COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

In the news today you will no doubt have heard about the educational attainment of lack of for 'looked after children'. As the Looked After Children's champion for Renfrewshire Council, I thought that I should comment on this particular story. Local MSP and Education and Young Person's Minister Hugh Henry was in Paisley today and speaking about this problem, he noted that almost half of children who are in care leave school without ANY standard grades.

I thought however, that I would concentrate on the reasons, as someone who is related to a Guidance Teacher I hear a lot about the issue of education for children in the care system. Many times actually getting the child to attend school on a regular basis is an achievement and success, these children can have so much going on in their young lives that Education is the last thing on their mind. It is difficult for children taken from their area and moved across the Local Authority meaning a change in schools etc to keep themselves motivated, the chaotic lifestyle of some of the children in care means that Education takes a back seat to helping provide for younger siblings, or even keeping out of the road of an abusive parent, these children need extra help and attention and it is not only the teachers job, remember that the majority of children in care are there due to issues of care and protection.

I believe that we should 'shoot for the moon' and expect the highest standards from all of our schools and young people, but we should also acknowledge the achievements where they are. In Renfrewshire we do have a good record of education as shown through the recent HMIE reports, more to do and I agree with Cllr Eric Jackson the COSLA Social Work spokesperson that it does need to be a multi disciplinary approach and as the Scottish Executive document says 'it's everyone's job to make sure 'children' are OK'.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

RENFREWSHIRE COMMUNITY HEALTH PARTNERSHIP

This afternoon I attended the second development session for the Community Health Partnership (CHP), today they covered the role of the Clinical Director Dr Liz Jordan, and Prescribing for the CHP.

Both sessions were great, the session covering prescriptions was extremely interesting, for instance I had no idea that only 8% of prescriptions in Scotland are paid for, that almost £2 Million is spent on Anti Depression medications in Renfrewshire. The presentation went through all of the issues involved in the prescriptions in Renfrewshire.

The next meeting of the Community Health Partnership is next Friday so I will update you again then.

FIRST MINISTERS QUESTIONS

PROTESTING TOO MUCH?

Jack McConnell in First Ministers questions this afternoon answered the questions from wee Nicola on Trident, his sentiments and statements echoed the article below!

Jack McConnell First Minister ...

'There is a world of difference between peaceful protest and supporting that protest, and politicians purposefully trying to get themselves arrested in order to get themselves publicity'

Duncan McNeil was also in the Daily Record asking Ms Sturgeon and those SSP MSP's involved to apologised to the Scottish Communities who have suffered due to their actions.

No doubt the SNP machine will be in motion suggesting that Labour do not support the right to protest at Faslane, which of course is nonsense I have no doubt that there are Labour members who have peacefully protested at Faslane in the past and there are probably some still doing so as is their right.

Frances Curran list MSP for the West of Scotland for the SSP tried to introduce as a point of order that she should be able to respond as their actions have been brought into question, personally I think it is about time that someone questioned their actions as this is not the first a time that the SSP/Solidarity have purposefully went to a protest to be arrested, the G8 protests in Edinburgh were a prime example. As someone who was caught in the centre of Edinburgh as a spectator to these protests I saw the chaos to ordinary peaceful demonstrators that it caused, and the disruption to the ordinary member of the public.

FRANCES CURRAN SSP

FASLANE AND HOW THEIR ACTIONS EFFECT YOU!

After the press report in the Paisley Daily Express today regarding Frances Curran local list MSP for the SSP being arrested I thought that it was important that my constituents were provided with the information of how Ms Curran's actions effected them.

If you are a Daily Record reader you will have noticed that today they ran with an article advising that Scotland's communities are being 'robbed' of their community police force by the protests at Faslane, Seedhill is one of those areas. On Monday the local Community Officer was seconded to Faslane in order to effectively do crowd control for the SSP/Solidarity MSP group.

I do not agree with Nuclear weapons, I have said before and will probably say again that I have not made up my mind on the issue of the replacement of Trident, but, I know that I would not be 'purposefully' getting myself arrested in order to prove my point, which is what Ms' Curran, Kane and Leckie have been doing for sometime now. Ms Kane of the SSP was giggling and laughing as the Police had to forceably remove her, if she is charged with breach of the peace she will (as she has before) refuse to pay the fine and go to jail.

It is no mistake that the SSP/Solidarity are constantly removed from blocking the entrance, I deplore their actions they do not seem to care what effect this has on their constituents.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

VOTE SCOTLAND

The Electoral Commission have launched a website outling the situation for this coming May's Local Government and the Scottish Parliamentary Elections.

There is an interesting section on how the single transferable vote system works and how to vote, obviously not who to vote for! I would encourage everyone to have a look at it as it is a really useful resource, it does not go into the boundaries and what they mean for you, but your local council should be able to provide this for you, I will personally be putting on a post outlining the changes for my constituents and maybe (if I can work out how to get it online) a graphic as well!

One of the sections on the site gives you a link to download a postal vote application form which because you have put in your postcode has the correct return information. If you are wanting to know more about postal vote applications please contact your local Councillor or your local Council, Renfrewshire Joint Valuation Board

GORDON LABOUR PARTY

NEW WEBSITE

You will notice in the links section there is a new link to the Gordon Labour Party this has been sent to me by the ever helpful Mr Handy (thanks again), the site is excellent and not only gives you a biography of the Local MSP's but gives you an idea of what the Labour Party are doing locally to target the SNP mis information, and the local news, check it out for yourself.

CHURCH AND STATE

AMERICA HAS IT RIGHT?

At least in theory the separtion of powers enshrined in the Amercian constituion is in my humble opinion the best idea, the idea that there would be any 'national religion' repulses me.

Before anyone out there gets their knickers in a twist I know that the separation of powers in the American Constituition does not do what it says on the tin. I realise that the Religous groups in Amercia have an extreme influence on the agenda and the laws, although they are supposed to be separate you only have to look at the Roe Vs Wade debate to testify to this, however the idea that there would be no 'national religion' has merit.

Why should anyone be able to refuse anyone else a service simply because of their beliefs? How will they do it? Will they have signs saying no gays here?

As Angela Eagle MP (Labour) suggests ...

"We're not curtailing religious freedom, people can argue against the practice of homosexuality if they must. What this law does is say it's wrong to put a sign outside a pub or a hotel saying 'no gays'...That is right, proper and moderate."

SNP VS INDEPENDENTS

ROUND ONE

This morning in the Paisley Daily Express there is a rather interesting article, it concerns Cllr Bill Martin. Apparently Cllr Martin is standing down at the next election, availing himself of the Scottish Executive's pension pay out for older Councillors of £20,000. Why is this news I hear you ask? Well ... it turns out that the SNP are not happy because Bill has decided his wife Carolyn (see here for information, try the section on evidence) will be standing in Glenburn in his place.

The accusation by Cllr MacKay of the SNP is that he is trying to have his cake an eat it!

One thing is for sure this is not the last you have heard of this row, it will probably be replayed in the run up to the election, watch this space for round two.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I'M BACK

I have to apologise for my absence and the lack of formatting in this post, not quite sure why but the text format box has disappeared? It could be because I am using my sisters mac instead of my own PC! Anyhoot I can fix it when I get home!

I just wanted to say Happy New Year to all of you, the adverse weather probably affected quite a few plans but I hope it didn't spoil anyone's fun! For my part I went to a friends for dinner it is becoming somewhat of a tradition, past three years and counting and the food just gets better every year, I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

So back to the grindstone and making 2007 our year! More later...

(Got the formatting fixed, does anyone else have a problem using this with macintosh?)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS CHEER

OK so the shopping is done, the presents are almost completely wrapped and the Christmas tree is up, and the decorations make the place look great. The service this evening is well planned and hopefully there will be an excellent turn out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL and enjoy the festive period

LABOUR GAIN

SUPPORTING FAMILIES AND CHILDREN

• Free part time nurses places for every three and four-year old.

The Labour Party have acknowledged the importance of the early years and taken this step, another manifesto commitment completed.

TANNAHILL LIGHTS

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

Saturday morning, Tannahill Centre in Ferguslie, in Paisley, my dad is the Local Councillor and was invited to the switching on of the Centre's Christmas lights. Wendy Alexander local Labour MSP was also there, also present were Santa's elves (so cute!) and one local activist dressed as a Christmas Tree (see the photo below). As usual I became my dad's official photographer for the afternoon, and I was glad to do it.

Wendy Alexander kicked off the celebrations by switching on the Christmas lights after the obligatory countdown which the kids loved! After this Santa arrived in a vintage car to everyone's surprise!

The elves helped him distribute presents to the local kids. It was a great day and although I was only able to stick around for an hour or so I really enjoyed the day. Check out my dad's website for the whole story!

SHELTER'S CHRISTMAS APPEAL

CAROL SERVICE


I thought that I would let you all know about Shelter's Christmas appeal, so follow the link above to find out more information and find out how to make a much needed donation. I do believe that the Scottish Executive and the Westminster Government are doing a lot to help the homeless, but there is more to be done. Charities like Shelter are doing an excellent job of not only providing for those who are homeless but keeping the issue in the public eye.


This year my local parish are doing a special carol service for Shelter and donations (voluntary of course) will be gratefully received. The carol's we sing at Christmas are about Jesus birth but they are also in someway at least about homelessness, he had no where but a stable! So if you are interested the Church is St James Catholic Church, Paisley, come along and join in. The service starts at half eight on Sunday the 24th of December hope to see you there.

Merry Christmas to you all.

TIME MAGAZINE

PERSON OF THE YEAR

I was reading this in one of the weeklies today and I thought that it was really quite interesting. In this day and age of celebrity junkies and reality TV it turns out that Time Magazine have named me person of the year! They have also named you, if you have a blog, got involved with a community cause or used You Tube and well you get the drift!

In my own area I would have to say that the Churches would be a good example of the Community getting involved with others, and on an electronic scale a shout has to go out to the Friends of Seedhill Playing Fields, although a lot of the information on the site is either untrue or out of date there are at least some involved in the organisation who I believe are involved to better their community, I may not agree with them but I can see this.

This is an American publication so they are mainly talking about American society but with the World Wide Web being, well, world wide it really applies to us all, so raise a glass and give yourselves a pat on the back.