Scottish Parliament News
number 2

Cathy Peattie MSP
Falkirk East

Textile workers meet MSPs

Scottish textile workers, including representatives of Wm. Baird, Dak Simpson, and other workforces facing redundancy, recently lobbied the Scottish Parliament. At a meeting arranged by Cathy Peattie, the MSP for Falkirk East, the workers discussed the current situation in the Scottish textile industry, and explored what measures could be taken by MSPs to provide support.

“The textile industry is under pressure from several directions,” said Cathy. “The cancellation of UK contracts by Marks and Spencer has hit affected firms extremely hard; the strong pound makes imports cheaper and exports more difficult; and there are several issues arising from globalisation of world markets.

“Some people have called for a boycott of Marks and Spencers, but the workers’ union, the GMB, has emphasised to us that they do not support this call. What they would like to see is better labelling of UK produced garments, to enable consumers to support their own industry with their purchases.

“We need to look at how we can provide better support for textile firms, both through financial measures, and by helping them to adapt to the changing global markets. Within those global markets, there are also continuing debates about freedom and fairness, and the disregard of social and environmental issues by the regulatory body, the World Trade Organisation. These problems may yet worsen if the WTO takes over regulation of investment on the same basis as trade, through the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment.”

Created in Scotland

A “Created in Scotland” campaign is welcome, but it will not achieve maximum impact unless people know which goods are created in Scotland. Speaking in the Scottish Parliament debate on manufacturing, on Thursday 9th March, Cathy Peattie called for a “Created in Scotland” label to complement the Scottish Executive campaign.

“I live in Grangemouth,” said Cathy, “which is the home of an ever growing petrochemical cluster. BP Amoco is building a new propylene plant; we are soon to have a new rail freight terminal; and Grangemouth docks are the busiest in Scotland. My constituency plays a major role in Scotland’s economy.

“It has not been all good news in Falkirk East. A number of jobs have been lost in the clothing industry over the past months. There are lessons to be learned from that, which is why I particularly welcome the PACE report. There are many examples of good practice that we should take into consideration.

“Russell Athletic was a manufacturing company in Bo’ness, in my constituency. The announcement of its plant closure was heard by the work force in the morning, before they went to work. No one told them what was going to happen. There was no recognition that workers in the manufacturing industry are stakeholders in the company.

“Although the company had plans to move the plant and the contracts, and so on, it had no plans to speak to the work force. Only after pressure from the MP, Michael Connarty, and me did it consider bringing in Forth Valley Enterprise and Falkirk Council. The partnership of Forth Valley Enterprise and Falkirk Council enabled the staff to consider ways forward: jobs, training and other options. That should have happened long before the announcement of closure. It is appalling that people treat their staff in that way.

“Another recent example of bad news is the Bairdwear factory in Grangemouth. It is closing down. Marks and Spencer, for whom Bairdwear produced garments, had told the company that its products were about the best in Scotland and that it was very pleased with them. Days later, it decided to buy overseas and end the contract with Bairdwear, which had been in place for some years. That caused great frustration. The factory’s work was good. Some workers in Bairdwear had worked there since they left school. The company knew it had a good product.

“Bairdwear workers mounted a campaign to persuade people to buy local, and were to be seen on the High Street in Falkirk and elsewhere encouraging people not to buy foreign goods in high-street stores but to look for UK labels. The workers were frustrated because the garments that had originated overseas were not any cheaper and were not of such good quality, yet people were buying them.

“That is why I return to “Created in Scotland”. Will the minister consider a “Created in Scotland” label? The workers in Bairdwear feel that that would play a crucial role in encouraging people to buy local. A joined-up campaign that used “Created in Scotland” labels for our produce as well as our manufactured goods would also help growers and farmers in Scotland. I welcome “Created in Scotland” and urge the minister to consider such a label to ensure that, when products are created in Scotland, the label says so. “

Standards in Schools

The first debate on the Standards for Scotland’s Schools Bill took place on Wednesday 22nd March.

Speaking in the debate, Cathy - a member of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee - said that it had been interesting to watch the bill take shape, and that there had been considerable changes since the consultation on the “Improving Our Schools” document - and that she was sure that a few more the time Parliament finally approves the legislation.

“As someone who has had a long involvement in education at all levels, I have a particular interest in the commitment to participation and partnership that underpins the bill. The challenge must be to ensure that every child and young person in Scotland has the right to an education that enables them to achieve their full potential. The days when children and young people were expected to be seen and not heard are, thankfully, long gone; a child-centred approach to education means listening to children and young people and involving them in school development plans.

“The Education, Culture and Sport Committee received evidence from a number of sources—I particularly enjoyed the session with “Save the Children”, during which we heard evidence from young people. I recall two primary 4 pupils telling us about their school policy, how the school worked and some of the challenges facing the school. They said that bullying was a real issue and went on to tell us how that problem was being dealt with. By involving children in school planning, schools can not only take young people’s views into consideration, but involve them in solving problems. We can learn a lot from young people, and we must listen to them. It is vital that there are structures that allow their participation.

“I also want to mention the role of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Schools. Although HMI agrees that consultation with children, young folk and parents is necessary, the procedures are not yet in place to allow that. It is also vital that HMI takes a stakeholder approach to inspections of community schools and that inspectors talk to all the partners involved in schools, including voluntary and community organisations, parents and pupils. The success of community schools should be measured not on narrow performance indicators, but on how the school delivers for children and creates family-friendly education.”

Public views on public appointments

The Scottish Executive is taking a fundamental look at the public appointments system – and the public should make sure its voice is heard, says Falkirk East’s MSP, Cathy Peattie.

“Scottish Ministers are responsible for nearly four thousands posts on our public bodies. The people they appoint oversee billions of pounds of expenditure, but public bodies are, with some justification, regarded as remote, unaccountable and unrepresentative of the public they serve. There are socio-economic and geographical biases in the current system, and women, people from ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities are clearly underrepresented.

“The Scottish Executive aims to change this, and has launched a consultation process, with the publication of “Appointments to Public Bodies In Scotland: Modernising the System.” The document asks questions about issues such as Parliament’s involvement in the appointment process, the role of independent assessors on appointment panels; and whether the process should be scrutinised by a Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments. There is also the opportunity to put forward alternative suggestions to those in the document.

“The consultation period ends on 28 April. I will place a copy in Grangemouth Library, which is the Scottish Parliament partner library for this area. For those with web access, the consultation document has also been published on the Internet at www.scotland.gov.uk/publicappointments.

“And, having discovered that, unlike Scottish Parliament publications, Scottish Executive documents are not automatically placed in libraries, I will be asking for that to change. Consultation periods are often just a few weeks. We should be aiming to maximise input from the general public, who don’t have professional lobbyists to ensure their views are heard!”

MSP calls for better cancer statistics

Falkirk East’s MSP, Cathy Peattie, has welcomed the news that the incidence of childhood leukaemia is not significantly higher in the Grangemouth and Bo’ness area than elsewhere, and the similar results derived from the analysis of several other cancers.

“It is worrying that bladder cancer is higher here than elsewhere,” said Cathy, “particularly when the cause cannot be identified. We clearly need to have better information available for analysis. Part of the problem is that while the information available has been extended by linking to other records since 1997, both the General Register Office and the cancer registration process still fail to record what may be significant details.

“For example, only the most recent occupation and place of residence at the time of diagnosis or death are noted in statistics. Because there is often a long interval between exposure to causative agents and the development and discovery of tumours, this causal link will be lost in statistics which do not show that someone has previously lived in what might be a high risk area or done a high risk job. As people become more and more mobile, both geographically and in their occupation, it becomes more likely that such relevant information will be overlooked.

“I have made this point in discussions, and will continue to push for an expansion of the data collected in morbidity and mortality statistics.”

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