MORAY MP WELCOMES COMMUNITY CENTRE REPRIEVE
Posted on Wednesday, June 13 2007
Moray SNP MP Angus Robertson has welcomed the u-turn by Moray Council in reprieving the closure threatened Dufftown Community Centre.He praised the decision, saying: "The retention of Dufftown Community Centre is a victory for the local community as well as the SNP which consistently opposed the closure plans."I attended the packed meeting in Dufftown organised to save the centre and was left in no doubt that it should remain open. Both local SNP councillors Mike McConnachie and Pearl Paul deserve special praise in leading the campaign in the Moray Council."BackgroundThe Scottish National Party supported the retention of the Community Centre since the proposal first came to light in the previous Independent administration's budget plans. The party campaigned vigorously before, during and after the election period to have the decision reversed. Most recently Speyside Glenlivet Councillor Mike McConachie tabled a joint question to the council on the issue which culminated in today's vote on a motion to reverse the closure decision.ENDS
ROBERTSON WRITES TO BROWN ON FOOD SUPPLEMENTS
Posted on Wednesday, June 13 2007
"Legislative Change is wholly disproportionate" - RobertsonMoray MP Angus Robertson has raised the issue of Food Supplements legislation with Prime Minster in waiting, Gordon Brown.The Scottish National Party MP for Moray has previously raised issues surrounding the European Food Supplements Directive in the House of Commons and SNP colleagues in the European Parliament have also raised concerns about the disproportionate nature of the legislation.The issue was first raised in 2003 and still continues to cause concern. There has been significant cross-party support for the concerns that were raised by consumers who use food supplements including high strength vitamin and mineral supplements. In the past the current Prime Minister has stated that he believes the legislation to be disproportionate to the problem.Unfortunately four years on the problems have not yet been resolved.Commenting on the issue Moray MP Angus Robertson said:" I have been contacted by over two hundred constituents who use food supplements and herbal remedies, products which could be substantially effected by this European legislation." The problem is not the principle of the legislation, which is to make food safer, but the implementation of the legislation by the European Commission." The restrictions that would be placed on food supplements suppliers are incredibly restrictive and will stop many constituents from taking levels of food supplements that have been shown to be perfectly safe." While most people's health will be fine with the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) levels that we are used to seeing on product labels, many others have particular health needs and require to use vitamins and minerals that are many times the RDA levels." There are sound and proven reasons for this and I remain concerned that the legislative impact on consumers and manufacturers of these products will be totally out of proportion to the problem that is trying to be addressed." Clearly it is appropriate to improve food safety regulations which was the original aim of this directive, however the food supplement levels being implemented are ridiculously restrictive and will lead to many people not being able to follow a dietry regime that works very well for them." In the past the Prime Minister has agreed with the cross-party concerns raised on this matter and I have now written to Gordon Brown asking that he continues to pursue this matter when he takes over the office of Prime Minister."Ends.
MORAY MP'S CONCERN OVER GOVERNMENT IT CONTRACT
Posted on Wednesday, June 13 2007
Moray SNP MP Angus Robertson has spoken of his serious concerns over a government Information Technology that has more than doubled in price to a staggering £8.5 Billion.The contract was for IT systems at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) following the merger of the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise.Mr Robertson has voiced his concerns following the publication of a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee which levels serious criticisms at HMRC.It has transpired that the company who won the contract is now set to make a profit in excess of £1 Billion rather than the £300 Million originally predicted.This has come at a time when HMRC and other public agencies are shedding tens of thousands of jobs to cut costs, which staff and customers alike believe will be extremely detrimental to the service being provided.Mr Robertson and his Moray SNP colleague Richard Lochhead MSP are due to meet with the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) in Elgin to discuss the staff concerns over the cuts and this latest news simply adds to the serious concerns being expressed.Commenting the SNP's Mr Robertson said:" The PCS Union have described the waste of taxpayers money in this contract as 'scandalous' and it is clearly an affront to hard-working staff who are facing redundancy in the name of efficiency."" The record of the Inland Revenue, as was, and now HMRC on IT issues is deeply concerning. Many constituents will have been affected firstly by the National Insurance computer system problems and then the Tax Credits system failures." While the systems in this case appear to be working HMRC have in effect handed over hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers money to private shareholders." In the meantime morale within HMRC is hitting new lows and the prospect of 25,000 job cuts is causing grave concern to staff and customers alike." I fully support the PCS campaign to stop the heart being ripped out of public services. What people want and quite simply what works is being able to speak to people face to face rather than being shunted on to telephone lines to centralised teams that are based hundreds of miles away." This approach disadvantages the most vulnerable, whether it is for Tax Credits, Benefits or many other government services." My office receives a constant stream of complaints about the operation of these systems and practically none of them relate to the efforts of individual staff members but have everything to do with the massive cuts being imposed by central government."" The serious mistakes in this IT contract could have been avoided if there was not such a drive to centralise services and more investment in frontline staff.Ends.
|