Improvement of our children’s education and wellbeing must be council’s top priority in 2017
From Shotts MSP Alex Neil
Sunday was the first day of the New Year so let’s hope it’s a better year than 2016.
International events, such as the elections in France and Germany and what the new US President Donald Trump gets up to, are likely to dominate the news; for good or bad.
But, as a former Speaker of the US House of Representatives once said “at the end of the day all politics are local.”
Where we can influence events most in 2017 is locally, in the council elections to be held in early May.
In North Lanarkshire the splits within the Labour Party mean that for the first time in a long time the outcome of the local elections are unpredictable.
The days are long gone when any candidate wearing a red rosette could automatically expect to be elected. This election is wide open.
Whoever wins control of North Lanarkshire Council in May has to make their top priority the improvement of our children’s education and wellbeing.
A new study from a New Zealand university shows that our children’s life chances are already decided by the time they reach the age of three. Preschool nursery education and highquality, flexible childcare therefore have to be top of the agenda for maximising the chances our infants have of getting a good start in life.
In primary and secondary education, in this age of tight budgets resources need to be concentrated in the classroom.
The quality of teaching and support for our teachers are the key factors in ensuring our children get a good education. Another high priority is the need to address the dire shortage of socially rented housing in North Lanarkshire, where over 14,000 people are on the waiting list for a house.
To have any chance of making a serious dent on this waiting list we need to explore every way we can to obtain the finance needed for new housing investment.
The other big priority is to bring new jobs and industry into the area. When the M8/M74 upgrade and the electrification of the GlasgowEdinburgh rail line going through Shotts are completed then Airdrie and Shotts will be amongst the best locations in Scotland for expanding businesses.
With quick access north, south, east and west we should be able to attract the new industries of the future.
2017 could be a good year, if we play our cards right.
A new study shows that our children’s life chances are already decided by the time they reach the age of three