Local Government Archives - Page 3 of 4

SNP council candidate calls on Comhairle to lead ferries rethink

March 10, 2015

Roslyn MacPherson.

With extreme conditions continuing to disrupt ferry services, SNP council candidate for North Uist and Benbecula, Roslyn Macpherson, has called on the Comhairle to take a lead in a collaborative approach to designing ferry services.

Roslyn Macpherson commented: “There will always be times when weather conditions make sailings impossible, but the key to providing a lifeline ferry service during a severe winter is maximising capacity in between these spells. The only practical way to achieve this is by recognising the importance of the Lochmaddy to Uig route as the shortest and most efficient connection with the mainland for the Uists.

“Like many in the community, I welcome the fact that CMAL, Calmac and the Transport Minister are all due to visit Uist in the near future, at the invitation of our MSP, to discuss some of the issues we face here in service redesign. Direct dialogue between the community and decision makers is an important aspect of shaping our future ferry services – hearing the views of service users is paramount.

“However, individuals and communities representing their particular needs is only part of a longer term solution. I believe the Comhairle has a role to play in promoting a radical rethink across all areas such as vessel design and deployment, terminal facilities and timetabling throughout the Western Isles – speaking on behalf of the whole region, but acknowledging and championing the particular needs and benefits of the key routes such as between Lochmaddy and Uig.

“In the face of rising sea levels and worsening winters, I believe the council is uniquely well placed to examine our expectations of ferry services in the Western Isles, and push for them to be delivered.”

Community in the driving seat to shape future bus transport services

March 9, 2015

The community in Uist and Barra are to take a key role in shaping public bus transport services funded by the Comhairle. Consultation meetings scheduled to take place during the fortnight commencing 16th March will start the process of ascertaining what the priority for local bus transport services should be for the next 3-5 years.

Over the next few weeks a consultation process to shape the future of local bus transport services in Uist and Barra is taking place. Using a process known as participatory budgeting, the Comhairle will be putting the community in the driving seat by enabling them to identify and priortise services required for the future.

Alongside community meetings a questionnaire will be sent to every household within Uist and Barra seeking views.

Cllr John Mackay, Chairman of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, commented: “I am pleased that the process of community engagement has started. The Comhairle invests a significant amount of resources in public bus transport services and it is extremely important that they meet the needs of the communities involved. I would urge everyone in Uist and Barra to take an active role in this process.”

Details of the meetings are as follows:

Monday 16 March 2015	19.00	Lochmaddy Hall
Tuesday 17 March 2015	13.00	Uist Youth Council, Lionacleit Education Centre
	14.30	Iochdar Hall Front Room
	19.00	Balivanich Hall
Wednesday 18 March 2015	14.30	Stoneybridge Hall
	19.00	Southend Hall
Monday 23 March 2015	14.30	Barra Learning Centre Castlebay
	16.30	Barra Youth Council, Youth Café, Castlebay Hall
	19.00	Northbay Hall

Health Secretary responds to Uist healthcare changes concerns

March 6, 2015

Statement from Andrew Walker, Benbecula Community Councillor:

I am pleased to report that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-Being, Shona Robison MSP, has now responded to my letter of 2^nd February, with the following unequivocal statement:

“Should any proposals be considered to constitute major service change, they must be subject to full, formal public consultation and, ultimately, ministerial approval.”

The letter received late yesterday (5th March 2015) goes on to say:

“When Health Boards are reviewing and considering changes to the services they provide to local people, the Cabinet Secretary expects boards to communicate and engage with all local stakeholders, and the process NHS Boards should follow is set out in national guidance ‘Informing, Engaging and Consulting People in Developing Health and Community Services’.”

This decision is in keeping with the strong views communicated also in recent press releases from Benbecula Community Council on 5^th February and the Association of Community Councils on 13^th February. The trade union, UNISON, also issued a press release in support of both staff employed at the hospital, and patients.

Concerted action by all concerned stakeholders at a local level has now resulted in decisive action and intervention by the Cabinet Secretary. I expect that common sense shall now prevail in terms of process and procedure when a decision of this magnitude is in the offing – cutting bed numbers by 44% and proposals to move three dental practices into the hospital. This constitutes “major service change”.

The letter also contains a mild rebuke aimed at our NHS Western Isles board, which I hope the chairman, Neil Galbraith, and Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson, will respect, both now and as we move forward in meaningful consultation:

“I am sorry to learn you have concerns around the Board’s engagement process with local people in relation to reducing the number of beds at Uist and Barra Hospital, please be assured your comments have been noted.”

I expect an immediate announcement now from the NHS Western Isles board, informing all stakeholders that there is an immediate moratorium on the decision to cut bed numbers at Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh by 44% and that a process of consultation will commence. This should include the Comhairle, where councillors carry major concerns now about the eight beds designated as ‘continuing care beds’.

£53,286 to boost youth employment in the Western Isles

March 3, 2015

Comhairle Eilean Siar will receive £53,286 from the Scottish Government to help support young people towards a job.

The funding has been put in place to support the implementation of the recommendations from the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce which outlined a new blueprint for work-based training last year.

The funding, part of £6.5 million investment for all Scotland’s local authorities, will go towards developing vocational and employment pathways for young people, strengthening links between schools and employers and helping vulnerable groups become work ready.

Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “The latest trends on youth employment have been hugely encouraging but there is no room for complacency. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting more young women and men into jobs and published a new youth employment strategy in December.

“At the heart of our strategy is the report by the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. We will continue to work closely with our partners in local government and Scotland’s business community on its implementation as part of a seven year plan to create a new world-class system of work-based training that will work for both the economy and the job prospects of our young people.

“I am very pleased to be able to confirm funding for the Western Isles that will give the local authority additional resource to tailor activity to local need to give young people in the area the best possible chance of success.”

Play areas community workshops coming up

March 3, 2015

Community groups, and anyone wishing to contribute to discussions about the future sustainability of play areas in their locality, are invited to attend a Play Areas Community Workshop.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Sports Development Services team is organising workshops during the period 16^th – 27^th March 2015 covering each ward of the Western Isles to discuss the current issues surrounding play areas.

Those in attendance will be given a brief introduction to the different aspects of the play areas in their ward which need to be addressed in order to ensure that these areas are well used and fit for purpose. The objectives of the workshops are to:

Explain the requirement to rationalise play areas
Explain the difficulties in sustaining the current number of play areas
Rationalisation in partnership with the community sessions

Members of the public are welcome to attend these workshops as all community feedback would be greatly appreciated. All community groups will be invited to attend the events as well as local councillors.

The workshops will be held in the venues listed below:

Ward 1 – Barraigh, Bhatarsaigh, Eiriosgaigh agus Uibhist a’ Deas

Castlebay School

24^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Daliburgh School

25^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 2 – Beinn na Faoghla agus Uibhist a’ Tuath

Carinish Hall

26^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 3 – Na Hearadh agus Ceann a’ Deas nan Loch

Tarbert Community Hall

24^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 4 – Sgir’ Uig agus Ceann a’ Tuath nan Loch

Breasclete Hall

25^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 5 – Sgire an Rubha

Sgoil an Rubha

26^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 6 – Steornabhagh a Deas

Grianan Centre

17^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 7 – Steornabhagh a Tuath

Grianan Centre

18^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 8 – Loch a Tuath

Sgoil a’ Bhac

17^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Ward 9 – An Taobh Siar agus Nis

Barvas and Brue Community Centre

19^th March 2015 at 7:00pm

Letter: Continuing Care Beds at Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh

March 2, 2015

Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh.

Dear Sir/Madam

Continuing Care Beds – Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh

A ‘Freedom of Information’ request to NHS Western Isles regarding bed occupancy at the above hospital and the status of the designated eight continuing care beds, came back last Friday with the following information:

“There are no continuing care beds at Uist and Barra Hospital.”

So, there we have it, all the brou-ha-ha about cutting beds from 29 to 16 – by 44% – with flexibility to increase to 20 beds, does not really relate in any significant way to cutting the number of acute beds, but rather to discontinuing the historically agreed provision for those patients with long-term and chronic medical conditions. Such patients may be defined as those who would traditionally require nursing home type care, as many of the patients who previously occupied beds at the Lochmaddy Hospital (28 beds), closed down in 2001 when the new hospital opened in Balivanich.

Whilst I am not really in favour of those with long-term conditions being cared for in a hospital setting, and don’t disagree with this decision, I am very much concerned that no discussion has proceeded with the Local Authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, to ensure that alternative provision is in place before these eight beds are removed, “at a stroke”, and without any consultation whatsoever with the affected communities.

The Comhairle is responsible for the provision of residential and community care services. In my estimation NHS Western Isles will save about £3/4m pa by not providing eight continuing care beds in Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh.

Under the terms of the Scottish Government “transformational agenda”, shifting the balance of care, this money should be redirected towards the provision of appropriate care in the community, including residential care. Perhaps the old Lochmaddy Hospital can be utilised for this purpose?

NHS Western Isles has responded in an excellent article in Am Pàipear on this subject by saying that “the hospital is not included in the plans for joint working between the Health Board and the Comhairle”. This makes a mockery of integrated health and social care strategic planning as we move forward.

The Health Secretary, Shona Robison MSP must now intervene, as I have already asked her to do in a letter of 2^nd February.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Walker

By-Election Candidate – Ward 2

Two candidates for North Uist and Benbecula by-election

February 23, 2015

Two names are forward for the forthcoming by-election for the Beinn na Faoghla agus Uibhist a’ Tuath ward of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

Roslyn MacPherson (Scottish National Party) is standing against Andrew Walker (Independent) to fill the seat made vacant by retired councillor Archie Campbell.

Polling will take place between the hours of 7am and 10pm on Thursday 26 March 2015.

Persons entitled to vote as electors at this election are the persons registered in the Register of Electors for the Beinn na Faoghla agus Uibhist a Tuath electoral ward. But a person whose name is so registered may not vote if the entry in the said Register gives as the date on which the person will become of voting age a date later than the day fixed for the poll.

Call for moratorium on Uist healthcare changes

February 16, 2015

A call has been made for Health Minister Shona Robison MSP to issue a moratorium on proposed changes to healthcare provision in Uist until new health and social care integration structures are in place.

Uist Association of Community Councils (UACC) says moves to reduce bed numbers at Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh and relocate dental surgeries to the hospital should be stalled until NHS Western Isles and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar have formed a new body to deliver adult health and social care services in the Outer Hebrides.

At a meeting on Thursday 12^th February, representatives from each of the six local community councils, along with local councillors, discussed significant concerns about a decision by NHS Western Isles to cut the number of beds at Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh from 29 to 16.

UACC also discussed the upcoming consultation on plans to relocate the three existing dental practices at Lochmaddy, Lochboisdale and Lionacleit into the hospital at Balivanich.

UACC members said they had already received considerable representation on the latter proposal, and suggested a direct relationship between both proposals – relocating the three dental practices appears to be dependent on creating space at the hospital by cutting bed numbers.

In a statement, UACC said: “[UACC] regrets the manner in which these announcements were made, without any consultation whatsoever with the affected communities, and at a time when the Health Board and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar have just began a consultation on proposals for Integrated health and social care services.

“The association is firmly of the view that any changes being proposed for Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh will inevitably impact on community-based health and social care services, and any significant change of function being considered for the hospital, should not be decided upon in isolation.

“For example, the association wishes to clarify the status of the eight beds at the hospital originally designated as ‘continuing care beds’ for patients with chronic long-term medical conditions. Do these beds still remain within the 16 bed designation? It is a known fact that local authority provision in the two residential care homes are facing increasing pressures as a result of demographic trends, and they operate at 100% capacity with waiting lists.”

UACC members unanimously decided to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-Being, Shona Robison MSP, to request her immediate intervention, recommending that a moratorium be called on both proposals until such time as the newly constituted integrated joint board and managers have had an opportunity to comprehensively assess the diverse and challenging health and social care needs of the communities served by the hospital.

By-election announced for North Uist and Benbecula

February 13, 2015

A by-election is to be held for the return of a councillor for the Beinn na Faoghla agus Uibhist a Tuath Ward of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

Nomination forms can be obtained from the Council Offices, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Balivanich, Isle of Benbecula, HS7 5LA, or Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Sandwick Road, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, HS1 2BW on weekdays from 10.00am to 4.00pm, telephone 01851 822613 and from the Comhairle Website at www.cne-siar.gov.uk/electionoffice.

Completed nomination forms must be delivered to the Election Office at the above address by 4.00pm on Monday 23 February 2015.

If more than one valid nomination is received, an election will be held and voting will take place between 7.00am and 10.00pm on Thursday 26 March 2015.

Applications to register to vote must reach the Electoral Registration Officer, 42 Point Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis by Wednesday 11 March 2015.

Cllr Archie Campbell stepping down from Comhairle

January 20, 2015

Cllr Archie Campbell.

The Leader and the Convener of Comhairle nan EiIean Siar have paid tribute to the work of Mr Archie Campbell who is stepping down as a Councillor with effect from 12 February 2015.

A former teacher, Mr Campbell was elected to the Comhairle in 1999, representing the Paible ward and took up the position of Vice-Chair of Sustainable Development. He became Chair of the Committee in 2003 and was re-elected to that position in 2007 and 2012.

Angus Campbell, Leader of the Comhairle, said: “Archie has been a good colleague for many years and his hard work and humour will be missed on the Comhairle. He will also be missed as a local representative by his constituents for whom he worked diligently over the past 15 years though I am sure he will continue to be a valued member of the community. I wish Archie a long and happy retirement and I am sure I will see him during visits to North Uist.”

Convener Norman A Macdonald said: “Archie enjoyed a long career as a teacher, starting at Paible school in 1967 before moving to Iochdar and then to Lionacleit in 1988 where he served as the Principal Teacher of Guidance. He retired in 1997 and is a Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland. Archie served the people of North Uist and Benbecula well during his time on the Comhairle and he also served the people of the wider Western Isles in his role as Vice-Chair and then Chair of the Development Committee. Archie will be remembered during his time as a Councillor as someone who would weigh up the arguments of a particular discussion, reach a decision and stick with that decision. He always did so with good humour and respect for his Comhairle colleagues. Archie has had a long, successful professional and political career and he now deserves to enjoy more time with his wife, Ada and their children Eilidh, Sarah and Alasdair and their 6 grandchildren.”

Cllr Archie Campbell said: “It has been a great privilege and a wonderful experience to serve the local community as an elected member of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar over these 15 years. It has also been a pleasure to work with my colleagues in the ward, Cllrs Uisdean Robertson and Neil Beaton and I wish them every success in their continuing role in the council. “