Rail travel disruptions at the front of my mind
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I MET ScotRail personnel outside Inverness station on my journey to parliament this week. They were promoting its winter campaign to let passengers keep in touch with the train services available in bad weather.
Drivers, station staff and conductors delivered the message. A range of electronic media means to get vital travel information across.
At Holyrood a Network Rail surgery allowed me to raise the company’s preparations for autumn, never mind winter. Yes, leaves on the line disrupted my journey last week. Does it have any intention to put the staff needed at trouble spots to stop the sliding wheels?
I VISITED the Caithness and Sutherland Women’s Aid refuge in Wick last week. The volunteers and professional team are at the front line in the battle against domestic abuse which could increase as jobs are lost and finances pinched.
There should be no stigma in the minds of women, who fear abuse and violence, or amongst the wider public about this essential service. All ages and all sorts of women and their children find help.
It relies on a package of funds from the Scottish Government, the Highland Council and various other sources. But times are hard and money is tight due to the cuts imposed on us.
All parties in Holyrood agree preventative spending is a key use of limited cash available to the parliament. That’s why Women’s Aid fits the bill as a top priority.
Social work services, the police and many others work alongside the refuge and value highly its work. The testaments of women who use the service underline the lifeline Women’s Aid supplies.
I questioned the first minister on this – Scottish Government funds will continue to provide vital support.
FUEL poverty is much on everyone’s minds as prices rocket and cold weather beckons. On visits around the North I am asked often about the Scottish Government’s policies to help alleviate the effects on a third of all households.
A bad-tempered members’ debate last week at Holyrood mulled over the distress caused to so many. As we face the financial cuts forced on Scotland by the Tory Lib Dem coalition in London, I believe the problem is best summed up by the Government’s Fuel Poverty Forum.
It states: "While it is our remit to work within the existing resource levels, it should be recognised that in the light of rising energy costs, it is difficult to see how sufficient progress can be made within these constraints."
Three factors influence whether a household is in fuel poverty. The costs of heating a property form a greater proportion of total income for those on low incomes. Higher prices reduce the affordability of fuel. Prices of different types of fuels can vary considerably, as can the availability of different fuels in different areas, and of different types of heating systems. This affects the ability of consumers to exercise choice. And the energy efficiency of the building and the efficiency of the heating source determine the amount of energy that must be purchased to heat the home adequately.
How is the Scottish Government addressing fuel poverty? The Energy Assistance Package is tailored to the needs of individual households. It offers energy-efficiency advice, information on low-cost energy tariffs, and advice on income maximisation, as well as a wide range of energy-efficiency measures for those most at risk of fuel poverty.
The Energy Saving Trust manages delivery of the package on behalf of the Scottish Government in partnership with a range of advice providers and energy companies. The Universal Home Insulation Scheme (UHIS) provides energy-efficiency measures to a large number of Scottish households while delivering emission savings and helping to reduce fuel poverty. It may offer you free loft and cavity wall insulation, depending on where you live. The scheme is delivered by local authorities in conjunction with local delivery partners.
What else is being done to alleviate fuel poverty? The Scottish Government is working in partnership with local authorities, voluntary bodies and energy companies to achieve its 2016 target. All local authorities, in taking fuel poverty into account in their local housing strategies, have an important contribution to make to achieve the target. And energy companies are contributing through their Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and other schemes.
As MSP colleagues argued in debate, rural households are twice as likely to be in fuel poverty as urban households. So I am keeping a close eye on the way contractors deliver central heating and insulation. Too many people tell me they have been poorly served in receiving their rightful assistance. I am pressing the minister to discuss these concerns urgently.
WHAT has the SNP Government done for us? Thus ran the election broadcast. I’m glad to report that one scheme put forward in the budget last January is creating jobs for unemployed young people between 16 and 24 years, giving them the opportunity to gain meaningful work experience, develop skills and confidence through six months’ employment in the third sector.
I have been urging voluntary organisations locally to bid for young unemployed workers under the Community Jobs Scotland scheme. The first job was filled on August 30 and since then jobs have been created in every local authority area in Scotland.
Bids are in for double the 2000 jobs available through the programme. In the first two months over a quarter of the total posts, 534, have been filled. I am delighted HomeAid Caithness and Sutherland has gained an office/shop assistant for the Wick shop and ILM Highland in Alness won a recycling operative in the early bids.
www.robgibson.org
