the3towns archive 
Campbell Martin Blog
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Edition 238 January 28 ~ February 3 2012
* PPP schools bill soars to half-a-billion pounds
* New inspections at damaged Saltcoats prom
* Move to secure Town Hall funding
* SSP to submit ‘No Cuts’ petition to budget meeting
* Labour selects Council candidates
* Saltcoats man helps lead fight against benefit cuts
* MSP backs Young Scot Awards
* ‘Rail should be publicly owned’ – Katy Clark MP
* Have your say on independence referendum
* Junior Football: Results – League Tables - Fixtures
PPP schools bill soars to half-a-billion pounds
Ardrossan & Arran Independent councillor John Hunter has revealed the true cost of North Ayrshire Council’s Schools PPP Project could reach more than half-a-billion pounds...for just four schools.
Cllr Hunter has campaigned for a number of years to secure answers over the Public Private Partnership entered into by the Labour administration of the local authority. Initially, Labour councillors stated the contract to employ a private developer to build and maintain four new schools would cost £80million. The schools, including St Matthews Academy in Saltcoats and Stanley Primary in Ardrossan, were duly built, but the contract finally signed by NAC was for £380million.
Now, John Hunter is to ask the Council’s Education portfolio-holder, Labour councillor John Bell, to confirm that the cost for the PPP project is set to rise annually until its projected end in 2036-37, by which time the public purse will have paid around £548million.
Said Cllr Hunter, “Due to indexation, the cost for the PPP schools project will rise annually, from the 2011-2012 figure of approximately £10.34million to the estimated 2036-2037 figure of £15.66million, and that when the non-indexed contribution from the Scottish Government Support grant of £5.86million per annum is factored in, it will bring the whole-life cost to over half-a-billion pounds - £548million or thereabouts.”
John Hunter will pose the question to Cllr Bell at Wednesday’s meeting of North Ayrshire Council. In addition, the Ardrossan & Arran councillor will also ask the Education spokesperson to explain why the Non Domestic Rates bill for the PPP schools has risen from £494,500 per annum in Year 1 to the current figure of £950,000 per annum and whether or not the cost is borne by the Contractor or the Council.
The North Ayrshire Schools PPP contract became notorious in local government circles after the Council’s Labour members pushed ahead with the project despite only receiving one credible and viable bid. A second bid was lodged with NAC but came from a company that had just been registered, had no office, no accounts, no experience in building or maintaining schools, and share capital of just £2.00. Documents submitted by the second bidder contained a series of lies regarding claimed experience and business partners. North Ayrshire Council maintained, and still maintains, that the second bid provided ‘genuine competition’ for the contract that it now appears will cost taxpayers over half-a-billion pounds.
New inspections at damaged Saltcoats prom
Following our report of last week, which revealed the extent of damage caused to Saltcoats’ East Promenade during storms that battered the Ayrshire coast last December, inspections have been carried out on site by Network Rail and a range of contractors.
A source told the3towns that the rail company had “called in designers, and were hoping to put more divers in to check the level of damage to the prom.” It is understood previous inspections since the storm on December 28 had identified a number of voids, where seawater had breached the structure and scoured-out backfill material.
As previously reported, a joint decision by North Ayrshire Council and Network Rail led to the promenade being closed to the public on December 29. Prior to this, North Ayrshire Council had set-aside £50,000 for repairs to the prom after it became clear surface maintenance of the road and walkway was the responsibility of the local authority – the seawall and sub-surface structure of the prom belongs to Network Rail. However, with the further significant damage caused in the December storm, the Council and the rail infrastructure company are now working together to co-ordinate repairs.
In the meantime, Independent councillor Ronnie McNicol has asked that signage is erected showing alternative routes for walkers and cyclists: the East Promenade forms part of the local Coastal and Cycle paths.
As far back as May 2008 Saltcoats Community Council raised with North Ayrshire Council concerns over a lack of general maintenance at the promenade, even going as far as asking the local authority if the area would “benefit from more sea defences being put in place to break up the tidal force.”
Last week the Office of the Rail Regulator told a worried Saltcoats resident that it was “not in a position to comment” on whether or not the damage evident at the East Promenade “may ultimately pose a threat to the safety of the operational railway.”
Move to secure Town Hall funding
Despite bringing forward a budget that projects a £23million deficit over the next three years, North Ayrshire Council’s Labour administration has also flagged-up £3.9million in this financial year, which it describes as “uncommitted resources”.
In light of this, two councillors for Saltcoats & Stevenston have tabled a Motion, to be heard at this week’s Council meeting, which proposes that £1.9million of the funding be allocated to refurbish Saltcoats Town Hall.
The Motion, proposed by Independent Ronnie McNicol and seconded by the SNP’s Willie Gibson, seeks to force Labour councillors to reinstate the sum previously set aside for refurbishment works. In fact, prior to the last Council Election in 2007, Labour councillors promised a £3.1million upgrade of the Town Hall. In 2008 that figure was scaled-back to £1.9million, before Labour councillors completely withdrew funding and closed the facility.
Cllr Ronnie McNicol has since relentlessly pursued answers over what happened to the money originally allocated for works to the Town Hall, and why Labour councillors subsequently left the building to deteriorate.
At the February 2011 meeting of the Council, Ronnie McNicol asked Labour Leader, Cllr David O’Neill, “Between April 2008, when the Executive said there was still £1.9million available for the Town Hall refurbishment, and December 2010, when the Leader admitted the Council did not have adequate money to carry out the work, where did the £1.9million go?”
In response, and despite the question relating to what appeared to be the disappearance of almost £2million of public money, Cllr O’Neill simply retorted, “The paper-trail for the decision-making process is clear, it is there for people to see.” However, the Labour councillor failed to actually explain where the money to renovate Saltcoats Town Hall had gone.
Cllr McNicol has since questioned why the keys of the Town Hall, a publicly-owned facility, have been handed over to the Irvine Bay Regeneration Company. In response, Cllr O’Neill indicated Irvine Bay had been given the keys to carry out a survey of the building. In a previous answer, though, the Council leader had told Cllr McNicol the Town Hall was structurally sound and the only issues related to toilet facilities and disabled access to the upper floor.
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The Scottish Socialist Party will petition this week’s meeting of North Ayrshire Council, at which councillors will set the local authority’s budget.
As revealed last week by the3towns, NAC’s Labour administration intends to present financial projections for the next three years, with a small surplus showing this year as we approach May’s election, but a whopping overall deficit of £23million in the period after the local public elects a new Council. The Labour-run authority has already unleashed savage cuts to local services, with 400 staff made redundant as it tries to balance the books following substantial cuts from the Tory-Lib Dem Government in London, passed to Councils by the SNP Government in Edinburgh. With a £23million deficit projected over the next three years, it is feared the Council will attempt to make further devastating cuts to jobs and services.
In line with North Ayrshire Council’s Standing Orders, the rules governing meetings of the local authority, the SSP requested permission to submit a ‘No Cuts’ petition and to address the budget meeting in support of the document’s aims. However, following consultation with the district’s Provost, Cllr Pat McPhee, Council Chief Executive Elma Murray decided the Socialists could submit the petition but not speak at the meeting.
Commenting, the SSP’s Campbell Martin said, “It’s disappointing that we will not be allowed to address councillors, but we welcome the decision to accept the ‘No Cuts’ petition at the budget meeting.”
Mr Martin continued, “Hundreds of local people have signed the petition, demanding no more cuts in North Ayrshire. We’ve already seen communities hammered by devastating cuts, with some of our most vulnerable citizens seeing services reduced or completely removed. Those cuts were unacceptable and the last thing we need is for North Ayrshire Council to impose even more in this year’s budget.”
The former councillor and MSP highlighted how members of the public had queued to sign the SSP’s petition at regular stalls in Saltcoats and Irvine, adding, “Local people are very angry. They know the line that ‘we are all in this together’ is absolute rubbish. Communities across North Ayrshire are being devastated to produce financial savings that are then re-directed by central government to help refloat banks where directors are taking home multi-million-pound salaries and bonuses.
“Over the past few weeks we have gathered hundreds of signatures from people demanding councillors stand up for local communities, set a ‘no-cuts’ defiance budget, and support a campaign to demand back the millions of pounds governments in London and Edinburgh have slashed from funds that should have come to North Ayrshire. The petition we present to the Council at its meeting on Wednesday (February 1) will make those demands. If councillors subsequently choose to ignore the voice of the people, and go on to set a budget that will result in at least another £23million-worth of cuts, then they will have to face the consequences at May’s Council Election.”
The SSP intends to continue gathering signatures at street stalls in local towns ahead of the Council’s budget meeting. The party has also written to trade unions representing local authority workers, inviting them to join with SSP members to lobby the Council at Cunninghame House in Irvine from 12:30pm on Wednesday, the day of the budget meeting.
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Labour selects Council candidates
The Labour Party has announced its candidates to fight the North Ayrshire Council Election in May.
All three current Labour councillors in the Three Towns have been re-selected, including Alan Munro, who is still the subject of an investigation by the Standards Commissioner over mileage claims submitted for meetings he did not attend.
Looking to the election on May 3, a spokesperson for the Labour Party said, “We are proud of our achievements and are continuing to take North Ayrshire forward. Despite Tory and SNP cuts we have implemented the Scottish Living Wage for Council employees, set aside money for 500 new council houses and started our £4.2m investment in new sheltered housing for our elderly.”
The party activist concluded, “Only one party has a record to be proud of in North Ayrshire - Labour.”
In the Ardrossan and Arran seat Labour has re-selected Peter McNamara and has teamed him with Loretta Gardener. Ms Gardner is understood to have recently become involved in community activities in Ardrossan. Previously, the3towns has reported that Mr McNamara has consistently been the Three Towns’ most expensive councillor. Over the last three financial years for which figures are available, Peter McNamara has pocketed a total of £70,996 from the public purse. Last year the Labour councillor was paid a salary of £20,294 and charged the public a further £3,259 in expenses, which included £2,243 for travel, £801 to cover phone and IT bills, £90.83 for accommodation, and £32.83 for meals.
The Ardrossan and Arran Ward elects four councillors, with Labour securing one (Mr McNamara) at the last election in 2007. The other current councillors are Tony Gurney (SNP), John Hunter (Independent) and Arran-based Independent Margie Currie.
Labour’s most controversial decision is its re-selection of Alan Munro to fight the Saltcoats and Stevenston Ward.
In June of last year, the3towns revealed Mr Munro submitted mileage claims – and was paid by the Council – for five return journeys between his home in Stevenston and North Ayrshire Council headquarters in Irvine, but that official Council minutes show the Labour man did not attend the five meetings to which he claimed his journeys related. The information came to light after the3towns submitted a Freedom of Information request to North Ayrshire Council and secured copies of expenses claim forms submitted by councillors. Cllr Munro’s claims were subsequently reported to Strathclyde Police and the Standards Commissioner for Scotland, both of which have indicated the matter is still under investigation.
Also re-selected by Labour is Jim Montgomerie, who was elected last August following a by-election caused after veteran councillor David Munn stood down because of poor health.
The Saltcoats and Stevenston Ward also elects four councillors. In 2007, Independent Ronnie McNicol and the SNP’s Willie Gibson were returned alongside Labour’s Alan Munro and Mr Munn.
Elsewhere, the Labour Party has confirmed former MSP Allan Wilson will stand for the Council in the Kilbrinie and Beith seat. At the last election Labour secured one councillor in a Ward that returns just three members. Therefore, unless the party manages to substantially increase its vote this time, current councillor John Bell could be fighting it out with Mr Wilson for the one seat.
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Saltcoats man helps lead fight against benefit cuts
A Glasgow City councillor who grew up in Saltcoats is helping to lead the fight against UK Government reforms to the benefit system.
Matt Kerr, Labour councillor for Craigton, is chair of the Scottish Local Government Forum Against Poverty, which has just produced a report that found Tory-Lib Dem plans will remove a safety net for taxpayers and their families. The document was compiled jointly with Rights Advice Scotland.
Cllr Kerr told the3towns that the UK Government’s Welfare Reform Bill would result in “hard-working taxpayers being abandoned when they fall ill.”
The former pupil of Ardrossan Academy continued, “It beggars belief that any person could work for 40 years, paying tax and National Insurance, yet find themselves stripped of any income as they approach retirement age despite being found by the Government to be unfit for work. Yet this is exactly what the outcome of this change will be. The UK Government stands accused of the biggest insurance scam in history – mis-selling National Insurance on a grand scale.”
The report, Breaking the Social Contract, adds to increasing criticisms of the reforms, claiming they will hit the most vulnerable. In relation to the proposal to ‘time limit’ claims, Breaking the Social Contract states, “between £83million and £278million will be lost to 67,969 current claimants in Scotland as they reach the end of their entitlement.” It goes on to point out the Tory-Lib Dem plan is to make the legislation retrospective, which could result in as many as 25,000 former workers across Scotland sharing an annual loss of more than £1.9million.
The report says the removal of long-term sickness provision was likely to lead to increased fear and uncertainty about future family income, forcing people to turn to private health-protection insurance, which they may find unaffordable or unobtainable because of their health.
Matt Kerr said, “The effects on many existing contributions-based benefit recipients will be devastating, with almost all seeing their income reduce or completely disappear.”
Richard Gass, chairman of Rights Advice Scotland, added, “A worker’s right to support when sick has been fundamental since the creation of the Welfare State in 1947. Removing that right is a hammer blow, which is far from a fair deal for taxpayers who have to give up work due to unfortunate circumstances that can affect anyone.”
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MSP backs Young Scot Awards
Cunninghame South MSP Margaret Burgess is encouraging her constituents to nominate a young person, aged between 11 and 26, who has made a positive difference to people’s lives in the local area.
Mrs Burgess was referring to the Young Scot Awards 2012, which are being run by the Sunday Mail newspaper in association with The Co-operative Foundation. Organisers want to hear inspirational stories that “truly reflect Scotland's outstanding young people.”
Margaret Burgess said, “Over the last year or so, I have met inspirational Cunninghame South young people who dedicate themselves to helping others in one way or another.
“I would urge people to submit a nomination to the Young Scot Awards if they know someone or a group project that deserves recognition at national level. The more local nominations the better.”
Award categories include: Sport, Volunteering, the Arts, ‘Truth About Youth’, Health and Enterprise.
Mrs Burgess concluded, “This is a great opportunity to flag-up the good work going on in the local area, and to get young people the credit they deserve.”
Three finalists in each of categories will be invited to a glittering awards ceremony in Glasgow's Hilton Hotel on April 26th, where they will mix with celebrities, politicians and other guests.
Nominations should be submitted to www.youngscotawards.co.uk before Friday, February 26th.
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SSP - North Ayrshire website
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'Rail should be publicly owned' - Katy Clark MP
Local MP Katy Clark has sought a guarantee from the UK Government that the recently-agreed high-speed rail line will remain in public ownership.
Although only one stretch of high-speed rail is to be commissioned under current plans – linking London and Birmingham - the Tory-Lib Dem administration has held out the hope of further routes in the future.
Katy Clark said, “I welcome the Government’s announcement that the high-speed rail network will be going ahead, and I very much hope that plans are brought forward in the near future to reduce journey times from London to Glasgow and Edinburgh.”
The MP for North Ayrshire & Arran continued, “For high-speed rail to be a success, it is essential it remains affordable to ordinary people. Across Europe this has been achieved by keeping it in the public sector.
“Earlier this month we saw the privatised train-operating companies increase fare prices by up to 11 per cent, with regulated fares increasing by 6 per cent. This is just the latest example of the failure of rail privatisation in the United Kingdom.
“I urge the Government not to repeat the mistakes of the past and, instead, to ensure that any future high-speed rail network remains in public ownership.”
However, in response to a Parliamentary Question from Katy Clark, Tory Transport Secretary Justine Greening said she could not give such a commitment, adding, “We are just at the business of assessing what the line route is, and will continue to develop the phase 2 route. I think decisions about how the train service will be operated are ones for further in the future.”
Ms Greening further stated she did not anticipate high-speed rail travel would reach Scotland until around 2026.
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Have your say on independence referendum
Margaret Burgess, MSP for Cunninghame South, which includes Stevenston, is calling on everyone to play their part in shaping the referendum on Scottish independence.
First Minister Alex Salmond last week used the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns to launch the Scottish Government’s consultation on its referendum proposals. Margaret Burgess said, “A decision as important as the independence referendum clearly needs to involve and engage everyone in Scotland.
“The referendum should be built in Scotland, by the people of Scotland, rather than limited by the strings and conditions of Westminster. So, I am asking my constituents to play their part. That is why I want to see as many people as possible take part in the Scottish Government’s consultation and help to shape the way the referendum in 2014 will be held.”
Mrs Burgess said the consultation presented an opportunity for everyone to “have a huge impact on the most important decision that Scotland has faced for 300 years”.
The SNP MSP added, “To improve Scotland more and build a better country we need the full range of powers available to an independent country. Nobody cares more about making Scotland a success than people in Scotland, and independence will give us the ability to meet the aspirations we all hold for this country.”
A copy of the Scottish Government’s independence referendum consultation can be found at http://www.scotreferendum.com/consultation along with details of how to respond.
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Results
Saturday, January 21 2012.
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Fixtures
Saturday, January 28 2012. Kick-offs - 2:00pm.
