Leader Report – 5 October – 5 November 2007 Executive Meeting – November 2007

1. The A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

I met with Stewart Stevenson, Minister for Transport, within the , at the site of the landslip on the A83 on Monday 5 November at which the Minister indicated that all necessary action would be taken to ensure the earliest possible date for the re-opening of the A83 trunk road. He also indicated that the resources required to deliver this would be committed by the Scottish Government. I welcomed this commitment from him and was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with him at this location.

2. Launch of European Structural Funds

I attended the launch of the Highlands and Islands Structural Fund Programme 2007-13 at Dunstaffnage Marine Lab on 5 th October 2007. The Minister for Enterprise, , announced £82 million ERDF and £34 million ESF, which is planned to add value to the regional economy. Argyll and Bute benefited substantially from the previous European programme, which supported projects such as Aqualibrium, Port Askaig pier redevelopment, environmental activities, waste management and a number of employability, training and people support initiatives. The new programme will be delivered differently from in the past, with the local authority taking a lead role in the design and delivery of local strategies. Through the Community Planning Partnership, funding will be ring fenced for activities which ‘ enhance the sustainable growth of peripheral and fragile communities ’. This will be an important development for Community Planning in Argyll and Bute and one which will enable the Council to deliver some key corporate objectives in partnership. I was able to press the Minister for clear guidance on this matter, as none had previously been forthcoming. I understand that this is now being prepared.

3. Joint Health Strategic Partnership

I chaired the Argyll and Bute Health & Care Strategic Partnership meeting on 5 th October. This was my final meeting as Chair of the Partnership – in terms of the Constitution, this now passes to the Chair of the Community Health Partnership, Mr Bill Brackenridge.

4. Gigha Heritage Trust, Opportunity Kintyre and Dalriada Business Action Group

Along with Cllrs Scoullar and Robb I enjoyed a very informative visit to Gigha on 11 th October. Our meeting was hosted by Willy McSporran, Chair of the Gigha Heritage Trust and their development worker, Jacqui McLeod. There was wide ranging discussion which looked at the Gigha masterplan and current draft of the 5 year development plan. Since the

1 community buy out Fynehomes have built 18 new units and GHT have undertaken a programme of refurbishment within its own estate of 42 houses. It was also good to see there has been a number of private new builds and craft units built with the support of HIE monies. The visit included a visit to Gigha Primary School to see progress on the school extension – the £0.330 million project is near to completion and hopefully will be added to next year with an extra investment of £50,000 to provide better car parking and playground provision.

Later in the day I was joined by Cllr Robert MacIntyre, Depute Leader, in Campbeltown to visit the new Customer Services Centre at Witchburn Road. We were impressed by the telephony system in operation and look forward to the progressive roll out of the system into our frontline offices.

In the evening Cllr Macintyre and I met with representatives of two different community groups, Opportunity Kintyre and the Dalriada Business Action Group. Opportunity Kintyre are focused on improving the Kintyre economy by providing business mentoring services to existing or new businesses. They have adopted the Sirolli Enterprise Facilitation model which seeks to capitalise on local expertise and networks to support entrepreneurial activity. We had a very interesting discussion about the potential for this model to work elsewhere cross Argyll and Bute and I have invited the group to do a presentation to a future Council business day.

The meeting with Dalriada Business Action Group focused on the reinstatement of the Campbeltown/Ballycastle ferry route. The two businesses who were interested in tendering at the point which the Northern Ireland office withdrew funding are still keen to look at bidding for the route and it was noted with disappointment the poor level of contact which there had been between the Scottish Executive and the companies. It was agreed that a meeting with the Minister for Transport, Stewart Stevenson, was essential and I was pleased to secure a commitment to meet from him at the recent meeting of the Convention of Highlands and Islands. This date has still to be finalised.

5. Meeting with Jim Mather, MSP

I met with Jim Mather MSP on 12 th October. Also present were the Chief Executive, Director of Community Services, and Social Work Heads of Service. The main item on the agenda was a briefing in respect of the Inspection of Social Work Services in Argyll & Bute, and the main issues highlighted in the Inspection Report, which was published on 26 th October, were discussed. A presentation will be made, in regard to the Social Work Inspection Report, to the Council in January.

2 6. Highlands and Islands Conveners Group

I attended the Highlands and Islands Conveners Group along with the Chief Executive on 18 October when the following issues were raised:-

(a) Transfer of Marine Fish Farming Planning Powers

On the day of the meeting I had received a letter from Richard Lochhead confirming that there would be no additional resources beyond that already allocated and it appeared that although disappointing there was nothing further that can be done by the Council in seeking to represent for additional resources. I have since written to the Minister setting out the Council’s view on the issues that arise from this.

(b) Broadband Project

The Conveners meeting also took the opportunity to discuss items on the convention agenda and in particular the broadband issue which I will cover later in this report.

(c) Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation

The issue of the range of indicators to be used for the Scottish index for multiple deprivation was also discussed and a meeting has taken place between the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and the Convention to discuss these matters. The outcome from this will be the subject of a separate report as it contains a substantial amount of technical detail around the indices that will be applied. The Council also wished to ensure that these indices take account of the sparsity and rurality of Argyll and Bute.

(d) Future Working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Visit Scotland

A discussion took place in regard to the ongoing relationship with Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Visit Scotland following the recent announcement on the proposed review. The Conveners meeting agreed to seek a meeting with and Jim Mather to try and obtain some clarity around the detail of this particular issue.

(e) Transmission Charging for Renewables

This matter was raised and identified as a key agenda item for the next meeting of the Highlands and Islands Conveners Group on 5 December.

3 7. COSLA CONVENTION

Both myself and the Depute Leader and the Chief Executive attended the COSLA Convention on Friday 19 October. Councillor Alison Hay was also there as a non voting Member in her capacity as a spokesperson. The main points of discussion were around :

(a) Outcome Agreements

The Convention heard an update on the development of the single outcome agreements for local authorities which are still under development. It is anticipated that there will be some high level indicators to support the single outcome agreement available by April 2008. A meeting to discuss this was to be held with Chief Executives.

(b) Community Scotland

A confidential briefing note had been circulated with regard to the future of Communities Scotland and an update will be provided at an appropriate time in regard to this matter.

(c) Spending Review

There was substantial discussion on this item and in particular in relation to the impact on local government, an update was given on the meeting of 17 October with the Cabinet Secretary which had been held in the context of a positive note for the role of local government but against a very tight financial settlement. It was indicated that there would be a reduction in ring fenced funding the reduction being on a phased basis. It was also been confirmed that there would be no top slicing of efficiency savings. However there appears to be no agreement on the baseline figure for local government and the areas of debate between COSLA and the Minister were around that and the manifesto commitments. It would appear that COSLA are seeking new resources for the manifesto commitments while the Scottish Government would wish to see the manifesto commitments met through flexibility.

(d) Interim Political Structures/Constitution

These two items were taken in tandem. The Interim Political Structures were agreed through to March 2008 with them being reviewed then. Meantime the Constitution is being reviewed and it was agreed that items raised by me on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council would be considered as part of that exercise.

8. Meeting with John Swinney MSP

On the evening of 28 October 2007 the Highlands and Islands Conveners Group met with the Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney, Jim

4 Mather, Mike Russell and Stewart Stevenson to discuss the approach to Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation when we had the opportunity to highlight the need for a set of complementary rural indicators to those already being developed. This was sympathetically received by the Cabinet Secretary and Ministers.

John Swinney also made reference to the announcement he would be making to Parliament on 14 November in relation to Outcome Agreements. He outlined the outcomes he would like to see ten years from now and the indicators that would be measured to chart progress in the attainment of these.

9. Convention of the Highlands and Islands

I attended the Convention of the Highlands and Islands on Monday 29 October with the Chief Executive and Wendy Bruce the newly appointed Leadership Support Officer. An early item for consideration at the Convention was whether the new Scottish Government would intend to support the Convention and this was confirmed by John Swinney early in the meeting.

(a) Broadband/ICT

There was a substantial debate upon this matter following upon a discussion at the Highlands and Islands Conveners meeting highlighting the benefits to be gained from effective communication and electronic data interchange in this area. It had been noted however that Highlands and Islands areas have proved difficult to provide the full benefits of Broadband and that it was agreed generally by the Convention that it was vitally important that the full implementation of the Broadband technology required to be provided to these areas as a means of ensuring the full benefits of such technology cvan be accessed by both public authorities and the communities in these locations.

(b) The Health of Scotland

This session looked at developing a high quality but sustainable model of healthcare in remote rural areas. Main theses of Dr. Roger Gibbins’ paper which were explored in the meeting were informed by a focus of “better, quicker, safer, as local as possible and as specialised as necessary”.

• Delivery of a strategy via a number of sub groups to identify “synergies, cross-cutting issues and gaps to be addressed”

• Defining the role and function of Rural General Hospitals

• Development of a framework of generic principles of service delivery in remote settings

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• Development of rural education strategy, including a “virtual school of rural healthcare”. Greater involvement with UHI for training purposes.

• Review of rural health transport issues, and “telehealth” strategy to ease remote access to health information (to reduce the necessity to travel for it)

• Development of rural workforce planning; shared specialist resources etc.

This paper appeared to be supported generally by the meeting.

(c) Transport

The review of the transport infrastructure was explored within the context of climate, safety and effectiveness in rural areas.

Acknowledgement was made of the high rates of rural road accidents, solutions for which included targeted investment in road improvements but also for a focus on road safety education, wearing of seat belts in particular. The “dualling” of the A9 would be given a high priority.

A willingness to look for ways to cut the volume of traffic on the roads was discussed:-

• Removal of “pinch-points” from rail networks

• Prioritisation of the electrification of the /Glasgow line, using five wind-turbines for power

• Re-contracting of CALMAC now completed

• Development of ports, ferries, routes, timetables and pricing; Campbeltown to Ballycastle route to be developed

• Encouragement should be given to the use of Video-conferencing where possible.

Emphasis was placed on the importance of Argyll and Bute’s involvement in transport development as key to the area’s economic development, especially for Kintyre.

I also took the opportunity while meeting the Minister to raise the issues of the Dunoon/Gourock ferry service, the issue of the trunk roads in the west of Argyll and Bute, the investment needs in ferries, piers and harbours and the Campbeltown/Ballycastle ferry route and the Minister indicated that he would meet me to discuss these matters at a suitable time.

6 (d) Competitiveness and Sustainable Growth

Themes covered in this session included:-

• Highlands and Islands sharing a vision and working co-operative not competitively. . • Further the Higher Education take-up needs to be improved to develop skills and knowledge; the development of full university status for UHI was part of this discussion as well as the use of technology to make education more accessible.

• Exploitation of renewable energy sources was cited as a major economic growth opportunity for Scotland and particularly the Highlands and Islands.

10. Initiative at the Edge

I was also involved in the meeting in regard to the Initiative at the Edge along with the Chief Executive and Wendy Bruce and attended the National Steering Group whilst at the Highlands and Islands Convention. It was a very long meeting but with little firm outcome. In summary it was agreed that each community planning area would bring forward to the National Steering Group nominations for areas for Initiative at the Edge status the selection to be based on the criteria set down by the National Steering Group. The new areas would be identified and designated in March 2008 but would not come into operation until March or April 2009 and that the period of a year would be used for training and development of the local development groups. These new designations will last for up to five years. In regard to the existing designations including those in Argyll and Bute these would continue to March 2009 so that there would be no overlap. The proposals will come before the Community Planning Management Committee when they are received but I think it would be prudent for the Council to begin consideration of this in advance of that based on the report for the National Steering Group.

11. Meeting with CMAL and Tobermory Harbour Association

I agreed to chair a meeting between CMAL and the Tobermory Harbour Association on Wednesday 31 October, in an endeavour to allay the fears and mistrust which lay between the two bodies over the imposition of the Harbour Empowerment Order at Tobermory. We had an extremely fruitful meeting with a frank exchange of views from both sides. The general consensus by the close of the meeting was that there was good solid basis on which to work towards a mutually agreeable conclusion to the issue.

7 12. Official Opening of the Construction Skills Centre

I attended the opening, by Jim Mather MSP, of the Construction Skills Centre, Kilmory, on the morning of Friday 2 November. This Centre has come about through close partnership working with Argyll College so that the pupils and young people from across Argyll and Bute are now able to access a variety of vocational education programmes and expand their curriculum development alongside their employability skills. It was funded through specific ring fenced monies from the Scottish Government and partly through other college budgets. The programme is aimed at encouraging young people to become familiar with the world of work, together with giving an early change to work on practical skills that relate directly to jobs. This course is especially suitable for candidates with an aptitude for, and an interest in, practical craft work, providing good opportunities to develop the candidate’s self-confidence. It also aims to provide a very positive learning experience and help young people to acquire knowledge and develop skills that will be useful in work and for life in general.

13. Official Opening of the Wood Chipping Plant at Cairndow

On behalf of the Council, I was pleased to attend this event which saw a very important development for Argyll & Bute come to fruition.

14. Big World Event Dunoon

I was delighted to attend along with the Community Services Spokesperson a presentation of the Big World Event in Dunoon. This event is aimed at fifth and sixth year pupils and is organised by Strathclyde Police in partnership with Argyll and Bute Council, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and the Scottish Ambulance Service. The purpose of the event is to provide a dramatic interpretation of how life might be for our young people when they move to large cities and provides a provocative insight into night life in large cities along with a number of set presentations from the emergency services on issues that will affect our young people. The feedback from the event has been very good and upwards of 500 fifth and sixth year pupils in Argyll and Bute will attend this event in Dunoon and for the pupils of Helensburgh a similar event in Clydebank next week.

8 FORTHCOMING MEETINGS

Date Meeting Key Agenda Items 9 November Community Planning Partnership 14 November Post Office Proposed closure of Rural Post Users Group Offices in Argyll & Bute 16 November COSLA Leaders 20 November COSLA meeting to discuss future of Enterprise Companies and Business Gateways 22 November Follow up Strategic Issues meeting with Alistair Watson of SPT 23 November Meeting with BLF 26 November Meeting with To discuss Waterfront strategies Dunbartonshire Enterprise 26 November Meeting with Strategic Issues Scottish Salmon 27 November John Swinney Community Planning Conference with all Leaders 28/29 November Emergency With Chief Executive and Leaders of Planning other Councils Exercise

Dick Walsh Leader 8 November 2007

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