Emergency revetment works completed

I previously posted that during the storms at the start of the year serious damage occurred to the coastal defence on The Esplanade and the timber walkway, near to the Glass Pavilion. Emergency revetment works have since been carried out. The area behind the revetment which was recently used as a compound has been grassed over.

Community Charge write off

I was disappointed but not surprised to hear that the SNP Government is to prevent councils from recovering outstanding community charge debts. This move is unfair to those Scots who paid the community charge in good faith, subsidising those who could afford to pay but chose not to. Nobody likes paying taxes but in a democracy we observe the law and recognise our social responsibility in helping to pay for public services. Writing of these debts sends out completely the wrong message; in Dundee we have one of the lowest in year council tax collection rates in Scotland and this move by the SNP is unlikely to do anything to improve our position.

 

I checked with Dundee City Council’s finance officers about how much community charge remains outstanding in Dundee and I was told that as at the 31st March of this year it was £1.81m. Despite Alex Salmond’s contention that a very small sum is recouped each year, in Dundee in the last financial year £56,975 was recovered, which is not an insignificant amount of money.

Dundee Road railway bridge

Residents asked me if the ivy on the Dundee Road railway bridge could be cut back a bit as it is impeding the pavement, which is very narrow at this location. I raised the matter with the Roads Maintenance Partnership and in response the city engineer advised me:

‘This bridge was inspected recently and the problem you mentioned was noted. As part of this year's bridges routine maintenance works programme, the vegetation will be cut back to ensure that it does not impede pedestrians. This should be carried out in the near future.’

SNP spending choices robbed NHS of £700 million

 Scottish Conservatives press release

 

The SNP’s decision to not increase spending on Scotland’s NHS in line with UK levels has deprived hospitals and patients of £700 million, research has revealed. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) confirmed that, since 2009/10, the UK Government has increased health spending in real terms by 4.4 per cent. Alex Salmond claimed he would match NHS funding south of the border, but in the same period the level of spending actually dropped by 1.2 per cent. Had the SNP matched Westminster spending, Scotland’s NHS would have benefited from an additional £700 million.

 The SNP previously tried to rubbish the IFS claims, stating its analysis had also included spending commitments like the Commonwealth Games, therefore skewing the statistics. However, the IFS contacted the SNP on September 17 to make clear this was not the case, and the comparison between health budgets in Scotland and England was like-for-like. Despite this, both health secretary Alex Neil (on September 24) and Alex Salmond (today during First Minister’s Questions) continued to stick to the line that the IFS report was incorrect.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said: “The Prime Minister promised to increase health spending in real terms – and he has. Alex Salmond made a pledge to increase NHS spending – but he has broken this to the tune of £700 million. He now has to explain where that money has gone, and what the SNP is going to do to ensure spending on the NHS increases in years to come.

“What’s worse, the SNP attempted to rubbish the analysis by the IFS – an independent body – in the run up to the referendum. Despite being told in great detail that this was wrong on September 17, both the health secretary and the First Minister have repeated this blatant inaccuracy as recently as today. That’s not good enough, and a thoroughly pathetic way to try to wriggle out of some very damning analysis.

“It’s ironic that the Scottish Government tried to fight a referendum on the NHS, when all the while it was cutting the very same budgets that were being increased south of the border.”

Balmossie graffiti

For some time I have been trying to get graffiti cleared from the pumping station at Balmossie. I have contacted Scottish Water about it directly as has the environment department. The latest response to the environment department from Scottish Water said that it had been in touch with its partner organisation, Veolia, who are responsible for the site.  Apparently the cleaning hasn’t been carried out yet due to a delay in the delivery of graffiti removal spray. Balmossie is at the top of its list of sites to be addressed and the removal spray will be applied shortly. If it is ineffective for any reason other measures will be considered.  Hopefully no matter what happens the end result will be a clean building.

West Queen Street

I was asked if I knew when the carriageway in West Queen Street might get some attention. In recent years, sections either side on Dundee Road and Queen Street have been resurfaced. I raised the matter with the City Engineer and received the following response:

‘A detailed condition survey of the Council's carriageways is currently underway and the Roads Maintenance Partnership will be in a position to report back to me towards the end of this calendar year in order to review and update the rolling 3 year programme for issue in Spring 2015. At that time I will be able to advise on where this section of road sits in priority for repair and when resurfacing is likely to be carried out.’

Barnhill Post Office

I have received notification from the Post office’s Regional Network Manager about a proposal to move Barnhill Post Office from its current location at Unit 3 Campfield Square to MS News, Unit 8 Campfield Square. Consultation is being carried out, which will last for 6 weeks, and the public is being asked for views on the proposed new location. I am told that Post Office services will be offered from two tills on the retail counter in a modern branch, there will be longer opening hours and that the majority of Post Office products and services will still be available.

The consultation period runs until 30 October and it is anticipated that if the move goes ahead it will take place in January/February 2015. You can read about the details of the proposal and make comment on it by going to the Post Office website page postofficeviews.co.uk. The branch code for Barnhill is 10282099.