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.

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.

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.