THE T h e R i TO g h t RIGHT t o E x i s t The Story of : EXIST T THE h e S t o CLYDEBANK INDEPENDENT RESOURCE CENTRE r y o f t h e C l y d e b a n k I n d e p e n d e n t R e s o u r c e C e n t r e A candle of hope for Kvaerner. Kvaerner closed on 22nd March 2001. C h i k C o l l i n s Chik Collins School of Social Sciences University of the West of Scotland Supported and funded by Oxfam Scotland © Chik Collins 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Published by Clydebank Independent Resource Centre. Supported and funded by Oxfam. Clydebank Independent Resource Centre 627 Dumbarton Road Clydebank G81 4ET Produced by Big Sky, Findhorn. www.bigskyprint.com Contents 1. Introduction: Why write the ‘story’ of the Clydebank Independent Resource Centre? Part 1 From the ‘Risingest Burgh’ to the ‘Enterprise Zone’ 2. Something about Clydebank: From the ‘risingest burgh’to the ‘right to work’ 3. What’s Bred in the Bone: The Unemployed Action Group 4. Talkin’ ‘bout Regeneration: The SDA, the Enterprise Zone and the Clydebank Unemployed and Unwaged Group Part 2 The Clydebank Unemployed Workers’ Centre and the Campaign for its ‘Regeneration’ 5. Kelly’s Heroes: The Clydebank Unemployed Workers’ Centre 6. Caught up in ‘The Doomsday Scenario’: Remembering the later 1980s 7. Paying for the Poll Tax? Closure and the campaign for the “regeneration of the UB40” Part 3 The Clydebank Unemployed Community Resource Centre 8. The Making of a Meaningful Partnership: The Clydebank Unemployed Community Resource Centre 9. Getting back to Basics: Gearing up for the dog days of conservatism 10. When Things Could Only Get Better, Clydebank Fought Back 11. Breaking the Rules of the ‘Partnership’ Game: Thriving through adversity Part 4 New Labour, Local Politics and National Policy 12. From New Life to New Labour: Old wine in new bottles 13. The SIP/Centre Paradox Explained 14. Trouble Ahead: Local politics and national policy (1999-2003) 15. Gathering Clouds: Local politics and national policy (2003-2004) Part 5 The “New Conventional Wisdom”, ‘Worklessness’, and Another Near-Death Experience 16. The Challenge of the “New Conventional Wisdom”: Clydebank Re-Built and the URBAN II Programme 17. The Growing Threat of ‘Worklessness’ 18. Another ‘Near-Death’ Experience 19. A River Runs Through It: Clydebank, People and Place, the ‘casualties’ of local politics, and its survivors 20. Conclusion: Learning from experience and building for the future List of Abbreviations AGM Annual General Meeting BBF Building Brighter Futures/Building Better Futures BMP Benefits Maximisation Project CAB Citizens Advice Bureau CDC Clydebank District Council CFB Clydebank Fights Back CHA Clydebank Housing Association CIRC Clydebank Independent Resource Centre CLWD Community Links West Dunbartonshire CPP Community Planning Partnership CRF Community Regeneration Fund CUCRC Clydebank Unemployed Community Resource Centre CUUP Clydebank Unemployed and Unwaged Group DHSS Department of Health and Social Security DWP Department of Work and Pensions FLAG Ferguslie League of Action Groups GEAR Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal Project JSA Job Seekers’ Allowance NUWM National Unemployed Workers’ Movement PPA Priority Partnership Area ROA Regeneration Outcome Agreement RP Regeneration Programme SCVO Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations SDA Scottish Development Agency SIP Social Inclusion Partnership SLA Service Level Agreement SOFFA Scottish One Fund For All SRC Strathclyde Regional Council STUC Scottish Trades Union Congress SURF Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum TGWU Transport and General Workers’ Union UAG Unemployed Action Group UCS Upper Clyde Shipbuilders UP Urban Programme URC Urban Regeneration Company UWC Unemployed Workers’ Centre WDC West Dunbartonshire Council WDP West Dunbartonshire Partnership The Right to Exist: The Story of the Clydebank Independent Resource Centre Book launch in Clydebank Town Hall, 22nd May 2008 A launch for this book was arranged, to coincide with the Annual General Meeting of the Clydebank Independent Resource Centre, ahead of the book’s anticipated publication in May 2008. Events, including the progress of a certain Scottish football club in European competition, conspired to ensure that the book was not back from the (Airdrie based) printers in time for the launch. Nonetheless, the launch went ahead with some improvised copies – and was a great success. The delay in publication affords an opportunity to report a little of what happened on the day. Firstly, here are some views on the book from people who kindly agreed to speak at the launch, and who were able to read the book in advance. John McAllion (former MP and MSP) “Usually when a pile of paper produced by an academic or a consultant lands on my desk my heart sinks. But this book is very different. Chik Collins writes in his introduction that he is trying to tell the story of a fascinating organisation, and to make it readable and engaging for as many people as possible. He has succeeded very well in that. At times the book reads like a political thriller. As I read the Centre’s story I continually found myself remembering the same kinds of things happening at the same points in time in my own city of Dundee. And this is because in bringing the story of the Centre to life Collins crystallizes a whole range of issues and problems which are of vital relevance, not just to Clydebank, but to towns and cities across the whole of Scotland, and in fact much of the UK. It is a story which not only pays fitting tribute to what has been achieved by the local community in Clydebank, but which skilfully exposes the manipulation, misrepresentation, half truths and at times downright lies which have far too often been perpetrated in the name of ‘regeneration’ in Scotland.” Stephen Boyd (Assistant Secretary, Scottish Trades Union Congress) “For some time we at the Scottish Trades Union Congress have been concerned about the quality of the research and evidence on which debate about social and economic questions in Scotland is based. This is very much the kind of work which can help us to improve the quality of the debate. In particular it can help us to do better in addressing the problems of local communities in the future. It reveals not just how poorly the so-called regeneration and anti-poverty initiatives have performed over the past 30 years, but also the apparent reluctance on the part of so many to confront that reality and to draw the relevant conclusions. Most importantly, for us at the STUC, it highlights the importance of the Clydebank and District Trades Council to the success of the Centre over almost four decades. In doing so it reminds us of the kinds of positive links between trade unions and local communities which were so important in the creation of the STUC in the first place. We need now to return to and nurture these links more in other towns and cities, because increasingly it is not only local communities which are challenged by poverty and regeneration; our own members are facing those challenges too. The STUC will be helping to disseminate this research, and seeking to act on its recommendations.” Danny McCafferty (Former leader of West Dunbartonshire Council and long-standing supporter of the Centre) “The Right to Exist is a serious academic work written by someone who has many years’ experience in his field. But it is written in a way which is very unlike most academic research, as a story in which there are real people who come to life off the pages. Chik Collins tells their story with a warmth and feeling which shows that he has understood who they are and what they have stood for over the years. That is so important to the local community in Clydebank. But it will also be important in ensuring that this is a book which other local communities will be able to read and learn from. Too much research is written for government and agencies. It might as well have ‘communities keep out’ printed on the title page. Not this one.” Louise Carlin (Country Programme Manager, Oxfam) “At Oxfam we do not share the view that poverty is the unavoidable consequence of economic forces working at the global level. We take the view that it is the entirely avoidable consequence of decisions and omissions which favour the richer nations of the world, and certain groups within those nations. In particular, women and girls remain consistently at most risk of poverty throughout the world because of both poverty and discrimination. We also take the view that if poverty is to be tackled, then the frequently heard rhetoric about empowering local communities has to translate into a real shift in power towards women and men experiencing poverty and communities finding solutions for themselves. Chik Collins’s telling of the story of the Clydebank Independent Resource Centre is not only unusually readable as social and economic research goes, it also provides striking confirmation for the views that Oxfam holds and the way it works. For here is the story of a community having doggedly to defend its right to identify and respond to local needs over many, many years, to great effect in the face of political decisions and policies which have at times made matters worse . The story of the Centre provides a clear example for other communities to learn from.