Category Archives: Fife News

Baker calls for urgent meeting as school cuts hit Fife

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I have written to Fife Council to call for an urgent meeting to discuss the cuts to many high school budgets in Fife.

According to reports, secondary schools in Fife are facing a reduction of £1.3m in the next financial year. This includes Bell Baxter (£272,688), Balwearie High (£265,167) and Levenmouth Academy (£85,164).

Local parents have raised concerns that the proposed changes could result in restricting the curriculum and guidance teachers. Teaching union EIS have written to all Fife councillors calling for them to reject any proposals that would see staffing levels reduced.

I have serious concerns about the scale and pace of the changes that some secondary schools are having to manage. Schools are already facing a challenging time and these proposals could undermine pupils’ futures.

Questions have to be asked as to why schools who are facing challenging inspection reports, or situated in places of high deprivation, are facing cuts, though others are seeing increases. Even with an element of redistribution, £1.288m is still being removed from the budget. That is why I have written to Fife Council and I am calling for an urgent meeting and full explanation of this decision.

They need to demonstrate full transparency when it comes to these changes and be prepared to justify why so many schools in Fife are being hit with such a significant reduction to their yearly budget.

NHS Fife once again misses 18-week CAMHS target

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Latest figures from ISD Scotland show that NHS Fife is still failing to meet the 18-week standard set for tackling child and adolescent mental health.

Despite the standard being set at 90% of patients being seen within the 18-week period, only 70.2% were seen within that time in the past quarter. Whilst this is up from the 67.7% in the quarter previous, it is down on the 74.8% for the same time last year.

These figures must serve as a wakeup call for NHS Fife and the Scottish Government. I am regularly contacted by constituents concerned by their, or their child’s, long waiting times and we need to see action taken to ensure all patients are seen within 18 weeks.

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Miners’ strike call for evidence

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Yesterday, the independent review into police conduct during the 1984/85 miners’ strike issued a call for evidence.

The long-awaited review will look into the protests against closure of pits across the UK by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Government. During that time 500 Scottish miners were arrested – this was 30% of arrests from the year-long strike despite the country only having 10% of the UK’s mining workforce.

We need to ensure that we achieve the justice that miners and Scottish mining communities deserve. We need answers to the tactics used by police during that time, including as to why the proportion of arrests where 3 times higher than the proportion of workforce.

The call for evidence is open until the 30th of November and views can be submitted online at the link below.

We deserve to know the truth about what happened in Scotland during that period. I’d therefore urge anyone involved in the strikes to make themselves known to the review and submit their evidence.

You can do so here.

Claire grills STV Chief Exec on job losses

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In light of STV’s announcement that they are closing STV2, reducing their news provision and axing 57 jobs, the station’s Chief Executive was hauled in front of the Culture Committee yesterday to be grilled by MSPs.

There I asked – in light of £18m in profits and his own salary and remuneration package in excess of £1.2m – why they are putting shareholders before staff and viewers.

Mr Pitts’ also refused to rule out compulsory redundancies, which is deeply concerning for all involved at the station. There are real fears within the sector and from myself that job losses and the reduction in news programming will damage the company’s ability to properly serve all of Scotland’s communities.

These cuts are being carried out by a chief executive who is paid a gold-plated salary package equivalent to UK national broadcast bosses whilst at the same time he is turning STV from a national news broadcaster into little more than a regional outfit.

Scotland needs a vibrant and strong independent broadcaster to hold governments at Westminster and Holyrood to account. STV’s ability to carry out that role is being put at serious risk with these cuts.

Claire welcomes A92 plans

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Transport Scotland have announced that they will be introducing a pedestrian crossing on the A92 at Glenrothes. It will be near the site of where Logan Carrie was tragically knocked down and killed three years ago.

This is welcome news for Logan’s family, who have been campaigning for such action since the youngster’s death and for local campaigners who have been tirelessly campaigning for improvements to the A92 in Fife.

I, along with other MSPs, MPs and councillors, have been supporting their efforts and it is good to see this progress being announced.

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Growth Commission Topical Question

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Yesterday in Parliament I quizzed the Cabinet Secretary for Finance on the SNP’s latest plans for an independent Scotland.

With plans to get Scotland’s deficit below 3% from the current 8.3% it is clear that under the SNP an independent Scotland would face at least a decade of austerity max. This is not a Growth Commission but rather a Cuts Commission.

Scotland cannot afford another decade of austerity. With over a quarter of a million children living in poverty and pensioner poverty having increase by 33% since 2010 we need action now.

That is why a Labour Government would invest to grow our economy, including £70 billion in Scotland over the next decade.

Only Labour is proposing the real and radical change that Scotland needs.

Nominate your Young Scot today

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Outside the Scottish Parliament I recently joined previous nominees and winners of the Young Scot Awards and youth ambassadors who are celebrating the Year of Young People 2018 on the Young Scot Awards Citylink bus.

The bus will tour around Scotland with an aim to encourage others to make a nomination for an inspirational young person for this year’s awards.

Through my role as an MSP, I hear about so many inspirational young people who make a positive impact as individuals, work hard in school, and in our local communities.

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Claire calls for STV rethink over job losses

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Yesterday STV announced a number of job losses at the organisation, along with the closure of STV2 and the end of the east coast edition of STV News. Instead viewers in Fife and Edinburgh will only receive a brief update of local content with the remainder of the programme being produced in Glasgow.

In a devastating blow to workers at STV, these changes will result in 34 jobs from its news department being made redundant, along with a further 25 jobs associated with STV2. This is despite STV making a pre-tax profit of £18m and the new CEO Simon Pitt being greeted with a ‘golden hello’ of over £800,000.

With the east coast edition of the STV News, issues that may previously have not made the national bulletin but were important to the Kingdom have been given the time and respect they deserve. These redundancies risk undermining that.

Our press do a great, if often undervalued, job and it will stick in the craw for many that the news was delivered as part of cost cutting measures from a CEO that was awarded a ‘golden hello’ of over £800,000.

At a time when BBC is launching a new channel and Glasgow is making a strong bid to be the new headquarters for Channel 4, we should be looking to build our media capacity in Scotland not diminish it.

STV must think again about axing the east coast news and ensure that the station can continue to deliver a news service that the whole of Scotland deserves.

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/fife-msp-calls-for-stv-to-re-think-job-cuts-and-station-closure-1-4740565

Claire quizzes Goverment on out-of-hours closures

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Last week I raised the closure of the out of hours centres in Dunfermline, St Andrews and Glenrothes with the Health Secretary.

Tonight there will be a public meeting in St Andrews with another scheduled to take place in Dunfermline.

I have been warning the Scottish Government of a GP crisis for some time. If there are well known difficulties with practices struggling to recruit GPs for during the day, it is unsurprising that finding cover at night is even harder.

In response to my question the Scottish Government admitted that there were “significant issues” in Fife. Continue reading →

Claire calls for support to save BiFab jobs

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This week I questioned the Scottish Government on the shock announcement of redundancies at BiFab.

I have worked closely with workers at the yards in the recent fights for their future and will continue to do so during these troubled times.

With the Scottish Government knowing about these job losses two days before workers, there are serious questions to be asked about worker and trade union engagement.

I also asked the Scottish Government – who has a stake in the yards – what they will do to bridge the gap while the company bids for new long term contracts. Continue reading →