Important bill given support
The past fortnight was extremely busy in the House of Commons and it was particularly important to speak on the Terrorist Offender Sentencing Bill which saw the automatic release of terrorist offenders half-way through their sentence overturned in law.
The risk posed by terrorist offenders cannot be under-estimated and all elected representatives have a primary duty to protect public safety.
Victims and their families were dealt a devastating blow when terrorist offenders were released half-way through a sentence.
We were then additionally faced with a significant proportion of these offenders going on to commit further atrocities.
The Commons saw complete cross-party support therefore for the new sentencing law and terrorist offenders will now serve longer sentences and should also be subject to strict long-term licencing conditions.
At Westminster, I was pleased to support Children’s Mental Health Week by meeting with and speaking to young people on a range of issues including Online Safety, ADHD and Eating Disorders.
I then spoke in two debates raising the importance of training staff in psychological treatment approaches for young people’s mental health and will continue to progress these issues in my role as Mental Health Spokesperson.
Across our constituency, I was really pleased to go out to meet with staff and service users at East Kilbride’s Agape Wellbeing Project regarding their vital mental health work in our community and to lend my support to their future funding initiatives.
So many individuals with mental health issues value the support of peers and benefit from increased social contact and reduced isolation this service is absolutely essential to East Kilbride.
I then went out to meet with young people from Strathaven Academy at the Climate Action Strathaven protest, listening to their concerns on climate change and the importance of rural public transport initiatives.
Harnessing the motivation and inspiration of our young people to tackle these issues is crucial. COP26 will be held in Glasgow this year and we must ensure that Scotland’s voice continues to be a leading one.
Locally, I have continued to pursue issues regarding reasonable rateable values for our Glassford Inn, problems with parking issues around Hairmyres Hospital and the recent reports of anti-social behaviours linked with scatter flats in our Village area and at the Murray Square.
All residents have the right to live in security and society bears the utmost responsibility to ensure that the rights of others are not compromised via antisocial behaviours impacting negatively upon our neighbourhoods.
My constituency surgeries continue to be extremely busy with issues of Universal Credit, assisting those with disabilities to access Personal Independence Payments and other constituency concerns.
Please do not hesitate to email me on lisa. cameron.mp@ parliament.uk or to come to my Weekly Surgery at the MP Office, Civic Centre Fridays from 330pm or in Waterside Street, Strathaven every Friday 1-2pm.
Councillors have voted through a controversial redesign of South Lanarkshire’s out-of-hours repair service.
First mooted in 2017 in a bid to save on overtime payments, a new work pattern will be introduced to save around £250,000 a year.
The council’s housing and technical resources committee voted by 16-to-nine to approve the change, despite concerns from the Labour group.
Deputy leader of the group, Councillor Gerry Convery, said they weren’t opposed to changing the service, but “the council still had a duty to its staff ”.
The new arrangement will see two teams of joiners, electricians and plumbers working on a ‘four days on, four days off ’ pattern to provide 24-hour emergency repair cover.
Frank McCafferty, head of property services, told the committee the new arrangement would see three new posts created for one year to ensure there is enough cover.
Following discussions with trade unions, Unite the Union put forward proposals which they suggested would save the council around £150,000 a year in overtime payments, but which weren’t recommended by officers.
Analysis from callouts in 2016/17 was used to design the new service delivery model and Councillor Convery said the redesign started “as a saving” for 2018/19.
He added: “I find it amazingly incredible that we have went from a saving to a redesign.
“We are not opposed to change, we are not opposed to making savings. The situation is quite simple, I am asking every councillor
Victims of terror and their families deserve better ....
to think long and hard before they put their hand up.
“If this proposal goes through, these people are going to lose £4500. There is nobody prepared to take this on.
“The figures that this is based on are from 2016/17. This is 2020.
“Labour want to see good services but we also want to see people paid for what they do.”
Councillor Convery said employees affected weren’t properly consulted on the proposals as the trade union conveners work in different departments.
Chair of the committee, Councillor Josh Wilson, said he and party leaders had “personally sat down” with individuals involved.
Around 500 council employees were contacted to gauge interest levels for working in the new setup and just nine (1.8 per cent) expressed an interest.
Executive director for housing and technical resources Daniel Lowe added: “I didn’t write to him in his capacity as a janitor.
“I wrote to a convener or a deputy convener of a trade union.”
Mr Lowe added that the proposals had not been “put together quickly” and that a “whole lot of checks and balances” had been carried out.
Lib Dem group leader, Councillor Robert Brown, was “not impressed” by the Labour argument, calling the proposal “a reasonable one”.