Central Scotland MSP Linda Fabiani voiced her support for charity Shelter Scotland’s new campaign “It’s Time To Get A Move In”, calling for 30,000 more affordable rented homes to be built over the next 3 years in order to meet the commitment of new homelessness legislation to house all unintentionally homeless people by 2012. The Strathaven based MSP said:

“Shelter Scotland has highlighted the increasing strain the housing system in Scotland is under, which has not been alleviated by the inadequate level of government investment in affordable housing options.

The situation in South Lanarkshire is no better than the national picture. Just last year we saw 954 more houses lost from the council stock, whilst the local housing strategy promises to deliver just 225 new affordable homes each year.

We already have unacceptably long council house waiting lists, particularly in pressured areas such as East Kilbride, and the investment in affordable homes is clearly not enough to meet the needs of our communities.

I welcome the new homelessness legislation which entitles all unintentionally homeless people to be given homes by 2012, but I share Shelter’s concerns that the already strained housing system simply won’t be able to deliver effectively on this statutory commitment without urgent investment over the next few years.

There is a big difference between having the right to a home and the homes actually being available in reality.

Whichever government is in power after May 2007 has to act to ensure all newly-eligible homeless can be housed without further reducing lets to people who are already languishing for years on council waiting lists.

The Executive’s 2007 Spending Review offers a late opportunity for the current Labour/Lib Dem government to show commitment to tackling the affordable housing crisis which has grown under their watch. I applaud Shelter for its contribution to the debate and urge the Executive to listen to its message.”

Following their latest visit to the Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee, Central Scotland MSP Linda Fabiani paid tribute to Madge Clark and Jeanette Kelly of the Murray Owen Carers Group in East Kilbride for their persistent and determined campaigning on behalf of elderly carers looking after adults with learning disabilities.

The campaigners first petitioned the Scottish Parliament in 2004, following their personal experiences in East Kilbride when suitable accommodation and care was not available for their own adult children, when they could no longer look after them at home. This led them to take up the campaign on behalf of elderly people in similar circumstances across Scotland. The petition, which has been ongoing for almost 3 years now, calls for action to ensure adults with learning disabilities who are cared for at home by elderly parents receive the same level of support and community care as there is given to those discharged from hospitals.

Ms Fabiani, who attended the latest public petitions committee meeting with the campaigners and has been an active supporter throughout, said:

“It has been a long-drawn out journey for Madge and Jeanette, and I am in complete admiration of their positive attitude, their spirit and their determination during an often frustrating campaign.

As a result of their persistence, specific recommendations for action to tackle the issue have been drawn up and presented to the Executive, and I am glad that the petition will remain open until a satisfactory solution has been reached.

It is vital that we act urgently to ensure elderly carers have the security of knowing that their sons and daughters will receive effective emergency care, and be placed in suitable independent housing, before the time comes when they are simply too old or too ill to do it themselves.

They need the chance in their later years to look after their own health, and they deserve respect from society and support from their communities, after so many years tirelessly caring for their children with complex needs.

Adults with learning disabilities who live with elderly parents should have the same right as hospital-discharged patients to be housed on their own within communities. They should not be pushed to the end of housing waiting lists. We must avoid giving the perception that they are not quite as important as those who are discharged from institutions.

Thanks largely to the efforts of Madge and Jeanette the plight of elderly carers has been brought to the political centre stage and I hope the Executive will act urgently on the specific recommendations being put to them. “

Strathaven based MSP Linda Fabiani again raised the issue in Parliament of the council’s flawed plans to decant pupils to East Kilbride whilst rebuilding Strathaven Academy, during a debate on school transport safety in the Scottish Parliament last night (Thursday). The MSP urged the council to finally listen to the serious concerns which have been expressed by parents, pupils and members of the local community about their plans, put the needs of the Avondale community first, and investigate alternative sites for the school.

Ms Fabiani said:

“I raised the issue of the Strathaven Academy rebuild during the debate on school transport safety as it is a frustrating example of safety issues and the concerns of the local community being steamrollered over by the council during its decision making process.

It is staggering the way the council have stubbornly refused to re-consider their plan to bus Strathaven Academy pupils to East Kilbride for 2 years, despite public protest, without fully considering the safety implications, and without investigating the alternative options”

During the debate Transport Minister Tavish Scott agreed with me that the safety issues which could arise from this long-distance decant were an extremely important matter, so it’s time for South Lanarkshire Council to also start taking them seriously.

The important safety considerations I raised are just one aspect of a PFI funded school rebuild plan which is overly expensive, ill-considered and ill-fitted to the needs of the community. It is still not too late for the council to listen to the reasoned voices of the campaigners, act in the interests of Avondale’s students, and investigate other options which would avoid this unnecessary disruption to their education. “