Tag Archive for Scottish Parliament

MSPs’ ‘Local Heroes’ Announced

June 24, 2011 Joe FitzPatrick MSP, Shona Robison MSP No comments

 

Joe, Stella, Cathy, Shona

                                                                                                                        

Dundee’s two Constituency Members of the Scottish Parliament have announced their ‘Local Heroes’ who will take part in the ‘Riding’ or procession to the Scottish Parliament on 1st July 2011, alongside MSPs and representatives of different aspects of Scottish culture and society.  

Her  Majesty The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Presiding Officers and the First Minister will greet the arrival of the riding procession in front of the Scottish Parliament building for a ceremony which will celebrate the opening of the new session of Parliament.

The MSPs are asked to select their constituency’s ‘Local Hero’ on the basis of outstanding record of service to the local community or other noteworthy achievements.

Shona Robison’s Local Hero, who will accompany her on the procession down the Royal Mile, is Cathy Hamilton who is well-known in the local voluntary sector as the Manager of Tayside Carers Support project and a key figure in the support delivered to people with mental illness through various forums and groups throughout Tayside.

Shona Robison said: “I’m delighted to announce that my ‘Local Hero’ is Cathy who is at the centre of carers’ services in Tayside and who I know from my previous role as Minister for Public Health and of course as a constituency MSP for some years.

“I’m aware that Cathy’s work has already been recognised by a Women Ahead ‘Sunshine Award’ in 2005 and a PIP Award (Principles into Practice) earlier this year for Joint Working with NHS Tayside at the Carseview Centre. I’m very glad Cathy has agreed to attend the Opening of Parliament event on 1st July.”

Dundee City West MSP Joe FitzPatrick’s ‘Local Hero’ is Stella Carrington who is Chairperson of Charleston Tenants and Residents Association.

Joe FitzPatrick said: “I’ve known Stella for many years and she has always been very heavily involved in community initiatives particularly on drug issues. She was the person who steered the project to develop the Village Green which has been a great benefit to the community and has been an active member of the Crime Prevention panel and forums to promote community regeneration for quite some time.

“She has done such a lot of work for the local community I’m very glad to nominate her as my ‘Local Hero’.

MSPs to Announce Dundee ‘Local Heroes’ Tomorrow

June 23, 2011 Joe FitzPatrick MSP, Shona Robison MSP No comments

Dundee’s constituency MSPs Shona Robison and Joe FitzPatrick will announce their ‘Local Heroes’ tomorrow at Discovery Point in advance of the Riding of the Scottish Parliament event in Edinburgh, which they will all attend next Friday, July 1st.

Constituency Members of the Scottish Parliament are asked to select a ‘Local Hero’, who has an outstanding record of service to the local community or other noteworthy achievements to be worthy of the nomination.

The nominees then take part in the ‘Riding’ or procession to the Scottish Parliament on Friday 1st July, alongside MSPs and representatives of the different aspects of Scottish culture and society.  

Her  Majesty The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Presiding Officers and the First Minister will greet the arrival of the riding procession in front of the Scottish Parliament building for a ceremony which will celebrate the opening of the new, fourth, session of Parliament.

The city’s two ‘Local Heroes’ will be announced tomorrow at a photocall at 10.45am at Discovery Point with their nominating MSPs.

Dundee MSP Appointed to Chair Local Government Committee

June 6, 2011 Joe FitzPatrick MSP No comments

Dundee City West MSP Joe FitzPatrick has been appointed as Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government & Regeneration Committee – and re-elected as Secretary of the 68 strong SNP Group of MSPs – a position he has held for the past four years.

The Local Government Committee oversees one-third of the Scottish Budget spending and being appointed Convenor is a step up for the Dundee MSP who recently increased his majority to 6405, with nearly double the number of votes of his nearest opponent.

Commenting on his appointment, Joe FitzPatrick said: “I’m looking forward to the challenges of convening this important committee. I was a councillor on Dundee City Council for eight years and my experiences there on a number of Committees and as SNP Finance Spokesman will be helpful in my new role.

“There are many challenges ahead in local government with our election commitments to continue the council tax freeze, reduce class sizes still further and extend a no-compulsory redundancies pledge across the whole of the public sector. 

“It will also be a challenge to maintain the scrutiny role of the committee despite the SNP’s majority in Parliament.”

Salmond Elected First Minister as Fourth Parliamentary Session Gets Underway

May 19, 2011 Joe FitzPatrick MSP, Shona Robison MSP No comments

Alex Salmond was elected First Minister of Scotland for the second time today as the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament got underway. Dundee MSPs Joe FitzPatrick and Shona Robison joined the 67 other members of the SNP majority group in a photocall on the stairs in the parliamentary building at Holyrood.

The 69-strong SNP Parliamentary Group

Calman Consensus Crumbles As Labour MPs Join With Tories To Deny Scotland New Powers

March 15, 2011 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

SNP attempts to improve the Scotland Bill have been voted down as the consensus between the three unionist parties crumbles over timetabling, and as Labour MPs have humiliated their MSP colleagues over powers for the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP proposed a series of amendments with the aim of providing the financial levers and responsibility Scotland needs to grow our economy and address flaws in the Bill. These included an amendment on the aggregates levy, supported by Labour MSPs in Holyrood, however, in a vote on the issue this evening Labour MPs abstained.

Separately, a row has broken out between Labour and their Lib Dem and Tory Calman partners over the timetabling of the Bill after it emerged that amendments to overhaul the Scottish legal system will solely be scrutinised by the House of Lords and not MPs.

SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said: “It is deeply disappointing that Labour MPs have again joined with the Tories and Lib Dems to deny new powers for the Scottish Parliament and hold back action on the economy and jobs.

“Last week they voted against devolving lifesaving powers over airguns, and this week they are voting against powers to boost the economy. The position of Labour MPs is without credit or credibility
and will come as a humiliation to Iain Gray and Labour in the Scottish Parliament.

“By failing to support devolution over aggregates tax, as supported by the Scottish Parliament Committee, Labour in Westminster have dug a hole for Iain Gray and his colleagues in Holyrood. It’s clear that the Calman consensus is crumbling.

“Without the improvements put forward by the SNP, the Scotland Bill will be a wasted opportunity as it does not give Scotland financial responsibility to grow the economy and, in its current form, poses a significant risk to the funding of public services.

“Extremely limited borrowing powers mean the Scottish Government cannot effectively invest in long term building projects to stimulate the Scottish economy. The half-baked tax trap put forward by Calman will see Scotland lose billions in coming years.

“Since 2007, the SNP Scottish Government has been making full use of  the powers available to it to steer the Scottish economy through the recession and that’s worked – the downturn was shorter and Scotland is the only nation in the UK with rising employment and falling unemployment.

“The UK Government keeps making the wrong decisions for Scotland. The VAT rise which squeeze household budgets, a base closure program which will reduce uniformed personnel in Scotland by 25% and no relief from sky high fuel prices are all making life difficult for Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament could make the right decisions for Scotland.”

Are You as Old as Devolution?

April 17, 2009 Uncategorized No comments

MSP Calls for 10 Year Olds to Join Holyrood Party

Celebrations will mark the tenth anniversary of the official opening of the Scottish Parliament. There will be a host of celebrations taking place on 1 July 2009 to mark the occasion and the Parliament has issued a last call to children who will be ten years old on the day to come along for a special birthday party in Edinburgh.

Ten years ago, on 1st July 1999, 163 children born on the day across Scotland received medallions and a personal letter from the late Donald Dewar, Scotland’s first First Minister, to commemorate the event.

Dundee West MSP Joe Fitzpatrick said: “The tenth anniversary of the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament will be a symbolic moment in the history of devolution, and is a reminder of the democratic deficit that existed in Scotland before that.

“The celebrations on the day will be huge and a major part will be played by children who were born on 1st July 1999.

“I would encourage parents whose children were born on that day to get in touch with the Parliament to make sure they get to be at the heart of the celebrations. With the Queen in attendance and the whole country watching it will be an occasion not to be missed!

“Perhaps some of those 1st of July 1999 Dundee babies who received medallions might like to take part?”

For parents who want to take part with their child, please contact the Scottish Parliament direct on 0131 348 5000, or email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

 

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