Jun202017

Five things that need to be in the Queen’s Speech

Scottish Labour
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20 June 2017

This week Theresa May will attempt to produce a Queen’s Speech. Here are five things that need to be in it.

Reverse planned cuts to social security
Tories plans to slash social security will see low income workers, families and the most vulnerable lose out over £1 billion by 2020/21.

Make austerity history
Day to day spending in Scotland is set to fall by a further £1 billion in the next three years. The General Election was a wake-up call to the Tories – austerity needs to end.

Protect the WASPI women
Over 250,000 women in Scotland have had their state pension age changed without fair notice. That just isn’t fair, so the Tories should commit to transactional protections for the WASPI women.

Scrap VAT on Scotland’s Police and Fire Services
The way the SNP government centralised Police and Fire Services left them with a £35 million a year VAT bill. This is a mess of the SNP’s making, but the UK Tories need to drop the point scoring and give our emergency services a tax cut.

More support for Oil and Gas
In the last UK Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded its forecast for offshore receipts by 37 per cent. The North Sea needs real support, not just warm words.

We need to see investment in the North Sea oil and gas industry to protect jobs in the short and long term, and plan properly for decommissioning. We also need to look at taking vital pieces of infrastructure into temporary public ownership to stop them being decommissioned prematurely.

Agree with our plans for the Queen’s Speech? Then help spread our message.

Jun202017

RR1089 – Leadership and Worker Engagement in the Ports Industry

HSE
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HSE’s 2014 Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) on Safety in Docks (L148) was developed through close consultation with employer and employee representatives. It is designed to address both the larger end of the industry and those working in small harbours and highlights the importance of leadership and full workforce involvement. Worker engagement goes beyond consultation and refers to the extent to which workers contribute to decisions that affect their health and safety. Leaders play an important role by engaging the workforce to achieve safe and healthy conditions.

This qualitative study explored how leadership and worker engagement practices were implemented in GB ports. Findings revealed several good leadership practices including leading by example, challenging unsafe practices and being visible. Listening to and acting on workers’ concerns and ensuring that feedback is provided on issues raised was also important in facilitating and/or sustaining worker engagement. Study participants considered that use of a variety of communication methods is essential to engage workers. Health and safety representatives played an important role in increasing attention to health and safety and were generally supported in their role. Worker attitude to health and safety and generational issues in particular were perceived as a potential barrier to worker engagement.

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Jun202017

SNP forced into ‘major u-turn’ on state guardians

Scottish Conservatives
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20 Jun 2017

Liz Smith (2)

The Scottish Government has announced a major u-turn in relation to its controversial named person policy following a Supreme Court ruling.

Today, education secretary John Swinney revealed public bodies operating the scheme will be forced to think twice before sharing information about a young person or their family.

That means parents who do not accept the advice of named persons will not be subsequently viewed with suspicion by authorities, the Scottish Conservatives said.

The change follows a ruling last year by the UK Supreme Court which found aspects of the SNP’s state guardian legislation unlawful.

Mr Swinney set out the changes as part of the Children and Young People (Information Sharing) (Scotland) bill.

The Scottish Conservatives said while the clarification on data sharing was welcome, serious concerns about the legislation remain.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said:

“The named person policy was a huge mistake from beginning to end which is why the Scottish Government has been forced into a major u-turn.

“The announcement today effectively means that no parent will now be forced to accept the advice from his or her child’s named person and that refusal to accept advice will no longer be treated with suspicion by the authorities.

“The Supreme Court ruling made clear that the data-sharing aspects of the Act were unlawful on account of the fact that they had the potential to contravene other legislation and to allow state intrusion into family life.

“Quite rightly, the vast majority of parents found that unacceptable.

“The Scottish Conservatives believe that the revised bill still raises many questions and it also lays bare the extent of the expense to the taxpayer of this ill-conceived policy.”

More information on the bill is here:
https://news.gov.scot/news/supporting-children-and-families-1

The Scottish Conservatives have opposed the named person scheme from the outset:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/named-person/

Jun202017

Strengthened approach to tackling bovine TB in Wales announced

Welsh Government
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From the 1st October this year, Low, Intermediate and High TB Areas will be established in Wales based on bovine TB incidence levels. 

Enhanced measures will be applied in each TB Area tailored to protect the Low TB Area and reduce the disease in the Intermediate and High TB Areas. This follows consideration of the responses to a consultation launched at the end of last year.

The enhanced controls include introducing post-movement testing in the Low TB Areas from the 1st October 2017. This will protect the area by identifying infected animals at the earliest opportunity, before they can go on to infect others. This measure will also be introduced in the Intermediate TB Areas next year to stop the risk of the disease spreading from the neighbouring High TB Areas. 

The priority for High TB Areas is to continue to reduce the number of TB breakdowns. Under the Programme, chronic breakdown herds will have individual action plans with disease control measures specifically aimed at clearing up infection in cattle. 

In these chronic breakdown herds, where there is evidence of infection in the badger population, we will  consider a range of options to reduce the risk of disease spread, including cage-trapping, testing and where necessary humanely killing infected badgers. 

The Cabinet Secretary continues to rule out large scale culling of badgers that is being applied in England. 

Speaking at the Senedd, the Cabinet Secretary said: 

“Over the last few years we have made real progress towards eradicating TB in Wales. The number of new incidents has fallen by over 40% since its peak in 2009 and currently 95% of herds in Wales are TB free. 

“I have listened to the industries responses to our consultation and have fed what was appropriate and reasonable into the Programme.This should not be seen as exclusively a Government plan; it has been developed through consultation with industry, and will be reviewed over time. I now call on the farming industry and veterinary profession to play a full part. Together we can achieve our goal of a TB free Wales.”

The new TB Eradication Programme and Delivery Plan are available on the Welsh Government website.