Minister for Culture, Linda Fabiani MSP, is highlighting the 2009 Robert Burns Humanitarian Award, and encouraging nominations from the local area.

Now in its eighth year, the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award is presented annually to a group or individual who has saved, improved or enriched the lives of others or society as a whole, through personal self-sacrifice, selfless service, ‘hands on’ charitable/volunteer work, or other acts. The winner receives 1759 guineas, a sum which signifies the year of the bard’s birth and the coinage then in circulation, as well as a specially commissioned hand-made award, and the opportunity to raise awareness of their work and cause.

Speaking of the Awards Ms Fabiani said:

“If you know of an exceptional individual or group whose humanitarian work deserves to be recognised then this an opportunity to nominate them for 2009 Robert Burns Humanitarian Award. This is an occasion for you, your colleagues and associates to highlight an organisation or individual who may not previously have been recognised for their humanitarian work.

“Burns was often described as the poet for the poor and an advocate for political and social change. The Robert Burns Humanitarian Award celebrates the memory of Burns’ love of fellow men and women. It is presented to someone who has made a difference to the world, through personal self-sacrifice, selfless service, ‘hands on’ charitable or volunteer work, or other acts. Nominees can be from anywhere in the world, of any gender, age or creed.

“In 2009, the eighth year of the Burns Humanitarian Awards, Scots will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. It will be special year in which to be nominated and we are casting the net wide for nominations which honour and reflect the humanitarian values present throughout much of Burns’ work.

“It would be fantastic to see someone from the local area nominated for this excellent award as I am sure there are some unsung heroes out there who would be potential candidates for the award.”

Previous winners have included civil rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, Adi Roche, founder of the Children’s Project International and last year’s winner Jonathan Kaplan, a humanitarian aid surgeon working in developing countries and crisis areas.
Nominations close at 12 noon on 4th December 2008 so please nominate now.

The final shortlist of three will be announced on Burns Night, 25th January 2009, and the final award ceremony will take place in Ayr in May 2009. The award will be the opening event of the ‘Burns an’ a’ that!’ festival, which is supported by EventScotland, South Ayrshire Council, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland.

Strathaven based MSP Linda Fabiani has expressed her delight that more adults and children are registered with an NHS dentist than at any time since records began, latest figures from ISD show.

The statistics represent a 19 per cent and 12 per cent increase in the number of registrations for adults and children respectively compared to the same period last year.

At the end of June 2008, 75.6 per cent of children (794,000) and 55.4 per cent of adults (2.3 million) were registered with an NHS general dental practitioner (GDP).

This is an increase from 73.8 per cent of children and 53.1 per cent of adults registered at March 31, 2008, the end of the previous quarter.

Speaking after publication of the figures, Ms Fabiani said:

“This is the highest number of registrations since recording of NHS dental registrations were introduced in October 1990.

“The figures are a further demonstration of our determination to bring NHS dentistry within reach of as many people as possible.

“Other recent figures showed that the number of NHS dentists in Scotland increased 4.1 per cent in the year up to the end of March 2008 and I expect that growth to continue.

“Increasing the numbers of NHS dental practitioners is key to expanding access.

“That’s why I was delighted earlier this month when the first cohort of students begun their training at the new 21-million-pound Aberdeen Dental School, which will produce a further 20 qualified dentists every year when fully operational.

”It is encouraging that the NHS Lanarkshire area has one of the highest levels of registrations and is above the national average in many of the age groups but there is still room improvement and we as a government will continue to promote NHS dentistry registration.

“That is why we have asked NHS Boards to prioritise new dental facilities from the SNP government’s £75million investment in capital projects over the next two years. I believe we are turning a corner and reversing the long-term decline in NHS dentistry.

MSP Linda Fabiani has called on teenagers in East Kilbride to take part in a thought provoking writing competition.

This fun competition, organised by financial education charity the ifs School of Finance, is open to any UK resident aged between 14 and 19.

The competition enables teenagers to test their writing skills by writing a 1,000 word article with the headline: “Should Government encourage home ownership?”

As well as the title “ifs Young Business Writer of the Year”, the winner will also receive a £500 cash prize.

Every year the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition is judged by a business or finance journalist from a leading broadsheet. Past judges include Robert Cole from The Times and James Daley from The Independent. This year Peter Taylor, City Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, will judge the competition.

Peter will be awarding marks for demonstrating research, evaluation, analysis and written argument skills as well as for overall reporting style.

Ms Fabiani said:

“The ifs competition can help improve writing standards in general, assists in fostering an interest in business &  finance and also encourages students to think about what is a very important issue, especially given the current economic climate.

I therefore hope that 14-19 year olds in East Kilbride participate in the competition and wish them every success in doing so.”

Anne Kiem, Dean of Further Education at the ifs School of Finance, said;
“We very much welcome the support of Linda Fabiani MSP in highlighting the educational benefits of this competition.

Once again, the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition has a thought provoking and highly topical question . It will be very interesting to see the different views young people have about home ownership as well as the Governments role in encouraging this.

Anyone aged between 14 and 19 who wishes to enter the competition simply has to e-mail their article (which must not exceed 1,000 words) to ybwy@ifslearning.ac.uk between now and the competition closing date of Monday 26 January 2009.

For more information please visit www.financialcapability.co.uk

Strathaven based MSP Linda Fabiani is supporting a Scottish Government call for the suspension of VAT on fuel, extra money for pensioner households and a cut in the rate of VAT on energy efficiency works such as home insulation.

Speaking after the latest statistics on excess winter deaths were released, which saw a 20 percent reduction in such deaths last winter, Ms Fabiani said:

“Households are already feeling the pinch from increased heating bills and need some support at this time to ease the burden.

“The latest statistics on winter deaths still make for unhappy reading and we should be doing what we can to relieve both household budgets and take care of our most vulnerable.

”The Scottish Government has in the past year installed a record number of central heating systems for our retired population and we are keen to do so again.

“Just recently we announced an extra £10 million investment in the free central heating programme and funded the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre to give advice to all Scots residents on ways they can economise through energy efficiency.

“We are also expanding the central heating scheme from next year to include young families who may be at risk of fuel poverty.

“We are investing £46 million per year up to 2011 in this programme and while we are doing this it is up to the UK Government to act to bring energy prices down.

“It is no good Mr Brown sitting on his hands on this issue; if he is prepared to bale out the banks to the tune of billions of pounds then he should equally be prepared to help out the ordinary people of this country that are faced with steep increases in their fuel bills.

“He should suspend VAT on fuel over the cold winter months, give an extra £100 to each pensioner household to help pay their fuel bills and cut the rate of VAT on energy efficiency works such as home insulation.

“These measures would demonstrate that Mr Brown is interested in helping more than just financial institutions that put themselves in bother, it is his opportunity to show that the normal working family is worth his consideration too.

Local Strathaven resident and MSP, Linda Fabiani, has offered her warmest congratulations to 17 year old Strathaven athlete Douglas Scott, on his success at winning three medals at the  Youth Commonwealth Games, in Pune, India.

Ms Fabiani said:

“Douglas won three medals including two gold and a bronze in the swimming competition. He must be very proud of his achievements and it is absolutely fantastic to see all his hard work rewarded in the best possible way.

“Congratulations should also go to his coaches and family for all their help and support.

“I hope we are lucky enough to see Douglas and other young Scottish athletes progress through the ranks in future years. All in all it has been a good week for Scottish sportsmen with Jamie Murray winning in Spain and John Higgins at the snooker.

“In 2011 Lanarkshire will host for the very first time the International Children’s Games, which will see young athletes from over the world coming to our home county to participate, it is a wonderful target for our young people to aim for and maybe they too can emulate Douglas’ achievements.

Linda Fabiani MSP, has given her approval to the Scottish Governments six-point plan to help the Scottish economy during the current financial uncertainty.

Earlier this week First Minister Alex Salmond chaired a meeting of his cabinet secretaries and junior ministers to discuss what measures the SNP government might take to tackle the difficult economic circumstances being faced at the moment.

At the meeting the government agreed a series of measures with the purpose of boosting development and helping households experiencing difficulties at the current time.

Ms Fabiani said:

“The message from the cabinet is that in the short term the wider economy is going to be impacted by these difficulties and it is absolutely essential that we look at ways to alleviate the burden being faced by people.

“Therefore the Scottish Government has developed a six-point plan to mitigate the impact of the downturn on the economy because there is a real threat to jobs and investment at this time.

“We have unfortunately just seen an increase in the latest unemployment figures in the Lanarkshire area and as a government we want the opportunity to challenge these circumstances.

“That is why we have already brought forward spending of up to £100 million on affordable housing and we would like to make a further announcement on affordable housing in the near future as well as bringing forward other capital spending plans.

“We are all to aware of the dire need for social housing in East Kilbride and investment in this area should help ease some of the difficulties the construction industry is starting is starting to feel.

“We hope to implement a £1billion reflationary package which would mean an investment of around £16.33million in the East Kilbride area alone.

Other areas the Scottish Government are looking to improve upon are:

· Boosting the crucial tourism industry with the year of Homecoming next year.
· Boosting the advice available to business and simplifying the planning system.
· Looking to improve energy efficiency in homes and improving financial advice to vulnerable households.
· Improve uptake of health benefit entitlements which can be worth up to £1,500 a year in some cases.
· There will also be additional measures to tackle fuel poverty, augmenting the existing programmes that the Government already has in place.

These measures come in the wake of calls for the UK Government to provide Scotland with a £1 billion funding package to help save the Scottish economy from recession, by accessing Scottish Government funds currently held at Westminster, such as the Fossil Fuel Levy and budget underspend. At the same time the Scottish Government will consider additional options within their devolved responsibilities to bring forward investment and support for economic activity, which will include the spending of £180m committed from European structural funds to stimulate the Scottish economy.

Central Region MSP and Strathaven resident, Linda Fabiani,  has sent a message of good luck to the young athletes heading to Pune, India to represent Scotland at the third Youth Commonwealth Games. The Games, which will take place 11-18 October, will be the first games in which all 71 Commonwealth Countries compete.

Athletes include Douglas Scott from Strathaven, who will be representing Scotland in the swimming event.

Ms Fabiani said:

“It’s been a great year for Scottish Sport – I’m sure our boys and girls will head over to India full of confidence and inspiration following Chris Hoy and co’s superb performance in Beijing two months ago.

“These games are set to be a real festival of sport and will prove valuable experience for many of the young competitors who are expected to represent Scotland when the full games come to Glasgow in 2014.”

“From athletics to wrestling, I wish all our athletes the best of luck especially our every own local athlete, Douglas Scott, who is competing in the swimming. They will be superb ambassadors for Scotland and Scottish sport.”