MP Calls for Flexibility on Kinship Carers’ Support
A Dundee MP has commented on the situation of kinship carers and benefits payments and called for greater flexibility in dealing with benefits and payments to allow family members to become the lead carer for vulnerable children.
Stewart Hosie said: “Over the years, I have dealt with a number of cases where for one reason or another vulnerable children had to be either taken into care or placed with another family member.
“It is a recurring situation, and sadly, often due to alcohol or drug-addiction, that a mother may not be the best person to have care of her child. In such a case, a Residency Order may be granted for another member of the family, rather than have the child taken into care.
“This can be done quite quickly but the problem comes with the timescale for the benefits position if these need to be moved over to an aunt or to grand parents or other kinship carers.
“The transfer of benefits needs to be signed over with agreement of both parties within a 28 day period, but the mother may be able to continue to claim the Child Benefits for up to 8 weeks before it is stopped.
“In the meantime the carers of the vulnerable child will be unable to obtain either Child Benefit or tax credits and can be seriously out of pocket.
“One of the recommendations of the Brandon Muir case was greater discretion for social workers to remove vulnerable children, when they are deemed to be at risk, and place them with other family members who are willing to step in and care for them.
“But I think that the Child Benefit Office needs to be more responsive to such situations. They should have greater discretion and more flexibility to support kinship carers when social workers are concerned in a particular case, that a vulnerable child is at risk.
“There might be a case for new legislation to make it easier for kinship carers to obtain Child Benefit where a Residency Order has been granted to them in a situation where the child has been removed from the mother on the grounds of its being at risk.”
MP Critical of Exclusion of North-East from Rail Company Fares Reductions
Train operator East Coast, which is owned by the Department of Transport, is launching a new-range of super-low miniature price tickets – cutting its previous cheapest fares by up to 23% – but a local MP is querying the exclusion of the north-east from the price reductions.
The price cuts on standard advance one-way travel will be promoted in a major advertising campaign fronted with a voice-over by Bernard Cribbins – but passengers going from, or to, Dundee and Aberdeen stations – anywhere north of Edinburgh and Glasgow – will be excluded from the promotion.
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said today: “These fare reductions operate for travel on the East Coast services route but someone seems to have decided not to include anywhere north of Edinburgh or Glasgow in the promotion.
“East Coast operates 136 weekday train services along the East Coast Main line linking London with Aberdeen and Inverness but the ‘miniature price’ fare reductions will only operate on part of the route, from London to Edinburgh Waverley, which is a nonsense for a publicly-owned company.
“Anyone travelling further north, or travelling from the south to anywhere north of Edinburgh or Glasgow will lose out.
“The company have informed me that the promotion only includes selected destinations and these were selected on the grounds of being popular journeys, however all of the selected destinations just happen to be south of Edinburgh.
“East Coast operate a service from London to Aberdeen service and Inverness. I believe that any fares reductions should operate across the whole route.
“I cannot see why people getting on or off at Dundee and Aberdeen should be excluded and I will be writing to East Coast rail and to Lord Adonis, Secretary of State for Transport, to ask why it is not possible to include stations north of Edinburgh and Glasgow in the promotion.”
MP Backs Home Heat Helpline as Cold Snap Continues
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie has backed a Commons move by the all-party Warm Homes Group, to promote the Home Heat Helpline, which is funded by the six largest energy suppliers in the UK.
The free-phone number 0800 33 66 99 received 20,000 calls in January with 150,000 calls to the lines to date. The helpline is open Monday- Friday 9am – 8pm and Saturday 10am – 2pm.
Stewart Hosie said: “The Home Heat Helpline is aimed primarily at older people, families with young children and disabled people. It provides vulnerable customers with direct access to information on free insulation, reduced or ‘social’ tariffs from energy suppliers and a range of other services.
“With the cold weather continuing it is more important than ever to get accurate advice about home heating. With the big Winter bills due to land on front door mats soon, it is vital that vulnerable people have them advice they need so that they do not
“The economic recovery plan by the Scottish Government includes helping households experiencing difficulties from the current economic downturn.
“This includes improving energy efficiency in homes, doing more to tackle fuel poverty and offer better financial advice to vulnerable households.
“The Energy Retail Association Home Heat Helpline offers invaluable advice to vulnerable members of society who are experiencing difficulties.”
“The service is now bolstered by a new online callback facility available which will allow customers to log enquiries online and arrange for advisers to call them back. This will mean that there is no long waiting to speak to an adviser.”
Stewart Hosie has signed Early Day Motion 653 on the subject.
NOTES: Home Heat Helpline 0800 33 66 99, or visit: www.homehelpline.org.uk
SNP Would Gain Seats According to New Poll
The SNP in Dundee have hailed a new opinion poll which shows they are only two points behind
Labour in Scottish voting intentions for the General Election – and 7 points ahead of
Labour in Scottish Parliament voting intentions, and just two points
behind for the General Election at 32 per cent.
On these figures by Ipsos / MORI, the SNP would gain seats such as Dundee West, Aberdeen
North, Ochil & South Perthshire, and Kilmarnock & Loudon from Labour; and
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, and Argyll & Bute from the Lib
Dems.
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie, who is the SNP’s Election Campaign Convenor, said:
“This is the strongest position for the SNP entering a UK General Election. It has been a
difficult few weeks but we are in a great position to improve our position even
further in the weeks ahead.
“Our support is 14 percentage points up on the 2005 figures with Labour down six,
the Lib Dems are slumping badly in Scotland with the Conservatives nearly static.
“We have more support now than when we won the Holyrood election in 2007 –
the other parties are all down – and our Westminster support has nearly
doubled since the last General Election.
“And we have a compelling message for the General Election to champion
Scotland’s interests at Westminster. Just as we are on the front foot on
the constitution with the publication of the draft Referendum Bill, the
SNP’s winning message is that Scotland needs real economic powers to
succeed – and needs SNP MPs to be champions for their constituency and
country at Westminster.”
MP’s Backing for Broughty Development Trust
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie has given his support to Broughty Ferry Development Trust, ahead of a public meeting on Saturday [27th] to discuss progress on a number of local issues.
Stewart Hosie said: “I have been following the progress of the new community-based group which hopes to enhance and augment the facilities in the area by accessing grants to provide community assets.
“I think that it is an excellent initiative and those who have worked together to get this far deserve our congratulations.
“We have seen a number of highly-contentious planning issues in central Broughty Ferry and I am certain that Broughty Ferry Development Trust with Dundee City Council and other groups such as Broughty Traders and the Community Council can play a major part in obtaining better solutions which recognise the needs of the community.
“By promoting the wishes of local people and by the skills of the people involved in the group, Broughty Ferry Development Trust can make a big difference the quality of amenities on offer to local residents.”
Formed in June 2009 by local people involved in community-based projects in Broughty Ferry, the membership of BFDT now stands at 120.
The group has conducted surveys of local opinion on planning matters and hopes to work in partnership with other agencies, especially Dundee City Council to promote the area’s unique natural and built environment.
The next meeting of the group is on Saturday 27th February at the hall at Castle Green.
For further information on BFDT, contact: info@broughtyferrydevelopmenttrust.com
Or visit website: www.broughtyferrydevelopmenttrust.com
SNP Backing Dundee Renewables
Several weeks ago, Dundee’s SNP politicians expressed delight when the city was designated by the Scottish Government as one of a number of key strategic sites in Scotland for construction and maintenance of offshore wind turbines.
It is estimated that £15 billion will be spent on offshore wind turbines over the next ten years and the potential for Scottish companies to supply the European market is vast – if they can continue to keep their global lead in new technology.
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick is Vice-Convenor of the Cross Party Group on Renewable Energy at the Scottish Parliament, and he and his SNP colleagues, Shona Robison MSP, Stewart Hosie MP, have been proactive in their support for the city to grab a big share of the renewables bonanza.
Joe FitzPatrick said: “We have been involved from the start with Dundee Renewables, the high-powered group formed between the key players in the public and private sectors, to ensure that Dundee grabs the lion’s share of the new industry.
“The new industry will of course be large enough to provide several Scottish ports with lucrative construction and maintenance work and I know that my Fife colleague Tricia Marwick MSP is keen on Methil obtaining construction work.
“Dundee Port, like Methil, has many physical and geographical advantages. Firstly, it is on the east coast, facing the market and with direct access to all of the potential customers via the North Sea.
“Dundee is one of the longest established and largest import and export hubs for bulk products in Scotland, it benefits from easy access facilities, being a deep-water port and has a large 60 acre development space on the riverfront available now for the purpose of constructing turbines.
“The city also has plenty of available development land, easily reached from the docks by the Kingsway, where components could be constructed in conjunction with final-stage assembly at the docks.
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: “Being on the east coast, Dundee directly faces Europe – the main market for the wind turbines. If we can get the city established in constructing renewables sector hardware, then that work and its associated secondary industry of maintenance over the next decade will be truly vast.
“With the city’s increasing strengths in life-sciences and bio-tech, digital media, computer games and knowledge culture partnered by large-scale marine engineering and manufacture, the city could boom like never before.
“We are absolutely committed to Dundee being at the heart of the Scottish renewables industry. Apart from the great benefits which Dundee will derive from the industry in terms of jobs, society will benefit from lower carbon emissions as we move to greener energy. ”
Shona Robison, Dundee East MSP added: “We have been working for several years with the key partners who now form Dundee Renewables, including Scottish Enterprise, Forth Ports, Dundee City Council and Dundee’s two Universities, to build-up the case for Dundee as a major renewables hub.
“Both the city’s Universities have involvement in Research & Development . and much expertise in civil engineering and environmental research. The city has strong academic roots and highly-skilled workforces and of course, engineering is practically ‘in the blood’ of the city.”
“We have deep-water quays and right at the heart of the Port is an interconnector to the National Grid, capable of servicing up to 90 megawatt capacity.
“Dundee’s facilities are superlative and give the city huge opportunities in the renewables sector which will stand us in good stead.”
SNP Politicians Welcome Scotland’s Renewables Plan
Dundee’s SNP politicians have welcomed the publication of ‘Scotland’s National Renewable Infrastructure Plan’ today which includes Dundee on a list of strategic sites for offshore wind turbine manufacturing and construction operations.
It is estimated that over £15 billion could be spent on the offshore wind sector in the preferred locations, including Dundee, over the next five years and can help Scotland to develop a globally competitive renewable energy sector. Led by Scottish Enterprise with support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, today’s announcement is the first phase of the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan.
Commenting on the announcement, Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: “Dundee, being on the east coast, directly faces Europe, where the market for wind turbines and for maintenance of renewables sector hardware over the next decade is truly vast.”
“Being a strategic location could see infrastructure in Dundee improved to ensure the site provides a supportive business environment for the growing offshore renewables sector.
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick, Vice-Convenor of the Cross Party Group on Renewable Energy at the Scottish Parliament, said:
“I’m glad Dundee is to be a preferred strategic energy site. Our facilities are superlative and offer many options which can be used to give Dundee huge opportunities in the renewables sector.
“The city has a very strong academic background, highly-skilled workforces and of course, engineering is practically ‘in the blood’ of the city.
“Dundee has huge natural advantages as a key location for offshore wind suppliers for installation, manufacture and maintenance.
“Shona Robison, Dundee East MSP also welcomed the announcement and added: “We have been working closely with key partners including Forth Ports, Dundee City Council and Dundee’s two Universities to build-up the case for Dundee as a major renewables hub. It has many advantages to offer, not least its strategic geographical location and the facts that it is a deep-water port and does not have to rely on tidal flow and has vacant space at the port which can be developed.
“Both the city’s Universities have involvement in Research & Development and much expertise in civil engineering and environmental research.”
SNP Call for Dundee to be Strategic Energy Site
Dundee’s SNP politicians have strong expectations that Scottish Enterprise will recognise Dundee’s huge natural advantages and designate the port a key location for offshore wind suppliers, when the important decision is announced tomorrow [Thursday 4 February].
A list of locations viewed as the best sites to act as installation, manufacture and maintenance hubs to enable developers to source offshore wind components from Scottish- based suppliers will be announced on Thursday.
The ports designated as key locations for offshore wind suppliers should see the benefit of £15 billion of spending on offshore wind turbines in the next ten years.
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick, Vice-Convenor of the Cross Party Group on Renewable Energy at the Scottish Parliament, said today: “I’m hopeful that the many natural advantages which Dundee Port has will be recognised and that Dundee will be named as a Strategic Site for the renewable energy sector.
“Not only is Dundee one of the most established and largest import and export hubs for bulk products in Scotland, it benefits from easy access facilities and has the huge advantage of a number of potential sites within the 100 acres, for new build developments.
“There is a 60 acre development site adjacent to deep-water quays and right at the heart of the Port is an interconnector to the National Grid, capable of servicing up to 90 megawatt capacity.
“Dundee’s facilities are superlative and offer many options which can be used to give Dundee huge opportunities in the renewables sector. The city has strong academic roots and highly-skilled workforces and of course, engineering is practically ‘in the blood’ of the city.”
Shona Robison, Dundee East MSP added: “We have been working with key partners including Forth Ports, Dundee City Council and Dundee’s two Universities to build-up the case for Dundee as a major renewables hub, and it has many advantages to offer, not least its strategic geographical location and the facts that it is a deep-water port and does not have to rely on tidal flow and has vacant space at the port which can be developed.
“Both the city’s Universities have involvement in Research & Development and much expertise in civil engineering and environmental research.”
Commenting on the forthcoming decision, Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: “Dundee, being on the east coast, directly faces Europe, where the market for wind turbines and for maintenance of renewables sector hardware over the next decade is truly vast.
“Being a strategic location could see infrastructure in Dundee improved to ensure the site provides a supportive business environment for the growing offshore renewables sector.
Jim Barrie, SNP Candidate for Dundee West int he forthcoming General Election said: “I think Dundee has an outstanding case to be a Strategic Energy Site and I am sure that will be recognised in the decision when it is made on Thursday.”
MP Calls for Compensation over Forced Redundancy of Radio Equipment
Many theatre groups, sports events, concerts and conferences – and live radio roadshows are at risk of having to buy expensive new equipment because the UK Government is selling-off the spectrum of radio frequencies.
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie has taken up the claims of groups whose equipment will be rendered useless because the radio frequencies they operate on are being cleared and sold at auction, with all revenues going to the UK Government.
Radio microphones and other wireless technologies are essential for live music, newsgathering, musical theatre, film making, television production, church, school and community events – and 95% of the equipment used by these groups will soon be rendered redundant by the Government’s move.
Stewart Hosie said: “I have signed EDM 323 which calls on the Government to set aside some of the revenues from the auction of the radio frequencies for compensation to all those groups and individuals in the Programme Making and Special Events community and took up the issue with Lord Mandelson at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
“Potentially this UK Government move could affect over 95% of the UK’s stocks of radio microphones, which means that many – if not most – clubs and societies as well as radio and TV broadcasters will have to fork out for new equipment.
“Channels 31-37, 61-62 and 63-68 will be cleared by 2012. It has been agreed that users of Channel 69 which was to have been available until 2018 will be offered assistance as will broadcasters affected by changes to Channels 61-62.
“I believe that there is a strong case for an adequate compensation scheme that will allow these groups and organisations to replace their entire inventory with like-for-like alternatives.
“I put that point to Lord Mandelson and in the reply have been informed that Ofcom have amended the original proposals which appeared in the Digital Britain report.
“The Department, in consultation with Ofcom are presently considering the full ‘new for old’ compensation claim submitted by the ‘Save Our Sound’ campaign group on behalf of the radio frequency users.
“This is a hopeful sign but it is essential that we keep up the pressure.”
A Dundee sound production company which supplies equipment to amateur theatres across Angus, Perthshire, Dundee and NE Fife claims that the implications of the sell-off are much wider than the public are aware off.
Robert Main, of Accent Audio, based in Barnhill, Dundee, says that small groups and societies will need to replace expensive radio microphone equipment and might find it prohibitive to do so. This could include small bingo sessions in sheltered housing, groups that organise public meetings or conferences and public performaces.
“For example, I supplied radio microphone equipment to the Thomson-Leng Youth Music Theatre production of ‘Annie’ at the Whitehall Theatre and Dundee Operatic Society’s Scottish premiere of ‘The Producers’ at the same venue last year.
“Many thousands of ‘Courier’ readers will attend performances and concerts and pantomimes which use radio equipment operating on frequencies which are to be sold-off.
“The auction of the radio frequencies will rake in substantial profits for the UK Government and it is vital that those who will lose out, though no fault of our own, should be able to access like-for-like compensation.
“My business will be badly affected as I will need to replace my inventory of over 20 units of radio microphone equipment, which cost more than £15,000, if my business is to continue.”
MP Commends ‘Broughty – Busiest Lifeboat Station in Scotland’
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie this week praised the Broughty Lifeboat crew as official figures revealed that Broughty was the busiest lifeboat station in Scotland, in a year where lifeboats launches were 6% up on the previous record year of 2005.
Stewart Hosie said: “It reflects great credit on the crew of the Broughty Lifeboat that they are the busiest station in Scotland, rescuing 44 people among 103 launches in the last year.
“The two fulltime staff members and the retained volunteers who crew the lifeboats at Broughty deserve our thanks for their vigilance and their unstinting efforts on behalf of the public.
“I note that the national figures show that the number of persons being rescued from rocks or sandbanks after being cut off by the tide has more than doubled and that numbers of people being rescued from the sea has increased by 61%.
“While rescues of those who are professionally involved with maritime occupations such as fishermen or commercial mariners have remained stable, the number of leisure-based callouts has rocketed and this is probably because more people are using the river and the sea for leisure purposes.
“Friday is the RNLI’s annual fundraising Day and this year many in the Broughty area will be mindful of the recent 50th commemoration of the Mona Lifeboat Disaster and hopefully it will be a highly successful fundraising Day for the charity.”
The RNLI which has been in existence for 186 years presently operates more than 230 lifeboats stations, and claims a total of more than 137,000 lives saved by lifeboat crews.
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