Death by 1,000 cuts

So, Hebrides News reports that ADS is to be restricted - read prohibited - for business travellers and Comhairle employees.

So if I book a flight, who decides if it is private or business?

Me, or a faceless civil servant, who tries to later claim back the ADS discount?

Actually, that doesn't matter too much, as it is all administration.

Where the real problem lies is the change in the philosophy about the operation of the scheme.

Public sector bodies are supposedly already excluded - but the Comhairle/WIHB/etc seems to have been taking the urine, and only now have the Government realised what's going on.

Now apart from the body cavity searches at the airports, you are going to be asked if you are travelling on business or leisure. Just who is going to answer to the expensive former, rather than the cheaper latter. Still, the boxes will have been ticked, and the principle of cutting the provision will be established.

Next, a maximum number of journeys a year?

Only left-handed students on Tuesdays?

And thence to RET.

You can see where this is going, and the deafening cries of outrage from our MP and MSP will show exactly where they stand....

School closures (or not)

As I predicted some of the school closures have been called in, and as I also predicted, the terms of the call in are vague and offer little hope to the campaigners.

Look at the thrusting leadership from the Minister:

Mr Russell said closures must always be taken by those with the best knowledge of local circumstances.

But he added: "My role is not to retake a democratically-taken decision but to ensure that a robust consultation process was properly followed and the educational benefits of these decisions are clear."

In other words, look at the process again and have another vote before coming to a decision.  No threat or promise of a veto, just a series of iterations of the consultations until they are acceptable to the Minister.  Acceptable process that is. 

And this is likely to happen just before the Holyrood elections, if my timetable is right.

This would give the Council the opportunity to give a good kicking to the MSP for his failure to engage in the process, and his support of the SNP ahead of the best interests of the Western Isles on a number of issues.

Which will be fun to observe.

But let us again stand back on this whole issue and look at the calamitous failure to have a rural policy that delivers anything.

The new schools were given the go ahead only on the back of the Council finding it's share of the funding gap by closing a series of schools.  This was approved by the Minister, and all the funding was calculated, approved, paid and celebrated in numerous Government press releases over the past 5 years.

Now the Government is trying to backtrack on the implications of its decision when it realises what it has done.  Only to find that it doesn't actually have the power to stop what it has set in train.  Only delay it slightly.

And when you look at specific areas, you will see that the West Harris Trust have received large sums of Government money to buy the estate and develop the area.  All acclaimed by large and numerous Government press releases.  A large part of the rationale behind the buyout was the retention of children, at Sheilibost School, to grow the population in the area.  A school that the Government has already tacitly agreed must close to justify the new school in Tarbert.

Ooops, anyone see the logic in what is being done?

Actually, I think that Sheilibost might just survive because the buy-out having happened so recently, but I'm not holding my breath.

Now, would anyone like to remind us what the MP and MSP promised us about education provision in the islands and in the rural communities?


(I would normally, but I'm away and haven't got the time at the moment)

Minister resigns

It was inevitable, wasn't it.

As soon as Alex Salmond professed his "complete confidence" in the Minister, it was time to clear the Minister desk, and hitch a lift in the Ministerial Mondeo, before the country goes all snowy again.

I bet the Met Office didn't forecast that did they?

(With apologies to Private Eye)

Farewell then, Stewart Stevenson
Your career wouldn't have been derailed
If the trains had been running.

You read the forecasts
to the MSPs
in their mind-numbing entirety
in lieu of making a statement.

Unfortunately, that was still
better
than the rest of your performance
as Minister.


EJ Thribb 17 1/2 feet down in a snowdrift in Perthshire

Council Budget choices

The Council seem happy to run budget seminars with the community (next one in Uig on Tuesday) but strangely reluctant to publicise in advance what sorts of choices they are potentially making.

Well, here's the various choices that are being offered in the Policy and Resources Agenda at item 19.

Alternatively there's a comprehensive report at item 25 about flying flags, which occupies three pages, compared to a one page report about cutting school transport for primary and secondary kids.

Education funding

If you want to understand the impact of the cuts in front-line educational services, then you need look no further than Stornoway Primary today, where the school did not have enough money to provide Christmas crackers for the kids' Christmas lunch today.

Over 40% of the Council's revenue budget goes on Education, and yet there is still not enough money for such a minor item.

Education is not underfunded, but front-line teaching definitely is. 

The biggest single cost - staffing - is largely outwith the control of the Council and solely the remit of the Scottish Government, and this is not being addressed.  The consequence is almost unsackable staff - however incompetent - conserved salaries even where there isn't any need for staff; and a staffing structure that prevents new teachers gaining jobs. 

Ally this to an administrative structure that seems to be there to administer the administrative system and make endless statistical returns to Government, and you should be able to make significant savings.  If the political will was there.

And the Headteachers have to manage inadequate sums, that are being cut to fund the administrative demands.

Inter-island ferries

It is very good news that the fare subsidy scheme for the inter-island ferries has been saved (declaration of interest: I have a client who benefits) as this sends exactly the right sort of message to the public, to local businesses and beyond these islands.

However scathing I might have been about the decision to cut subsidy for the Balivanich-Barra flight, this kind of balance, this kind of difficult decision, and this kind of debate about where the cuts will fall needs to be had in the open.

A quiet day on the Barra-Eriskay ferry

The Councillors are under horrendous pressure or the worst kind, and decisions are going to be fraught and harsh, but cuts need to be made - as the Council have been told by the Scottish Government.

But, having these discussions in public at least has the benefit of understanding how individual councillors came to their decisions, we may not agree with everything they decide, but the options of public, open, debate or closed room deals presented as a fait accompli by 31 North Korean actalike Councillors would be the worst of all options.

Councillors: air your differences, make your decisions in public and be prepared to adapt your expectations as the votes pan out, but do it openly and reject any behind the scenes moves to stifle your choices.

Barra-Benebcula air service

As the Council cuts begin to bite, difficult decisions have to be taken, and I think we all appreciate that, but to vote to remove the Barra-Benbecula air service is a serious blow to the economy of Barra.

It also raises questions about the focus of the Council - is it looking after the islands and inter-island travel, or is it just provide exit routes from the islands?  And, as importantly, what message does it send to the Scottish Government about the priorities.

And with Barra Airport having just been described as one of the top 10 inspirational airports to land at in the world.

This decision can only serve to undermine the viability of Benbecula and Barra at a time when our connections need to be protected.


I understand the meeting was quite fractious, and the Chair and Vice-Chair were overruled in their recommendation to keep the service.  Interestingly the MP finds himself screwed over by a prominent "I'm not a member of the SNP" Councillor, who had personally pledged full support for the Barraich, before voting for removal.

Nothing ever changes; and such is the measure of the man.

Nicolson Institute problems

I've had nothing but negative comments about the school, or more accurately the education system in the Western Isles, since I raised the issues about the quality of education in the Nicolson.

I am now told, by someone who should know, that there is a major drugs problem in the school that is not being addressed by the teachers or management.  It is unclear whether that is due to their ignorance of the situation, or their unwillingness to tackle the principle principal offenders, or indeed whether it is being deliberately ignored in the hope it would go away.

Irrespective, there appear to be a smallish number of pupils with seemingly unlimited access to anything and everything, operating unfettered just below the surface.  Whilst their fellow pupils seem to aware of what is happening, there seems to be no restrictions or secrecy around their activities.

Thankfully, the vast majority of pupils seem to be unaffected by this.

Perhaps I am overstating the extent of the problem, but there clearly is a problem that needs to be dealt with.

Labour selection battle

I'm not attending the Western Isles Labour Party selection meeting on Monday night, mainly as I am not invited, not eligible to attend, and not here.

Indeed, the Facebook open invite has apparently disappeared, or perhaps become a closed invite.  Cock-up rather than consipracy, meethinks.

With at least one (or possibly all?) of the previous three candidates having withdrawn, the race is wide open, and some of the names I expected have now decided to stand.

The leading contender appears to be working hard just below the surface, ably advised by his brother, and he seems to be the favoured compromise choice between the various faction - the anyone but [fill in blank] candidate, would be a only slightly unfair observation.

In the likely two horse race - and here I mix my metaphors in the vague hope of injecting some humour into the process - we have a pantomime cow wearing a blindfold with the logo "Labour - kick me" versus a big pile of bull being lead around the course by his master.

Am I only the only one who wants both to lose in the interests of the islands?

Building work resumes

After the hiatus caused by the collapse of ROK it was good to see the contractors back on site at Manor Drive, trying to get the houses wind and water tight before the winter hits (!)

There were at least three or four guys and one fork lift busy on site, but perhaps the rest were trying to avoid frostbite, and the prospects of having the houses done on anything near the original deadline looks, sadly, impossible.

Unfortunately, none of that will replace the losses suffered by the sub-contractors when ROK went under.

Licencing Board - too drunk to take notes?

The decision in IX MacIver -v- CnES was released and makes scary and magnificently false reading.

And I speak as a former member of the Licencing Board.

The fact that no notes are (apparently) taken is a shocking breach of the Law Society Guidance which dictates that notes of all advice should be taken and retained at all times.  This includes - as previous disciplinary matters have concluded - that solicitors should always keep notes of the advice given.

Perhaps that is the next way forward.

Whilst everything the Council may have written is true, given the number of legal challenges and disputes there have been over licences being granted, I always assumed that every decision and all advice was properly documented.  The times I supported an opinion to the Court was always accurate, as far as I was concerned, but I did assume that there was some kind of record to substantiate what was said.

In future, Board members might want to insist that their discussion are accurately recorded in a contemporaneous record so that they do not expose themselves to potential liability, nor the legal services manager to action by their regulatory body.

Indeed, having been party to some exceptionally clear advice to the Board that was then duly ignored, appealed and the Board decision defeated, I assumed that the appeal documents and reports of the debates and discussion were always written up from contemporaneous notes

Is there any other Licencing Board that doesn't keep contemporaneous notes?

New taxation powers

A Good Thing or A Missed Opportunity?

Well, I could tell you a lot more if the Inland Revenue had been paid to keep up the system maintenance and provide us with more information about tax yield by (easily, cheaply & crudely) flagging Scottish taxpayers.

That niggle aside, any form of reduced dependency has got to be welcomed, even if cautiously, as a step forward.

Assuming the Scottish Government is ready, willing and able to accept this.  Emphasis on able.

But let's look at the anomolies in the meantime.

Scottish tax liability can be determined by the postcode of the home address, so that (for example) pensioners are dealt with by a Cardiff tax office, but that tax yield can be attributed to Scotland.

The Chairman of the Lloyds TSB receives pay relating to a UK wide performance, but because he doesn't live in Scotland, none of that income is attributed to Scotland.

Now, these sums may just balance themselves out - although I suspect not - in the event of the Scottish tax rates increasing, then Scottish tax payers will buy a property in England or Wales and designate it as their principal residence (as required by the taxes acts) and avoid Scottish taxation.

Conversely, and this is known as the Laffer Curve, by reducing tax rates, more will 'move here' and pay lower rates but generate more for the Scottish Government, much like the Irish Economy (deceased) lowered Corporation Tax to attract Dell, Shire and a host of others to move to Ireland and fund the crazy boom and bust.

It's not about the powers, so much as how you use them.  If you are scared of using them - as opposed to consciously and deliberately not using them - then you don't deserve to be in power. Or is that 'in office'.

It's a big step forward; if our politicians can be trusted to use them appropriately.

Schools and education

I have a long term interest in Education in the Western Isles for the very simple and selfish reason that we have three children using the system, and we want to see the best for them at every level.

As regular readers will know, I have been disturbed by some aspects of current and future educational provision in the islands.  That's not just about teaching methods, subject choices or physical structures, but about how all these elements and more fit together to give every child the best possible chance in life.

Some of the fixtures in the Council offices have preferred to interpret this as personal criticism, because that's easier to ignore, whilst others have tried to actually find solutions.

Sitting here in Edinburgh, with our children unable to reach their school and nursery, I have had a chance to reflect on the overall provision in the islands.

I am not happy to have been proved right about Castlebay School, where I was the only one to give voice to concerns of pupils, teachers and parents, but in classic gagging mode, the Council tried to shoot the messenger rather than respond to the message, until it was way too late.

It can't be a matter of resources - as 42% of the Council budget goes on Education - but is obviously one of management, direction and guidance from on high.

At this point, let's pause to consider how this is going to improve if all the schools earmarked for closure and the new schools and the increased number of teachers have less and less of the pie to actually provide education, without some fundamental changes to the way education is organised and delivered. Or alternatively, if our MSP can get some more very large sums of money from the Government.  Something that doesn't appear to be on any agenda at the moment.

It is with great disappointment, worry and concern for the future, that I am starting to receive reports that parts of the Nicolson Institute may be suffering from exactly the same problems that have beset Castlebay, and that there is a failure of management to respond or deal with the concerns of parents.

I'm starting to get the feel of a dysfunctional organisation slowly collapsing under the weight of it's own consultations were ticking boxes, developing courses that pupils aren't able to attain and with no clear strategic approach.  All the decisions are giving the impression of being knee-jerk reactions to immediate events.

This is not being helped by the lack of clear, consistent, support from Councillors.  The hokey-cokey of closure-retention by some of our representatives is nothing short of disgraceful.  How Morag Munro has kept her sanity is beyond me.

Of course, the SNP Group might be able to find the funds to keep some of the rural schools open, but all this will do is put a very expensive elastoplast on a festering sore.  It is not the time for easy decisions, but it is the time for the right decisions to ensure that the pupils are being educated, and not simply attending schools.

I'll see you in Court...

I'm sure you have often heard that said, but have you ever see the next stage?

Here's a copy of a writ issued by Angus MacMillan, Storas Uibhist, against Calum MacMillan, would be windfarmer.

Having been on the receiving end of a couple of threats of legal action from a certain sanctimonious lying sleaze-ball in the Comhairle (full details coming shortly), I'm going to choose my words carefully.

And hypothesise about the sort of questions that might be asked in response to the writ.

• Is your reputation really worth £100,000?
• Shall we examine the accounts of the various companies to determine how successful the various businesses are?
• "The pursuer, acting in an individual capacity, has not at any time discussed any private proposals to develop wind farm capacity with any funding or regulatory body with whom he has come into contact in the course of his dealings as Chairman."  What acting about in a corporate capacity for a limited company?  Have there been any contacts about other windfarm proposals with any funding or regulatory body whilst he was Chairman?
• "He does not presently, and did not at the material time, have plans to advance any proposals for a wind farm project on land owned by him..."  But were there any plans advanced during any time when he was Chairman?  Any possible conflicts of interest, declarations of interest, or overlapping use of the same contractors or consultants?

The curious conditional denials and circituous (not the right word) sentence construction serves only to raise more questions than are answered.

(I might update this later, but I have a plane to catch very soon)

A void in search of a policy

Remember way, way back in 2009 when the bill to protect rural schools was launched to great fanfare?

The SNP Government has today launched plans to protect Scotland's rural schools from closure. [...]

Dr Allan, who has campaigned successfully against rural school closures in the Western Isles (I think that this might be a fib) said; “I believe that access to a local school is particularly important in rural communities, not least in places like the Western Isles, where schools are at the very heart of a community.

"This bill will help enshrine that principle in law and I am pleased that it is an SNP Government which is delivering this policy.

 Roll forward to a fortnight ago when the protection offered by the bill was unveiled to an unsuspecting public.

Alasdair Allan MSP said he would back the community’s submission asking the Scottish Government to call-in the Carloway closure.

So, the protection of the "heart of the community" now extends to backing a letter asking the Government to do something.  Is this what passes for successful campaigning?

It certainly isn't leadership.

Today, we see the press releases which talks up what was actually written (if anyone has a copy of the original, please send it on);

Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, has written to Education Secretary, Michael Russell, to ask him to consider whether he has legal grounds to "call-in" any of the school closure decisions recently made by the Comhairle.

Not - one should note- asking Mike Russell to actually call in all the decisions.  Not asking the Minister to meet with the Comhairle to discuss the wider issues of education provision in the Western Isles.  Not asking for more money to allow some of the schools - Carloway, for instance? - to stay open.

In case you were unsure of the serious and intensive lobbying going on on our behalf, the press release - and remember, this is putting a positive spin on the whole matter - continues:

“I accept that some schools will close..."

Argument lost, presumably on instructions from his former boss Mike Russell.

Which schools does he accept will close?  Carloway? Lionel?  I'm sure the parents are interested to know.

Mike Russell's reply will be that HMIE have studied the reports and will either agree that the consultation was correct and the schools will close; or, that the consultations were flawed, and that there should be new consultations before the schools close.

That's all the power the wonderful and hugely trumpeted bill gives to schools.

Alasdair Morrison and Calum MacDonald were defeated at the elections in a large part because they misinformed the public about their non-existent right of veto over any windfarm decisions.  The same ignorance of the legal position is evident here.

It's not just that, but the decisions were taken a long time ago, and the time to protect the schools was when the new schools project was being negotiated, and the consequent rural school closures approved by, err, the SNP Government.

Leadership would be demanding meetings between the communities and the Minister.  Leadership would involve looking at funding packages jointly with the communities, the Comhairle and the Government of which he is a member.  Leadership would be discussing with the Comhairle how the policy will be implemented.

Writing banal, pointless, and useless letters is the mark of a lapdog and party political place-man doing what he is told is best for the party, not the community.

Health Board appointments

With two local Councillors with the right political connections attending the interview panels today in Edinburgh for the position of Chair, the future direction for the Health Board should be very clear, come decision time.

Has the Board got a long-term future, and how will the capital and revenue cuts be implemented with the minimum impact on services?

The real cost of living

Fascinating analysis by the Joseph Rowantree Foundation and the Commission for Rural Communities on the cost of living in rural areas.


Anyone who lives outside the big towns will know that the financial impact of rurality is quite severe, and that costs are loaded on individuals and public services.

Assuming life in the Western Isles needs 20% more income to give a standard of life equivalent to the cities, and on the basis that actual income levels are 66% of the Scottish average, then income per head in the Western Isles needs to rise by 81% for us to be on a par with Glasgow or Edinburgh.

The real failure of all Governments - Westminster and Holyrood - is that income levels in the Western Isles have not risen over the past decades, and that economic decline has been allowed to continue with seemingly no interest in reversing depopulation and poverty.

Perhaps the Council should grab hold of these statistics and use them as a big stick to beat Holyrood to argue that sparsity of population has now been better quantified and that further support is necessary to keep schools and communities alive and active.

Let's hear the outcry from our elected representatives.......

Daylight saving

As the (re)current debate on daylight saving moves towards a decision, I must confess to having moved from a position of opposition to one of considered ambivalence.

I admit that living in town means that I am less affected than those in the country, but I am probably more unconvinced by the status quo due to the business issues I have experienced.

Time is a nebulous concept, and with numerous clients operating in Norway and other parts of Continental Europe, we are well used to receiving business calls at what seem like odd hours, but are actually just the effects of the time difference.  And I've made a few of these too, getting answering machines in the Dutch tax administration telling me that they are closed, and me thinking whether I need to choose option 1 or 2.

Reykjavik is in the same time zone as the UK and sunrise tomorrow is 10:19am - 9:19 if it were in the 'right' time zone - and there seem to be few issues there about the dark mornings.

Last Thursday I got a business call from a new client in Australia (don't ask!) who was just leaving the office, and need me to do something that day, so she could pick it up the next morning to deal with the matter.

Time is no longer about the hens and the cows, nor is it ruled by the business needs of New York or Frankfurt, but it as about how each of are going to respond to the demands of our employment or profession.

Such has life changed.

And now a message from our sponsor sent on by a correspondent who wishes to remain anon....

As you know, I'm writing to ask that the [name] joins the growing number of Scottish organisations backing the Daylight Saving Bill. The bill itself calls for a cross-departmental government analysis into the effects of moving the clocks forward by one hour. It is only if this review concludes in the positive that a 3yr trial of any recommended clock change would then be enacted. In other words, this bill operates along the principle that any claims about clock change must first be independently proven before any trial could take place. This fail-safe mechanism has finally moved this issue forward, and it is on this basis that we have garnered support in Scotland from as wide a spread of Scottish organisations as the National Farmers Union Scotland and VisitScotland. 

That said, the reason our Lighter Later coalition are working so hard to secure this bill (including heavy hitters like the AA, the FA and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Age UK and 10:10) is because the research into the benefits is so overwhelming. Last week the Policy Studies Institute released the attached report which shows that in Scotland (which stands to benefit disproportionately in comparison to the rest of the UK) the move would invest £300m into the Scottish economy annually with over 7,000 new jobs in the tourism sector alone. Wider benefits would include a fitter, happier population and better alignment with European and Far Eastern trading partners. Furthermore, as you'll see from the attached two-pager, it is a move now favoured by the majority of the Scottish population. 

As a strong voice for the industry the support of [name] could make a big difference in the run-up the bill. The more Scottish voices that call for us to investigate this matter once and for all through the Daylight Saving Bill, the better the chance we've got. 

If you need anything else on the issue from my side, please do get in touch. As you can imagine, with the vote just one month away, time is of the essence and your voice could make all of the difference to this crucial issue. 

Many thanks

Sion

How many ....

communicant members does it take to create a schism on the head of a pin?

 (Just for clarity: I'm not having a go at my former neighbour Rev Stewart)

The Scottish Budget

Hmmmm.

The Devil is in the detail, but it looks like a pretty good job, inside a very difficult set of limits.

That's not to say it is good; merely that an apparently adequate job has been done of managing the cuts.

It's not a "fair budget" as the brown-nosers would have it.  Indeed, the SNP are using the same excuses and rationale that the ConDems used about the UK cuts just a few weeks back.

The obvious problems are the massive cuts to Housing, Education and Enterprise, and the continuing desire to fund the unfundable, such as the abolition of prescription charges.  I remain very bemused that our business doesn't have to pay any business rates whilst services are being cut due to a lack of cash.

I've spent the weekend speaking to friends who work in some of the sectors worst affected, and the mood is most definately one of dispondency.

The instruction from on high is not to have any redundancies, which in reality means that there potentially are going to be staff sitting around with nothing to do, as the budget for achieving anything has been removed.

I'm reliably informed that the Bord na Gaidhlig cuts will mean the end of some projects, and some temporary posts being lost, and I suspect that the same pattern will repeat itself acrioss other sectors too.

And this all takes us back to the absence of a coherent policy for rural areas.

School closures?  The only people who can stop the school closures will be the Government either by (a) providing the funds to keep the schools open on 'strategic' grounds, or (b) refusing the Council the permission to make the closure, and insisting they find the money.  Neither - frankly - is a realistic solution; and certainly not a long term plan.

The massive housing cuts are much more insidious, and I think will have a bigger and deeper impact here than any other element.  The local housing strategy was described as 'being in tatters' as a result of these cuts with all sorts of small and large projects unlikely to proceed.

Worse still, as this is only a one-year budget, no-one knows if the situation will get better or worse on the other side of the election, and no-one can plan for even the most simple of strategies about staffing, service delivery or capital spending when they have no idea of what their budget is likely to be.


Finding and delivering the cuts efficiency savings is going to be much more of a challenge than it might appear, and there is most definitely going to be a large impact on services right across the board.  And right before an election.

As I get more specifics, I'll share them with you..