Community-based policing

Community-based policing should be at the heart of any future changes to Scotland's police forces. That was a message I took from my meeting this week with Ayrshire's police commander Bill Fitzpatrick this week ahead of a key Strathclyde Police Authority meeting in the county.

Chief Superintendent Bill Fitzpatrick met me in my role as Police Authority Convener at Kilmarnock Police Office, the Ayrshire divisional headquarters. We discussed the importance of community policing across Ayrshire in a time of budget pressures and potential changes to the number of police forces across Scotland.

Strathclyde Police Authority oversees the £450 million police budget and ensures the force is accountable for policing provided across the west of Scotland. We have an important meeting in Ayr this week that will consider how best to address the looming budget cuts we expect for Strathclyde Police.

It was important to meet up with Chief Superintendent Fitzpatrick to discuss some of the important work police have been doing across Ayrshire before we make some of those decisions.

Community policing has been a key focus for police in this part of Strathclyde which is a mix of towns and rural areas with challenging issues facing the police. This is important as we also consider the future structure of policing across Scotland and potentially reducing the number of forces from eight to three or even one single Scottish force.

This isn't new as people here moved from having an Ayrshire Constabulary in 1975 to merger as part of a larger Strathclyde force. For any change we need to make sure that local autonomy is there for the commander and his officers to respond to calls and incidents where they are needed most, but we also need to ensure that policing remains accountable locally to communities and councils in Ayrshire who fund the service.

We also know there have been real problems in finding room for custody in Ayrshire, which has meant police time wasted taking people who are arrested to cells sometimes more than thirty minutes' drive away often outwith Ayrshire.

The Police Authority has already allocated resources to open new cells in Saltcoats. Having been in Kilmarnock this week, I know that police office also has a pressing need for more custody space which we need to address urgently.

A meeting of the full Authority will take place on Thursday 26 August from 10.30am at South Ayrshire Council headquarters in Ayr. The Authority is formed by 34 locally elected councillors representing the 12 councils that form Strathclyde including North, East and South Ayrshire.

Glasgow Southside

Labour Party members in the new Glasgow Southside seat meet tomorrow evening to select our candidate for next May's Scottish Parliament election.

I have been shortlisted with another three nominees after we were proposed by members at meetings of local Party Branches and affiliated organisations such as the Co-operative Party and trade union branches.

I will be speaking to members at the meeting about my record of election success - running and winning campaigns in marginal seats - along with my experience over seven years as a local councillor in senior roles.


TUESDAY, 20 JULY 2010

Result: I was selected as candidate tonight with 65.5% of votes cast by local members. Thank you to everyone who took part.


Scottish Labour Party press release

CURRAN SELECTED TO FIGHT GLASGOW SOUTHSIDE SEAT FOR LABOUR
SNP 'RIPPING OFF' GLASGOW - STURGEON PUTTING 'PETTY PARTY POLITICS' BEFORE LOCAL PEOPLE

Councillor Stephen Curran has tonight been selected by local Labour party members to fight the Glasgow Southside seat in the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2011.

Councillor Curran will contest the new seat in which Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP is expected to stand for the SNP.

Speaking following his selection, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate Stephen Curran said:

"The SNP are ripping off Glasgow and letting Scotland down."

"Locally the SNP have ripped off our Council with the worst grant settlement since devolution and ripped off Shawlands by refusing town centre regeneration funds."

"Voters increasingly see Nicola Sturgeon putting petty party politics first as Deputy First Minister in Holyrood."

"I am committed to always putting the Southside first in representing every community across Scotland's most diverse constituency."

"My key priorities are tackling anti-social behaviour and delivering improvements in housing because I know people locally feel particularly let down by the SNP on these issues."

"I am grateful for the tremendous encouragement and support shown across the Southside and delighted to be selected as Labour's candidate."

"I'm already working hard locally with a strong team of MPs, Councillors and party members in campaigning across the new constituency speaking to people and listening to their concerns."

"I'm not taking anything for granted and will fight for every vote."

Glasgow Fair - men at work

Glasgow's traditional Fair holiday weekend and it's 9.30pm on Fair Sunday, with the council's Land & Environmental Services team working to resurface Prospecthill Road.

This is a key route across the south of the city with the new surface being laid right next to the busy Asda Toryglen - open 24 hours a day - and the popular new Toryglen Regional Football Centre in an area where my council colleague Bailie James Scanlon leads the local authority work of Labour's team with the support of Councillor Anne Marie Millar alongside James Kelly MSP and new MP Anas Sarwar.

Key roadworks such as this are planned to cause the minimum disruption so it was important to use the holiday weekend for this vital work with the roads slightly less busier than usual and the new surface was ready for streams of traffic the following day.

It's important to praise the council staff who have gone through considerable service reform - including significant changes to shift patterns in Land and Environmental Services - for the important work they do all year round in communities across the city.

Uncollected council tax

The GMB trade union will shortly be releasing details of "uncollected council tax" in all local authorities across Great Britain. This is calculated by subtracting the council tax received last year from what was billed.

Councils can be defensive about this issue, but the GMB regularly points to legal restrictions which make it more difficult for local authorities to collect what is due promptly, for example when tenants rent from a landlord and also when they move from that property.

In Glasgow, the City Council recently announced that more council tax bills are being paid than ever before, with collection rates in 2009/10 at their highest ever levels.

The increase is particularly encouraging during the economic downturn and in securing major year-on-year revenue collection improvements, Glasgow is bucking the trend.

However, it is crucial that everyone pays their fair share and it is the council's duty to spend the public's money efficiently on what is important. In Glasgow, our priorities are education, jobs and the economy along with targeted support of our most vulnerable.

The Council is trying to make it as easy as possible to pay Council Tax and to claim any rebates, but it will also vigorously pursue those who try to dodge their share.

I am currently a member of Scottish Labour's Local Taxation Working Group and previously took part in the City Council's cross-party assessment of a wide range of taxes potentially able to fund local services for Glasgow.

The GMB again raises important issues as we consider the future of local taxation in Scotland.

How we are looking at ways to improve

Last September, Strathclyde Police Authority appointed Keith Mannings as the organisation's new chief executive. It has been a particularly busy and challenging period since his arrival.

The considerable financial deficit facing the policing budget has compelled the authority, as all other public sector organisations are doing, to look critically at how effective and efficient we are at conducting our business.

One of the chief executive's key challenges has involved a formal review of the police authority's governance and scrutiny arrangements of Strathclyde Police force.

Police authorities throughout Scotland have a central role to play in ensuring the delivery of a policing service that reduces crime and is responsive to the issues that matter to communities and residents throughout Strathclyde.

At a formal meeting of Strathclyde Police Authority members in June, Mr Mannings presented an extensive and detailed paper which critically assessed the authority's governance arrangements and looked at ways the authority can improve how it fulfils its legal obligations.

Authority members are considering the contents of the chief executive's report and will meet again in August to consider the recommendations contained in the review.

It is clear, in the current financial climate, that police authorities have a significantly enhanced role to play in ensuring their forces perform at optimum levels.

Police authorities are subject to rigorous joint inspection from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS) and the Accounts Commission under Best Value and Community Planning inspection regimes. Strathclyde Police Authority is scheduled to be inspected by HMICS and Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission in the autumn.


This was also published as the Police Authority's regular monthly "Convener's Column" in the internal "Upbeat" magazine of Strathclyde Police force.

Primary schools update

While Glasgow was initially asked with all of Scotland's 32 councils to propose one school in each local authority for development last autumn, the city was eventually offered half the funding for three new schools from the Scottish Futures Trust, as mentioned in an earlier post.

This is an update I received today from the Council's Education Services:


Scottish Futures Trust - First Phase (Primary Schools Building Programme)

As you will be aware the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is the independent company established by the Scottish Government to deliver public infrastructure investment.

Prioritising options within councils is challenging as many factors can be evaluated. Clear benefits in one proposal may not be as immediately clear in others; there are also objective and subjective elements involved in most selection processes. Glasgow City Council considered the following factors in relation to our proposals:

• Roll - this ensured that the number of children who would benefit from inclusion in the project was factored in;
• Occupancy/Efficiency - this was included in order that an appropriate weighting was given to operationally inefficient establishments, i.e. those with low occupancy rates;
• Condition of building - most of the establishments considered are of roughly equivalent condition; however, where there were measurable differences due cognisance was given;
• Suitability of site - this in effect considered the deliverability of the project i.e. timescale, site topography and cost.

In addition to this, there was further consideration of: maintenance backlog, mid-life upgrade cost and the Disability Discrimination Act e.g. accessibility adaptations and how readily achievable they would be.

After due consideration, the Council identified three new build replacement projects for inclusion in the first phase. The establishments involved were identified on the basis of their declining condition, large school rolls, and importance to community cohesion:

1. Garrowhill Primary School

2. Glendale Primary School, including a co-located Gaelic medium primary
The above two establishments have been identified for inclusion on the basis of suitability, sustainability, community cohesion and that in excess of 400 children for Garrowhill and around 300 children for Glendale would benefit.

3. St Brendan’s Primary School
Glasgow City Council has also committed to using SFT funding along with our own to create a campus which would consist of Garscadden Primary School, Yoker Primary School (including Thirlstane Day Nursery) and St Brendan’s Primary School (including Kelso Nursery). This proposal is to create one non-denominational and one denominational school on a shared site along with an early years centre. This will allow each school to develop its own unique identity and ethos while benefitting from the sharing of facilities such as recreation and leisure. This approach is in line with our School Estate Strategy and would have a significant impact on community cohesion and development. It is proposed that this new facility would be built on the St Brendan’s site.

The SFT have advised that funding is available between 2010/2014 for the above programmes:

• Garrowhill Primary School commences 2010/2011 and the council will receive a maximum funding contribution of £3,824,625.
• Glendale Primary School is anticipated to commence 2012/2013 and the council will receive a maximum funding contribution of £3,983,250.
• St Brendan’s Primary School is anticipated to commence 2013/2014 and the council will receive a maximum funding contribution of £2,796,500.

Terms and conditions apply to the grants, funding contributions will not exceed one half of the out-turn costs of the projects and the level of funding received will be adjusted to take account of any movements in inflation.

Some additional information:

• Garrowhill Primary School - current roll 413
• Glendale Primary School - current roll of 288
• Garscadden Primary School, Yoker Primary School (including Thirlstane Day Nursery) and St Brendan’s Primary School (including Kelso Nursery) - current rolls at Garscadden Primary School 195, Yoker Primary School 123 and St Brendan’s Primary School 193

The current position is that we are working on developing Project 1 (Garrowhill) including how to design/fund the Early Years aspect of it. The SFT process is unlike others whereby we are now developing designs and detailed costs after projects are approved in principle.

At this stage I would anticipate that papers will be presented to the Executive Committee for approval when we know what the final design/cost implications are. The onsite Development and Regeneration Services works at Garrowhill this Summer will inform this paper. The intention is to progress Project 1 (Garrowhill) and then move to Project 2 (Glendale) etc.

Staff and Parent Councils have been advised of the current position and will be kept advised of progress.

Police freeze recruitment

Strathclyde Police has announced it will freeze recruitment for both police officers and police staff. The freeze on support staff takes immediate effect, while the recruitment of officers will be suspended after the current intake of 65 probationary officers enter the Scottish Police College this month.

A planned intake of 100 probationary officers to the College between August and October will now not go ahead and all of those affected are being informed of the decision. Thirty of those who have completed the recruitment process will now be placed in an ‘approved for appointment’ pool and may be called upon if and when suitable vacancies arise.

Strathclyde Police currently has 8,038 officers which it pays for out of its own budget. Taking into account officers who are paid for by other bodies - such as the community planning partnerships led by councils such as Glasgow - this figure rises to 8,410.

This decision was taken by the force as a result of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding public sector budgets and has very clearly become an urgent human resources issue impacting on management of that budget by the force.

It directly follows Scotland's senior police meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice last week, when Kenny MacAskill stated that a reduction of up to 10% was now expected next year from Scottish policing budgets, substantially more than was planned and discussed previously with the Scottish Government.

This is an obvious impact of the statement by the Deputy First Minister indicating that Scottish Ministers are "protecting health spending by passing on Barnet consequentials". That must mean bigger cuts in funding for police and local government.

A recruitment freeze had already been implemented in other Scottish forces but this significant increase in the savings target for the coming financial year placed a pressing need on the Strathclyde force to act more swiftly than anticipated on a range of issues.

Restrictions on recruitment were mentioned as a key future measure in managing the impact of savings at meetings of Strathclyde Police Authority over recent months and this had effectively become the case for civilian support staff across Strathclyde Police. Unions were also aware it would be developed as a means of protecting services and jobs in the face of significant cuts, given that local authorities had taken similar steps.

Following my election in April as Police Authority convener, I recently met with UNISON and Strathclyde Police Federation. I recognise how vitally important it is that all unions representing support staff and police officers are informed and consulted by the force as this work develops further.

The prospect of a recruitment freeze was also discussed with senior police as an aspect of the force’s “Change to Improve” service reform programme, informed by the direct experience of the Police Authority's elected members with recruitment freezes already applying in a number of councils across the Strathclyde area.

I met the Chief Constable a few hours after the recruitment freeze was announced publicly and we discussed the context for the decision as outlined above along with other measures to meet the necessary savings for balancing our budget in coming years.

We will clearly be discussing the impact in some detail across the Authority at future meetings. Ideally there should have been time for us to consider this more fully prior to the announcement, but the force understandably felt there was a pressing need to act earlier than anticipated.

I welcome the Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable showing leadership in difficult times, by opting today to forego performance bonuses worth over £25,000 and £16,000 each despite their entitlement.

Strathclyde Police is not immune from the financial crisis facing the public sector and the reality of the looming budget deficit means there is little option but to freeze recruitment at this stage.

The Police Authority is keen to reassure officers, staff and the public that every possible measure is being taken to protect services in addressing the severe financial pressures we face.

Ideas for a fairer Scotland

Last year I was elected in a postal ballot to represent Labour Party members from Glasgow South and Glasgow South West constituencies on our Scottish Policy Forum.

The road to the 2011 manifesto is well underway. At Scottish Labour conference this October, we will agree the final year policy documents that will form the basis for next May's Scottish Parliament election manifesto. However, it isn’t too late to send in your response to our second year policy consultation.

Due to the General Election, the opportunity to take part in the consultation was extended to Friday 30 July. Constituency parties received paper copies of the consultation document and have been meeting to form their own replies.

To send in your own individual views, please download Ideas for a fairer Scotland and feed in your own response.

Money Matters

Congratulations to Money Matters on celebrating its 20th anniversary in Govan this week.
Managed by local volunteers and delivering money advice in the south west of Glasgow as part of the city's financial inclusion strategy, Money Matters has made a remarkable difference to people's lives since 1990.

Due to increased demand for their services, Money Matters recently moved to larger offices in the former Orkney Street police station, now developed by Glasgow South West Regeneration Agency as a thriving enterprise centre where Govan Law Centre is also now based and providing a vital local service.

Special thanks are due to the leadership of Geraldine Cotter who has also been a great support to key partners locally and across Glasgow in recent years as financial advice became more significant in our wider agenda on mental health. For an appointment or more information please phone 0141 445 5211 or email.

Single Scottish police force

There has been considerable debate in recent days around the impact of savings on Scottish policing following a meeting of senior police officers, with a suggestion that the eight forces currently serving Scotland could be reduced perhaps leading to one national police force.

Strathclyde's Chief Constable has even indicated that a single force may be more "effective" while the Scottish Police Federation expressed concerns over the costs of possible restructuring.

As convener of Strathclyde Police Authority - the board of councillors responsible for the budget and scrutiny of policing across almost half of Scotland - I recognise that the Strathclyde force has a national strategic role with a level of expertise and resource substantially greater than smaller Scottish forces which may suggest some need for realignment.

With the pressing need for substantial savings in police budgets for the forseeable future, I am very keen for police authorities and forces to collaborate in "blue sky" thinking; every idea should be considered to meet the financial challenges with genuine service reform.

I am relaxed about the number and name of police forces covering Scotland as those should remain secondary issues. The level of service and accountability to communities across Scotland are far more important.

With Scottish ministers stating they will protect health spending by passing on Barnet consequentials, we also have to question any additional impact on funding for police as a vital public service.

There's a real risk of yet more pressure on police budgets, as Scotland's councils fund 49% of policing and they will undoubtedly find greater strain on this resource in future.

It is easy to propose a single force in theory with the current financial challenges facing policing and the wider Scottish public sector, but we would still need to reassure residents in every area of Scotland that they would receive a service that had local autonomy in responding to concerns and demands. This should not simply be a budget-balancing exercise.

That means an honest look at the future shape of Scottish policing and what is really needed to deliver a modern and effective service for communities across Strathclyde and Scotland.

Lib Dem voters 'joining Labour'

The first signs of a major shift in British politics have seen Labour receive an unprecedented surge of new members eager to oppose the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

21,000 have joined the Party since the General Election in what acting Labour leader Harriet Harman described as an "emerging political movement happening amongst progressives in Britain".

Lib Dem voters see a "big difference between what they thought they voted for and what they ended up with - and they just aren't comfortable with it."

Half of the new members were Labour voters now even more determined to get us back into government, but almost one in three recruits were Lib Dem voters let down by that party's partnership in power with the Tories - making deep spending cuts and setting the wrong priorities for the country.

Since 2007, we have seen SNP councillors leave their own group in Glasgow disenchanted with their party. Perhaps Lib Dem elected representatives will now take a similar route to make a positive difference for their own communities.

Scotland 'faces £42bn funding cuts'

The public spending squeeze in Scotland is likely to be worse than first projected following the recent UK Budget.

Figures published by the Scottish Government's chief economic adviser Dr Andrew Goudie, project spending cuts of £42 billion over the next sixteen years. A similar study in April estimated reductions of £25-35 billion over 12 to 15 years. The latest report predicts six consecutive years of cuts in real terms, up from the previous assessment of five years.

The Tory-Lib Dem UK Government's Comprehensive Spending Review in October will outline more details of allocations for Scotland's devolved budget. The onus will then be on SNP ministers to set the right priorities for services they are responsible for.

Patient safety undermined

Support Scottish Labour's call to defend the jobs of doctors, nurses, midwives and other essential workers in the NHS.

"The reality of this SNP Government is 'More Nats, Fewer Nurses'. The cuts that the SNP are imposing on the NHS will undermine patient safety and we need to fight them."

"You simply cannot remove thousands of doctors, nurses and midwives without damaging standards of care. Labour believe that these cuts are unacceptable and we will campaign relentlessly to defend the NHS."

"We are also asking MSPs from all parties to back our call on ministers to immediately publish the workforce planning projections for every Scottish health board, so that we know the scale of the job losses the SNP are demanding across the country."

Jackie Baillie MSP
Scottish Labour's Shadow Health Secretary

Charitable benefits

How do we fund cultural, leisure and sporting activities during the economic downturn? The Glasgow Life charity model may be the way forward for other councils and institutions, as we work through the current economic crisis.

Culture and Sport Glasgow was first established in 2007 to deliver services previously provided by the City Council's Cultural & Leisure Services. I was appointed as one of the charity's directors shortly after the subsequent Scottish elections that May. I am also appointed to Culture and Sport Glasgow (Trading) CIC, the community interest company set up to generate income from retail and catering activities.

Glasgow Life delivers a wide range of services through 158 directly managed and leased facilities. Our annual budget is more than £100 million and we employ around 3,000 staff making us one of the city’s biggest employers.

Despite the recession, our services were used by 14.5 million visitors over the past year, up by almost one million on the previous year. The public like what they’ve seen in the last three years. Our museums and libraries attract a 97% satisfaction rate on the Glasgow Household Survey. The Glasgow Club has over 24,000 members using modern sports facilities across the city.

During previous recessions, Glasgow invested in its arts and cultural heritage and emerged stronger as a result. In 1983, we opened the Burrell Collection in Pollok Park and celebrated the Year of Culture in 1990. Glasgow has invested more than £120 million in sport and leisure facilities over the past ten years and will spend a further £150 million in the next five years.

This investment has created construction jobs at a vital time for the city economy, recognising that by building for the future - with the new Riverside Museum or infrastructure for the 2014 Commonwealth Games - Glasgow can emerge from this recession well-placed.

There will be cuts and savings to be found in the current financial climate, but as a charity we can work more flexibly and attract new funding.

We operate seven days a week. We’re asking our staff to change the way they work, in exchange for a commitment to protect both jobs and services. Although there are some points of dispute at present, it is important to remember that staff and trade unions have responded well to our changes as a charity since 2007, with significant improvements in absence rates benefiting colleagues at work and customers in venues all over Glasgow.

Set up as an independent charity, services are provided contractually to the local council - directly accountable to elected representatives as key stakeholders - on behalf of communities across Glasgow.

As a charity, we have achieved specific savings of £19.2 million in our first three years through reductions in non-domestic rates alone. This level of saving equates to around 1,000 jobs. Had we not been a charity, that £19.2 million burden would have been borne by our staff and local taxpayers, with a negative impact on jobs and services.

As a charity we can access trusts and funds which were simply not open to us when services were part of the Council. Almost a third of our overall income now comes from outwith funding agreed with the City Council. This is a much larger proportion than other established charities who provide services such as social care to local authorities.

Over the past three years, a total of £2.25 million has been raised from sponsorship, donations and voluntary income, against a target of £1.1 million. Our fundraising team has been exceeding its target, generating almost £1 million in sponsorship and donations from institutions and benefactors. That amounts to a quarter of the annual running costs at Kelvingrove, Scotland’s most popular visitor attraction and one of the busiest in the UK. A growing number of those visitors who enjoy our free museums and libraries or pay to use our sports centres and community halls are contributing by making donations of cash or giving time as volunteers.

With financial pressures across the public sector, other councils are now considering how best to deliver services and protect jobs and our experience as a charity may be part of the answer for many.

Ripped off Glasgow

People in Glasgow share the same concerns as any other part of the country – tackling crime, creating jobs and helping families through tough times – but one persistent issue unique to the city is continuing anger at the SNP government ripping off Glasgow.

This made a huge impact when Labour's William Bain was elected Glasgow North East MP in last November’s by-election with a massive 8,111 majority and remained a key issue during the recent General Election for voters in Glasgow.

Despite receiving a record amount of money from Westminster this year from the former Labour government - over £600million more than the previous year’s Scottish budget - the SNP government gave Glasgow a raw deal and there are fears that worse is planned for coming years.

It’s not for lack of trying. While a strong Labour Council, Glasgow has never played petty politics with SNP ministers. We’ve been fair and successful in fighting our corner, securing vital investment to complete the M74 motorway - boosting jobs in Glasgow’s southside and east end - and develop the Cart flood prevention scheme, protecting homes across the south of our city.

That soured over the past year, as SNP ministers:

• Scrapped the Glasgow Airport Rail Link with the loss of 1,000 new jobs, a decision that saw the city’s Evening Times headline scream “BETRAYED” with First Minister Alex Salmond the man “who put a knife into the city”;


• Slashed £260million from housing and regeneration across Scotland, with our city the hardest hit, putting on hold plans for quality affordable housing;


• Declined to give a penny to museums in Glasgow - where Kelvingrove and the Burrell are among Britain’s busiest attractions - yet handed £40million to Scotland’s “national” museums in Edinburgh;


• Restricted funding for every mile of maintaining the busiest streets in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, to effectively the same formula as any mile on the quietest rural road;


• Refused three Town Centre bids to support Glasgow jobs and businesses in Possil, Parkhead and Shawlands - the latter shamefully in Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s own constituency;


• Excluded Glasgow from the first phase of the SNP’s new school building programme, shunning the city as all our secondaries were rebuilt or refurbished ten years ago.
  

After the North East by-election defeat, SNP ministers hastily awarded Glasgow funding for three new primary schools despite stating only one was on offer, but it’s far from generous. Labour ministers previously funded 80% of new builds while councils found the remaining 20%, but the SNP will only match councils 50/50 for new primaries.

When the 2010/11 settlement for councils was announced by SNP ministers, Glasgow had the lowest increase at 1.47% against a Scottish average of 2.77% – leaving the city shortchanged by £20million compared to that average – despite many councils faring much better with sparse explanation.

The SNP now say Glasgow’s extra primary school funding was based on “need”. Labour councillors know what that really means, focusing resources in our communities where it’s needed most. We’ll always argue for that. Not just in Glasgow, but in every council across Scotland.