Strathaven resident and Minster for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Linda Fabiani MSP, has moved offices this week.

The MSPs constituency office which was shared by all the SNP Central Scotland List MSPs is no longer based in the old Dalziel High School in Motherwell, which has for the last few years been a council run business centre, after North Lanarkshire Council opened a new office building for the use of local businesses.

The new purpose built premises is a replacement for the much older building and is part of a broader redevelopment of Motherwell town centre that NLC plan to carry out in coming years.

The new constituency office address for Linda Fabiani is:

Dalziel Building
Suite 3.3,
7 Scott Street,
Motherwell,
ML1 1PN.

Linda’s contact details remain the same:

Tel: 01698 265925

Fax: 01698 269033

Email: Linda.Fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

The SNP Scottish Government has voted to scrap the student Graduate Endowment – a £2,300 levy on graduates. The Graduate Endowment Bill published last October was finally passed through the Holyrood parliament on Thursday.

The campaign to scrap the Graduate Endowment ran right across the country which culminated with a lobby of Parliament by students on Thursday.

Commenting on the parliamentary decision to scrap the graduate fee Linda Fabiani MSP said:

“The SNP have always believed that Education should be free for all and not based on your ability to pay.

“There are nearly 10,000 students who are liable to pay the £2,289 fee and removing that will be a welcome boost to both them and their families.

“Too many of our young people start their adult life snowed under with debt and I am delighted that the Parliament has seen sense and given them this financial boost and reiterated our belief in the principle of free education.  

“No longer will our graduates be entering the work place heavily in debt before they have started earning a wage. 

“The Liberals introduced this tax on learning and the Labour Party gave us the mantra of ‘Education, Education, Education’ but it has taken an SNP Government to give us back the right to a free education that is accessible to all who have the ability.

”A disincentive has been removed for those wishing to go further with their education and the passing of this Bill means that students who graduated from June 2007 onwards will not have to pay the endowment fee.

“This Bill has been supported by student bodies who know first hand the difficulties that were caused by the Graduate Endowment and its abolition is a welcome lifting of the financial burden placed on today’s students.

”’The Graduate Endowment raised less than 1% per year in revenue for the further and higher education system and Scotland’s universities will continue to be amongst the very best in the world”

SNP MSP Linda Fabiani has welcomed a new £3 million grant scheme for youth projects to be funded from the proceeds of crime. This latest strand of the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities scheme will see South Lanarkshire Council receive £176,000 from money that the Scottish Government has taken back from criminals.

The grant scheme will provide funding for projects which support young people involved, or at risk from violence, alcohol, drugs or antisocial behaviour as well as support for initiatives such as youth drop-in services and residential, environmental and outdoor activities including climbing walls, skate parks, mountain bikes and canoes and yachts.

Youth organisations and projects from across South Lanarkshire will be able to apply for a share of the money, which will be administered by YouthLink Scotland, the national youth work agency.

Commenting Ms Fabiani said;

“This is the first time that the cash seized from criminals will be reinvested in youth organisations and projects in every part of Scotland and young people in South Lanarkshire are to benefit to the tune of £176,000.

“The grant scheme is designed to give young people the opportunity to realise their potential and enable them to have real hopes and aspirations for the future.  It is imperative that we give our young people positive things to do with their lives and demonstrate the vast possibilities that lie before them.

“I would strongly encourage local groups to apply for this funding, and take advantage of the opportunity it presents for young people.”

Locally based MSP Linda Fabiani has welcomed the announcement that there will be extra funding made available to strengthen the support services for carers including almost £1million that will go to NHS Lanarkshire.

Over the next three years, an additional £9 million will be provided to NHS Boards across Scotland to bolster the implementation of Carer Information Strategies. NHS Lanarkshire’s share of this is just over £900,000.

Carers will benefit from greater awareness and recognition of their role, improved provision of information and available support, with more access to training to help them cope with their caring role.

NHS staff will also be given training on how to identify unpaid carers and signpost them to local sources of support, and will work closely with carers as key partners in the delivery of care.

Ms Fabiani said:“I am delighted to see this valuable work being done to support carers and highlight the new funding available to Health Boards to implement their Carer Information Strategies.

“We currently have an ageing population and many carers are themselves now elderly. We need to ensure that carers do not neglect their own health and are given care and support themselves when they need it.“The additional funding being provided by the Scottish Government will ensure that carers are given the best possible support.

Strathaven resident Linda Fabiani MSP has welcomed the decision made by South Lanarkshire Council to freeze Council Tax in the forthcoming financial year.

 
Commenting on the decision Linda Fabiani said:

“The decision by South Lanarkshire Council to freeze Council Tax at current levels is extremely welcome. After year on year increases over the past decade this will be some welcome relief to the tax payers of East Kilbride.

“The tax freeze has only been made possible by the historic agreement between the Scottish Government and Local Authorities that gives Council’s like South Lanarkshire much more freedom to deliver on their local priorities.

“This freeze represents a cut in real terms by stopping even an inflationary rise because of the finances made available by the Scottish Government to Local Authorities to allow them to implement the Council Tax freeze.

“A great deal of credit must also go to the local authority for recognising the opportunity that was being presented to them and for taking the decision to aid local tax payers.”  

Local MSP Linda Fabiani is encouraging people to contribute to a consultation on improving the planning system. The Scottish government hopes to create  local review bodies comprising of councillors to hear appeals for small-scale, local developments. Currently appeals against planning decisions taken by planning officers have to go to Scottish Ministers but it is now hoped that most of these appeals will instead be heard at a local level by councillors so, creating a faster and more efficient planning system.

”The consultation covers the detailed procedures that should apply to review local planning applications, planning appeals and preparing schemes of delegation and runs until May 14. I would encourage anyone with an interest in planning matters to respond to the consultation.”

The consultation document ‘Modernising Planning Appeals’ can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current

Finalised regulations are intended to be in place early in 2009.