£740m package will secure free travel for older and disabled people

Linda Fabiani MSP has warmly welcomed today’s (Tuesday 23 February) announcement by the Scottish Government of an increased funding package for bus transport, which will secure free travel throughout Scotland for older and disabled people, introduce free travel for disabled armed forces veterans from 2011, support the bus network and keep fares affordable for all passengers.

The £740m package of support for the bus industry announced by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson today also includes incentives for bus operators to switch to vehicles with low carbon emissions.

Welcoming the announcement, Strathaven-based MSP Ms Fabiani said:

“I know from the letters I get in my constituency office how important affordable and accessible bus travel is for many people in the East Kilbride area, so I’m very pleased that the Scottish Government has identified it as a funding priority.

“The increased support for bus operators announced today will help to maintain existing bus routes, encourage new ones and keep fare increases to a minimum – something that is more important than ever in these tough times.

“I’m also delighted at the Minister’s confirmation that the over-60s and disabled people will continue to enjoy unlimited free bus travel across Scotland.

“Good bus networks are a fundamental requirement for thriving communities – and buses also make an important contribution towards helping Scotland meet our world-leading climate change targets.

“Today’s announcement shows that the SNP Government understands the importance of buses to our communities and is taking action to support affordable bus travel that meets the needs of passengers.”

Scottish Government’s Third Sector Resilience Fund helps six South Lanarkshire organisations

Linda Fabiani MSP has warmly welcomed news of a cash injection for East Kilbride & District Dementia Carers Group which will help it to continue to provide much needed services, despite the difficulties caused by the recession.

The Group is one of six South Lanarkshire voluntary sector organisations to receive a grant from the Scottish Government’s Third Sector Resilience Fund which has been increased to £2.2 million to help organisations providing vital frontline services survive these difficult economic times.

Central Scotland MSP Ms Fabiani, a strong supporter of the Dementia Carers Group which serves her home constituency of East Kilbride, said:

“The Third Sector Resilience Fund is a very welcome initiative by the SNP Government and I’m delighted that one of its beneficiaries will be the fantastic East Kilbride & District Dementia Carers Group.

“The Group’s staff and volunteers work incredibly hard to provide a range of services that are of enormous benefit to many people with dementia and their carers in the East Kilbride area. The Group’s ethos of empowerment and care and the principles behind its services represent the best of Scotland’s third sector – as do all of the South Lanarkshire organisations who’ve received grants from the fund.

“The Group was facing financial difficulties as a result of the recession, with increased costs and lower incomes, but this grant will help them to get through these tough times and continue to provide the services that their users and carers value so much.”

Following a visit to East Kilbride pharmaceutical product company Controlled Therapeutics Ltd, Linda Fabiani MSP has congratulated the firm on its work to develop drug delivery technologies to help prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Controlled Therapeutics has entered into a development programme in partnership with an American not-for-profit product development organisation to assess whether its new polymer drug delivery system can be used by women to help protect themselves against HIV infection.

Central Scotland MSP Ms Fabiani has previously cited the success of Controlled Therapeutics during Scottish Parliament debates about the role of scientific innovation in the Scottish economy. Speaking after her visit to the company’s East Kilbride premises, Ms Fabiani said,

“Controlled Therapeutics is a real success story for East Kilbride and Scotland. It was fascinating to hear about how a product developed right here in East Kilbride’s science park is now the world’s leading obstetric brand, used every minute of every day to assist a woman in giving birth, in over 50 countries.

“I’m very heartened that such a successful company is now putting its expertise to work to help tackle one of the biggest problems facing the developing world, the spread of HIV infection.

“Controlled Therapeutics’ partnership with the highly respected reproductive health and HIV prevention agency CONRAD has the potential to transform the health and welfare of women across the world by giving them the ability to take action to protect themselves against HIV.

“This pioneering collaboration is something for East Kilbride to be proud of. I wish Dr Cameron Macdonald and his team at Controlled Therapeutics every success and am really looking forward to hearing about the progress of this project.”

More than 800 people turned up to leading health charity Diabetes UK’s Measure Up Roadshow in Hamilton on 5 and 6 February to find out about the serious health condition diabetes and discover whether they were at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

There are about 25,000 people diagnosed with diabetes in Lanarkshire and another 1,000 who have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it. If untreated, the condition can lead to fatal complications such as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. Type 2 diabetes can be undetected for 10 years or more, meaning 50 per cent of people already have complications by the time they are diagnosed.

Diabetes UK’s Measure Up campaign encourages people to measure their waists to see if they are at risk of Type 2 diabetes, as having a large waist means you are up to 12 times more likely to develop the condition. The campaign raises awareness of other risk factors for Type 2 diabetes including being over 40 years old, being of Black or South Asian origin and having a family history of the condition. 199 people had a risk assessment in Hamilton and 47% were then advised to contact their GP.

At risk waist measurements are 37 inches or more for men, except those of South Asian origin who are at risk at 35 inches or more, and 31.5 inches or more for all women.

Local MSP Linda Fabiani visited the Roadshow to offer their support to Diabetes UK. Linda said “I am glad to support Diabetes UK’s work to take the message about diabetes awareness and prevention directly to people in their communities. I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of the Diabetes UK volunteers and the success of the roadshow is testament to their hard work. Almost 100 people were referred to their GPs, which is good news for them as they’ll now be able to take early action to prevent the onset of the disease, and also shows how important it is to for all of us be aware of the risk factors.”

Jane-Claire Judson, National Director for Diabetes UK Scotland, said: “Diabetes is one of the biggest health challenges facing us today. It’s frightening that there are more than 1,000 people in Lanarkshire alone that have Type 2 diabetes but have no idea they do. It is encouraging that so many people came to the Diabetes UK Measure Up Roadshow in Hamilton and hopefully they learnt a lot about the condition, its risk factors and how a healthy lifestyle encompassing a good diet and regular physical activity, can both help prevent and manage Type 2 diabetes.”

The Roadshows are visiting 154 locations around the country over a period of nine months from 2 February 2010 until 29 October 2010. The Measure Up Roadshow has been made possible through a donation of £1 million following the outstanding fundraising achievements of Bank of Scotland employees and customers in 2008.

Linda Fabiani MSP has described the Scottish Government’s budget for 2010/11 as a strong response to the recession, that will protect crucial public services and put jobs and economic recovery front and centre.

SNP MSP for Central Scotland, Ms Fabiani said:

“This is a budget that will deliver for communities like East Kilbride, helping them to recover from the worst effects of the recession. It provides investment in jobs creation, training and student places, protects spending on frontline health and education services, and gives a helping hand to households with a third year of frozen council tax, a boiler scrappage scheme, a new home insulation package and another cut in prescription charges.

“Neighbourhoods across the East Kilbride area will benefit from a Post Office diversification fund, to help local post office branches expand and survive, and increased thresholds for the Small Business Bonus Scheme which has been so vital to helping small business owners, employees and consumers during the recession.

“The worst economic conditions for generations and an £800 million cut from Labour in Westminster mean that some tough choices have had to be made, but the Cabinet Secretary for Finance has focused on the priorities that matter to people in East Kilbride and across Scotland.”

Responding to Labour attacks on the budget, Ms Fabiani said that opposition politicians such as Andy Kerr are living in an economic fantasy land:

“In the face of the worst financial settlement from Westminster since devolution began, it would be nice if all parties could pull together to get the best results for the Scottish people.

“Instead, Andy Kerr and Labour prefer to insult everyone’s intelligence with their fantasy claims that there is more money than ever to spend. They are so mired in negativity and hypocrisy that they even voted against the boiler scrappage scheme that they themselves called for!

“Labour’s annual silly game-playing at budget time has gone beyond a joke. It’s about time they grew up and backed the SNP Government in making the right choices for Scotland.”

Details of the Scottish Government’s budget can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/02/03151658

Following a visit to East Kilbride pharmaceutical product company Controlled Therapeutics Ltd, Linda Fabiani MSP has congratulated the firm on its work to develop drug delivery technologies to help prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Controlled Therapeutics has entered into a development programme in partnership with an American not-for-profit product development organisation to assess whether its new polymer drug delivery system can be used by women to help protect themselves against HIV infection.

Central Scotland MSP Ms Fabiani has previously cited the success of Controlled Therapeutics during Scottish Parliament debates about the role of scientific innovation in the Scottish economy. Speaking after her visit to the company’s East Kilbride premises, Ms Fabiani said,

“Controlled Therapeutics is a real success story for East Kilbride and Scotland. It was fascinating to hear about how a product developed right here in East Kilbride’s science park is now the world’s leading obstetric brand, used every minute of every day to assist a woman in giving birth, in over 50 countries.

“I’m very heartened that such a successful company is now putting its expertise to work to help tackle one of the biggest problems facing the developing world, the spread of HIV infection.

“Controlled Therapeutics’ partnership with the highly respected reproductive health and HIV prevention agency CONRAD has the potential to transform the health and welfare of women across the world by giving them the ability to take action to protect themselves against HIV.

“This pioneering collaboration is something for East Kilbride to be proud of. I wish Dr Cameron Macdonald and his team at Controlled Therapeutics every success and am really looking forward to hearing about the progress of this project.”

Further information about Controlled Therapeutics can be found at http://www.ctscotland.com/index.php. Details of the collaboration with CONRAD can be found at http://www.ctscotland.com/News.php?year=2010. Further information about CONRAD is at http://www.conrad.org/.

Central Scotland SNP MSP Linda Fabiani has welcomed an announcement by the Scottish Government that £1 million will be made available to help Scotland’s local post offices survive the recession and expand their businesses. The funding was secured in a vote in the Scottish Parliament on the SNP Government’s budget.

Describing the funding as a welcome boost for a local service which has been under huge pressure in recent years, Linda said:

“This announcement shows that the SNP is focused on protecting important frontline public services in these troubled economic times.

“£1 million is a substantial amount to help local post offices in Scotland survive and offer expanded activities. It is a significant investment from the Scottish Government at a time when difficult decisions are having to be made.

“Post offices in Westood, Murray and elsewhere in East Kilbride and other Lanarkshire communities have been lost in recent years, so investment that will help to prevent further closures is particularly important for this area.

“Post offices play an important role in the life of many communities. As well as postal services, they can provide access to money and banking facilities, support for local shops, and a hub for the community. This is reflected in the high value that local people attach to their post office.

“It’s very disappointing that Labour MSPs voted against this important investment in Parliament, particularly after local Labour MP Adam Ingram failed to vote against the closure programme that led to the loss of so many Lanarkshire post offices. It’s further proof that only the SNP can be relied on to defend vital local services.”

Linda spoke in the debate on 3 February:

“I acknowledge and welcome the sense of realism from some members in the chamber. Despite the political posturing that ever applies, there is recognition that the Chancellor of the Exchequer at Westminster is cutting funding to the public services and that there is a resultant effect on Scotland owing to the inherent lack of powers in the current settlement.

“Andy Kerr should listen to his colleague Hugh Henry, who told the Public Audit Committee in November:

“we are trying to outbid one another in promising what we will do, although we know privately that much of it is not possible.”—[Official Report, Public Audit Committee, 18 November 2009; c 1307.]

“It seems that the convener of the Public Audit Committee has grasped the uncomfortable truth about the money that is available to Scotland. I am sure that he would recognise the need to work constructively with the Scottish Government to distribute the resources that we have in the most equitable manner possible. That is a responsible and mature attitude—looking at what is in front of us, rather than what we would like to be in front of us.

“Instead of listening to Hugh Henry, Andy Kerr seems to have listened to his friend at the Scotland Office. Its recent publication “Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland”, which claims to be based on the Office for National Statistics’s publication “Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland”, is along the lines of Andy Kerr’s thinking. He accused the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth of “deception”; I suggest that the deception comes directly from Andy Kerr’s colleague at the Scotland Office. The Scotland Office’s report was entirely selective in its statements, with a lack of balance and analysis but much imagination. It excluded large chunks of the revenue that is gathered from Scotland, but managed to lever in expenditure that did not actually occur. It also excluded council tax revenue but included local authority expenditure, thereby creating a phantom gap in Scotland’s accounts.

“There are other anomalies and analytical failings in the Scotland Office document, as there are in the posturings of the Labour group here today. I emphasise my disappointment at the fact that the Secretary of State for Scotland, supposedly Scotland’s man in the Westminster Cabinet, rather than the other way round, would wish to tell the people whom he represents—the people of Scotland—that they are not paying their way, that they are subsidy junkies and that they are too poor or stupid to be let out alone. I find that sad and strange and I ask whether the Secretary of State for Scotland is a little out of touch with some of his colleagues here, who have clearly grasped that perpetual negativity is in no one’s interests, either individually or collectively.”

Read the whole debate here.

S3M-05661 Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Hands up for Young Trad Ambassadors— That the Parliament recognises the worth of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition’s finalists for musical excellence, as ambassadors for their nation’s culture and heritage and contributors to the wellbeing, both economic and social, of Scotland; notes that the competition is celebrating its tenth anniversary and congratulates the 2010 winner, Daniel Thorpe, along with previous winners, Gillian Frame, Emily Smith, Anna Massie, James Graham, Stuart Cassells, Shona Mooney, Catriona Watt, Ewan Robertson and Ruaridh Macmillan, and thanks the BBC, Simon Thoumire and the TMSA for the work carried out in organising both the competition and the resultant Young Trad Tours.