Cleveden Parent Power

Congratulations to Cleveden Parent Council on the success of their bus service for pupils. The bus, run in conjunction with the school, was given a trial run earlier this year and has proved such a success it is hoped it will run for the rest of the school year.

Pupils can pay 75p per single journey. The bus will follow the same route as the service bus i.e. the Acre Road bus. The route to the school is:

8.28 am Acre Road/Maryhill Road/Arrochar Street/ Invershiel Road/Caldercuilt Road / Rothes Drive/ to Cleveden Secondary.

The bus is being funded by the Parent Council and the school.  Ward Councillors were also happy to provide additional funding via Maryhill Kelvin Area Committee.

Glasgow 2014 Fails again

Following the resignation of Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive John Scott a number of questions arose about why he had resigned.

In the absence of official comment the public were left to read in the Herald (01/07/11)

“A spokeswoman declined to comment yesterday on claims that its board acted after receiving a tip-off about Mr Scott’s tax advice from global accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

It was later reported that Mr Scott had been offered up to £6000 of financial advice from PwC. The firm is refusing to confirm or deny it was the firm at the centre of the affair.”

And the failure of Glasgow 2014 to comment further to its original statement only led to further confusion on events.

I wrote to Lord Smith posing a series of questions and he responded by referring me to an investigation being carried out by the Council’s Chief Executive  which would form a report to the Finance & Audit Scrutiny Committee.

 

I asked the Council’s Chief Executive if my questions were indeed to be answered in his report and when advised that they weren’t I went back to Lord Smith. After all having been told by Lord Smith that he expected my concerns to be answered in the Chief Executive’s report surely he wouldn’t mind now answering them directly.

I’m disappointed that he has ignored the advice of Commonwealth Games Federation Chief Executive Mike Hooper who said “The CGF supports the disclosure of the circumstances that led to resignation”.

Letter to Cllr Dingwall – 17.10.11

Instead Lord Smith and Glasgow 2014 still persist in hiding behind a defence of legal advice even though 2014 officers advise that they fully briefed the Scottish Cabinet on the full reasons behind the resignation.

So whilst MSPs can be told the reasons, Councillors and the people of Glasgow who are actually paying for the Games cannot be told.

Audit Scotland are now investigating the governance arrangements for Glasgow 2014, I hope they can get the answers that Lord Smith so clearly doesn’t want  to share.

Maryhill Kelvin Area Committee grants for October 2011

This months area committee has agreed funding bids from the following projects.

John Paul Academy (requested £780)

To deliver an extracurricular programme to compliment delivery around health and well being during the school day and to support children and families to improve their health and well-being.

1 x 4 week block after school parent & pupil cookery

2 x 4 week block after school cookery club for senior students (S3 upwards)

There will also be a Health and Well Being event for parents. The event will include cookery demonstrations and be supported by the North Glasgow Community Food Initiative

North United Communities Ltd (requested 4,703)

Out of hours and Trips project – October 11- March 2012

Out of Hours

To enhance the existing CPP funded youth diversionary activity by providing a base for the friday out of hours service in the Summerston area aimed at engaging young people during peak drinking times. The indoor programme would be held in the Glasgow Club in John Paul Academy and would employ two new sessional staff. The programme would provide two hours of activities, in addition to the existing street work provision provided by the project. The project would work in partnership with Glasgow Life, John Paul Academy and Glasgow Rangers Club. Rangers will provide the cost of in kind coaches to support the out of hours services. The project has engaged with 84 young people and regularly supports up to 25 young people every Friday.

Trips

To provide for those most at risk young people with the opportunity to travel out with their local community and take part in diversionary activities. The project will cover Cadder, Wyndford and Summerston and is aimed at young people participating in alcohol, drugs misuse and violent behaviour within their own communities. The services will focus on young people who do not currently engage with other services. Funds would buy additional sessional staff, outdoor education sessions and activities. It is expected that up to 100 young people will take part.

Maryhill Mobile Crèche (requested £1000)

Maryhill Mobile Crèche has recently developed an After School Care service within Dunard Street School. The project has been successful in fund raising to purchase start up equipment for this new service, but now requires additional play equipment.

Summerston Youth Forum (requested £2,600)

Building bridges in our Community: Funding is being requested to continue providing a needs led service to the young people who attend the Forum on a weekly basis.

New 20mph mandatory zone for Cadder

One of the regular concerns raised by residents is about speeding and the dangers it poses. I’m therefore glad to see that Land and Environmental Services are now carrying out a preliminary consultation on the introduction of a new mandatory 20mph zone in Cadder.

The city’s Health Commission has already stated that there is clear evidence this will save young lives, reduce the severity of injuries and prevent accidents in our neighbourhoods. The measures will also benefit elderly and disabled residents and will help to put a clear emphasis in favour of people rather than the car.

After consultation, and once a traffic order is passed, signs will be placed at each entry and exit point of the new zones. These would be at the entrances into Cadder at Tresta Road and Skirsa Street.

On most of our residential roads, it’s neither safe nor appropriate to drive any faster than 20mph already – many are narrow, or in the case of Cadder, lined with park cars. I hope that the community will welcome this new mandatory zone as a step in the right direction to address traffic concerns in the area. 

And of course I hope the scheme can be rolled out in other areas of the ward as well.

New Bus Shelters

Land and Environmental Services have written to advise us of a programme to deliver new bus shelters in the ward.

“I am pleased to inform you that Glasgow City Council in partnership with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) will be implementing a city wide shelter replacement programme funded by SPT’s capital shelter replacement fund. This programme of works will replace approximately 270 shelters in the Glasgow area outwith key streamline corridors with high quality steel shelters illuminated with solar lighting wherever possible.

The shelter replacement programme will commence on the 26 September 2011 until Spring 2012. This will reduce the remaining aging budget shelter stock and reinforce Glasgow’s commitment to improving the image and attractiveness of bus travel.”

In the Maryhill Kelvin ward these wil mean replacement shelters at stops in Skirsa Street, Dorchester Avenue, Cleveden Road, Garrioch Road, Hotspur Street, Thornton Street and Glenburn Street

Action on Garden Maintenance Scheme complaints

Glasgow’s assisted gardens maintenance scheme provides basic garden maintenance for some 17,000 citizens. The service is designed to help elderly and disabled people.

In previous years the service was supplied directly from the Council’s Land and Environmental Services department but this year the service was transferred to Glasgow Regeneration Agency with the hope of providing workplace and training opportunities to young people and offering the prospect of full time job opportunities.

However since the service transferred the number of complaints has steadily risen with constituents complaining of having received either no service or a very limited and poor quality service.

I recently met with managers from Land and Environmental Services (LES) to raise the level of complaints and the failure of the Regeneration Agency to deal with constituent complaints. A full debate on the issue was held at our Full Council meeting and the city’s Labour administration have now indicated that additional staff and management support will be provided. They have also indicated that the season will be extended into October in order to ensure that constituents receive some kind of service.

I fully support the aim of creating training opportunities for young people but I think it’s clear that Glasgow Regeneration Agency and LES were poorly prepared for the new scheme. The reasons behind the problems will be subject to scrutiny by Councillors as will the future delivery.

Nearly 300 constituents in Maryhill Kelvin receive this service and I’m determined to ensure that there is a dramatic improvement in the quality of the service for the start of the New Year.

Who is eligible for this service?

This service is available to residents of Glasgow who meet the following criteria:

  • The householder is a registered Council Tax Payer
  • The householder is over 70 years of age
  • The householder has a medical condition that prevents them from maintaining the garden
  • There are no able bodied persons between the ages of 16 and 69 in the household

What service is provided? 

  • 13 cuts per year
  • 3 hedge cuts per year

New Summerston & Acre Safety Forum

 

I hope residents will welcome the news that after concerns over a spike in crime and anti-social behaviour were raised with local councillors, meetings with community representatives in both Summerston and Acre have led to a regular Community Safety Forum being established.

The Forum includes local Councillors , tenant and residents groups, Asda and the voluntary sector. The Forum also has representatives from the Police, Glasgow Community Safety Services and Glasgow Life. 

Community representatives have praised the higher visibility of police officers in the area and welcomed the news that this would continue. The Forum were also keen to address the issue of facilities for young people and to hear about work being undertaken to address underage drinking in the area.

Voluntary Sector groups are also doing excellent work in the area with North United Communities already active in street work in Summerston and hoping to expand their activities at John Paul. Aberlour are working in Acre and will be taking part in the Acre Fun Day set for 6 August from 1 pm to 4 pm.

The new Community Safety Forum aims to meet on a regular basis to exchange information and to look at ways to improve particular problems in the area. However everyone agreed that whether it’s criminal activity or anti-social behaviour we all have a role to play in helping our communities by contacting the police or reporting issues to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111

Botanic Gardens Cafe

Botanic Gardens

Good news as we finally start on the conversion of the ground floor of the Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre into a Family Café. Plans are all in place now and we hope soon to have a traditional tea room serving tea, coffee, soft drinks and high quality baking and snacks. Wall space will be used as before for art exhibitions with works by local artists on display and for sale.

Many of you will have noticed the new patch of hard standing down near the main gate. This is the base for a new cabin, with picnic tables to the rear, which will offer a range of takeaway items. The cabin will replace the van that stands at present in front of the West Range of glasshouses.

 

New homes for rent as Maryhill Locks Projects starts.

I was delighted to be with fellow Maryhill Kelvin Councillors and local City Building apprentices to mark the beginning of work at Maryhill Locks Transformational Regeneration Area.

We broke ground for the beginning of work at Maryhill Locks as part of the local Transformational Regeneration Area (TRA) programme, which aims to deliver affordable housing for rent and sale alongside community, business, leisure and retail spaces in a high-quality environment.

The project will see more than £15m being invested in Maryhill, with a long-term goal being 700 new homes.

One of the biggest issues I’ve faced since becoming a Councillor is the shortage of new social rented homes and in particular family sized homes so I’m delighted to see over a 100 new Housing Association properties being built and the aim for up to 600 additional homes for shared equity and for sale.

And the other real benefit is the jobs created for new local apprentices which is something I know all of the ward Councillors welcomed.

City Building Apprentices employed on Canal Project

City Building Apprentices employed on Canal Project

Update on Southern Cross

Latest update following collapse of Southern Cross posted below.

Briefing to Elected Members on the Current Position of Southern Cross 

Date: 11 July 2011

  1. 1.        Background 

1.1     Southern Cross is the UK’s largest Care Home operator with 8 Care Homes within Glasgow. 

1.2     On the 11 July 2011, the Provider announced that it intends to wind up its operation following the notification of their intention to leave the Southern Cross Group. The Provider has intimated that it will no longer exist after the period restructuring at the end of October 2011.   

  1. 2.        Glasgow Service Users 

2.1    There are 8 Southern Cross care homes within Glasgow with capacity to support 497 individuals.  Currently there are more than 400 service users receiving support within Southern Cross’ Glasgow based care homes.  Glasgow City Council placed approximately 335 of these individuals with the remaining 86 service users placed by external Local Authorities. 

2.2     In addition to this Glasgow City Council has placed circa 176 individuals in Southern Cross Care Homes across the UK (173 out with Glasgow but within Scotland, and 3 out with Scotland). 

2.3     Glasgow City Council’s total spend with Southern Cross is c£10.5m (c£7m within Glasgow based services and c£3.5m out with). 

  1. 3.         Business Position

3.1.    There are a number of landlords within the Southern Cross group.  The biggest in the UK has intimated that they will continue to run their business and will be negotiating with other care providers to provide care in their homes. It is anticipated some smaller landlords will continue to work in partnership with this landlord.

3.2.    The exact position with the other landlords is unclear but they will also all be actively seeking other care providers to provide care in their homes.

3.3.    The National Contingency Planning Group has been working with key stakeholders to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. There are regular meetings of this Group and senior management from Southern Cross will be present at the next meeting to give further update on the current position.  

3.4.    Cosla does not anticipate any closures of care homes in the short term and will continue to demand continuity of care from landlords and providers. The default position is to assume that the market will deliver a solution.

3.5.    SCSWIS (formerly the Care Commission) is also meeting regularly with the Provider to ensure that there is a seamless transition to another care provider

  1. 4.         Council Position

4.1.    The Council is represented on the National Contingency Planning Group and continues to work closely with Cosla, Scottish Government, SCSWIS and other Councils and the Provider to ensure consistent care continues to be delivered by Southern Cross and that any disruption to service users is minimal.

4.2.    A Glasgow Contingency Planning Group chaired by David Williams, Assistant Director, Social Care Services meets weekly to ensure that there is a well coordinated response within the Department. Every service user within Glasgow has an allocated care manager. There is programme of reviews organised for those service users who have not had a review in the last 6 months.

4.3.    Active contract management is also taking place with regular visits to the homes with regular feedback also being sought from home managers.  These processes will highlight any concerns regarding the care provided in these homes.

4.4.    Regular updates to briefings will be provided as more information becomes available.