Care home inspections vital for good service

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Recently I met with the Care Inspectorate in the Scottish Parliament to discuss care issues across the Kingdom. The Inspectorate is the official body responsible for inspecting standards of care in Scotland.

Over 14,000 care services are registered with the Care Inspectorate, including care homes, childminders, day care centres and support services which includes care at home. The inspection regime looks at quality of care and support, staffing and management and leadership.

Recent figures from the Inspectorate have found that across Scotland the number of care homes with unsatisfactory or weak grades has increased. However, services in Fife have improved, with now over 95% achieving grades of adequate or better.

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Action needed to help Kingdom’s renters

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Ahead of the Housing (Scotland) Bill Stage 3 debate next week I have called for action to reform the rental market in Scotland. Amongst proposals brought forward by Scottish Labour are plans to limit rent increases to once a year along with capping those increases. We have also, through my colleague James Kelly MSP, called for an increase in the level of tenancy from 6 months to 3 years.

These proposals come on the back of recent figures that highlights that over a fifth of those receiving benefits in Fife find themselves within the private rented sector. The moves that we have brought forward are essential to tackle the housing crisis faced by many across Scotland.

With many households facing ever increasing bills we must do all that we can to relieve the pressures families are continuing to face. Affordable rents are one way to achieve this and that is why I support Labour’s proposals for a capping rent increases in the private sector and limiting them to only once a year.

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Hat-trick of missed targets Embarrassing for Government.

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Responding to the release of the latest climate change emissions that shows Scotland has missed its yearly target for a third year in a row, Scottish Labour’s Environment spokesperson Claire Baker MSP said:

“The news that Ministers have delivered a hat-trick of missed climate change targets is deeply embarrassing for a Scottish Government that continually heralds them as world leading.

“The latest statistics are worse than what was expected with emissions actually rising in the past year. The Minister must now fully explain why, under his watch, emissions have risen in the past year and the SNP Government have failed to make the step-change needed.

“It is 5 years since the Climate Change Act was passed by the Parliament but so far the Government’s lack of action has led to a significant lack of progress on a number of environmental targets. Continue reading →

Claire celebrates the Scottish Spud

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MSPs gather to celebrate 10 years of the Grow Your Own Potatoes programme in Scotland 

MSPs joined representatives from the Scottish potato industry on Thursday, 5 June 2014 at a lunch event in the Scottish Parliament to celebrate 10 years of the Grow Your Own Potatoes (GYOP) programme in Scotland’s schools.

In the past decade the GYOP programme has inspired o

ver two million children to grow their own food and taught them about the health benefits and sustainability of home grown foods like potatoes. Today the programme is run in over 800 schools across Scotland involving 20,000 children each year.

The event was sponsored by Claire Baker MSP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment,

Claire meets local Kinship Care Group

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Recently I met with a local kinship care group to hear first-hand the challenges they face as kinship carers in Fife. The meeting, which took place in Fair Isle Nursery school, also offered the carers the opportunity to quiz me on care issues within the Parliament.

It was great to meet local kinship carers at Fair Isle nursery and hear about the children they care for.  They are providing grandchildren, nieces and nephews with stable loving homes when their parents, for whatever reason, aren’t able to do so.

The group, who meet regularly, are open to new members from within the Kirkcaldy and surrounding areas. Their support group is a great idea and is open and welcoming to other kinship carers in the area. They meet every Tuesday and I would urge other kinship carers to head along for a cup of tea and a chat along with support for the important role they are doing. Bringing up children is hard work, and we should do all we can to support kinship carers.

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Claire backs calls for reform of the private rented sector

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I have backed plans to reform the private rented sector in Scotland following the SNP failing to support Labour’s amendments at the committee stage of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Scottish Labour is proposing amendments to the bill which is currently making its way through Parliament that will cap rent rises.

Such a move would impact on approximately 17,000 households in Fife as 10% of housing in the region is privately rented. The amendments also propose making 3 years the market standard for renting tenure in Scotland, offering renters in Fife peace of mind in their homes.

We need to take action to tackle the rising rent costs facing some in the private renting sector throughout the Kingdom. With pay-packets being increasingly stretched we should be doing all within our power to help ensure households aren’t faced with a choice between heating their homes and putting food on the table.  Continue reading →

Claire calls for promotion of the living wage

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I have urged for active promotion of the living wage in Fife after a YouGov poll found that 90% of Scots believe companies should be paying the wage to their workers. Figures estimated that there are over 23,000 workers in Fife who are paid less than the living wage, the 3rd highest total across local authority areas in Scotland. The wage, currently set at £7.65 an hour, would see a rise of £2,600 per year for a full time worker currently earning the minimum wage.

I have called for the living wage to be actively promoted amongst the private sector and has urged the Scottish Government to back a tax rebate for firms who pay it, along with establishing a National Living Wage Strategy.

I met with workers outside the Parliament as the Procurement Reform Bill was passed by Parliament. During the passage of the bill proposals from Scottish Labour to deliver the living wage to workers on public contracts were defeated by the SNP and Conservatives. Continue reading →

Action now needed on Land Reform

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Below is my Herald newspaper Agenda column from Friday 23rd of May

Today the Scottish Government’s Land Reform Review Group will be publishing their final report and the onus is on them to provide a comprehensive and radical argument for the reform of land in Scotland.  

So far they have yet to match Johann Lamont’s pledge for extended community right to buy – even if there is no willing seller – as long as it is in the public interest. Nor have they proved to be as challenging and questioning as the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster who propose a robust and workable land register and a review of taxation and financial benefits.

Instead we had an interim report that was widely criticised for having too narrow an agenda, for being cautious, lacking ambition, and, in the straightforward words of Brian Wilson, of being “the most useless 52 pages ever committed to print”. Continue reading →

Levenmouth Rail Link raised in Parliament

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Recently I raised the campaign for the reintroduction of the Levenmouth rail link during General Questions in the Scottish Parliament. As a supporter of this campaign since I was first elected in 2007, I believe that if there is any chance of the rail link being reintroduced we need to see a firm commitment from the Scottish Government.

I was able to question the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure,  Nicola Sturgeon MSP, asking where the rail link ranks among the Scottish Government’s transport proprieties. In my question I highlighted that such a project will not be able to go forward ”without financial backing from the Scottish Government.” Continue reading →

Fife Neonatal Unit going from strength to strength

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Recently I visited Fife’s Neonatal Services for a tour of the facilities at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. The service, which relocated to the Victoria Hospital two years ago, looks after over 400 babies a year on average, and which has in that time included 8 sets of triplets.

I was delighted to be invited by the staff, particularly Jeana Arnott, at the Neonatal Service for a tour around their facilities and I want to thank them for the opportunity to see first-hand the department in action.

The work that the staff undertakes is a credit to the NHS in Fife and they should be proud of all that they have achieved as the service continues to go from strength to strength. Since the move to the new department at the Victoria there has been changes which aim to improve the service and these have been positively received by both the staff and patients. Continue reading →