHS provides and I am proud to be part of a Government that is reaffirming those principles.

Communities pulling together

There are few people in Banff & Buchan that have not been affected by the current winter conditions, the worst we have seen in thirty years. With schools having closed, houses snowed in and further bad weather forecast, it is a difficult time for many people. Yet conditions like these are also a time when communities pull together and look out for their more vulnerable members.

For elderly people in particular, the cold weather and ice underfoot makes this time of year extremely difficult and it is a time when they value the help and assistance of their neighbours more than ever. Whether it is clearing an elderly neighbour’s path or something as simple as making sure that their heating is on or that pre-payment cards are topped up, it is actions like these that make our communities places we can be proud to live in.

Keeping warm in these low temperatures is vital and there is help available for elderly and vulnerable people in particular to save money on their heating and to make their homes warmer. A local advisor from the Energy Savings Trust can be contacted on 0800 512 012 who will be able to advise you on what assistance is available to you through the Energy Assistance Package, from advice on keeping your bills low to making funds available for installing a new boiler or insulation depending on your circumstances.

It is a free service which anyone can contact to receive advice from and I thoroughly encourage people to use it if they have not done so already.

Looking back and looking forwards

2009-12-29T17:00:00.003Z

As we draw to the end of 2009, it seems an appropriate time to look back over the year that is drawing to a close and take stock of what it has meant for people in Banff & Buchan. For many, it has been a difficult twelve months as the recession has taken hold and hit hard working families in the pocket.

Yet the year has not been one characterised by nothing but economic gloom. There have been real successes and achievements in Banff & Buchan and across Scotland. The year of Homecoming helped provide a vital boost to the tourism industry around the country at a time when it was globally suffering. There were over 1.5 million visits to tourist attractions in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and with highlights such as the Portsoy traditional boat festival, a significant number will have come to Banff & Buchan. The year of Homecoming can only be considered a success and has sheltered the tourist industry from the worst effects of the downturn hitting the sector in other countries.

Beyond the tourist sector, the Scottish Government has continued to take action to support local residents and businesses through these difficult times. Council tax was again frozen, putting money back into people’s pockets at this difficult time, while the small business bonus has seen rates abolished or greatly reduced for many companies in Banff & Buchan. For many people, these measures have made all the difference to their ability to survive financially and have been warmly welcomed by those who have benefited. The year has also seen a significant investment in council housing, ending the disgraceful lack of construction that was the hallmark of the previous administration, and helping to support the building industry, one of the hardest hit sectors of the downturn.

There have been other notable achievements too, such as with policing. There are now more police officers in the Grampian force than there has ever been before, a direct result of the SNP’s election commitment to put an extra 1,000 bobbies on the beat, while recorded crime in Scotland has fallen to its lowest level in almost 30 years. Making our communities safer is of enormous importance to people and the Scottish Government’s record in this area is something to be proud of.

There has also been significant progress to healthcare in the region, with NHS Grampian recently publishing figures showing that 96.4% of cancer patients were treated within the 62 day target, compared to 87.2% at the time of the election. Improvements to accessing dentists have also continued, with the construction of the new Aberdeen Dental School certain to have a significant impact throughout the North East.

Yet as well as looking back at some of the year’s achievements, it is important that we recognise the challenges that are to come. The Scottish Government’s budget will be slashed by £814 million next year under Treasury plans, something that will make the coming year an extremely difficult one. At a time when other countries have continued their stimulus packages to drive their economies towards recovery, Gordon Brown’s decision to do the opposite is deeply disappointing.

Despite this, however, I am confident that the Scottish Government will continue to do all that is in our power to speed our economic recovery and to help people in Banff & Buchan and across Scotland.

With that it is only left to me to hope that everyone in Banff & Buchan had an enjoyable Christmas and to wish them a very happy new year.

Keeping our roads safe this Christmas

2009-12-15T17:00:00.001Z

With the festive period fast approaching there will no doubt be extensive coverage in the press of the annual campaign warning motorists against drinking and driving at this time of year. It is a message that is repeated all year round, but is one whose importance does not diminish. Getting behind the wheel of a car after drinking puts your life and the lives of others at serious risk.

Road fatalities in Scotland are at their lowest in 60 years, but the fact is that even a single death on our roads is one too many. This year’s campaign is taking a tougher approach than ever before, and motorists who drink and drive will face losing their car as well as the severe consequences that are already in place.

This tough approach is an important deterrent and is vital if we are to stop the irresponsible minority of motorists who continue to gamble with their lives and the lives of others. One in nine deaths on Scotland’s roads are caused by drivers who were over the legal limit and although progress is being made, more needs to be done to tackle this problem.

The Scottish Government wants to go further in our efforts to make Scotland’s roads safer for everyone by reducing the current drink drive limit to 50mg per 100ml of blood with random roadside tests. When the limit was cut to this level in Switzerland, alcohol related deaths on their roads fell by 44% in the first two years. However the power to do this, and consequently save more lives, is currently reserved to Westminster.

The Calman Commission’s report, the unionist parties’ proposals for increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament, recommended that power over this should be devolved to Holyrood and the Scottish Government moved quickly to draft the necessary orders to make transfer of this and other recommended powers possible. Yet the UK Government has failed to play its part and has instead refused to consider the transfer of any powers before the coming general election.

This is unacceptable and in the case of powers over drink driving limits and airguns, where tougher measures could be implemented in Scotland, lives are being put at risk by this inaction. Although the Scottish Government will continue to press Westminster to make the changes we want to see, the refusal to see the early transfer of powers over powers which all parties agree Holyrood should be responsible for is deeply disappointing.

With Labour having refused to consider increasing the Scottish Parliament’s powers this side of the general election and the Tories ruling it out during the lifetime of the next Westminster parliament, their promises have been revealed to be empty words. There is a consensus in Scotland that Holyrood needs more powers over decisions that affect Scotland and the failure of the London parties on this issue is inexcusable.

Giving carers the support they need

I was delighted to recently attend an event in Turriff marking carers support day, the annual event where the enormous contributions that carers make to our society is recognised. The selfless work that they do is essential to providing the quality of life that many of society’s most vulnerable people deserve.

Many hard-pressed carers are unaware of the benefits that what they do entitles them to, with an estimated £740 million going unclaimed each year. Carers support day is an important opportunity to raise awareness of that support and I hope that more will now claim the help they so clearly deserve.

Celebrating our past and deciding our future

2009-12-01T17:00:00.001Z

St Andrew’s Day is a day that has for centuries held national importance for people in Scotland. Yet this year it took on a special significance, marking as it did the end of one national event and the start of another.

The diverse and hugely successful Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations culminated in a series of festivities around the country to cap off an outstanding year of events. Across the country people from Scotland and the rest of the world have joined in events celebrating the core themes of homecoming throughout the year.

Early figures show that for an initial outlay of £5.5 million, the year’s Homecoming celebrations have benefited the Scottish economy to the tune of at least £19.4 million and are on course to exceed the £44 million target set when the project was first devised. In the difficult economic circumstances we find ourselves in, the Homecoming celebrations have provided a real boost to Scotland’s tourism industry.

The celebrations were timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, a date of historic importance. Yet while those celebrations came to an end on St Andrew’s Day, a new piece of Scotland’s history was written.

The SNP Government was elected on a promise to give people in Scotland the choice on their future that they have never had before with a referendum on independence. Thousands of people across Scotland have taken part in a National Conversation on the shape of Scotland’s future and this work culminated on St Andrew’s Day with the publication of a white paper on a bill for a referendum on independence.

The Scottish Government was elected on a promise to deliver this choice to people in Scotland and we are determined to do all that we can to see that referendum take place with the necessary bill coming before the Scottish Parliament next year.

Scotland needs the powers of a normal independent country if we are to successfully create the conditions we need to recover from the economic situation. The artificial limits of devolution mean that too many decisions that could be made to help Scotland recover either do not happen or are made in ways that actively cause damage through their unsuitability for Scotland. From taxation to immigration; transmission charges to having our own voice in Europe, the powers of independence are essential to creating the future for Scotland which we would all want to see.

Whatever side of the independence debate they are on, however, people in Scotland have consistently shown a desire to make their views on the shape of Scotland’s future known through a referendum on the issue. If the opposition politicians in Holyrood are determined to deny people the voice on the issue to which they are entitled, they will have no choice but to face the public’s anger.

Restraint and reconciliation

I was recently delighted to attend a sermon from Reverend Stephen Brown of Fraserburgh United Reformed Church in the Scottish Parliament. The Parliament opens its weekly sessions with a Time for Reflection conducted by representatives of the many diverse faiths practiced in Scotland and it was particularly welcome that a speaker from Banff & Buchan was invited to deliver such an address.

Reverend Brown highlighted the need for restraint and reconciliation during the often robust debates surrounding the shape of Scotland’s future. It is a principle that members of all of Scotland’s political parties can at times lose sight of and which we could certainly do well to remember in our discussions.

Getting the best deal for Scotland

2009-11-17T17:00:00.000Z

As all within the fishing industry will know only too well, we are once again approaching the annual fishing negotiations that will determine the fishing restrictions that skippers will face in the coming year. The SNP is in no doubt that the common fisheries policy under which this is decided has utterly failed to either conserve fish stocks or protect the economic livelihoods of those in the fishing industry. Clearly it must be replaced with a system that returns responsibility for managing fishing grounds to regional control, so that fisheries are managed by those who know and have a stake in those waters.

However, reforming the way business is done in Europe is never a quick process and we must deal with the short term situation first. It has been a difficult year for the industry as the recession and European restrictions have combined to damaging effect and it seems likely that next year will also be tough.

Yet despite this Scotland’s fishing fleet has once again been at the forefront of implementing new conservation measures, something that deserves to be recognised in the negotiations that will take place. Just recently, the Scottish Government announced funding for the trial of new fishing gear in the whitefish and prawn fleets that will help skippers be more selective about what they catch. This will let fishermen land more of what ends up in their nets rather than being forced to discard healthy fish. If it proves successful during its trials, vessels that adopt the gear will be able to buy back more days at sea under the conservation credit scheme.

Over half of Scottish fisheries by value have been accredited as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, with more set to follow suit. This is an important selling point as people become more conscious about where their food comes from, but also reflects the efforts Scottish fishermen have gone to build a sustainable, profitable industry.

The Scottish fleet has time after time been leading the way across Europe when it comes to finding innovative ways to fish sustainably and I know my colleague Richard Lochhead will push hard to see them rewarded with the best deal possible for Scotland in coming negotiations. Whatever the outcome of negotiations, the Scottish Government and the fishing industry is developing an action plan to set out a shared vision of the industry’s future and to help Scotland’s fishing communities deal with circumstances that are beyond their control.

The SNP Government knows just how important fishing is to Scotland’s economy and to the coastal communities that rely upon it. While other parties may have shamefully described the industry as “expendable” in the past, everyone in Scotland’s fishing communities know that that is something the SNP will never do.

One of agricultural journalism’s leading lights

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dan Buglass, one of Scotland’s leading agricultural journalists recently who wrote for a variety of press titles during his career. Agricultural journalists play a vital role in providing the kind of specialised news which farmers, and those in linked businesses, need and Dan was one of the field’s most respected journalists throughout his thirty year career.

Dan will be sorely missed be everyone who used to enjoy his insightful articles and my thoughts are with the family and friends he leaves behind during this difficult time.

Addressing Scotland’s housing problems

2009-11-03T17:00:00.001Z

The SNP recently held its 75th Annual conference in Inverness, marking a welcome return to the capital of the Highlands five years after the last time we held a conference there. It was an excellent chance to meet party members from across Scotland, discuss policy and take part in debates, but it also saw an announcement that will be particularly welcome to many people who currently struggle to access council housing.

During Nicola Sturgeon’s excellent keynote speech on the final day of the conference, she announced proposals for the right to buy council homes to be dropped for new tenants. Since its introduction 30 years ago, almost half a million homes in Scotland have been sold at a discount under the policy.

With so many homes being taken out of the social rented sector, waiting lists for council accommodation have risen inexorably to the point where today there is a real and pressing shortage of affordable rented housing. Under the previous administration we found ourselves in the ludicrous situation where just six council houses were built in the whole of Scotland during the four years prior to the SNP taking office.

The Scottish Government is reversing this decline and saw nearly 5,000 new affordable homes built last year, the highest number in 15 years. However, there is little point in building new local authority housing if it is swiftly sold and thereby removed from the reach of people who are unable to afford home ownership. The Scottish Government has a responsibility to help those who cannot afford to buy homes and ending the right to buy for new tenants will do just that. The rights of existing council tenants would not be affected.

Housing problems are one of the most common issues that constituents in Banff & Buchan and indeed across Scotland face, and there is clearly a pressing need to kick start construction of a new generation of council accommodation across Scotland. The Scottish Government has been taking meaningful action since it was elected, and the planned end to the right to buy will help ensure that action continues. Over the next decade, it would safeguard 18,000 houses that would otherwise be sold off for future generations and ensure that their availability for affordable rent is not lost.

The housing situation that so many people face is simply unacceptable and I am glad that the Scottish Government is determined to take real action where previous administrations have failed.

Protecting Attendance Allowance

The UK Government has recently been making worrying noises about the future of Attendance Allowances, the benefit that helps severely disabled pensioners pay for the additional costs of disability. If their proposals were to go ahead some of the most vulnerable people in society would lose over £70 per week, money that they fundamentally rely upon.

There are currently 145,000 people in Scotland that receive Attendance Allowance and would be affected by the UK Government’s proposals. The UK Government is looking to fill a growing financial black hole in the care system south of the border through cutting a benefit that is also received in Scotland. It is extremely short sighted and will push a large number of vulnerable people into poverty.

The Treasury may be desperately seeking ways to cut costs and pay for the Downing Street downturn, but it cannot be right that it is disabled pensioners that they want to pay for it. These proposals are clearly not the answer and the UK Government must abandon them before they cause irreparable harm to thousands of pensioners in Scotland.

Providing more support to students

2009-10-20T17:00:00.000+01:00

I was recently delighted by a Scottish Government announcement that will be of significant help to students from Banff & Buchan and across Scotland. The level of support provided to students across Scotland is set to increase in order to help more students through the current economic downturn, with an estimated 75,900 students - 68% of Scotland’s eligible students – set to see their incomes increase in the next economic year.

This funding will include an additional £2 million to help those students that have additional childcare costs to meet, something that is entirely appropriate given the increased level of financial pressure that they face while at university compared to other students.

The maximum level of the income assessed student loan will increase by £442, something that will provide a significant boost to many of the poorest students in Scotland. Many of the students that will benefit from this are forced to take out commercial loans to fund their studies, with interest repayments causing a significant strain on their budgets. This increase in the amount available through student loans will help to reduce their reliance on such a costly way of financing their studies.

The amount available in grants under the Young Students Bursary is also set to increase, benefiting 40,700 students between 16 and 25. This will directly help the poorest students in Scotland that are part of this scheme.

The economic downturn has had a significant impact on Scotland’s students and I believe it is right that the Scottish Government takes action to help them cope with their circumstances. Many students now struggle to find part-time work to help fund their studies and many parents are unable to contribute financially to their children’s higher education as a result of the pressures they themselves face.

Having an extensive pool of skilled graduates from our universities and colleges is vital to making Scotland an attractive location for businesses and other organisations to invest in, so ensuring that as many people as possible are able to continue their education is particularly vital to our economic recovery.

The SNP Government remains committed to doing what it can for students and has already abolished the previous administration’s graduate endowment of more than £2,000 which acted as a back-door tuition fee. Additionally, £38 million has been allocated to replace loans with grants for 20,000 part time students. This latest announcement is a welcome next step and I know it will come as good news to many students and their families.

Better facilities for school children

The Scottish Government reached a significant milestone recently with the confirmation that 236 schools across Scotland had been rebuilt or refurbished since May 2007. This figure contrasts with the 205 schools delivered over the entire four years of the last parliamentary session under the previous administration.

The subject of school building has been subject to some particularly disingenuous claims by opposition parties, despite the fact that communities across Scotland can see the developments being delivered with their own eyes. Where 260,000 pupils were being taught in schools with a poor or bad rating for their condition before the SNP came to power, in the two and a half years since the election that number has dropped by 100,000.

Clearly there has been substantial progress, but this cannot be allowed to slow. Pupils in Banff & Buchan and across Scotland deserve to be taught in good quality school facilities, and continued efforts will help lift more and more pupils out of the crumbling buildings that are the legacy of previous administrations.

Supporting our rural communities

2009-10-06T17:00:00.001+01:00

A recently published report highlighted many of the benefits of life in Scotland’s rural communities, praising the high quality of life enjoyed by many residents. People have longer life expectancy, higher employment and feel safer in their communities. Yet it remains important that work is done to recognise the distinct needs of rural areas and ensure that the necessary support for them is in place. Whether it is in housing, infrastructure, or transport, rural areas face very different challenges than urban ones and in many ways they are far more fragile.

That is why I was delighted by the Scottish Government’s recent announcement that the highly successful LEADER programme will accept applications for up to 90% of the funding for projects, where before it would meet up to 50% of the costs. This will mean far more proposals have a chance of receiving funding, given that a far lower amount of money must be found from other sources.

The LEADER programme is supporting projects in rural communities across Scotland to the tune of £58 million over the six years it will run, and is already making a significant difference in many areas. The fifth and most recent round of funding saw money awarded to Banff, Strichen, Maud and Portsoy for projects that should make a significant difference to residents in those areas.

However, although the Scottish Government is working hard to support rural communities, there is understandable concern about the impact that the UK Government’s approach to reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will have on rural life.

The Scottish Government has expressed its concern that the UK Government’s proposals would hit farmers in Scotland far harder than south of the border, leaving farmers facing lower prices, fewer animals and reduced income. As with so many things, there are unique characteristics to farming in Scotland that the UK Government’s proposals fail to take into account.

It would result in significant unwelcome knock on effects to all aspects of rural communities across Scotland, given the structural changes to farming that it would cause. There are a huge variety of challenges that farmers face already, and increasing those challenges as a result of UK Government proposals would be an extremely unwelcome development.

This kind of situation simply underlines the pressing need for Scotland to have its own voice in CAP reform negotiations, something that would come with independence. When Scotland and the rest of the UK have different needs and objectives, the lack of our own voice in Europe causes real problems for many people.

Making our communities safer

Whether people live in urban or rural communities, we all want to feel safe from crime in our local area. That is why the SNP promised 1,000 extra police officers on our streets during the election and successfully delivered them ahead of schedule as revealed in recent weeks.

New statistics show that these officers are having an effect, with reported crimes and offences across Scotland having fallen to their lowest level since 1980. In the Grampian area, crimes and offences have fallen by 5%, the third consecutive year the figure has decreased thanks to the outstanding efforts of local police officers.

Although there is certainly no room for complacency in the fight against crime, these figures are hugely encouraging and underline the Scottish Government’s determination to deliver a safer Scotland. There can be no place for crime in local communities and I know that the work that Grampian Police does to tackle this is greatly valued and appreciated by people across Banff & Buchan.

Independence on the agenda

2009-09-23T17:00:00.000+01:00

With the Scottish Parliament well and truly back from its summer recess, the Scottish Government recently published its legislative programme for the coming twelve months. The thirteen planned new bills include changes to patients’ rights, debtor protection and new measures to tackle alcohol misuse.

Yet most significant of all is the Referendum Bill that seeks to pave the way for a vote on Scotland’s constitutional future. The SNP Government is determined to give people in Scotland a say on whether they wish to be independent for the first time.

With their characteristic negativity, opposition politicians have sought to play down Scotland’s prospects as an independent country. Yet the facts remain that Scotland has everything to gain from such a move.

With independence would come our own representation in Europe, where currently we have less of a voice than Malta or Luxembourg. Each EU country has a seat at the top-table of Europe, the European Council, but without independence Scotland is denied this. Where the rest of the UK’s needs differ to those of Scotland, we are forced to take a back seat and are not allowed to make our voice heard in negotiations.

On fishing, energy and many other policy areas, Scotland has distinct needs at a European level which we will only be able to pursue effectively with independence.

Economically, we would be able to use the financial levers that independence would make available to drive our recovery and ensure that we are well placed to encourage sustainable growth in Scotland. The current financial mechanisms are wholly inadequate, forcing the Scottish Government to rely upon an inflexible hand-out from the Treasury rather than accessing the taxes raised in Scotland directly.

With the powers of a normal country, Scotland would have the flexibility to make those decisions that are necessary to stimulate our economy and help protect jobs and services from the downturn. Independence is a starting point that can give Scotland the legislative power it needs to be a more successful, vibrant place. Scotland needs to be able to take the decisions that affect how we are governed in Scotland, and in the best interests of Scots. This is how every other country in the world operates and there is no reason why Scotland should be prevented from doing the same.

Whatever your view on the merits of independence, however, it is an inescapable fact that the majority of Scots insist upon being consulted on their future. People in Scotland know that it is their fundamental democratic right to decide our own future and they will have little tolerance for any party that seeks to block that right in coming months.

Flooding misery for local residents

Like many people in Banff & Buchan I was affected by the extremely heavy rain that caused so much disruption recently. It was an extremely worrying time for those across Scotland who were affected by flooding as a result of the extreme weather conditions, and my thoughts are of course with those whose property has been damaged in the floods.

There could scarcely be a clearer demonstration of the importance of fighting climate change, given the promise of extreme weather becoming more frequent that comes with it. Scotland is leading the world in this area having passed the exceptionally ambitious Climate Change Bill recently. It is now up to other countries to take up this challenge and adopt their own tough measures at the Copenhagen conference in December and the Scottish Government will be working hard to get this message across.

Making our communities safer

2009-09-08T17:00:00.001+01:00

We all want to live in safe communities where nobody has to fear that they may become a victim of crime. It is a sad fact that almost everybody knows somebody that has been the victim of a crime at some point. However, while completely eradicating crime may be all but impossible, there is real progress being made in efforts to tackle criminality and make our streets safer for ordinary people.

Before the 2007 election, the SNP promised that we would put 1,000 additional police officers on the streets over the course of the parliamentary term. Just past the half-way point of that term, this promise has now been met. There are now 17,278 police officers serving in Scotland, 1,044 more than at the end of the previous administration and a record high.

Although simply recruiting more police officers is not a silver bullet, the truth is that there is really no substitute for putting more Bobbies on the beat when it comes to protecting local communities. In the Grampian police area, there are now an additional 158 officers serving compared to March 2007. These officers are having a real effect, creating a more visible police presence and demonstrably driving down levels of crime.

Opposition politicians have made many statements predicting that the Scottish Government would fail to meet this target and many will feel that they owe the Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill an apology. Not only has the SNP Government fulfilled another of our manifesto commitments, we have done so well ahead of schedule.

Yet just as important as preventing or catching criminals is what action our justice system takes after somebody is found guilty. Recently published figures revealed that a staggering 74% of people, three out of every four who receive short-term custodial sentences go on to re-offend within two years of their release. For three quarters of short term prisoners to commit further crimes after their sentence is clearly unsustainable and indicates a clear problem with the status quo.

Given that the same set of statistics reveal that reconviction rates amongst those who receive sentences of four years or more is 27%, it is clear that short-term sentences do very little to change a pattern of repeat offending. The same set of statistics also reveals that of those given a community service order, the majority do not go on to re-offend.

There is little to be gained from the constant cycle of giving repeat offenders short-term sentences that do not give prison authorities time to change their behaviour, one of the key purposes of custodial sentences. Tough community sentences demonstrably have a greater chance of preventing offenders, who would otherwise receive a sentence of less than 6 months, from committing more crimes.

It is not a question of being hard or soft on criminals, but rather of being effective in changing their behaviour.

The Scottish Government intends to introduce Community Payback Orders to replace some existing community sentences. Prisons need to be able to focus their resources on the serious criminals for whom prison is the only option. Those guilty of less serious crimes should be made to repay the communities that they have offended against.

This is the only way that the cycle of re-offending amongst those currently receiving short-term sentences can be broken and the only way to improve rehabilitation rates. This kind of change is vital for the future of our prison estate and the proposals are being monitored with interest outside Scotland’s borders. It is imperative that we make the right choices.

Labour’s planned tax rises

2009-08-25T17:00:00.000+01:00

With two years having passed since the start of the SNP’s first ever term in Government, it has become increasingly notable how bereft of alternative policy ideas the Labour party has been. With the mid-point to the next Holyrood election having passed, Scotland’s main opposition has thus far chosen to snipe from the sidelines rather than engage in suggesting any kind of policy alternatives.

Therefore, it was with no small amount of surprise that I learned of their recent decision to resurrect a policy they had previously rejected before the election, and call for a local property tax. A policy announcement from Labour is in itself a rare occasion, but their choice of proposal could only be described as bizarre and ill-judged.

It was with good reason that Jack McConnell promptly abandoned the policy while he was still First Minister when it was recommended in Sir Peter Burt’s report. The discredited proposals that Labour have resurrected call for council tax to be replaced by a local property tax of 1% of the capital value of people’s homes. This would mean significantly larger bills for households across Scotland.

Thanks to council tax having remained frozen since the SNP came to power in 2007, the average council tax bill across Scotland is £987. Contrast this with the average house price of £145,533 which would lead to people paying £1455.30 in local taxes, an increase of £468 per year under Labour’s plans. At a time when many people are experiencing financial difficulties, the return of this proposal could scarcely be less welcome or more misguided.

In the Aberdeenshire Council area, the effects would be even more keenly felt by local residents. Average house prices here are £184,567 and would see an average local property tax of £1,846 compared to the current average council tax bill of £1,111. With a massive increase of £734 per year on average bills for people to deal with, only Edinburgh would see a bigger increase in the whole of Scotland.

Local residents would be further penalised for carrying out any kind of improvement that adds value to their properties. Installing double glazing might make homes more energy efficient, lower heating costs and help combat climate change but if carrying out that kind of improvement means paying more tax, then people will be understandably put off.

As if all these problems weren’t big enough reasons for this policy never to see the light of day, the original report that accompanied it also pointed out that introducing a local property tax could be expected to lead to house prices falling by 15%. On the average house in Aberdeenshire, that would wipe a staggering £27,685 off the value of people’s homes.

Even after seeing the value of their property erode so significantly, the average local property tax would still be higher than the average council tax bill both across Scotland and in the Aberdeenshire Council area currently is. Given the well documented troubles that the housing market has experienced, the impact of this would be simply disastrous to Scotland’s economy.

Clearly a local property tax is a complete non-starter, given the devastating impact that it would have, and any kind of positive benefit from it is extremely difficult to see to say the least. Why Labour has now chosen to try to resurrect this ill thought out and damaging policy after their rejection of the proposal three years ago is beyond me. Perhaps we should be glad that such policy announcements from Labour remain few and far between.

Technology welcome

2009-08-11T17:00:00.002+01:00

The fishing fleet in Banff and Buchan has never been slow to innovate in terms of technology and the way it operates.

Faced with the enormous challenges involved in securing a sustainable, profitable fishing industry, we have seen significant developments made that have been adopted by other fleets across Europe.

Practices such as Real-Time Closures in areas where large concentrations of young cod are found, have been widely credited for their effectiveness and have been taken on board as standard practice across the European Union.

This measure was driven by the fishing community in Scotland itself and is only successful because skippers accept the need for it to enable continued recovery of fish stocks.

Similarly, advances in fishing technology have been welcomed by the fishing industry when they can help to increase profitability or the sustainability of fish stocks. With this in mind, it is no surprise to find that many in the fishing industry have welcomed a recently announced trial to mount CCTV monitoring equipment on fishing vessels.

While it may seem counter-intuitive that people would welcome the opportunity for others to monitor their activities remotely, many skippers have recognised that the measures being trialled represent an important opportunity to demonstrate the improvements in cod stocks to everyone with an input on setting fishing quotas.

No skipper goes to sea wanting to discard perfectly healthy, marketable fish. If monitoring equipment is able to demonstrate that improvements in the abundance of fish are clearly taking place, then that is something that everybody in the industry would surely approve of.

There is little doubt that the Common Fisheries Policy has been an abject failure and has hugely damaged the fishing industry in Banff and Buchan and across Scotland. This has at last been accepted by the European Commission, and a debate on what is to replace it is beginning; a debate that must see a return to national control of historic fishing sites where the local fishing community that knows what is happening in its own waters is able to influence the policies affecting them.

But until we reach that point, we continue to operate under the system as it stands and the industry needs the means to prove that greater leeway with quotas are needed as fish stocks recover, in order to reduce the practice of discarding marketable fish.

Turriff show

I had the chance to welcome the success of a number of Homecoming related events in this part of Scotland since the start of the year, and I am delighted to be able to do so.

Early estimates of visitor numbers at this year's Turriff Show indicate that they have seen a jump on previous figures.

I am sure that the Homecoming theme will have played a large part in attracting visitors from around the world and closer to home to attend what is truly one of Scotland's premier agricultural shows, but the real credit for this increase belongs to the organisers of the event who once again pulled out all the stops to make it a success.

I was delighted to be able to attend the show and once again hold surgeries with constituents of Banff and Buchan, as other SNP parliamentarians also did over the course of the event.

Removing the obstacles to our energy future

2009-07-28T17:00:00.000+01:00

Shortly before the Scottish Parliament entered its summer recess at the end of June, Scotland’s Climate Change Bill completed its passage through Parliament and passed into law. Given that climate change falls within my portfolio, this was an enormously pleasing event for me.

Scotland now has the most ambitious climate change legislation in the world, with a legal commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. These are extremely challenging targets, but they are targets that Scotland can achieve and in doing so lay down a challenge for the rest of the world to play its part in fighting climate change.

Key to success will be the enormous potential that Scotland has to be a renewable energy powerhouse. With 25% of Europe’s offshore wind and wave energy potential and 10% of Europe’s tidal energy potential located off our shores, the environmental and economic opportunities that Scotland has are massive.

However, if we are to be successful in this area we need the UK Government to do its bit by removing the barriers that currently stand in the way of Scotland’s developing renewables industry. As things stand, transmission charges for the national grid penalise energy companies north of the border - particularly those in remote areas – for sending their electricity to consumers.

If the UK Government is serious about tackling climate change, there is a clear need for the transmission charging regime to be overhauled to create a level playing field. It cannot be right that it is the companies producing clean, renewable energy that are paying the most for transmitting their electricity.

There is enormous economic potential in producing green, renewable energy in Scotland in coming years but we cannot afford for the UK Government to threaten this with unfair charges. The SNP group in Westminster is pushing strongly for the necessary changes to be made and I hope that they will succeed in their efforts.

Coordinating our food and drink sector

Recent weeks also saw the launch of Scotland’s first ever national food and drink policy, something that could have profound implications for the future of Banff & Buchan’s fishing and farming sectors. Scotland has an international reputation for producing top quality food and drink and the food and drink manufacturing sector already generates £7.3 billion for our economy every year through sales.

Yet there is enormous potential for growth in the sector, something that this new policy aims to encourage. With the right targets and programmes in place, the sector can increase to the point of generating £10 billion a year by 2017. Through marketing Scotland as a ‘Land of Food and Drink’, the Scottish Government aims to build upon our already excellent reputation for quality produce and maximise the opportunities available to sell Scottish food and drink around the world. By helping people to learn new skills related to the industry, we can help ensure that there are more new entrants into a wide range of food and drink related jobs and enable successful businesses to recruit more people as they expand. With carefully targeted funding, the Scottish Government can help many food and drink businesses flourish.

By developing a holistic, joined up approach, the national food and drink policy has real potential to increase the profits of everyone involved in the manufacture or sale of food and drink. Given the high number of people involved in the sector in some way in Banff & Buchan, there are few places that stand to gain more from the new policy.

Celebrating the Homecoming

2009-07-14T17:00:00.001+01:00

As school pupils across Banff & Buchan start their summer holidays and many families head off for well earned breaks, it seems an appropriate time to consider the success that Homecoming Scotland 2009 is having in attracting visitors from all over the world to Scotland.

Thousands of people have already taken part in large numbers of events so far this year, with many more yet to come. Many annual attractions with a Homecoming theme all over Scotland have reported record attendances as visitors from across the globe flock to the wide variety of events taking place. The indications are that the Homecoming celebrations are proving to be highly successful, both with visitors and people from Scotland.

As well as being an extremely fitting way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, the success of the Homecoming is also a timely economic boost to many businesses across Scotland. There is still much more to come this year, something confirmed when the First Minister Alex Salmond was able to announce that an additional 44 attractions were being added to the Homecoming programme while he attended one of Banff & Buchan’s key Homecoming events, the Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival.

The four day celebration of the traditional skills and boats that were historically common in the coastal villages of Banff & Buchan was an enormous success this year, having been expanded from its usual two days especially for Homecoming Scotland 2009, and has proved a wonderful part of the Homecoming calendar. Many residents of Banff & Buchan will have attended and I am sure that they will have found the experience thoroughly enjoyable.

I extend my warmest congratulations to the organisers of the festival and everyone involved in making this year’s event such an enormous success. Clearly the other Homecoming celebrations taking place in Banff & Buchan over the course of the year, such as the Peterhead Scottish Week or the Fraserburgh Heritage Fair, will have to work hard to meet the standard that the events so far this year have set.

Scotland’s dangerous relationship with the drink

While we may be celebrating many aspects of Scottish culture as part of the Homecoming festivities, statistics released recently reveal a disturbing picture of one side of our culture that nobody will be proud of. New research has shown that alcohol could be responsible for the death of up to one in twenty people in Scotland, a truly shocking statistic.

This number is twice as high as had previously been thought and could mean that one person in Scotland is dying from alcohol related causes every three hours.

This has massive cost implications for the NHS, the police and other relevant professions in financial terms, but an absolutely incalculable one in terms of the suffering endured by those who lose loved ones through circumstances relating to alcohol. Clearly something fundamentally has to change in our society.

The Scottish Government is determined not to shy away from this difficult issue and recently held an Alcohol Summit so that people from all political parties, retailers, health professionals, the alcohol industry and others could come together and discuss the problem and some of the ways to improve the situation that have been suggested.

While some of the solutions that are being discussed are not universally popular, it is clear that in order to confront the damage being caused by Scotland’s relationship with alcohol we must be prepared to go further than has previously been attempted. With so many lives at stake, inaction is simply not an option.

Our £3.6bn blueprint for Scotland's railways

2009-07-01T12:00:00.001+01:00

(from Rail News "Guest Opinion")

As a minister who has used the train over 600 times since coming into Government, I have a real passion and enthusiasm for rail. Commuting to and from work on the train each day has given me a chance to experience the rail network at first-hand and those experiences have given me a clear vision about what I, and this Government, want to achieve in Scotland.

And we are seeing some real movement in the industry north of the border.

Having set some of the most ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions in the world, we've placed a strong focus on investing directly in transport initiatives which address the threats posed by climate change.

To achieve this, we are building new rail lines - re-opening many stations closed during the Beeching cuts. We are more than half-way through our current rail infrastructure enhancement programme and already well on our way to delivering £3 billion worth of investment on infrastructure projects by 2012.

Achievements to date include the recently completed Edinburgh Waverley upgrade - our doorway to Scotland for many visitors from across the UK - and, of course, the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine route where passenger numbers in the first year were treble original forecasts.

Further commitments will deliver a fleet of Class 380 electric trains, which will add more than 9,000 passenger seats to the Scottish rail network from September 2010.These 38 new trains have 23-metre coaches, as opposed to 20 metre, bringing an improved passenger environment.

To house these, we are expanding Shields Road train depot in Glasgow through a £24 million refurbishment, turning it into a purpose-built maintenance and overhaul facility.

But not all projects cost tens of £millions; smaller investments are making a real difference, too.

Our £3.5 million renovation of Laurencekirk station in Aberdeenshire has allowed the return of passenger trains for the first time in over 40 years. The station, which was left derelict following the Beeching cuts, re-opened in May 2009 and is already providing the local community with access to education and employment opportunities.

The Airdrie-Bathgate route is on course for opening in December 2010, and will be electrified throughout from the start; work has started to enhance the capacity of the important Paisley corridor, and we have recently announced our plans for taking forward the re-opening of the Borders railway.

We also made a firm commitment for the electrification of the main Edinburgh - Glasgow line and associated routes, including a new west Edinburgh station to link with the city's airport.

This is an ambitious, exciting programme of works that aims to reduce journey times between these two important cities by around 15 minutes. It is estimated that every minute we save in journey times has the potential to generate £60 million for the Scottish economy.

The Scottish High Level Output Specification (HLOS) sets out our £3.6 billion blueprint for railways in Scotland from 2009 to 2014: it focuses on reducing journey times, increasing capacity and meeting rising passenger and freight demand. Our planning assumption is for 23 per cent passenger growth by 2014 and our strategy for meeting this includes rolling stock improvements and incremental enhancements such as capacity improvements on the Highland main line and the Glasgow to Kilmarnock via Barrhead route.

We also expect to address emerging capacity issues at Glasgow's two main terminal stations over the next decade.

Rail plays a vital role across the country, but particularly so in the west of Scotland which has the largest suburban rail network outside London. It is therefore vital we work now with the rest of the industry to cater for a growing passenger market.

We have always recognised the potential of electrification in our strategy, partly because key routes - most of the Glasgow network and both of the main cross-border lines - are already wired, creating major opportunities for optimising use of fleet. We are confident that the electrification of the Edinburgh-Glasgow route will be just a starting point, and that it will provide the basis for a rolling programme for wider electrification of the Scottish network over the coming decade.

Our ultimate aim is for the majority of rail passenger journeys in Scotland to be made in electric rolling stock.

Looking to the future, we recently announced the outcome of the Strategic Transport Projects Review. This future programme of nationally significant measures and initiatives supports the Government's aim of achieving sustainable economic growth. The STPR identifies transport interventions that best contribute to achieving this from the current programme and beyond, with rail featuring heavily in our vision. The majority of interventions are based on rail improvements, ticketing, safety and modal shift. Seventeen of the 29 packages are public-transport based.

Taken together, our high-level modelling suggests that the overall package of schemes could cut between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year against business as usual.

We firmly believe that high-speed rail links between Scotland and England present fantastic economic and environmental opportunities for Scotland. That is why we support the development of a Scottish team to bring forward the case for extending high-speed rail links between Scotland and England.

There is much work to be done to keep Scotland moving. This is an exciting time for Scottish transport and it is a privilege to be part of the team helping meet the challenge of delivering a world class transport network for Scotland.

Deciding Scotland’s future

2009-06-30T15:00:00.000+01:00

Ten years on from devolution and the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament, it is entirely fitting that discussion of the arrangements by which Scotland is governed should again be high on the agenda.

The Scottish Government’s National Conversation continues to engage with thousands of people across Scotland in discussing the future of our nation. A white paper on its findings and the case for independence will be published on St Andrew’s Day with a referendum planned for 2010. Meanwhile, the Calman Commission has reported ahead of schedule with a number of recommendations for changes to the devolution framework.

The Calman Commission’s report contains some proposals that people of all political persuasions can surely get behind. Devolving air gun legislation to Holyrood will allow the Scottish Government to address a problem that the UK Government has thus far failed to tackle. Similarly, devolving control of drink-driving limits would allow legislation to be tightened in Scotland in order to make our roads safer and save numerous lives every year.

Yet the most prominent recommendation that the Calman Commission has made is for a new system of financing the Scottish Government and sadly it is one that can only be regarded as a missed opportunity.

The report recommends a system of devolving the control of certain taxes generated in Scotland to the Scottish budget, lowering the income tax collected by the UK Government by 10 pence in the pound and then setting a Scottish income tax that would go directly into the Scottish budget. The block grant that makes up the Scottish budget would be lowered by £6 billion to reflect these changes.

Unfortunately, the recommendations expose the Scottish budget to the uncertainty of fluctuations in how much tax is generated without the financial levers to fully affect economic policy. The income tax being proposed would be a flat rate across all the tax bands with no opportunity to make it progressive or alter the banding thresholds. The proposals have been branded as ‘seriously flawed (if not illiterate)’ by one of the financial experts involved in the Commission, Professor Andrew Hughes Hallet, demonstrating the level of disquiet they have caused amongst experts. With the Scottish Government only gaining the power to borrow for capital projects rather than short term revenue shortfalls under Calman’s recommendations, the inevitable result of income tax takes falling – as they currently are – would be for schools and hospitals to close.

Scotland certainly needs more responsibility for generating the money that is spent here, but the proposals the Calman Commission have made are the worst of both worlds. What is needed for Scotland is full fiscal autonomy, something that only the SNP will deliver through independence.

Ultimately the decision on whether to adopt the Calman Commission’s recommendations or not, or indeed to move towards the status of a normal independent country, must be ones taken by ordinary people not politicians. The referendums on whether the Scottish Parliament should be reconvened and whether it should have limited tax varying powers firmly established the principle that it is for the people of Scotland to decide their constitutional arrangements.

There can be no question of making the kind of changes that Calman recommends without giving people in Scotland their chance to have a say in another referendum. The SNP Government is determined to put the decision on our preferred option of independence in the hands of ordinary people through a referendum. If the unionist parties believe in the strength of the recommendations made by the Calman Commission, they must be prepared to do the same.

Building for Scotland’s future

2009-05-14T11:54:00.000+01:00

For many years Scotland’s housing situation grew steadily worse as more and more people found themselves unable to get access to council housing or move onto the property ladder. Shortages in council housing got worse year after year as more homes were purchased and taken out of the system without replacements being built. In the last four years of the previous administration, just 6 council houses were built – none of them on mainland Scotland.

Significant numbers of Banff & Buchan residents and people across Scotland have faced problems with the waiting lists for council housing; problems exacerbated by the previous administration’s unwillingness to address the shortages in housing availability. Now with the SNP Government, that situation is beginning to change for the better. In our first year in Government, work on more public sector homes was started than at any time since the early 1990s and we have done even more since then.

In order to kick-start construction of a new generation of council housing, the Scottish Government is investing £50 million in the sector, the most spent in 30 years. As well as enabling the construction of new council housing across Scotland, this money will also help to support around 3,000 jobs in the construction industry at a time when such investment is needed most.

This money for new council housing comes as part of a record £1.5 billion over three years invested in Scotland’s affordable housing sector by the SNP Government. Of that, £644 million has been provided for housing association investment this year alone, a record high that will play an important part in our economic recovery during the current downturn. Thanks to this investment, an unprecedented 8,100 affordable homes will be approved for construction across Scotland this year.

As well as investing such significant amounts of money, it is also imperative that needed reforms to right to buy legislation are carried out. Local authorities will not be motivated to build new homes if they fear that they will be taken out of the market at a loss to them. The Scottish Government is currently consulting on much needed reforms that could potentially retain between 10,000 and 18,000 homes for low cost rent that would otherwise be lost through right to buy legislation. With the right changes to the current framework, we can see the improvements to council house provision that Scotland so desperately needs.

Brown must back down on Royal Mail privatisation

It will not be news to anybody that Gordon Brown is continuing to have a disastrous few weeks as he lurches from one crisis to the next. Yet he has it in his power to avoid the next damaging blow by dropping his poorly thought out plans to privatise part of the Royal Mail.

The universal service obligation that ensures daily postal deliveries across the country is vital to people in rural communities, like parts of Banff & Buchan, and it is intolerable that it should potentially be put at threat for the sake of the Prime Minister’s pride. It is no surprise that the Conservatives are intent on doing further damage to Scotland’s communities in their fanaticism for privatisation, but the fact that Gordon Brown seems likely to be reliant on their support to get his changes through should tell him how ill-judged they truly are.

The service the Royal Mail provides is too important to be taken out of public hands and it is essential that Gordon Brown realises this and backs down before he causes irreparable damage.

An opportunity for a new beginning

2009-04-28T15:00:00.001+01:00

Banff & Buchan’s fishing communities have endured many difficult years since the introduction of the EU’s common fisheries policy. It is certainly true to say that fish stocks off our coasts have been in decline for a significant period and that there is clearly a need for them to be managed to ensure a sustainable future for the industry. Yet far too often the CFP has delivered a centrally set policy that has destroyed livelihoods and failed to create the sustainable, profitable fishing industry that we need.

With a host of landlocked countries able to have more of a say on what happens to the Scottish fleet than Scotland does, it is scarcely surprising that what has resulted over the years has not been what the fishing communities know to be the best way forward.

However, there is a now a chance that all this could change. The European Commission has accepted that there is a fundamental need to replace the common fisheries policy with a completely new system to manage fish stocks. The Scottish Government has already launched an inquiry into future fisheries management and is determined to push hard to bring about a distinctly Scottish approach. It is only common sense that those nations with a stake in the future of the fishing industry should be the ones taking the decisions on how best to achieve sustainability.

Responsibility for managing the Scottish fishing industry and the fish stocks it relies upon should lie as close to the communities involved as possible. The fishing industry in Banff & Buchan, and in Scotland generally, has been at the forefront of developing new methods of increasing the sustainability of the fish stocks it relies upon. This move to find a new system for managing these stocks represents a key opportunity to replace a failed policy of centralised decision-making with one that can deliver. A new future for our fishing industry is possible, but it is incumbent on the European Union to accept that the necessary decisions must be taken by those most affected by their consequences. Greater power over our fishing industry simply must be returned to Scotland.

Learning new skills to overcome the downturn

In these difficult economic times it is important that ordinary people in Scotland are given as much support as possible to increase their skills and employability. Although nobody wants to see people out of work, it would be negligence if we failed to anticipate it and provide support for training to make finding alternative employment easier.

That is why I was delighted by the announcement that access to the Individual Learning Account is to be widened to cover up to 250,000 people. This scheme provides financial support for people with an income under £22,000 to learn new skills or improve existing ones, and is a vital measure for economic recovery. By having a highly skilled population we are more readily able to attract new business opportunities to Scotland and consequently help increase people’s opportunities for employment.

The SNP Government recognises the importance of this and is working hard to help people learn new skills. That is why £24.7 million of European Social Fund money is being directed towards supporting 75,000 people gain or sustain employment opportunities by increasing their skills and training. The importance of this support cannot be underestimated and is a key part of the work being taken by the Scottish Government to help ordinary people in Scotland through the current economic difficulties.

75 years fighting for Scotland

2009-04-09T14:00:00.000+01:00

North Sea Tragedy

It was with great sadness that we learned of the appalling tragedy which unfolded off the Buchan coast last week, with a helicopter going down and taking the lives of the sixteen people on board. The nation has been united in expressing its condolences to those families and communities which are suffering as a result. The personal impact of the accident will fall heaviest on families in the north-east of Scotland, but it will fall also on other parts of Scotland and the United Kingdom, as well as further afield. The north-east, and indeed the whole nation has been united in expressing its deepest sympathy and condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of those who have been killed in this tragic accident.

75 years fighting for Scotland

On April 7 the Scottish National Party celebrated its 75th anniversary. The last 75 years have seen Scotland and the SNP journey together. Throughout, we have always stood with and for the people of Scotland in achieving our nation’s ambitions.

The SNP has seen the election of our first MP, Robert McIntyre, in 1945 and Winnie Ewing’s historic by-election victory in 1967 that led to a steady increase in SNP MPs in following years. It has endured the low times following the 1979 devolution referendum and celebrated the highs of Scotland’s parliament reconvening ten years ago. The last two years have seen fresh landmarks in the SNP story, with the triumph at the last Holyrood election, including the election of the late and much missed Bashir Ahmad as the first Scots Asian MSP, and then last year’s epic by-election victory in Glasgow East.

When the party was founded few could have imagined the distance we have travelled in the years since, with an SNP Government now in place and an independence referendum planned for next year.

The sad loss of Neil MacCormick reminds those of us who have the privilege of serving in the first SNP Government, that without the support of the people, and the efforts of so many members over the decades, we would not be in the position we are today. It is that support and the strength and determination of the people of Scotland that will take us forward together.
Now it is time for the SNP and the people of Scotland to move into a new era, to look to the future, and to build the smarter, wealthier, and healthier Scotland that will take us forward to our rightful place as an equal and independent nation on the European and world stage.

An anniversary that won’t be celebrated

Recent days have also seen a very different anniversary, but one that was certainly not celebrated in Scotland. The twentieth anniversary of the hated Poll Tax’s introduction north of the border served as a timely reminder of the problems of Westminster governing Scottish affairs.

Scotland was used as a guinea pig for the Conservative Party’s failed experiment, with devastating effect. The democratic outrage of a party that had been rejected by Scottish voters imposing such an unpopular policy on Scotland, before the rest of the UK, is something which 20 years on has neither been forgotten nor forgiven by the Scottish electorate.

Whether it is unacceptable taxes or illegal wars the need for Scotland to be able to make our own decisions has not changed. The whims of a remote Government in Westminster have damaged Scotland time after time and only the full powers of independence will change that.

UK Government cutbacks

2009-03-26T18:20:00.000Z

26/03In these difficult economic times people across Scotland are inevitably making adjustments to their budgets and are trying to maximise their value for money. It is entirely right that they should in turn demand that the same search for efficiency is conducted by elected representatives in their use of tax-payer money.

Yet there is a clear difference between genuine efficiency savings that release money to be reinvested in public services and wholesale funding cuts that threaten Scotland’s prospects of economic recovery. The Scottish Government is committed to managing public resources more effectively to generate savings of 2% every year. By being more efficient, there is then more money available to be put back into frontline services.

However, this approach is in stark contrast to the planned budget cuts proposed by the Westminster Government, who are calling for the Scottish budget to be cut by £500 million in each of the next two years. This will take vital money away from schools, hospitals and other public services at a time when our economy is demanding that investment. Where the Scottish Government is responsibly seeking greater efficiency to increase the resources available to help our economy, Westminster is intent on taking that money away from Scotland completely.

The UK Government’s ill-judged plans are causing immense levels of concern across the political spectrum. Even the Labour party in Wales and former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, have recognised the damage that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling’s plans would do to devolved administrations, yet the response of Labour in Scotland has been a deafening silence. At a time when countries around the world are increasing the money being spent on public services and infrastructure to combat the recession, the UK Government’s planned cuts are simply the wrong decision at the wrong time.

At a time when all sectors of Scottish society should be coming together to oppose the damage that the UK Government’s plans would do, people will not be quick to forgive any Scottish politician who fails to stand up for Scotland’s needs.

An enduring friendship

I was delighted to recently welcome a group of pupils from Peterhead Academy and Spjelkavik Videregaende School to the Scottish Parliament. Their visit formed part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the twinning link between Peterhead and Aalesund in Norway. This link has seen many pupils from both sides of the North Sea visit their counterparts over the years, and four decades on the bond remains just as strong.

Yet for all there is a strong link between Peterhead and Aalesund, there are some striking differences between the economic challenges that Scotland and Norway currently face. Norway has a similar size of population to Scotland, has shared in the discovery of North Sea oil and has many historic links with our country. Yet just over 100 years ago, Norway declared its independence and began to make its own decisions.

By being able to run their own affairs, Norway is enduring the economic downturn in a far stronger position than either Scotland or the UK. In no small part, this is thanks to their ability to use their oil wealth as an economic ‘shock absorber’.

While Scotland’s oil wealth has been squandered by successive Governments in London, Norway’s independence meant that theirs could be invested in a fund for future generations. Given that this fund was only established in 1995, there is still time for Scotland to follow suit. With the power to make our own decisions, Scotland can ensure it is far better protected against future economic downturns.

Two very different governments

2009-03-12T13:32:00.001Z

Devolution was always intended to bring about different policies between Scotland and the rest of the UK, reflecting the different needs and goals of people in Scotland. With almost ten years of devolution having passed, differing approaches are to be expected. Yet what is striking is the effect that the SNP Government has had on Scotland compared to the continuation of Labour governance south of the border.

In Scotland, the SNP Government has put significant levels of funding into increasing police numbers and driving down crime in our communities. There are now more police officers on Scotland’s streets than ever before, with significant numbers still to come. Contrast this to the situation in England and Wales where plans are being made to cut police numbers by thousands. The SNP Government is committed to delivering a safer and stronger Scotland than the previous administration did.

In these difficult economic times, Governments need to do all they can to help ordinary people. That is why the SNP Government has delivered a freeze in council tax for the last two years and intends to continue this freeze for another two. This will put money back in people’s pockets at a time when they need it most. Contrast this to England and Wales where this year alone council tax bills will rise by an average of 3%. The SNP Government is committed to delivering a wealthier and fairer Scotland than the previous administration did.

When people are ill the last thing they need is the additional stress of having to fund expensive, sometimes long-term medication that can cost patients significant amounts of money. Prescription charging is a tax on ill-health and it is something that the SNP Government is moving to bring an end to through reducing charges year on year ahead of their final abolition. From April prescription charges in Scotland will fall to £4, compared to south of the border where they will rise to £7.10. The SNP Government is committed to delivering a healthier Scotland than the previous administration did.

The SNP Government has made great strides forward in the almost two years we have been in office. We will unashamedly continue to put Scotland first at every opportunity and deliver the kinds of policy that Scotland needs in order to prosper. The people of Scotland demand nothing less.

Ten years of devolution

We are now just weeks away from the tenth anniversary of devolution and the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament. To commemorate this event, a search has been launched to find a new quotation to be carved in stone and set into the Canongate wall of the building alongside the twenty-four existing quotations that many visitors to the Parliament will have seen.

This is an excellent opportunity to reaffirm the link between Scotland’s parliament and her people, so if you can think of a quote that you feel is relevant to Scotland and should form part of the structure of the parliament, I would encourage you to enter through the parliament’s website. It is a unique chance to create something that will last through the ages and it would be wonderful if the winning entry came from a resident of Banff & Buchan.

Fishing Review 2009

2009-03-02T10:00:00.003Z

A difficult year, but one with positives for the future

It has sadly become all too familiar to take an annual look back at what the past year had in store for Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry and conclude that it has been a difficult period. The last twelve months have proven no exception.

Soaring oil prices for much of the year led to skyrocketing costs for skippers, which the nature of the fishing industry left them unable to pass on to their customers. Banff & Buchan’s fishing industry has seen many challenges over recent years, but the ruinous cost of fuel for much of the year has been one of the toughest. Westminster’s failure to act in this area it has retained responsibility for only made matters far worse than they need have been.

At no point in the year was this clearer than when it was suggested by the House of Lords that high fuel prices could be used to drive Scottish fishermen out of business and thereby bring the number of European fishing vessels down to a sustainable level; effectively punishing Scottish skippers for over-fishing by other European countries.

Yet despite these problems, there are also a number of positives that everyone concerned with the industry in Banff & Buchan can take away from the past year.

Although skippers faced a difficult time coping with spiralling bills, the SNP Government moved decisively to help overcome these difficulties through putting in place £29 million to help Scotland’s fishing fleet become more efficient and thereby reduce running costs. This money was put in place to support a three year plan aimed at further modernising the fishing fleet.

Equally important has been some much needed success in European negotiations, something which has been all too rare in recent years.

The practice of discarding perfectly good fish in order to meet quota obligations has been a heartbreaking one for skippers and one that the Scottish fleet has been determined to make unnecessary by developing innovative solutions.

By successfully pioneering methods such as real time closure schemes, the Scottish fleet has made a real difference to conservation efforts in the North Sea. These efforts were rewarded in European negotiations with a 30% increase in North Sea Cod quotas, but perhaps more significantly the decision was taken to roll the scheme out across Europe.

There could scarcely be a clearer indication that this Scottish practice is bearing fruit and will help safeguard a profitable and sustainable fishing industry in Banff & Buchan.

As well as in European negotiations, the efforts of the SNP Government to negotiate on behalf of the fishing industry were also successful in lifting the import ban on Scottish fish in Russia. Although the fishing industry south of the border is still banned, the Scottish Government successfully convinced Russia to bring an end to its restriction on Scottish companies and open up a vital market worth over £40 million to the industry.

These successful negotiations demonstrate what is possible with a government that unashamedly puts Scotland’s key interests, like fishing, first. Whether by providing a strong Scottish voice in Europe, or through putting in place the necessary funding to help the industry cope with the challenges it faces, the SNP Government has consistently fought for Scotland’s fishing industry. Although there will undoubtedly be further challenges ahead of the fishing industry in the future, I know that those in the industry can rest assured that this Scottish Government will stand up for it and offer every possible support, come what may.

Council tax frozen for another year

2009-02-26T13:30:00.000Z

People up and down Scotland will have welcomed the recent news that their Council Tax bills have been frozen for another year. At the time of writing, 31 out of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have set their budgets for the coming year and have pledged to keep Council Tax at current levels.

The SNP Government has now delivered two consecutive years of Council Tax bills remaining at their current levels. This is some contrast from the situation over the decade before the SNP came to power, where bills rose by 93% in Aberdeenshire. With families in the current financial climate struggling to pay the bills, the last thing they would have needed is the increase in Council Tax bills which they would have seen if the previous administration’s constant tax hikes had continued.

By delivering a freeze in Council Tax, the SNP Government is putting real money back into people’s pockets and helping them cope with the current economic situation.

And helping hard working people in Scotland in this way is something we are determined to continue.

Council Tax remains a fundamentally flawed system of local government taxation, punishing as it does those on low incomes. Parliamentary opposition and obstruction from Westminster have meant that we will be unable to abolish the Council Tax during this parliamentary term. However, this set back only makes my colleagues and I more determined to take this issue on to the streets and doorsteps of Scotland and secure an increased number of seats at the next election. In this way we will be able to secure the parliamentary support necessary to replace Council Tax with a fair system of local taxation, based on the ability to pay.

While the fact we have been forced into this delay is enormously disappointing, people in Scotland can at least take some solace from the announcement that Finance Secretary John Swinney will put in place funding to continue the Council Tax freeze for a further two years. This means that after four years of SNP Government, Council Tax will not have increased by a single penny.

The SNP Government is working with our partners in local councils to take real action to help people in Scotland during these current difficulties. The Council Tax freeze is making a significant difference to people’s finances, and the SNP Government will continue to do all that it can to help ordinary people in Scotland.

No show this year

I was saddened to learn that the organisers behind the very successful Banffshire Show have been unable to find enough volunteers to help put on the event this year. The Banffshire Show may still be quite new but it has been highly popular since its inception, drawing in around 1,500 people last year.

While it may have started as a replacement event after the Turriff show was cancelled over a Foot and Mouth scare in 2001, it has quickly become an established part of the rural calendar in Banff & Buchan and its absence this year will be keenly felt.

It would be a terrible shame for the region if the show could not continue in future years, so if you have the time and energy to commit to making sure the Banffshire Show returns in 2010 please get in touch with the organising committee. I am sure they would love to have your help and many people will be dearly hoping the show can stage a successful return.

What a difference a week makes

2009-02-12T15:34:00.000Z

The most important topic exercising minds in Holyrood over the last few weeks has without any shadow of doubt been Scotland’s budget for the coming financial year. In the current fiscal climate, the need for accelerated investment to support our economy and protect jobs could scarcely be more critical.

That is why the decision by the Liberal Democrats and Labour to put party point scoring ahead of Scotland’s financial wellbeing and vote against the budget was completely indefensible. Their opposition, along with that of the Greens, led to a tied vote and the budget falling at the first time of asking. The predictable consequence of this was massive uncertainty for local authorities, health boards and every organisation that receives public money to operate. Thousands of jobs and £1.8 billion of increased spending were put at risk at a time when they were needed most.

Yet perhaps even more disturbing was the seeming indifference to the damage being caused by Labour’s leader Iain Gray, who suggested in First Minister’s Questions that continuing without a budget until June would be acceptable. A year ago the opposition looked foolish as they were outmanoeuvred in the budget process. This year they came to look callous and divorced from reality.

Thankfully, the enormous levels of public anger at the opposition’s tactics eventually registered and brought the Lib Dems and Labour back to the negotiating table. There could scarcely be a clearer demonstration that their earlier rejection had been a political calculation rather than any principled opposition to Scotland’s budget.

It may have taken a week longer than anticipated, but we now have in place the budget that Scotland needs to help cope with the current economic situation. A budget that will see £230 million of capital spending brought forward to support 5, 000 jobs across the country; that will see money being put in place to fund another year’s freeze in council tax; and will see an extra £1.8 billion invested in our infrastructure and public services.

This is a budget that will do much to put money back into the pockets of hard working people in Scotland, but will also provide vital assistance to our economy. It will provide further help to our high streets, with 150, 000 small businesses due to see their rates cut or abolished completely. Investment will be put into improving skills in Scotland by creating 18, 500 apprenticeship places this year.

This is a serious budget for serious economic circumstances and I am glad that despite unfortunate delays, we have successfully put it in place to help our country through these difficult times.

A huge loss for Scotland

While there was much joy at passing the second budget of the SNP’s first ever Government, just two days later there was also much sadness in the SNP with the sudden passing of Bashir Ahmad, Scotland’s first Muslim MSP. Bashir was a kind and honourable man who will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

The enormous respect in which he was held was clearly shown when over a thousand people attended his funeral the day after his death. His loss diminishes us all, but he leaves behind a legacy of multiculturalism and tolerance in Scotland that we all have a responsibility to protect and nurture. These are values that should always be at the core of our lives in Scotland.

Bringing the world home

2009-01-28T15:09:00.000Z

The 25th of January was a day of exceptional significance for Scotland. Not only did it mark the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth, but it also signalled the much anticipated start of Homecoming Scotland 2009. Over the next year we will be welcoming Scots abroad, people of Scottish descent and people who simply feel an affinity with our nation to over 300 events across Scotland.

Celebrating Scottish culture, golf, whisky, the enlightenment and of course the life and works of Burns himself, the Homecoming festivities are already shaping up to be a fantastic success and a timely boost to our tourism industry. Demand for events has been incredible, with many on course to sell out months in advance.

The success of the Homecoming will rest on the unique esteem that Scotland is held in around the world. One need only look at the thousands of Burns suppers that have been held in many diverse locations to see the reach of Scottish influence. From Canada to Kazakhstan, from Alloway to Malawi, people have hailed the great chieftain o the puddin’ race, toasted the immortal memory of Robert Burns and embraced Scottish culture.

The 250th anniversary of the birth of a man as internationally revered as Burns remains today gives us a unique opportunity to cement the fond regard in which Scotland is held around the world. By embracing the many visitors we can expect to see over the coming year, we can ensure that their positive experiences are translated into lasting goodwill towards Scotland and many return trips in the future to see more of what our country has to offer.

Homecoming Scotland 2009 aims to bring 100, 000 visitors to our country over the course of the year and generate an extra £40 million of revenue. Yet perhaps of equal importance to these economic goals is the fact that this milestone anniversary gives us a unique opportunity to celebrate some of the best aspects of our country. The optimism and revelry that will accompany these events is perhaps more timely than ever amid the economic gloom, bringing as it does a much needed opportunity to lift people’s spirits.

What better way to commemorate the person who penned his hope “that man to man, the world o'er, shall brothers be for a’ that” could there be than by inviting the world to come ‘home’ to Scotland and share our celebrations?

Celebrating the Scots language

The Scots language has seen many decades of discrimination and lack of support from successive Governments. Yet in the 250th anniversary year of Robert Burns, can there be any doubt about the important role it plays in our culture?

The SNP Government has recently conducted the first ever audit of Scots language provision throughout the country, and is determined to do all we can to support the language. Just over a year ago Scots was made part of the coming Curriculum for Excellence, the new way in which our children will be taught in schools. This will give the language the same status in Scottish classrooms as Gaelic, French or German.

Scots is a vital part of our heritage and day to day life that should never again be neglected in the way it was before 2007. Despite being spoken by an estimated 1.5 million Scots, the language is a fragile one and we will work tirelessly to give it all the support possible and ensure it has a bright future. Keeping the language alive is a legacy of Burns that the Scottish Government will gladly continue.

An end to a tax on ill health

2009-01-14T15:07:00.000Z

The New Year was welcomed up and down Scotland in spectacular fashion. But the start of 2009 will have been particularly welcomed by hospital workers, patients and their relatives in most of Scotland’s hospitals, with the abolition of hospital car parking charges.

The SNP has made clear that it regards hospital parking charges as a tax on ill-health, something that is unacceptable in an NHS that runs on the principle of delivering healthcare free at the point of delivery. That is why we moved quickly to put money in place to cap hospital car parking charges at £3 per day last year ahead of their abolition this year.

Staff, patients and their visitors will no longer face a heavy financial burden if they need to park their car regularly in a hospital car park. In these difficult economic times, the abolition of this charge is helping to put more money back into ordinary people’s pockets.

Sadly, however, it has not been possible to extend this to every hospital in Scotland. Car parking facilities at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee are run privately as part of PFI schemes, and abolishing parking charges there would have meant diverting tens of millions of pounds from frontline healthcare to buy out these long term private contracts. People attending these hospitals are paying the unfortunate price of Labour’s ruinous obsession with PFI.

PFI has lumbered hard working Scots with incredible levels of long term debt that will eat into the Scottish budget year after year. The UK’s PFI debt has reached a staggering total of £216 billion, which the Treasury tries to bury in an online appendix of their reports in a way no private company would be allowed to.

It is ordinary taxpayers who have lost out as a result of this discredited way of doing business, with private companies making vast profits out of the public sector. Working with the private sector to complete public projects is in itself no bad thing, but the credit-card financing arrangements used by Labour to pay for these projects has been a shocking misjudgement that we are now only beginning to pay the price for.

People in Banff & Buchan and across Scotland can rest assured that the SNP Government will not repeat the mistakes of our predecessors that mean we will be paying back PFI debts at high rates of interest for a generation. Value for taxpayer money must be the overriding concern for Government projects, and the Scottish Government will not cease to pursue this.

Action on personal debt

Sadly it is not only governments that must face problems caused by debt. Ordinary people up and down the country are struggling to cope with their personal debts, a problem that has only been exacerbated by worsening economic conditions.

The Scottish Government is determined to do what it can to help families who are suffering as a result of debt. We have established the Debt Action Forum to draw up a package of legislative and non-legislative action to help people cope with debt, and to examine safeguards to protect homes from the threat of repossession.

Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing has also announced improvements to the Debt Arrangement Scheme, whereby people who are able to pay back their debts but require some breathing room will be able to do so over a longer period without the threat of legal action. I am sure that people struggling with debt will welcome this action as warmly as I do.

Doing more to support the NHS

2009-01-01T10:44:00.000Z

It can scarcely be said often enough that the hard working men and women in the NHS make Herculean efforts to keep Scotland healthy on a daily basis. Everybody in Scotland has either received care from the professionals in our health service, or have relatives who have been cared for.

Because of this, the NHS enjoys a special place in everybody’s hearts. It is a service staffed by people that are truly dedicated to this nation’s health, which is why I am so pleased by the level of investment that the SNP Government has been able to put into improving the NHS.

Figures released in December show that the levels of frontline staff working in the health service have reached unprecedented highs. There are now more GPs, medical consultants, nurses, dentists and midwives working in Scottish hospitals than there have ever been before. This will be welcome news to people across Banff & Buchan, as improving upon the high level of care that the NHS provides is only possible with higher staffing levels.

There are now 15, 348 people working in NHS Grampian, looking after our health and the health of our loved ones compared with 14, 741 under the previous administration.

And we can already see the tangible results that the increased staff are having if we look at the improvements to waiting times being delivered across Scotland.

Thanks to the £50 million investment the Scottish Government has put into the NHS, people are waiting less time for treatment in A & E than under the previous administration, more people are registered with an NHS dentist, and 99.9% of patients are waiting less than the targeted eighteen weeks for outpatient consultations and for inpatient or day case treatment.

Since the SNP came to power, the number of people across Scotland waiting more than nine weeks for key tests has fallen from over 10, 000 to just 7. Because of this, the Scottish Government has targeted even more improvements to waiting times in coming years. The SNP is determined to support the magnificent work that the NHS does in looking after Scotland’s health, and we are investing more than ever before to achieve this.

Folly of privatising the Royal Mail

The UK Government has indicated that it is prepared to do what Margaret Thatcher dared not and partially privatise the Royal Mail. Why the Westminster Government seems incapable of understanding the vital nature of the lifeline services that the Royal Mail and the Post Office provide is simply beyond me.

If this comes to pass, the partial privatisation can only result in job losses and will pose a threat to the universal service that means even remote parts of the country have a right to receive postal deliveries on every working day. Many of the arguments being used to try and justify this proposed move are based on comparisons with other European postal services, but ignore the fact that the Royal Mail offers a far more extensive service than is available in other countries.

The postal service offered by the Royal Mail is not just another business, but has a unique social role that the Westminster Government has completely failed to recognise. I desperately hope that this move can be prevented, and know that the SNP group in Westminster will do everything it can to highlight the folly of these proposals. The last thing that residents of Banff & Buchan want is to see the Royal Mail damaged further by another half-baked attempt at privatisation.

A Scottish voice in Europe

2008-12-18T10:47:00.000Z

The fishing industry in Banff & Buchan and Scotland more widely, has had to make many sacrifices in its pursuit of a sustainable, profitable fishing industry. While nobody wants to see over-fishing take place to the point where a species is wiped out, some of the conservation measures that the industry has had to adopt have caused real difficulties to many people.

Because of the rigid nature of fishing quotas, fishermen across Europe have been forced into discarding perfectly good fish instead of landing and selling them. This practice has been a tragedy that no skipper has wanted to endure.

Rather than simply accept this as inevitable, the fishing industry in Scotland has led the way in adopting ever more innovative practices to avoid catching certain types of fish, which they would then be forced to throw away because of EU rules. These innovations, such as Real-Time Closures that temporarily shut areas of the sea where endangered fish stocks have been detected, have been a credit to the Scottish industry, demonstrating their willingness to adapt.

That is why I am delighted that this practice has been recognised and rewarded in recent EU-Norway fishing negotiations. The increase in cod quotas by 30% can only be considered to be recognition by the rest of Europe that Scottish practices are having a real effect on conservation.

Perhaps more significant, however, is the fact that the Scottish Real-Time Closures system of conservation will be rolled out across European fisheries, along with a ban on dumping marketable fish. What makes this so important is that it shows what can be achieved in Europe when Scotland’s voice is heard.

With 60% of the UK’s fishing industry based in Scotland, fishing represents a far more important industry to Scotland than it does to the UK as a whole. Yet despite this, it is a UK Government minister who represents the UK in European negotiations, despite not holding any responsibility for the bulk of the industry. EU rules fully allow ministers from devolved governments to take the lead and represent their member state in European negotiations such as this. It is only intransigence on the part of the UK government that stands in the way of Scotland taking the lead.

Given that Scotland’s example has been adopted by the rest of Europe, I can only wonder what could be achieved for our fishing industry if Scotland’s voice could be heard leading EU negotiations. Instead, we are supposed to be satisfied with a situation where Richard Lochhead, the Fisheries Secretary with responsibility for most of the UK’s industry, is forced to give way to his Westminster counterpart.

There could scarcely be a clearer example of the UK Government’s unwillingness to see Scotland standing up for our own interests than this situation. Their willingness to sacrifice the best interests of the fishing industry in order to do Scotland down is completely indefensible, and is something the industry in Banff & Buchan will not forgive.

Christmas wishes

With Christmas almost upon us, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody in Banff & Buchan a wonderful festive period and a happy new year.

Although the world economy has taken a turn for the worse, people know that in Scotland they have a government that will stand up for them at every opportunity. The SNP have worked tirelessly in 2008 for the people of Scotland, and I know that we will not slacken our efforts to help people through these difficult times in the New Year.

Achieving our energy potential

2008-12-03T15:33:00.000Z

Scotland and the North East in particular, have for decades benefited from the economic benefits of a thriving energy sector. The oil in Scotland’s waters has brought lucrative businesses to Aberdeen, creating highly-skilled jobs for many people across North East Scotland and beyond.

But although individuals have benefited through working in the oil sector, it has been the London treasury rather than Scotland that has benefited from the tax income on North Sea oil and gas. This year alone, the Treasury has been propped up to the tune of a record £13.2 billion, with another £55 billion expected over the next six years.

Today we stand on the brink of a new energy boom in Scotland’s waters. Scotland has the potential to generate 25% of Europe’s offshore wind power, 25% of Europe’s tidal power and 10% of Europe’s wave power. The massive economic potential of being able to generate so much clean, renewable energy should not be underestimated and can have a huge impact on the Scottish economy for generations to come.

That is why I was delighted by two separate events in recent weeks that bring us closer to achieving our energy potential.

Firstly, the European Commission published their Strategic Energy Review which has identified the construction of a North Sea supergrid as one of the six priority infrastructure projects that are needed to secure Europe’s future energy supplies. This project will allow Scotland to sell excess energy to the rest of Europe and is a critical incentive to commercial companies to develop renewable energy projects off Scotland’s shores. That is why the Scottish Government has been pushing hard in Europe for it to be adopted, and I sincerely hope that we will see further progress towards it.

The second major event was the announcement of the criteria for winning the Saltire Prize. This £10 million prize will spark a race to develop commercially viable wave or tidal power project that can generate a minimum of 100GWh over a continuous two year period. Most importantly, however, these innovations will take place in Scottish waters. It is Scotland that will be leading the world in the field of marine renewable energy thanks to the Scottish Government putting this incentive to innovate in place.

Scotland may have lost out for decades as Scottish oil revenues have been pumped south to keep the UK solvent, but we must not lose out again. There is huge potential for another energy boom in our waters, and this time it must be Scotland that reaps the benefits.

Engineers of the future

Key to harnessing the potential energy off our shores will be the considerable experience and skills held by Scottish engineers who have worked offshore in the oil and gas industry. Yet more important still may be the role to be played by young engineers who are only beginning their careers.

That is why I was delighted to hear that members of Banff Academy’s Young Engineers club have won the SCDI’s award for best young engineer’s club in Scotland. The members of the club can all be justifiably proud of their accomplishments, lifting their twelfth award in three years thanks to their innovative engineering projects.

I extend my heartfelt congratulations on their success and wish them the best of luck when they go on to compete in London for the UK title. Scotland has a long tradition of engineering excellence and it is extremely pleasing that young residents of Banff & Buchan will be at the forefront of our next generation of engineers.

Helping Scottish businesses

2008-11-19T12:08:00.000Z

Businesses in Banff & Buchan, and Scotland as a whole, are coming under increasing pressure as a result of the current economic problems afflicting the Country.

In Scotland, the SNP Government is making a real difference to small businesses through the Small Business Bonus scheme. Since April this year, businesses with a combined rateable value of up to £8, 000 have seen their projected rate bill slashed by 80%, and from next year they will pay nothing. In Aberdeenshire alone, 6, 839 businesses will soon no longer face the burden of paying rates, increasing their profitability and viability in these difficult times. Businesses with a combined rateable value between £8, 000 and £15, 000 have already seen reductions in their rates bills and from next year will have seen them cut by between 25-50% helping a further 1, 141 businesses in Aberdeenshire.

Through the business rate bonus and freeze in council tax across Scotland the SNP Government has taken decisive action to help Scottish families during these unprecedented economic times.

However, more must be done and Westminster must live up to its responsibility to help hard working families. Soaring fuel bills remain the responsibility of Gordon Brown’s Government and action is needed to help hard pressed families cope with the threat of fuel poverty. That is why the SNP has called for VAT on fuel to be suspended over the colder months, an extra £100 for pensioners to cope with winter fuel bills, and a cut in VAT on energy efficiency products. This would make a tangible difference to those being hit hardest by current economic problems.

Tourism growing on the Banffshire Coast

Despite the difficult economic times we are facing, one business sector that has continued to grow on the Banffshire Coast in the last year is the tourism industry. According to research undertaken by the Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership, for the second year running there was an increase in the levels of trade enjoyed by the 70 businesses involved in the partnership
With Homecoming Scotland 2009 fast approaching, I sincerely hope that the sector will enjoy even greater success next year. The Homecoming celebrations will mark the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth with a celebration of Scotland’s contributions to the world: Burns himself, Whisky, Golf, Great Scottish Minds and our rich culture and heritage.

In the Banffshire area, events such as the traditional boat festival at Portsoy, the Turriff show and the Coast visual arts festival at Banff and Macduff will all incorporate a Homecoming theme.
With people from around the world who are of Scottish descent, Scots living abroad, or who simply feel an affinity with our country invited to ‘come home’ to Scotland, 2009 will be an exceptional year for tourism in Banff & Buchan.

Delivering on our dentistry promises

2008-11-05T12:06:00.000Z

Access to an NHS dentist is something that should be available to all who need it. It is a principle that is important to the SNP, but one that for too long before last May’s election was neglected. In Banff & Buchan, and indeed across the North East, the level of access residents enjoyed to an NHS dentist was woefully poor.

Good dental hygiene, particularly for children, is something that is vital to everyone’s health and wellbeing. That is why I am delighted that the period since the SNP government came to power has seen a marked increase in the level of access to an NHS dentist that people across Scotland enjoy. In Banff & Buchan alone, the level of access has risen 6.4% with 4976 more people now registered with an NHS dentist.

Public Health Minister Shona Robison recently joined the first students to enrol at the new £21 million dental school in Aberdeen. This school will see 20 extra dentists qualify in Scotland every year. Incentives will be put in place to ensure that they enter the NHS when they graduate and I am confident this will have a positive impact on the various challenges that have faced dentistry in the North East in recent years.

The Scottish Government are delivering on our election commitments and tackling the problems in dentistry in the North East after many years of neglect. I am proud that we are living up to our promises and I am sure that this will be welcomed by people across the region.

A triumph of hope over fear

Congratulations to Barack Obama on being elected to serve as the 44th President of the United States of America. I agree with the First Minister who described the victory as a "a victory for optimism over pessimism, for hope over fear". I think for the first time in the lifetimes of most of us, there is a real sense of expectation that the leadership of the free world is in the hands of someone who wants to set a direct action of change.

Mr Obama was kind enough to send a message of support to the Scottish Government in April for the Tartan Day and Scotland Week celebrations in the US earlier this year pointing out his own Scottish ancestry. Mr Obama joins at least eleven previous US Presidents in having Scottish descent. So it seems there's another Scot in the White House and that must be a good thing!

On your side

2008-10-22T12:05:00.000+01:00

The economic turbulence of recent weeks is doubtless causing concern in households here in Banff & Buchan and across Scotland. But amidst these tough times there is reason to be optimistic. As we face a global economic downturn, an effective government that will stand up for Scotland's interests has never been more important – and with the SNP this is exactly what we have.

Far from shying away from the crisis, the SNP is working on all fronts to tackle it. While we cannot halt the global downturn what we can do is minimise its impact on Scotland through a dual strategy of supporting hard pressed households and boosting economic development.

At a special economic Cabinet meeting recently the SNP Government set out a six-point action plan to address the current economic situation. On the business side of the plan we have pledged to re-profile capital spending with a view to bringing forward government projects and to boost tourism through the Homecoming celebrations of 2009.

On the domestic side, with fuel bills soaring in recent months we are taking concrete action to tackle fuel poverty. We have pledged to look at improving energy efficiency measures and providing better advice to households. But moreover, our Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon recently announced that we are investing an extra £10m in the Central Heating Programme this year. From April next year the programme will also be extended to families on income support and those with children under five or with disabled children under 16. This injection of funds will reach some of the most vulnerable in our society at a time when they need it most - not least in the colder North East.

This targeted plan comes on top of consistent action by the SNP over the last year to stimulate the economy and put money back in people's pockets. We have already frozen council tax across the country, cut business rates for 150,000 small businesses and brought forward £100 million of investment in affordable housing from 2010-11 to be spent this year and next.

This is not a time to panic or indulge in doom and gloom. It is a time for a government to be positive, pragmatic and realistic – to do all we can do in the present and to look ahead strategically to when the economy recovers. We are acting now to ensure that Scotland can weather the storm, to ensure that our economy is resilient and in the best position to bounce back when the downturn draws to a close.

It is at times like this when the need for Scotland to control its own affairs becomes clearer than ever. The Prime Minister has lately been congratulating himself for rescuing the economy from disaster. He has even taken the opportunity to run Scotland down and claim that we could not have got ourselves out of such a crisis. However perhaps Gordon Brown should remember that it was within the union - and under his watch - that this financial crisis was born. If Scotland had full control of its finances we could have taken action specifically designed for the Scottish economy. Like our near neighbours, the Irish, we could have acted swiftly to guarantee bank deposits. Or like our northerly neighbours, Norway, we could have invested in an oil fund for Scotland's future generations. But as long as Westminster controls the purse strings the SNP will do all in our power to make sure Scotland's voice is heard. And for my part, in these trying times, I will continue to champion the interests of the people of Banff & Buchan.

Smarter solutions for our fishing industry

2008-10-08T12:03:00.000+01:00

At a time when the Scottish fishing industry faces a number of pressures such as high fuel prices and conservation obligations, it is vital that it receives as much support as possible. We must think about smarter ways we can work to maximise the profitability of the trade.

With this goal in mind the SNP Government is tackling an important issue for the industry - waste. Each year, due to nonsensical European regulations, Scotland's trawlermen are forced to throw away up to £40 million worth of fish.

This disgraceful waste of perfectly marketable produce is a major frustration for fishermen. I have heard from local trawlermen of the soul destroying experience of having to throw away top quality fish. It is of course also bad news for the environment and for the consumer.

These excessive discards point to a clear mismatch between EU policies and local needs. The SNP has responded by taking the issue directly to Brussels and launching a campaign to change some of the rules which result in this shameful waste . Through constructive engagement with Brussels the SNP Government is putting Scotland's case forward.

This is another example of Scotland taking the lead in Europe with innovative measures for the sector. This year we have already introduced a conservation scheme whereby fishermen can avoid areas where there is a high aggregation of cod. We also secured a historic agreement at last year's Fisheries Council to gain more days at sea for boats in return for taking part in conservation measures. The SNP Government has demonstrated that when it comes to EU fisheries policy Scotland does not always have to blindly follow but with smart initiatives like this we can lead the way.

The SNP is working at all levels, at home and abroad to ensure a viable future for the fishing trade. Indeed I recently had a constructive meeting with SeaFish, the seafood industry's authority, to discuss plans to boost the value and reputation of Scottish seafood. Fishing is vital to Banff & Buchan and I can assure my constituents that I will do all in my power to secure a healthy, sustainable future for our local industry.

Gone are the days of our fishing industry waiting in vain for Westminster or the Labour-Lib Dem Executive to stand up for Scotland's interests in Europe. The SNP is listening to stakeholders' concerns and working with them to find smarter solutions to the issues before us and putting those solutions firmly on the table in EU negotiations. We have so far received a positive response to our campaign from Brussels and in the months ahead we will continue to press our case and fight for a better deal for Scotland's fishing industry.

Congratulations in order

I was delighted to hear that our local council has seen off competition from all over the UK to win the award for best large council to work in. Aberdeenshire Council scooped the award, coming in ahead of 94 others, after employees completed a survey on various aspects of working for the local authority. This is great news for Banff & Buchan where many are employed in the council. It is heartening to know that one of the big employers in our area is providing a top standard working environment and conditions for workers. It is also a credit to the departing Chief Executive Alan Campbell and his excellent leadership. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone working or involved with the council on this great achievement.

Protecting patients' rights

2008-09-25T12:08:00.000+01:00

Scotland has a health system to be proud of. And in the year of its 60th anniversary we can all appreciate the strengths of the NHS and take pride in its founding principle – that healthcare is free at the point of delivery.

While realising the value of our health system and vowing to reinforce this fundamental principle, the SNP has also maintained that there are ways in which we can improve it to make it fully fit for purpose for the twentieth century. And one of our core beliefs is that at the heart of healthcare should be the patient.

Patients should not be the passive recipients of a service; they are the primary stakeholders in the healthcare sector and therefore the first consideration when we think about developing the system. We in the SNP believe that those who use the service must be the focus of any modern, fair and democratic health system. This is why the Scottish Government has taken a vital step towards a patient-centred health system with patients' rights enshrined at its core.

Under the proposals launched by the Government last week Scottish patients will have a maximum waiting time guarantee for surgery. This means that after being referred to hospital patients should not have to wait more than 12 weeks for an operation.

We are all aware of the stress and anxiety that comes with awaiting an operation – either for oneself or a family member. Mental wellbeing is fundamental to a good recovery and at times like this a feeling of security is vital. This move will help to minimise uncertainty for people and their families at a time when they are vulnerable. Safe in the knowledge of the timescale they are facing patients will be in a better position to make a strong recovery.

These proposals are just one part of the Patients Rights Bill we are taking forward. The Bill is designed to make the health system fairer and fully equipped to meet the needs of everyone in Scotland. Under the plans Independent Patient Rights Officers will be appointed to every health board to ensure that patients' rights are being respected across the country. With clearer rights will of course come clearer responsibilities such as attending appointments. We want a health system in Scotland that treats its patients with respect and dignity. We want to see the people of Scotland together with healthcare staff become partners in our health system.

I know that many people in Banff & Buchan will be reassured by these proposals and take comfort that the Scottish Government is striving to make our health service better and fairer with people at its centre. With other practical measures to ease the burden on ordinary people like phasing out prescription charges, the SNP is working hard on all fronts to deliver a healthier, fairer nation.

Empowering fishing communities

Fishing communities are being granted a stronger role in managing inshore fisheries in Scotland thanks to a new initiative by the SNP Government. As part of a pilot Inshore Fisheries Groups made up of fishermen's representatives will be formed in several areas across the country with more planned over the next 18 months to cover the whole coast. The groups will be responsible for producing fisheries management plans for their areas and empowered to drive policy forward. This puts the stakeholders in the driving seat of the process. Before forming government the SNP said that rather than imposing policy from above we would listen to the views of fishing communities, fishermen and all of those involved in the sector and respond to that. And now that we are in government we are making good on that commitment.

Building on success

2008-09-16T11:25:00.000+01:00

With the summer recess drawing to a close MSPs have returned to Holyrood for yet another parliamentary year. And on the very first day back an idea of the activity in store was revealed with an ambitious programme for government.

In our second annual programme, the SNP Government outlined plans designed to build on the successes of the last year. The agenda combined long-term measures to strengthen the economy, protect our environment and create fairer means of delivering public services to the people of Scotland, with more short term initiatives to provide relief to hard pressed Scottish households and businesses in the here and now.

The SNP is committed to making Scotland a wealthier and fairer country. This is why we have consistently fought to abolish the unfair council tax. We believe that this regressive tax is wholly unjust and out of place in a progressive Scotland. And we have moved to put these convictions fully into action with a proposed bill to scrap the council tax.

The only way to secure a genuinely fair system is through a local income tax based on the ability to pay. This would not only be more equitable across the board but would lift 85,000 people in Scotland from poverty and see the average Scottish family save between £350 and £535 a year.

As well as commonsense initiatives like this, there was much in the programme for rural constituencies like Banff & Buchan. The SNP Government is acutely aware of the distinctive issues which face remote communities in Scotland and the need to treat these issues differently.

Schools are one such matter which is why we are planning a bill to protect rural schools from closure. Since 1999 more than 50 rural schools in Scotland have been closed. In that time three have been kept open by Ministers and I am proud to say that all three decisions were taken under the SNP's tenure. As the most rural constituency in mainland Scotland this will come as reassuring news to parents and families in Banff & Buchan.

Also amongst the raft of measures were the a bill which will fully implement the rates relief scheme for small business, a bill to make Scotland a world leader in the fight against climate change and a bill to make our public services more efficient and ultimately reap savings for the taxpayer.

This was a programme with a clear vision – to make Scotland healthier, wealthier and fairer. By putting in place measures to boost the economy, to conserve our environment and to improve our fundamental education, health and justice services we are making progress year on year to deliver on that goal. The SNP is looking ahead with confidence and ambition for Scotland.

Ending a tax on the sick

But it is not only through legislation that the SNP is making a difference to the lives of the people of Scotland. In the current climate as the cost of living rises we are taking action on all fronts to ease the burden on ordinary people.

We recently moved to scrap car parking charges at NHS hospitals across Scotland. This put an end to what was essentially an indirect tax on ill health and strengthened the fundamental principle of the NHS – that healthcare should be free at the point of delivery.

Car parking charges put an unfair financial burden on hospital patients, staff and their relatives at a time when they are at their most vulnerable. I was also pleased to note that this included two hospitals in Grampian health board, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin. In these tough economic times every saving matters and this move will help ease the strain on family budgets when it is most needed.

Positive action on the economy

2008-08-28T15:49:00.000+01:00

Talk of rising oil prices, inflation and 'the credit crunch' have been impossible to avoid in recent weeks, not only in Scotland but throughout the Western world. The news has all too often been dominated by gloomy economic reports while at Westminster the response has been underwhelming and utterly disappointing.

While the UK Government appears paralysed and powerless in the face of global economic troubles however the SNP Government recognises the need to take action. Instead of being negative and claiming nothing can be done the SNP is acting positively to protect the people of Scotland against the impacts of inflation and rising living costs in the short-term and to secure the health of our economy in the long-term. While we cannot control the economy or insulate ourselves completely from global events there is still much that we can do – and must do.

In a decisive move, we have introduced a package of common-sense measures to strengthen the Scottish economy. The package includes a practical plan to bring forward £100 million of investment in affordable housing from 2010-11. I know this will come as welcome news to many first-time buyers in Banff & Buchan who are finding it difficult to get on the property ladder. The initiative will also do a great deal to boost the Scottish construction industry at a time when it needs it and to tackle the long-term shortage of housing in Scotland.

Housing is a basic human need and as such is accorded a place high on the SNP agenda. Safe, adequate housing at an affordable cost is essential to a person's security, health and wellbeing. This is why, since entering power we have been striving to address the dearth of affordable homes in Scotland and to match housing supply with the need that exists. We must provide the right type of homes in the right quantity and in the right places – and that is another priority that this initiative will deliver. Through pragmatic measures like ending the Right to Buy which seriously damaged the supply of social housing in Scotland for many years, we wasted no time in tackling Scotland's housing shortage head-on.

Added to our action on housing the SNP Government has undertaken a number of other initiatives to make efficiency savings and to grow our economy. At a time of increasing oil prices we have introduced a plan to bulk-buy electricity across the public sector – a move which will reap millions of pounds worth of savings for the public purse. We have also taken further steps to ensure Scottish tourism gains maximum benefits from Homecoming 2009, a year to mark 250th anniversary of Robert Burns's birth through a series of fantastic events and celebrations.

Though we do not yet have full control over Scotland's finances under the devolved settlement we in the SNP are using the powers that we do have to the absolute maximum effect for the benefit of the people of Scotland.

Our vision for Scotland is a positive one. Despite a global economic downturn Scotland is showing positive resilience and we are confident that with the helping hand of a supportive government at Holyrood it will not only remain strong but grow and flourish. We have high ambitions for Scotland and we are thinking big for our country's future. With a dynamic economy backed up by an effective government we believe there are no barriers to what Scotland can achieve.

Valuable time in the constituency

With the summer now drawing to a close it is back to Holyrood for the start of another parliamentary year. The summer recess has afforded me extra time in Banff & Buchan which I have greatly appreciated. It has given me the opportunity to do a great deal of travelling around the constituency and to meet with my constituents, not to mention to attend some of our many festivals and shows like the Turriff show, the New Deer show and Peterhead's Scottish Week festival, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I return to Parliament refreshed and eager to serve all of my constituents to the best of my ability in what promises to be another parliamentary year full of activity.

A helping hand for our fishing industry

2008-08-13T15:45:00.001+01:00

It is the responsibility of any good government to promote and protect a country's national industries. In times of difficulty when they are in need of support the Government must act. This is why the SNP Government has taken firm action to sustain the Scottish fishing industry for the present and the future.

Crippling rises in fuel costs in recent months have been felt by everybody in Scotland – individuals, families and business. Amongst industries however fishing has been hit particularly hard. While most businesses can pass on rising prices to the consumer, as fish is sold for the most part at auction the fishing trade has no such option. With fuel costs now accounting for as much as half the earnings of boats, the profitability and sustainability of many businesses has been put under severe strain. Indeed in my time in the constituency this summer I have heard the concerns of a number of local people involved in the sector.

The SNP Government has taken the issues facing the fishing industry seriously and responded decisively, without delay. We have delivered a multi-million pound funding package to support the industry plus a three-year plan to ensure fishing's long term sustainability.

Through Scottish Government and EU funding the Government has made £29 million available over the next three years to help the industry adapt to the current reality of higher fuel costs.

The use of these funds will be two-fold. Firstly it will be used to fund a range of fuel efficiency measures such as grants for fishermen to buy equipment like fuel flow meters or fuel-efficient engines. This will cut down significantly on fishermen's fuel expenses and also boost the environmental sustainability of the industry.

Secondly, the funding will be used to finance marketing initiatives for the sector. Scottish fish is of the finest quality and one of our premium national products. It is vital therefore that we fully promote the product and maximise its market potential at home and abroad. With the support of Seafood Scotland and the Seafish Industry Authority resources will be channelled into boosting the brand, reputation and value of Scotland's fish.

This initiative will come as a considerable help to the industry at a time when it needs it most. But it could only be achieved with the close and solid cooperation of the fishing industry itself. The three year plan was developed through the Fuel Taskforce, made up of industry representatives. Indeed from the SNP's first day in power, our Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead has been consulting and working in partnership with fishing stakeholders to secure a better future for the industry. Relations between the Scottish Government and the industry have been fundamentally changed under the SNP. We have granted stakeholders a central role in the decision making process.

In contrast to these proactive measures the UK Government's actions so far have been vastly inadequate. The SNP Government will continue to press for their financial support and action to bring energy costs under control as this remains the responsibility of UK Ministers. However, it is clear that the days of Scotland simply waiting for Westminster to deliver for our fishing industry are well and truly over. For the first time in history Scotland has a Government that will stand up for its fishing interests and give it the support it needs to have a vibrant, healthy future.

A Seismic Change For Scottish Politics

2008-07-31T10:02:00.002+01:00

Scotland's traditional political structures have been shaken to the core by a recent event in Glasgow East. In a result which many would have believed impossible the SNP won a Westminster by-election for what was once one of the strongest Labour seats in Scotland. This victory has resonance not only for Glasgow but for Scotland as a whole. It has changed the political landscape in Scotland fundamentally and marks a sea change currently sweeping the country, as the people of Scotland continue to call a halt to years of stagnant Labour rule and turn towards the SNP.

After securing a 23 per cent swing to the SNP in this by-election, no Labour seat in Scotland can now be said to be 'safe' as we approach the next Westminster General Election. But this was no ordinary by-election. It was unique in Scottish politics for many reasons and not least because it represented a battle not just between two parties but between two governments - the London Labour Government and the SNP Scottish Government. When presented with these two options, the voters of Glasgow East chose the SNP Government and the Labour party was found wanting.

This election was not fought over Holyrood or Westminster however. The key points over which the contest was fought and won were the basic bread and butter issues that really matter to the Scottish people - the escalating cost of living as food and fuel prices rise. With food costs climbing by 7 per cent and petrol prices by over 20 per cent in the last 12 months, people's primary concern was for the UK Government to take positive action to ease the financial strain on their households and businesses.

However, so far the response from Brown's government to the current economic situation has been weak and inadequate. Whilst the Prime Minister is raking in an offshore oil windfall of some £6 billion he has failed to take the measures needed to deliver some relief to hard pressed families and businesses. This fact was not lost on voters who sent a clear message to Downing Street that action is required.

By contrast, in the face of tough economic times the SNP Government has acted positively and decisively to improve circumstances for people in Scotland. With common sense practical measures like freezing council tax, initiating a staged abolition of prescription charges, slashing business rates and scrapping the graduate endowment fee for students, the SNP has been striving to improve the quality of life for everyone in Scotland. This is in addition to longer terms strategic measures to grow our economy, invest in our public services and promote our country internationally. People are feeling the benefits as the SNP Government work successfully to make Scotland wealthier, fairer, healthier, greener and safer.

On the side of our fishing industry at home and abroad

In my travels around the constituency in recent weeks I have spoken to fishermen and others involved in the trade and heard with concern their difficulties as rising fuel prices place a strain on their businesses and livelihoods. The fishing industry is one of the staples of the North East economy and central to life in Banff & Buchan. That is why we in the SNP have been working hard at all levels to improve conditions for the trade. In Brussels SNP Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead recently put forward the case of Scottish fishermen and achieved greater flexibility in how we spend the European Fisheries Fund, worth £44 million between now and 2013. Together with the Fuel Taskforce and the three year plan for a more sustainable, profitable industry, established by the Scottish Government, this will come as some welcome news for the sector. The SNP has always fought for the rights of the Scottish industry – a fact that is now more important than ever. And in the months and years ahead we will continue to press for the interest of Scotland's fishing trade both at home and abroad.

Standing up for Scotland's interests

2008-07-16T09:37:00.000+01:00

When the SNP was given the backing of the people of Scotland last year, its overriding pledge was to promote and, if necessary, defend Scotland's interests. We guaranteed the people an effective government that would stand up for Scotland whatever the issue. And in the current times of rising oil prices this pledge has never been more crucial.

Recent months have seen fuel costs soar as the price of oil hit over $140 a barrel. This global problem has been experienced by each and every one of us on a local level – families, individuals, industry, big business, small business –in rising utility bills and transport expenses. It is placing severe pressure on sectors such as haulage and fishing and threatening the viability of some vulnerable businesses. Meanwhile in the last year the cost of filling up a family car has gone up £30 a month and food prices have risen by 7 per cent. The impact has been clearly felt here in Banff & Buchan, the most rural constituency in mainland Scotland, where for most travelling by car is a daily necessity.

The SNP is acutely aware of these issues and has been working doggedly to tackle them. While control over energy and hence fuel duty currently remains in the hands of the UK Government we have been doing all in our power to press Brown's administration to act to ease the strain on hard pressed families, workers and businesses in Scotland.

One common sense measure being pushed by the SNP is a Fuel Duty Regulator. This system would provide double protection for drivers and the road haulage industry. It would work so that higher oil prices would trigger an automatic freeze in fuel duty rates. At the same time any extra money raised from VAT on petrol or diesel as a result of higher pump prices would go back into an equivalent cut in fuel duty. This would control rising fuel prices and ensure they do not hit the consumer the hardest. Unsurprisingly our proposal commands support across the sectors from bodies like the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, the National Farmer's Union Scotland and the Road Haulage Association.

Whilst each of the Scottish parties claims to be standing up for their constituents on rising oil prices, at Westminster the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems recently voted against the SNP/Plaid Cymru amendment to introduce this scheme. What's more the Tories have now shown blatant hypocrisy by introducing virtually identical proposals to the fuel duty regulator while inexplicably refusing to support our plans.

The SNP is pressing the Westminster Government, now with more justification than ever, to put oil money to work for Scotland – to give Scotland a 10 per cent share of the revenues to establish an oil fund for future generations. While the UK Government continues to ignore this vital opportunity Norway, having invested in such a fund 12 years ago, is now reaping the benefits with a fund worth £186.

At a time when we are all aware of the importance of oil and gas to our everyday lives, it is more obvious than ever that Scotland must gain more control over its oil wealth. I look forward to the day when the concrete benefits of North Sea oil can be felt by everyone in Banff & Buchan. In the meantime the SNP will tirelessly continue to put pressure on Westminster to make our national resource deliver for the people of Scotland.

Another hectic Holyrood term

2008-07-02T11:55:00.000+01:00

With the summer finally upon us MSPs have now departed Holyrood for their constituencies after a parliamentary term that has seen no shortage of activity or excitement.

It is true that a week is a long time in politics and by this logic, six months a stretch that can witness enormous progress, change, and indeed its fair share of drama. And this term has been no exception. With a raft of legislation put into action, numerous manifesto claims honoured by the SNP Government and several unexpected turns by our opponents, events have all made for interesting times in Scottish politics.

One of the defining moments of the term came early in the year as the first ever SNP budget was delivered. The historic budget heralded a number of success stories for Scotland, the material benefits of which are already being felt by people in Banff & Buchan and across the country. Not least of these achievements was enabling local authorities to freeze council tax and allowing a further 1000 police officers to be recruited over the next three years. A key focus of the budget was on stimulating the economy to grow, both locally and nationally. This was achieved through the common sense measure of scrapping and slashing business rates for small companies – a move that came as a major relief to businesses in Banff & Buchan, particularly in the current tough circumstances of rising oil and food prices.

It has been a period of little rest for the SNP Government, as we work relentlessly on all fronts to fulfil our manifesto promises. In a short six months we have abolished bridge tolls on the Tay and Forth Road Bridges, eased the financial pressures on students by scrapping the graduate endowment fee and lowered prescription charges from £6.85 to £5 as the first phase of eradicating the costs completely in 2011. We have taken our democratic engagement with the people of Scotland to the next level by engaging civic groups and organisations in the National Conversation, the nation-wide forum on Scotland's constitutional future.

Over a year since the 2007 Scottish elections however our steady progress has not been matched by our opponents across the chamber. The last six months has seen the Labour party in utter disarray, still struggling to come to terms with their new role in opposition. After abstaining from voting on our national budget, including their own amendment, the party have undergone their Scottish leader's continued dodgy donations fiasco, a series of confusing u-turns on her position on an independence referendum, and now, unsurprisingly they face another leadership contest less than a year since the last. As the SNP get on with advancing its agenda to make Scotland wealthier, healthier, fairer, safer, smarter and greener, Labour has no clear leadership, no clear vision for our country and no clear position on Scotland's future. With a number of key manifesto pledges delivered it seems fair to say that the 'honeymoon period' is far from over for the SNP and that our success has had little to do with novelty. The SNP is proving its substance in Government and proving that it will govern consistently with Scotland's best interests at heart. But we are far from complacent and realise there is much more to be done over the next three years. For my part, as the recess period commences I look forward to continuing the good work here in Banff & Buchan and serving the needs of all of my constituents over the summer months.

A fairer tax for a fairer Scotland

Tax is never a popular issue but it is up to any good government to make tax as reasonable and as fair as possible. This is why the SNP Government is proposing to replace the unfair and regressive Council Tax with a fairer, means-based Local Income Tax. We believe, as do the majority of the Scottish public, that the property based tax is unfair as it takes no account of people's ability to pay and can result in some of the most well off paying the least and some of the least well off, including pensioners, paying the most. This is a fact that is not lost on Scotland's councils as we recently saw the body which represents them, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) give their backing to the tax. It is not surprising that local authorities would support this progressive tax when the vast majority of people will be better off while those earning the very least will see an average 5.7 per cent weekly increase in their income as a result. The SNP want to ease the burden on taxpayers and put money back in people's pockets as part of a wealthier, fairer nation.