Specialist services will help East Kilbride service-people

Central Scotland SNP MSP, Linda Fabiani, has strongly welcomed a new dedicated support hub for veterans, designed to provide specialist health, housing, employment and other assistance for people leaving the armed forces.

Veterans’ First Point in Edinburgh, which was officially opened by Public Health Minister Shona Robison MSP today, is the first in a pilot project which, if successful, will be rolled out across Scotland. Staffed by peer support workers with military backgrounds, the service will be run by veterans, for veterans. It is the first time in the UK that specialist help and advice has been brought under one roof for veterans’ and their families.

Ms Fabiani said today:
“These new support services to help veterans readjust successfully to civilian life will be warmly welcomed by the many former and current service-men and women living in South Lanarkshire.

“East Kilbride’s strong Territorial Army tradition means that the town has made a very significant contribution to our armed forces. TA soldiers from the East Kilbride area have fought alongside the regular armed forces in conflicts past and present, as well as taking part in international peace-keeping efforts.

“Their role as part-time reservists does not mean that TA soldiers are any less likely than their regular armed forces colleagues to suffer from health or other difficulties after returning from active service and it is crucial that they are able to easily access all the support and advice they need to ensure that they can return successfully to their civilian lives.

“If this first Veterans’ First Point hub is the success that I hope it will be, I will certainly be arguing that East Kilbride will make an ideal location for a roll-out of future one-stop veteran support services.”

S3M-03958 Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Scottish Government and STUC— That the Parliament notes the support of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) for the Scottish Government’s plans for a Scottish Investment Bank; welcomes the engagement of the STUC with the Scottish Government on this issue, and notes the STUC’s support for the Scottish Government’s position on the budget of HM Treasury.

Lodged on Monday, April 20, 2009

Strathaven based MSP Linda Fabiani, has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating local scientists working at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) in East Kilbride, the facility is located at the former National Engineering Laboratory (NEL), on the work they have done in uncovering a prehistoric rubbish site on the Island of Iona.

The radiocarbon dating specialists from SUERC dated the Bronze Age finds at the site between 930 and 810 BC after the National Trust for Scotland brought them in to study the finds.

Ms Fabiani commented:

“The use of an East Kilbride research facility by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) shows the level of scientific expertise that is available within the town and adds to the success of other East Kilbride science companies.

“East Kilbride has for many years been a popular location for science based industries and the recognition by the NTS of the knowledge available here is further proof that the town has an infrastructure that can continue to attract such skilled jobs.”

END

S3M-03928 Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): East Kilbride’s Cutting Edge— That the Parliament congratulates archaeologists from the National Trust for Scotland and radiocarbon dating specialists at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) in East Kilbride who have uncovered a prehistoric midden on the island of Iona and confirmed that it dates from between 930 and 810 BC, during the Bronze Age; believes that such significant finds are crucial to our understanding of the historical development of the Scots people and nation; welcomes the SUERC radiocarbon laboratory’s use of modern scientific methods to illuminate Scotland’s ancient past, and agrees that this latest milestone confirms East Kilbride’s position at the cutting edge of Scotland’s achievements in science.

Central Scotland SNP MSP, Linda Fabiani, has confirmed today that over 2,600 small businesses have so far benefited from the Scottish Government’s Small Business Bonus Scheme and urged all businesses who think they may be eligible to apply for relief from the scheme.

Ms Fabiani said:
“The SNP Government’s actions to help small businesses mean that, since the beginning of this month, over 2,600 of these vital contributors to South Lanarkshire’s economy are either exempted altogether from business rates or have had their rates liability considerably reduced.

“The Small Business Bonus Scheme means that, even in these difficult economic times of rising unemployment, local high streets have a greatly improved chance of survival and local jobs are more likely to be retained. I am delighted that so many South Lanarkshire businesses are already gaining.

“Nationwide take-up of the Small Business Bonus Scheme so far is an impressive 80 per cent, but that means that there are still eligible businesses out there who are not yet feeling the benefit. I would urge anyone who thinks they might be eligible to apply for the scheme. In these difficult trading conditions, they need all the help they can get, and the SNP Government is providing it.”

Linda spoke in the debate on Wednesday 1 April.
“PFI has never been worthy of defence. It is no more than a cynical exercise that has allowed Governments of the day to keep capital projects off balance sheet. We have known for some years now that the international financial reporting standards would apply. We also knew the effect that the IFRS would have on accounting for such projects. Despite that, the Labour Party carried on regardless: it continued to build; it continued to defend the indefensible.

PFI is a child of the age of irresponsibility—terrible irresponsibility. It gave Labour a perfect way of taking credit for building without having to pay for it. And that from a generation of Labour politicians who received free education and the benefit of schools and hospitals that were built within the public sector. How selfish Labour is to disregard in such a cavalier fashion the needs of those who come after.”

Read the full text of Linda’s speech at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0401-02.htm#Col16383.

Central Scotland SNP MSP Linda Fabiani has warmly welcomed a range of key Scottish Government measures which kick in today, Wednesday 1st of April, and which will provide crucial assistance during current economic difficulties.

Scottish Government policies that come into action today include:
• A further drop in prescription charges from £5 to £4 for a single prescription and £48 to £38 for a 12 month pre-payment certificate
• Full implementation of the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which will see dozens of East Kilbride businesses have their rates either slashed or abolished altogether
• Scotland’s national training programme for unemployed adults ‘Training for Work’ is being made available to people at 13 weeks unemployed instead of the previous 26 weeks unemployed
• Section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 comes into force, placing a new duty on landlords and creditors to notify the relevant council when they take action to recover possession of a property or when they call in the mortgage.

Strathaven-based Ms Fabiani commented:
“In the East Kilbride area, as elsewhere in the country, many people are facing the prospect of hardship over the coming months. These measures from the SNP Government will provide help when people need it most.

“I am particularly pleased by the new early warning system that will help people who are facing the potential loss of their home to access the advice and support they need to prevent homelessness. The loss of a job is difficult enough to cope with, but homelessness is a tragedy from which it can be extremely difficult to ever fully recover, so I am delighted that the SNP Government has taken decisive action to help people avoid having to find themselves in that position.

“These crucial measures, combined with a second year of council tax freeze in South Lanarkshire, come at just the right time and will make a real difference to families and communities.”