The big question is what does Angus Council know that the spectrum of legal opinion we have seen on this matter clearly does not know?

No matter. They’re going for bust. ‘Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.’

In a day of drama yesterday at the Angus council chamber in Forfar:

• arguments by opposition councillors to have the debate on the Judicial Review issue heard in public were simply dismissed unheard and without explanation by Provost Ruth Lesley-Melville;
• school supporters were swept out of the chamber with the majority decision to go ahead in camera;
• and councillors settled down to do we know not what and to reach a car crash decision by what means we know not.

All we know is the decision – the narrow vote by 16-13 that was enough to propel this council into all but certain defeat and consequently all but certain loss of up to £40,000.

One is almost ashamed to admit how compulsively interesting it is to watch the blind determination to self-destruct – except that, of course, it is the reputation of this lovely county and the taxpayer’s pocket that take the hit.

The driving force in this madness is folie de grandeur – delusions of greatness, megalomania or simply getting above oneself.

The council was arrogant enough simply to fabricate some evidence (it cannot prove it did not) and distort some more in order to get the result it wanted. This was the decision to close two schools whose condition it had signally misrepresented, voted in by a bunch of automaton councillors who accepted what they were told and did not bother to visit the schools to see the reality for themselves.

And it wasn’t as if the parents weren’t telling them.

A series of articles published on this website documents what has been less a comedy of errors than an error of comedies.

Survey results are produced without the necessity of surveys. Scores from a real physical survey are altered by others without recorded explanation. Suitability scores for schools are born on the wind. No one can say who actually did what. And the concocted maths don’t even add up to the declared condition result for one of the schools.

Behind the entire saga is the obsession against reason of Education Convener, Peter Nield to put a new school for tiny primary school children on a site that is bang on the most dangerous road in Arbroath, the Westway bypass to Dundee.

But such a school would need pupils – so two decent and viable schools, Muirfield and Timmergreens – had to be made to look as if they were in shamefully ill condition to justify the proposal to close them, freeing up their kids to populate a vanity project.

The letters page of the current edition of an Arbroath local newspaper carries one letter  – ‘Madness of the Roadworks’ – concerned about that issue but describing the traffic on the Westway thus: ‘The traffic on the Westway is a nightmare and the speeds they are doing is by  no means 30mph, and that includes the buses! There have been so may near misses that I am surprised that I am surprised that there hasn’t been an accident yet…’ ‘Children crossing the road are taking their lives in their hands as drivers totally ignore the speed limit and only think of getting to their destination with blinkers on’.

Despite all the evidence that led to the Education Secretary’s decision to reject the council decision to close Muirfield and Timmergreens schools and build the new school with the chicken run access on the Westway, Councillor Neild has offered a hefty hostage to fortune in a burst of bravado in today’s Arbroath Herald.

He declares: ‘Muirfield was chosen for phase one because it is the worst condition school. Phase two (2014/16) will be the next worse condition and at the moment that does look like Warddykes but we will have to see at the time.’

But the actual survey scores showed Muirfield as a B (Satisfactory). We understand that Warddykes is by some margin the worst condition school in Arbroath. The evidence is there, so this is an poor redoubt to choose for one’s last stand.

But hey. who cares about evidence.

Angus Council, is off to join the circus. Unless sanity intervenes and spoils the fun – this will pitch up at some stage at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. And that will be an all-ticket show.

In an article in today’s Dundee Courier, a council spokesperson declined to answer the question that is puzzling all educated insights into this matter – the likely grounds for the legal challenge.

Sweeping such trivialities aside, the spokesperson simply announced grandly that: ‘As this moves into the legal process the council will be unable to make any further comment on the matter’.

This means that they may not divulge the grounds until they reveal them to the Judicial Review. Or does it mean that they’re still making it up as they go along, That would be their MO to date.

A passing thought

Given that no objective legal opinion we have seen believes that they have a case with a chance of succeeding and given that they are unable themselves to describe their case, should they lose (and it will be hugely costly) , are there grounds for surcharging every councillor who voted for this injudicious course of action?

‘A public servant – for example a local government officer, who has unlawfully spent public funds, or caused loss to a public authority through misconduct may be surcharged to recover public money. The surcharge may be applied, after referral to a court by the Audit Commission. In the case of an illegal corporate decision by an elected body all the councillors may be surcharged.’

This is the Wikipedia definition for UK law but as we understand it, Scots law is not materially different. We say this on the basis of the late Councillor Skye Mackintosh reporting publicly that Argyll and Bute’s Council Leader had attempted to threaten him with surcharging. This was in relation to Councillor Macintosh’s support for sending the Oban Bay Transit Marina project to tender, where hired consultants had declared – disputaciously -  that the project’s estimated  costs were unreliable.

So, in terms of what brings surcharging into play, was the decision to go to Judicial Review a lawful decision? Then, the council spokesman was unable to describe the legal grounds for the action to the Courier. If they were genuinely unable to state legal grounds for the decision taken and this were later seen as amounting to going to law on little more than a punt – would this be considered ‘misconduct’ in terms of grounds for surcharging? Surely the expectation is that elected members will execute their responsibilities with – responsibility? They would have been well warned of the costs of failure.

A sixteenth share of £40,000 is £2,500 a head. Maybe the Angus administration councillors see that as a fair price for the opportunity one day to declare the gladiators’ salute: Morituri Te Salutant, on the steps of the Court of Session in Scotland’s capital city.

And the last word to a warrior for the common good

Ewan Smith, a leading figure n the determined and successful Muirfield Action Group, said today:

‘The real issue is of children being forced to learn in overcrowded schools at Hayshead and Inverbrothock or shivering in classrooms at Warddykes continue while this lengthy and needless process develops. Immediate improvements could also be made to all other schools with £8 million, including Muirfield and Timmergreens.

‘When the appeal ultimately fails, as we believe it is destined to do – due to the compelling evidence against it, more than an entire annual salary for a top grade teacher will have been wasted by our council.

‘We will never know what went on in that room when the public were kicked out. We can only assume that a full Counsel’s Opinion, an in depth legal view on the possible outcome of appeal, was given to councillors.

‘We checked the guidelines for exclusion and, in the absence of confirmation from Angus Council, this is the only legal reason they could have for hosting the meeting in private.

‘A far more sensible outcome would have been for the council to re-consult and channel their energies to helping improve the facilities of all schools in our town – including Muirfield and Timmergreens.’

This covert surveillance includes the private Facebook activities of campaign groups.

These will certainly have included school campaigners and their umbrella organisation, the Argyll Rural Schools Network – and indeed the school closures campaign was mentioned by Ms Smith at the conference in question. The Castle Toward Sale Facebook campaigners are another possible target as are the current Dunoon school closure campaigners, whose Facebook area is seductively password protected and who are in the troubled Council Leader’s constituency.

The Herald article shows that Council Communications Manager, Jo Smith, revealed the practice – introduced under her regime -  in her presentation at a PR conference.

The event was ‘Epic social media for public services Scotland’ and was held in Glasgow’s Thistle Hotel on 28th September 2011. Ms Smith was one of the presenters in the morning, using a powerpoint backup which we located at the online conference report and downloaded – in the nick of time as the page was (coincidentally?)  suspended – and remains so, shortly after Ms Smith learned that The Herald was running this story.

In her presentation,we understand that Ms Smith not only revealed the council practice of using ‘Spy Accounts’ but advocated its use by her fellow public service professionals.

To the credit of that profession, whose reputation is substantially damaged by the use of such practices, the Herald article records that many in the audience were shocked and recoiled instinctively from the unethical nature of such practices.

Ms Smith was also taking an afternoon workshop at the event, on managing negatives, during which she was, according to Mr Naysmith’s piece, questioned on the ethics of what she was doing. Ethical practice, on this evidence, has hardly been a prime value of Ms Smith’s but the question will have alerted her to the alarms of others – and the necessary backtracking appears to have followed.

In this Ms Smith talked of dummy accounts in Facebook groups. But the deliberate use of the chosen term ‘Spy Accounts’ implies very much more – the invisible presence on the forums of such groups being entry level activity.

The critical fact is that the use of ‘Spy Accounts’ – and we emphasise that this is the council’s own terminology as promulgated by Ms Smith – is and has been in practice for some time. It has been enthusiastically adopted. It is being touted as the way forward. Signally, it has established both the appetite for and the practice of covert surveillance in Argyll and Bute Council, even to the level of spying on local critics and campaigners.

In the light of this genuinely horrifying revelation, it is unlikely that this is by any means the only area in which this council administration will have been employing covert surveillance. It has long been paranoid about opposition councillors – and internal trust of administration members themselves is not universal.

There is further cause for alarm in the recent plan to expand the council’s press department extensively and expensively. We now know what work these new staffers will be doing – information harvested by covert surveillance takes a lot of time to review.

The big question is the use to which such information has been put and by whom?

Unlawful as well as unethical

The use of surveillance of all kinds by local authorities is recognised not to be well governed but it is statutorily governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000. This is the transfer to Scottish law of the Westminster enacted Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

In the terms of the conduct covered by the Act, Ms Smith’s gung-ho activities undertaken by her own account at the conference,  in the council’s name, is ‘directed surveillance’.

Ms Smith was speaking at the Glasgow event as Communications Manager at Argyll and Bute Council. Her entire presentation was about council communications and the ‘Spy Accounts’ activity was presented by her as current council practice. Rightly or wrongly the council is now hard wired into complicity in this ongoing practice.

Local authorities are required to have authorisation for surveillance activity. This can be given by magistrates and local authorities can also have internal staff permitted to issue such authorisations.

Permitted surveillance by local authorities centres on issues like counter-terrorism, benefit fraud and fly-tipping. There has, however, been increasing concern about local authority abuse of covert surveillance activity – and its application to internet activity is recognised as the hardest to defend.

Questions to be asked

• Does Argyll and Bute Council have specific authorisation for these covert activities?
• How many internal officers are able to authorise such activity?
• How many internal requests for authorisation have been received over the past two years?
• What percentage of authorisations was granted in relation to requests received?

We are asking the Chief executive to confirm whether the ‘Spy Account’ activities trumpeted by Ms Smith at this formal public event were authorised and if so, by whom and under what terms of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act?

We are asking for precise information on what was done with the information gathered by such means – and by whom.

We are asking, if these covert surveillance activities were not authorised, what is the council’s attitude to an employee who conducts such activities personally, in the council’s name and gives a public audience of professionals to understand that this is now council policy?

A sacking issue

If these activities were not authorised, there is a straightforward sacking imperative since this practice has destroyed the council’s reputation for ethical conduct in its communications operation.

It has left the leader of the council’s communications team in a position beyond public trust and therefore leaves all public communications from the council suffering a profound credibility deficit. This position cannot be recovered under Ms Smith.

We are calling on all Argyll media to make their own position on this matter, whatever it is, unequivocal at the earliest opportunity. Their readers and listeners have a right to know their values on such issues, not least since many of them, particularly through the widespread activities on school closure campaigns, will have been unknowingly subject to such covert surveillance.

For Argyll unhesitatingly finds such practices, in any form and at any level, completely unacceptable in ethical practice. This is a road no honest person or organisation should even contemplate starting to travel.

If Ms Smith’s activities were authorised, the council will find it difficult to account for the endorsement of such conduct.

The Herald article notes a council response it received last night:

‘Argyll and Bute Council does not use and does not condone the use of covert social media accounts’.

Did this statement come from the Council’s official spokesperson, its Communications Manager, Ms Smith?

This impossibility makes clear the fact that her position is untenable. She has, as is now known to be the removal trigger, become the story.

Her inevitable departure will not, however, be an end to the matter. There are now other issues to be investigated, such as the possible covert surveillance of elected members.

If Ms Smith’s covert surveillance adventures were not authorised, it paints a picture of a council out of control, where no one knows or cares what anyone else is doing. It is inconceivable that in a well managed council administration, an officer at senior level would go solo and so spectacularly off piste in so sensitive a matter.

Ms Smith may have been an enthusiastically unprincipled participant in covert surveillance practices but there is an underlying corporate culture at Argyll and Bute Council which breeds such activities and values and which is overdue root and branch revision.

Note: Here is Ms Smith’s back up powerpoint presentation for her appearance at the ‘Epic Social Media for Public Services Scotland’ conference in Glasgow on 28th September 2011, (josmith). Readers will note, as we did with some amusement, that Slide 6 is devoted solely to uncredited material from For Argyll under the heading ‘It shouldn’t happen to a Council’. No examples of negative media coverage from any other source are given. We take it as confirmation of our good judgment that we are of such singular concern to an administration and an officer whose reputations for probity of practice are now beyond recall.

Update Note 16.47 10th February: : The Herald story is now available online here.

Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP and the Scottish Conservative Environment Spokesman, held a Member’s Debate in the Scottish Parliament yesterday evening (8th February) on plans to designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in the Western Isles.

A number of his constituents from the Western Isles travelled down to Holyrood to watch the debate and in the afternoon they unveiled a protest banner (above) outside the Parliament.

In the debate Jamie McGrigor highlighted the widespread concerns of his constituents about the proposed designations and their possible impact on fishing and other economic development. He also is spoke out about the way Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has handled the consultation process.

Ahead of the debate itself, Jamie McGrigor said: ‘The plans to yet again turn these fishing grounds into a conservation area have raised a lot of concern among the local community and I felt that it was only right that this serious issue be debated in Parliament.

‘There is virtually unanimous opposition to the Western Isles Council’s proposals and it is vital that they listen to the views of local people. They have so far been excluded from having a proper say and when these changes could have a drastic impact on their lives this is simply not acceptable.

‘These proposals will cost the area hundreds of thousands of pounds and could cripple the local economy. Our fishermen need all the help they can get in these tough economic times but instead these plans would be a kick in the teeth.

‘While it is extremely important that the rich variety of wildlife we have in Scotland is maintained, we must not rush into any decisions.
“There has been a total lack of evidence that fishing activity has had any negative effect in the area and I hope the SNP listen to the concerns of local fishermen raised in this debate and see that this proposal cannot go ahead.;

The motion for the debate

Motion S4M-01532: Jamie McGrigor, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 07/12/2011
Designation of Special Areas of Conservation.

That the Parliament notes with alarm concerns expressed by local communities in the Western Isles regarding procedures and scientific data used by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) for designating special areas of conservation (SAC) in East Mingulay and the Sound of Barra; notes that the concerns were assessed by SNH, which, in the case of the East Mingulay consultation process, deemed them to be unfounded, and notes that the designation process is continuing for both sites, despite continuing local concerns and what it understands to be government-sponsored evidence of substantial economic damage and little quantifiable benefit as a result of SAC status.
Supported by: Liz Smith, Nanette Milne, Murdo Fraser, Mary Scanlon, Margaret Mitchell, Margo MacDonald, Annabel Goldie, Willie Rennie

The evidence of ‘An Island Parish’

Before reading Jamie McGrigor;s speech at the debate yesterday evening, the many who have been watching the hit series ‘An Island Parish, featuring Barra, will have seen for themselves how accurate is the case the fishermen of Barra – and Jamie McGrigor speaking for them here – put forward for the impact on the questionable sustainability of island life in the face of these Marine SAC proposals.

In the last seen episode, there was a powerfully telling scene where some besuited boys from Edinburgh – with no life behind then beyond study and politics – appeared on Barra to lead a ‘consultation’ meeting on these very proposals.

No sane adult could even have looked at the picture of the hall – full to the rafters with sound, experienced, intelligent, communal  and physically  hard working human beings – living on the edge, faced with well meaning but empty policy wonks from the city – and not known with certainty where the right of the matter lay.

Things read very differently confined within the neat boundaries of A4 paper from the way they feel wresting survival from The Minch.

Jamie McGrigor’s speech at the debate

(Wednesday 8 February 2012. 5pm.)

‘Presiding Officer,

‘I want to begin by thanking those MSPs who signed my motion and particularly Margo MacDonald and Willie Rennie whose cross party support has enabled today’s debate to take place. I do not understand why Labour’s Rhoda Grant would not support the motion and I notice that no government troops have added their signatures on this occasion. I extend a warm welcome to the Parliament to those constituents who are in the public gallery to hear today’s debate.

‘I also thank those organisations and individuals who have provided information or briefings in advance of today, including Andrew Thin, the chairman of SNH, who has offered to brief individual MSPs.

‘My purpose today is to highlight the strongly felt concerns of many constituents – and the virtually unanimous opposition of Western Isles Council to the Barra proposal- and, I hope, to increase understanding on both sides of this debate. The focus of my remarks today will primarily be on the Sound of Barra proposal.

‘This debate mirrors closely a previous Member’s debate I held in Parliament in April 2002 about an earlier attempt to introduce a special area of conservation in the same area which did not go ahead because it was shown that SNH’s evidence was simply wrong as the number of common- or harbour- seals was less than the 1% of the national seal population then required to justify such a designation within the proposed area.

‘But, without any apparent explanation or justification, the proposed designation of Barra was never taken off the table- why was this the case? And it has now been resurrected, with extended boundaries, and with different and additional goalposts this time, namely the sandbanks containing maerl beds and the reefs which were not previously deemed important enough to merit protection.

‘In SNH’s own consultation document it states that the proposed Sound of Barra designation would represent 0.1-0.4% of the overall UK total sandbank, 0.7% of the overall total UK common seal population and a mere 0.07% of the overall UK total reef resource. By any standards these are very low percentages. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) in 2007 assessed the Minches & West Scotland regional sea as not requiring “any additional areas for sandbanks/reefs for possible inclusion” in SACs.

‘In terms of seals, SNH itself states that “harbour seals are widespread in the outer Hebrides” and yet the seal population in the Sound of Barra is low, unstable and not fully understood. In terms of reefs, the JNCC also said in 2009 that the Sound of Barra “contains similar reef types to other sites in this regional sea.”

‘And in terms of the sandbanks SNH fails to give any supporting data for their assertion that they are “in good condition”, fails to acknowledge that they are continually in motion- as local fishermen know- and concedes even that what little maerl that remains alive “is often sparsely distributed”, not the case everywhere in Scotland.

‘All of this- and the lack of robust scientific supporting data- feeds into local concerns that the Sound of Barra proposal is being singled out for proposed SAC status and that SNH is determined to press ahead with this designation to avoid losing face. It is telling that the consultation response of the widely respected and independent Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) twice refers to the Sound of Barra data presented by SNH as “limited and the references sparse.” Detailed concerns about the scientific basis for the proposal have been identified in in Ian Mitchell’s comprehensive paper commissioned jointly by Western Isles Council and the Mallaig & North West Fishermen’s Association.

‘Surely, if we agree that decisions should be evidence based then SNH should have made an appropriate and thorough assessment of all other marine sites to ensure that the Sound of Barra genuinely is such an important location and the best area for SAC status? This simply hasn’t taken place and this is what concerns so many of my constituents.

‘SAMS has stated for example “This is not the only area of maerl worthy of consideration: the Sound of Harris is another excellent site and no doubt local people would wish to see a comparative study of the pros and contras of the two sites.”

‘Does the Minister agree with me that Ian Mitchell’s report appears to reveal collusion between Marine Scotland and SNH over reclassifying the designation so that the Barra sandbanks were made to fit the criteria? And if so, does he agree that is unethical at the very least as SNH are meant to be an independent advisory body to government and Marine Scotland is a tool of the government?
I want to touch on the economic impact of a SAC on the local economy.

‘The Scottish Government-commissioned Halcrow report in 2010 suggested the closure of the proposed SAC to mobile gear operators would result in a loss of landings worth £121,000.00 per annum. But industry feedback is that this is a gross underestimation of the value of the shellfish trawling and scallop dredging fish sectors which support a significant number of jobs both at sea and in onshore processing and are a crucial part of the fragile economy of Uist & Harris. And what angers local fishermen is the total lack of evidence that existing fishing activity has contributed to a deterioration in any of the marine features which SNH of course says are already in a good condition. Scallop fishermen know better than to draw their gear over rocks and risk losing it and, at the very least, information from existing scallop vessels should be incorporated into the designation assessment in order to retain existing scallop activity.

‘And despite assurances that have been given about fishing interests, the Minister should be aware of the impact such a designation is having on creel fishermen in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland as reported in last week’s Fishing News- despite assurances given beforehand the EU is demanding ever more restrictions. There are also concerns about the impact designations might have on possible future renewables developments pertaining to the island of Barra.

‘Constituents have also asked me to raise their concerns at how SNH has gone about consulting the local community and local interests. One constituent emailed me this week to implore me to emphasise today “how bitter and disenfranchised we feel in regards to the whole so-called ‘consultation process.” He went on to criticise “the so-called experts from SNH who come to Barra and in public meetings cannot give answers on the very subject they are supposedly expert in.”

‘SAMS has expressed concern at the approach taken and the SNH consultation document that “pays little regard to future management strategies and stakeholder interests”, regretting the “polarisation” that has occurred and noting that “suspicion and distrust is exacerbated by the lack of transparency.” These are quotes; this must be a concern to all of us and lessons must be learned.

‘The same things were said in the 2002 debate, for example Fiona McLeod of the SNP said “SNH is not alone in being a public body that is not good at consultation with the public.” She went on to say they are “examples of public bodies that think going to the public and telling them what they are doing counts as a consultation.” But it is no good simply blaming SNH-it is the Scottish Government which makes the decisions.

‘I want to end by repeating some comments I made in my debate in 2002 and which are just as valid today: “ It is extremely important that the rich tapestry of fauna, flora and wildlife, which we are lucky to have in Scotland and which is the envy of Europe, is enjoyed by future generations. The right type of conservation is necessary. It is also vital that the needs and concerns of local people in areas of proposed designations are taken into consideration. The people who live and work the land and get their feet muddy are the people who know the environment best. In many cases, they are the reason that the species are there. They are the people who have been protecting the land and the wildlife for centuries, and who will make or break the protection.”

‘In his letter to me the chairman of SNH Andrew Thin says an “erroneous impression has been promulagated locally to the effect that designation will prevent local fishermen and others from continuing with activities that currently take place within the designated area.”

‘Local people in Bara and the Western Isles are still worried and feel their views and concerns are simply being ignored by the Scottish Government. I hope that the Government and the Minister will remedy this and as the government Minister did in 2002 look again at all the evidence before submitting the area for designation.

‘And finally I call on the Minister also to assure me that he will give notice to the people of Barra before he makes any decision so that they can begin to make plans about their future livelihoods and income streams should these be strangled by this designation.’

Top TV and radio personality, Dermot O’Leary, has given his backing to a campaign launched by Mary’s Meals aimed at providing more of the world’s hungriest children with the regular meals that literally sustain and change their lives.

The ‘Big Blue Mug’ campaign invites people to get their hands on a bright blue mug – similar to those used to provide Mary’s Meals to children in Malawi, where the Scottish-based charity feeds over 500,000 children every school day.

The plastic mugs are being offered as an alternative gift for a minimum donation of £7 each, which is how much it costs Mary’s Meals to feed a child for a whole school year in Malawi.

As well as being able to drink from it, the mugs also have lids that allow them to be used as collecting cans.

Mary’s Meals is a global movement that sets up school feeding projects in some of the poorest parts of the world where hunger and poverty stop children from gaining an education. By providing a daily meal in a place of education, children are attracted to the classroom where they can get a basic education that can be their ladder out of poverty.

In Malawi, where the charity is celebrating a decade of feeding children, 20% of the primary school population receives Mary’s Meals. Each child is given a daily serving of likuni phala – a vitamin enriched maize porridge served in plastic mugs.

Each child is responsible for their own mug, ensuring they get a fair portion every school day. Some carry them around their neck on a piece of string to make sure they don’t miss out.

Now supporters of Mary’s Meals can have their own big blue mug and TV presenter Dermot O’Leary, is getting behind the idea.

He says: ‘This is a fantastic way to raise awareness of what a difference a mug of porridge can make to the lives of so many hungry children in Malawi who are receiving Mary’s Meals.

‘The beauty of this idea is that not only does drinking from this mug remind people of the important role which porridge plays at the charity’s school feeding programme in Malawi, it can also be used as a way of getting support to feed more children, giving them essential nutrition and an incentive to study.’

Having one of these mugs will also be humbling for most of us – holding in our hands the modest container that is all it takes to keep a child alive and thriving.

Over 600,000 children currently receive Mary’s Meals every day in 16 different countries, including Malawi, Kenya, Liberia and Haiti.

Mary’s Meals began in Malawi in 2002 when its founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow from Dalmally in Argyll, met a young woman called Emma who was dying from AIDS. She was sitting on the mud floor of her hut surrounded by her children.

When Magnus asked her 14-year-old son what his dreams were in life, his stark reply was: ‘To have enough food to eat and to go to school one day’. This was the spur to the inspiration that led to Mary’s Meals and its provision of one nutritious meal a day – at school.

Magnus McFarlane-Barrow says: ‘This alternative gift is symbolic, as it represents the simple mugs which are used to provide over half a million hungry children in Malawi with a life sustaining daily meal, which in turn gives them energy and concentration to learn.

‘For many children in the poorest parts of the world, they are unable to go to school because they are hungry, begging or working to get the next meal on the table. Mary’s Meals offers them a route out of poverty and the chance to build a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

‘The global average cost for us to provide one meal is just six pence – pennies to us, but a lifeline to so many of the world’s poorest children.’

The Big Blue Mugs are available for distribution in the UK. To find out more, please go to the Mary’s Meals website where you can buy one and make a donation to this wonderfully practical, direct and well organised charity.

The council has been open about the £4.454 surplus but has been very quiet indeed about the full extent of a top up they have received.

Councillor James Robb, an experienced accounts analyst, is already asking why, in the light of this situation, the council persists in claiming that there will be no money for a new leisure centre for Helensburgh for a decade?

Where did this additional revenue come from?

It has been given by the Scottish Government in response to a combination of a sharp move by COSLA to settle some internal scores – compounded by the incompetence of Council Leader Dick Walsh in the Autumn of 2010 in the negotiations over Argyll and Bute’s annual revenue grant for 2011-12.

What happened was a blend of score settling (because Argyll and Bute’s Council Leader had got across some council leaders closer to the heart of COSLA) and Councillor Walsh being complacently asleep at the wheel over the months of these negotiations.

Earlier, Argyll and Bute had successfully played the system and got more from the annual revenue funding formula than it was entitled to have. When grants called ‘Supporting People’ were introduced to the formula, with ring-fencing, it was obvious that these would redress the inflated allocations to Argyll and Bute – and some other councils in the same position, if to a lesser degree.

The problem then was that these councils would have faced a sudden sharp drop in their annual revenue budgets.

It was agreed at COSLA that these councils should not lose out immediately but be managed back down to their proper formula allocations over time  – at 6% of total per year. Other Councils took a small reduction in their own Supporting People share to allow this smoothing to happen.

In the revenue budget negotiation for the 2011-12 budgets, COSLA askd the Scottish Government to remove this smoothing or ‘top up’ system. This change and the draft local authorities budgets were put to the Leaders of all 32 Scottish local authorities in two successive meetings over a period of months.

Argyll and Bute’s leader agreed both to the changes requested by COSLA (on 25th September 2010) and to the revenue budget for Argyll and Bute these changes produced (on 19th November 2010).

He had two chances to spot the hit and took neither. In each case, the leadership gave approval on trust, without either being given or independently calculating the financial impact. This was a clear dereliction of duty.

The result was a disaster.

Realisation came the hard way when the revenue grant figures for each of the 32 local authorities were published. Argyll and Bute first got the highest budget cut in Scotland.

This was then virtually doubled  (to an immediate funding deficit of around £11 million) – due to the changes COSLA had requested and the Council Leader had blindly agreed, which had removed the ‘top up’.

A few other councils were also affected – but none as catastrophically as Argyll and Bute. Some councils  – notably connected to senior COSLA officials – were substantial beneficiaries from the COSLA manoeuvre, at the expense of some weaker councils and, big time, at the expense of the dozy Argyll and Bute.

But it was all too extreme. Argyll and Bute would have been left on its uppers – and the people, who were not responsible for any of it, would have suffered.

In an immediate bail-out the Scottish Government found extra funding to help the hapless Councils affected and Argyll and Bute got an additional £2.455m in 2010-11 and £1.308m in 2011-12. This has to be set against the additional £5.6 million cut it suffered because of COSLA’s mischief and the Council Leader’s incompetence.

Councillor Walsh was not, of course, alone in these negotiations and agreements. It has to be asked what on earth the responsible Council Officers  – the CEO and the Head of Strategic Finance – were doing? Was it not their job to do the sums and to brief the Council Leader?

Now the very SNP Scottish Government about which Councillor Walsh has just railed wildly in an odd press release issued through his ‘political’ group, the Alliance of Independent Councillors, has agreed that COSLA can unwind this mess of its own making.

Basically, the Scottish Government has reinstated the ‘top up’, allowing Argyll and Bute and the other affected councils to drop gradually to their due annual revenue grant, mitigating the immediate fall Councillor Walsh had agreed, without the inconvenience of checking the figures.

It could be said that the Scottish Government disallowed the Council Leader’s own goal against Argyll and Bute and gave him our money back.

The government initiative, through the new Financial Settlement, supports a return to the ‘Supporting People’ funding arrangements. agreed in the 2007 Financial Settlement.

The Table on p271, para 2.10, of the draft budget shows that, although there are errors in the papers, the position is of the order below. (Note: AEF is Aggregate External Finance and SP is the ‘Supporting People’ top up as before the COSLA intervention.)
                      2011-12             2012-13          2013-14            2014-15
AEF for Year   £220.284m           £219.286m       £217.825m        £216.647m
SP Top-up     £     1.308m           £    4.888m       £    4.267m        £    3.685m
Available        £221.592m           £224.174m        £222.092m       £220.332m

This adds up to is an additional cumulative £12.832m to Argyll and Bute Council over the three years, 2012-13 to 2014-15, approved by the Scottish Government through ‘Supporting People’ funding.

Without that the cumulative funding surplus on p281, para 2.48, the budget would be showing not a surplus of £4.454m but a funding deficit of £8.378.

The big issue now, with no ring-fencing on the Supporting People funds – is what to do with this money.

This cements the assertion by Argyll and Bute’s MSP, Michael Russell, that there is no need to close schools. The deceived Helensburgh is also  likely to have plenty to say -  and in James Robb they have a councillor who is determined to pursue this matter but weary with the constant struggle to get transparency and honesty from this Administration.

There’s that old joke that if you ask 10 economists a question you will get 11 answers. If one thing is certain the numbers and opinions being bandied about by economists, think tanks and Uncle Tom Cobley and all is set to rise exponentially as the Independence Referendum gathers pace.

In the latest edition of the National Institute Economic Review there is an interesting article by Dr Angus Armstrong.

Interesting because as the divisions between those writing from a unionist perspective and those writing from an independence perspective crystalise we can begin to see that there is in fact some agreement in some areas but differing conclusions on others from the selected evidence.

As Dr Armstrong’s paper contains a lot of sound analysis on which agreement exists that is the best place to start. Dr Armstrong’s contribution to the debate was welcomed by John Swinney.

On the question of retaining the pound Dr Armstrong sets out the common criteria for a monetary union as:

• a high degree of cross-border trade relative to domestic trade including intermediate and final products
• capital and labour market mobility
• both nations have similar structures and cycles

Around 40% of Scotland’s exports go to the rest of the UK. We would continue to be part of a single market at existing UK level and within the EU.

With that comes capital and labour mobility, and given common language and a long standing history of free movement plus starting from a similar structural base, there is no doubt about the value to both nations of a common currency at least in the immediate term.

Some of the more extreme unionists may well argue that as England is the larger economy it can manage very well without access to the Scottish economy, but this is far from the case in a global market in which we would both be competing.

(Click on the image above to move to the original where it is interactive.Then hit the Back button to return. )

Present interdependency and mutual trading interests demand a continuing open market in both directions. Of course it is in Scotland’s interest to expand trade with other markets and encourage investment from other parts of the world.

That process is already well under way as the long list of those who have signed up to invest in Scotland over the last few years prove, laying a basis, not for any reduction in cross border trade between Scotland and rUK, but for a continuing expansion into world markets just as the Irish achieved in the post 1950s period.

Dr Armstrong argues that sharing The Bank of England would place Scotland at potential disadvantage, having to share bank interest rate but not necessarily obtaining the same credit rating and implied present low interest rate on borrowings.

I will come back to that when we get into the detail of debt share and asset distribution.

In the concluding part of his introduction Dr Armstrong says

‘There may be many intangible benefits from independence but the Scottish Parliament [Scottish Government] is likely to find the implicit financial constraints on economic policy, especially fiscal policy, are even more restrictive than being a full member of the UK’.

For ‘many intangible benefits’ read ‘unrealised potential’ to explain the nature of a contested future. The implication is that independence is a move into   unknown and uncharted territory, forgetting it is a well-trodden path.

Staying within the union is presented as stable, but that is equally open to question and may be much more an act of blind faith given the growing difference in both social and economic policy direction between Scotland and Westminster.

A separate article in the National Institute Economic Review (NIER) on the UK economy notes that the UK currently suffers from deficient demand, and that present fiscal policy is contributing to this deficiency. It is suggested an easing of fiscal policy would provide an economic boost.

This update on the UK economy forecasts that real gross national income and GDP will contract during 2012. The forecast ‘growth’ areas are Public Sector Net Borrowing (£7bn) and unemployment reaching 9.1%.

All of which points to a further deterioration in the UK economy. Perhaps time for the Plan MacB that George Osborne has refused to consider. The longer he leaves it the more difficult it will be to get recovery underway and restore some confidence in the UK economy.

There is an estimated £700 billion in company’s bank accounts just waiting for the right conditions to invest. With the right signals and incentives that money would at least begin to flow and help stimulate growth.

I came across an everyman’s guide to fiscal intervention that suggested building a bridge would create lots of construction jobs as an example of something that would cut unemployment, raise tax and National Insurance revenue, increase the money supply at local level as money circulates through local businesses and cut the dole bill.

Scotland is doing just that with the construction of a second Forth road bridge – the biggest Scottish infrastructure project for a generation.

Dr Armstrong’’s article discusses statistics relating to Scotland’s fiscal debt and share of UK debt but there is no comparative analysis to set this in context.

A current account deficit comes about where annual expenditure is greater than income. The shortfall identifies the Public Sector Net Borrowing Requirement (PSBR). This is then added to Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) being the amount of accumulated national debt.

Of course in the good years the current account should generate a surplus enabling total national debt to be reduced.

Both measures are usually expressed as a percentage of Gross National Product (GDP) and it is these figures that are used for international comparison and by the markets to calculate a country’s credit worthiness.

Dr Armstrong calculates Scotland’s average annual fiscal deficit at 4% and Scotland’s share of UK national debt at 70% of GDP based on a geographic share of North Sea oil.

NIER expect the UK’s deficit on the current account to be around 7% of GDP and UK net debt at 60.5% of GDP in the current year. The bad news is they are projecting net debt to grow to 75.7% of GDP by 2016/17.

Dr Armstrong notes that to meet Maastricht Treaty obligations the annual general government deficit should be no higher than 3% of GDP and gross debt no more than 60% of GDP. A country above these percentages has an excessive deficit.

The UK government has to report these figures under Maastricht Treaty obligations but there are technical variations in the way these figures have to be calculated.

Using the Maastricht calculation formula the UK general government net borrowing rose from 2.7% of GDP in 2007 to 10.2% in 2010. Gross debt rose form 44.5% of GDP in 2007 to 76.1% in 2010. (ONS)

The Treasury prefers is own methodology and complains it is ‘assessed uniquely’ within the EU. Terrible thing it is to be unfairly treated by a Union of which you are a member!

I have already mentioned NIER’s October projections of UK net debt so it is only right to also look at the Chancellors figures in his Autumn Statement last November as they are required to be reported under Maastricht.

The Chancellor’s statement shows UK gross debt at 84.2% of GDP for 2011/12 rising to 93.9% in 2014/15 and easing slightly to 89.7% of GDP by 2016/17 using the Treaty formula.

Finally I think a comparison with other EU countries places the UK situation and Scotland’s independence inheritance in a wider context. For this purpose I am using my tables of estimated fiscal debt and gross debt as a percentage of GDP for 2011 from Global Finance. The actual outturn figures are likely to be slightly different when known but that will be the case with all future projections quoted in this article.

(Click on the image above to move to the original where it is interactive.Then hit the Back button to return. )

Only three EU countries, all Northern European, have a projected deficit under 3% – Sweden, Finland and Estonia. Sweden has a population of  9 million, Finland 5.3 million and Estonia 1.4 million which puts the question of size advantage in perspective.

Germany, the EU’s largest economy, projected deficit stands at -3.7%, an improvement on their 2010 outturn of -4.3%. The average for all EU countries is -5.1%.

The 2011 projection for the UK was -8.1% but the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement projects the Treaty deficit at -9.5%.

The projection for UK Gross debt as a percentage of GDP stands at 83% against the EU27 average of 63.7%. George Osborne thinks the outturn will be 76.5% but on a rising curve as reported above.

Giving the Chancellor the benefit of the doubt, with gross debt at 76.5% of GDP, the UK, the second largest economy in the EU, would be the 8th most indebted nation of all 27 members.

Scotland will start from conditions it will inherit from the UK. Those figures stand comparison with other EU nations. Dr Armstrong’s calculations of a 4% fiscal and current account deficit and debt of around 70% of GDP do not look insurmountable.

Scottish Government competence, as supported by the electorate, suggests that our potential is to rank much higher in the European league tables than is the case with the UK’s current poor ratings.

Dr Armstrong suggested that Scotland could not rely on getting the same low interest rates on its debt as the UK. Truth is nobody knows for certain but Scotland’s assets and as the highest performing national/regional economy in the UK after London and the South East suggest that AAA rating does not look elusive.

Dr Angus Armstrong was Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at HM Treasury from mid 2004 until he joined the National Institute of Economic and Social Research as Director of Macroeconomic Research in September 2011

Russell Bruce 6th February 2012

References

• Armstrong, A., Scotland’s Currency and Fiscal Choices in National Institute Economic Review No 219 January 2012 ppF4-F9
• Autumn Statement, November 2011, HM Treasury, The Stationary Office
• Eurostat, Government finance statistics Summary tables — 2/2011 Data 1996 – 2010
• Kirkby,S. and Whitworth, R., Prospects for the UK economy in National Institute Economic Review No 218 October 2011 pp54-76
• NIER The UK economy in Economic Overview, National Institute Economic Review No 219 January 2012
• ONS (2011) Statistical Bulletin Government deficit and debt under the Maastricht Treaty

The inaugural Lomond Writers Gathering is to be a four day event from 26th to 29th March 2012, held at The Kilted Skirlie at Lomond Shores in Balloch.

It centres around a series of workshops for writers, new writers and junior writers – led by established writers, editors, illustrators, writers of historical novels, and publishing professionals and focusing on a wide range of topics from police procedures, to romance, to short articles and self-publishing.

At the event, there will be an awards ceremony with Alasdair Gray present to bestow the Lifetime Achievement Award upon writer, Agnes Owen. Gray says: ‘This puts Balloch ahead of Edinburgh in celebrating a great Scottish writer.’ Agnew Owen was originally herself part of a writers group in nearby Alexandria, led by Liz Lochhead who, since January 2011, has been Scotland’s second Makar – or national poet.

At the award ceremony – which will close the Gathering, the winners will be announced of a competition set as a run-in to the Writers’ Gathering – and already short-listed for Best Entry is Argyll writer, John Wylie.

The event is funded by the group itself – the sort of spirited enterprise that’s good to see – and they’re hoping everyone in Lomond and Dumbarton who is interested in writing in any way will rock up to The Kilted Skirlie, do a few workshops, buy a book and a raffle ticket – and donate old books, CDs and DVDs that the group can sell to raise funds to support  more new writers.

For those who love books, there are Quiz Nights.

The aim of the organisers of the event is to give new writers a chance of publication. In keeping with this, the winners of the writing competition will see their work in print, sharing a publication with other writers, new and well-established. They say:

‘It’s a difficult world, publishing, each year the opportunities shrink and new writers are set aside to make-way for the safer option of an established writer. Understandable perhaps in the current economic climate, but it means Scotland’s culture is depleted instead of expanded. We want to offer a seed that can make something new grow for years to come.’

With writing professionals coming to the event from all over the country, this is a first class opportunity for writers in Lomond and Dunbarton – and further afield – to get into the groove. Visit the Lomond Writers’ Gathering website for more information on the programme and the speakers.

And on 26th March, grab your laptop, ipad or pen and get to the Kilter Skirlie at Loch Lomond Shores.

The photograph at the top is a view of Loch Lomond, © Abubakr Hussain and reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.

Note for the curious: ‘skirlie’ is a Scots dish of  oatmeal fried with fat, onions, stock and seasoningsm generally used as the basis of white puddings but also served as a side-dish or as a stuffing for chicken.

The consultation period for the recently published draft plan for Scottish ferry services ends on 30th March 2012.

Ferry services and everything to do with them are embedded in the daily lives, cultures,  interests and consciousness of the west and north coasts of Scotland and their inshore and offshore islands.

They keep us together; they are in our blood; we are all interested in them. No review of ferry services is going to be without the scrutiny of varied and intense needs and interests.

There are two key issues arising from the review that will be examined here but first, here is a note on other major issues:

• The general process of the review has been to set each community’s ideal ‘model service’ against the actual current provision, in order, it says, to determine how relatively adequate today’s service is. It is hard to see this as much more than over pandering to populism. That a service may be short of the ideal does not, per se, make it an inadequate service – and who doesn’t ideally want a ferry that’s there ready to go just which you feel like it. With the increasing cost of fuel and with the – necessary – pressure now against the use of cheaper but environmentally destructive bunker fuel, the review’s openness to what customers want is likely to ricochet. It can only unnecessarily raise expectations it will have to disappoint. In an economic situation likely to get worse and to be slow in recovering, it would have been reassuring to see government setting a more realistic tone.
• The review recognises the obvious logic of having a single governing principal for fare setting across all routes. This will eventually be the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) scheme, already pilots in the Western Isles and to start progressively piloting across the Argyll islands from this autumn.
• RET will apply to car and to foot passenger fares. Commercial vehicles will see their RET-based fares replaced by ‘an enhanced pre-RET discount scheme’ said to have already been generous – on the argument (whose logic is impermeable), that they have failed largely to pass on their lower RET-based delivery costs to their customers.
• Multijourney books of tickets will go, to be replaced by RET single tickets, set not be undercut by the best price of a single journey on a multijourney deal. The thinking here is that many travellers buy multijourney tickets but do not use them all, driving the unit price beyond their initial calculations. Single RET-based tickets cannot waste money as they’re essentially buy-as-you-go but at the discount rate.
• The Government – rightly – wants to see integrated ticketing across the various transport systems. This would make travel arrangements and travelling itself much simpler and more convenient for residents and visitors alike.
• There is an issue with poor or erratic maintenance of piers and harbours not owned by CMAL, the state-owned ferry infrastructure company – as is the case with Argyll and Bute Council’s neglect of the pier at Craignure, currently a source of substantial difficulty. Where CMAL reinvests the harbour dues charged, local authorities, as Argyll and Bute in this case (said to be earning £1 million a year at Craignure), do not always do so. The reviews asks if CMAL should acquire the piers and harbours used for the state-owned CalMac (and Argyll Ferries?)  services that it does not already own. This would increase efficiency. A single responsible authority is a much more accountable situation.

Two issues in the recommendations that require interrogation are:

• demand management
• secondary routes

Demand management

This issue has arisen because of the success of the RET pilot. It has led to ferries to some destinations, particularly at peak time, being so busy that it has had ‘an adverse effect on peoples’ ability to book and travel on their preferred sailing’. This refers to island residents and businesses – and obviously applies mainly to car places.

The review makes the point that the RET principle  creates a uniform fare structure – and indeed that uniformity is what the review itself has already accepted as necessary across the routes. Losing sight of this last fact for the moment, it goes on to note that this prevents ferry operators to manage fare structures to differentiate between specific varied needs.

The report notes that: ‘The requirement for some form of demand management was well supported by a range of organisations with a significant interest in ferry services in the 2010 consultation exercise.’

Of course it was. But there is need for sufficient realism to understand that we cannot have it all ways: cheaper year round fares; lots of visitors in the season, attracted by affordable accessibility; but priority to travel when we want to.

RET fares are a privilege – they may, in a way, be fair and they are certainly a substantial support to maintaining habitation on remote islands – but they remain a privilege.

We choose to live where we do and for the all too short summer season, it seems reasonable to expect that the price of the economic survival of our islands that comes from a busy stream of happy visitors is a degree of short term inconvenience for ourselves.

A lot of journeys can be booked ahead normally with forethought – and beyond that, if a late need to travel means accepting an available place on an inconvenient sailing, that is vastly preferable to seeing island populations wither and die.

The solution in the review is that: ‘… while RET will form the basis for the fares structure across all sailings, the operator will have the opportunity to bring forward proposals on how they intend to manage demand where there is excess demand. Stakeholders (the local Ferry Committee or User Groups or other stakeholders) must be consulted on demand management plans.’

Secondary routes

This problem arises from the review’s consideration of ‘secondary’ routes to particular destinations – and its proposed removal of some.

The review says:

‘We will consider the need for secondary routes. Where a community has more than one route then we have reviewed evidence that helps us to understand the value of that second route to the community. There may be a requirement to retain a secondary route if patronage levels on that route are quite significant, or comparable to the main route for the particular community. It is also quite possible that if the physical distance between the principal and secondary routes is large, and the secondary route serves a substantial
population, that the secondary route should be retained. Finally, the secondary route might also serve some additional strategic purpose, for example it might be part of a wider network of routes, the removal of which could have far- reaching consequences.’

Examples of the review’s consideration of the role of the ‘secondary route’ are the Isle of Arran and the massy Ardnamurchan peninsula.

In each of these cases the loss of the secondary routes will damage cultural, business and tourism development.

The Arran routes

The primary route for Arran runs between Ardrossan in Ayrshire and Brodick ln the east of the island. The secondary route runs between Lochranza in the north over the short crossing to Claonaig, near Skipness on the east side of Argyll’s peninsula.

The review proposal for the Isle of Arran is for ‘… the Ardrossan to Brodick service to be upgraded to a two-vessel service operating a more frequent shuttle service through to the late evening’; and for the secondary service between Claonaig and Lochranza to ‘… be reviewed following these changes to the Ardrossan to Brodick service’. For ‘reviewed’, read ‘removed’.

The Ardnamurchan routes

For Ardnamurchan, the principal route is across the narrows of Loch Linnhe between Corran Ferry on the mainland, south of Fort William in Lochaber and Ardgour on the peninsula. Ardnamurchan has two secondary routes, both running between the south coast of the peninsula and the Isle of Mull: between Lochaline in the south west of the peninsula and Fishnish on Mull; and between Kilchoan in the north west over to Tobermory on Mull. Both are vehicle and passenger ferries.

For Ardnamurchan, the review essentially considers the Isle of Mull and the Ardnamurchan peninsula together.

For Mull, the service between Oban on the mainland and Craignure on the north east corner of the island is clearly the principal route. The Fishnish-Lochaline service and the Tobermory-Kilchoan service are both secondary routes.

Of this service menu the reviews says:

‘the service between Oban and Craignure is the principal route to the Scottish mainland, while the other two routes are secondary, Fishnish to Lochaline and Tobermory to Kilchoan, connect Mull to the Morvern and Ardnamurchan peninsulas respectively. This is reflected in the patronage count with over 500,000 foot passengers and 100,000 cars using the Craignure service each year. This is around five times more foot passengers and twice as many cars as Fishnish to Lochaline. Tobermory to Kilchoan is the least used of the three routes with around 35,000 foot passengers and 5,000 cars per annum using this particular route.’

This statement is rather disingenuous, failing to reflect the substantial difference in the size and capacities of the respective ferries and their different service frequencies.

For instance, the MV Isle of Mull, on the Oban to Craignure route, does 60 services a week in winter, with a capacity of 80 cars and 1,000 passengers. The MC Loch Fyne on the Lochaline to Fishnish route, does 66 services a week, with a further 4 optional ones – with a capacity of 36 cars and 250 passengers. The Loch Linnhe on the Tobermory to Kilchoan route does 40 services a week with a capacity of 12 cars and an unknown (to us at this moment) number of passengers.

The proposal for Mull and Ardnamurchan is:

• To upgrade the Craignure to Oban service to a two-vessel service, operating as a shuttle-service through an extended operating day;
• Following the upgrade to Craignure to Oban, to review operations on the Fishnish to Lochaline service.  (Again, for ‘review’, read ‘remove’.
• To replace the current passenger and vehicle service on Tobermory to Kilchoan with a passenger-only service.

Consequences for Ardnamurchan, Mull and Oban

The irony of the review’s joint consideration of Mull and Ardnamurchan is that it has ended up virtually severing the connections between them.

The proposals would see no direct vehicle ferry service between the important landmass of the Ardnamurchan peninsula and the substantial Isle of Mull across the sound.

Most of the Ardnamurchan peninsula is part of the historical Argyll, a place of much greater and enduring substance than a mere local authority whose boundaries may be changed – as thy have – at any time.

The severance of one complete vehicle and passenger service and the reduction to a passenger-only service of the second one between them will do two things:

• it will weaken to eventual destruction the powerful historical cultural links between the two;
• it will keep tourist traffic away from Mull and away from Oban.

Why this last?

Because the Corran Ferry to Ardnamurchan is nearest to Fort William and well north of Oban,

Visitors interested in the great wilderness of Ardnamurchan have, at the moment, the ability to drive on to Mull by either Lochaline or Kilchoan – and Kilchoan is the only vehicle ferry into the lovely Tobermory. The route to Mull is a hugely attractive aspect of journey planning. Mull will lose a lot if these tw0 proposed changes come to pass.

And if Mull loses so will Oban. Most visitors currently exploring Ardnamurchan through the Corran Fery and crossing over to Mull, will leave Mull by Craignure for Oban. It is simply a fabulously attractive route.

Those driving on to Ardnamurchan by the Corran Ferry route and lacking any ferry route to Mull,  are likely either to drive the road route up Loch Eil to Fort William or return by Corran Ferry, then taking the A82 east through Glencoe to Tyndrum and Crianlarich, and on into the east highlands or south to Glasgow.

The retention at least of a capable vehicle and passenger ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory would make a lot of sense in keeping open the cultural links and supporting the tourist trade.

 Consequences for Arran and Kintyre

The Isle of Arran used to be affiliated to Argyll, the landmass to which it is physically closest, with Kilbrannan Sound slipping to its west separating it from the Kintyre peninsula to which it is linked from its own small northern harbour of Lochranza over to Claonaig.

There is still a strong residual cultural affinity between Arran and Argyll, despite Arran being hived off to an unnatural local authority relationship with North Ayrshire.

The removal of the secondary ferry service between Lochranza and Claonaig will have three consequences:

• weaken and finally destroy the valuable cultural links between Argyll, through Kintyre and Arran;
• remove the useful fast route from Arran to the north, through Lochgilphead and Oban, on to Fort William;
• remove the route between Arran and Campbeltown, increasingly attractive with the two world class golf courses at Machrihanish the two restored grand hotels in Campbeltown (the Royal) and Machrihanish (the Ugadale); and the Auchrannie resort hotel on Arran.
• remove an important back up ferry route when the Ardrossan-Brodick service faces disrupting wind directions.

This service should not be removed.

A quick route to understanding then nature of the issue of these secondary routes is to consider the case of Bute. The primary route to Bute is the two-boat service between Wemyss Bay in Ayrshire and Rothesay. The secondary route is the minutes long grunt across the Kyles of Bute from Colintraive on the Cowal mainland to Rhubodach in the north of the island.

As it happens, this secondary route is well used and is, in fact. the route that can outstay most others in the CalMac portfolio in bad weather.

But imagine if Bute were to lose this secondary route.

This would see an island with no physical connection to the local authority area to which it lends its name – Argyll and Bute.

There is a lot more to some secondary routes than their status as such.

Read the Review and contribute to the consultation

• The Scottish Ferry Services: Draft Plan for Consultation is here: Draft-ferries-plan-for-consultation
• The online consultation questionnaire is here.
• Alternatively, responses and comments  – a questionnaire form of sorts is the last Appendix (4) to the draft plan document linked above – can printed off, completed and sent to: Colin Grieve, Transport Scotland, Ferries Unit, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ

For further information:

• Email: colin.grieve@transportscotland.gsi.gov.uk
• Or phone: 0131-244-1539

Note:  The photograph at the top is of the former Calmac and Sea Containers ferry, MV Claymore, which was renamed Sia (as she is above in Amsterdam) in April 2009 by her then Danish owners, refitted for cable laying. It is © AlfvanBeem and reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.

Celtic Connections is once again celebrating a bumper year as the 19th festival draws to a close tonight. The attendances have reached over 100,000 and gross ticket sales topped £1.1 million for the fifth year running. This was the sixth year that the festival has been supported by its principal sponsor Scottish Power who are the educational arm of the festivals’ cheerleader.

Spread over 18 days across January and February, 2,100 artists from around the globe were assembled in Glasgow to make the greatest winter music festival in the world another piece of magic. The highlights of the 2012 festival included a poignant tribute to Gerry Rafferty (which will still be here on the Beeb’s iplayer) if you’re quick); a celebration of the centenary of Woody Guthrie; a spectacular collaboration between Jack Bruce and Lau; as well as performances by Bruce Hornsby, The Average White Band and Hue & Cry, James Vincent McMorrow and Treacherous Orchestra.

We were lucky enough to choose the Treacherous Orchestra last night (Saturday 4th February) and were treated to a brand of very unique grooves indeed. The band comprised five fiddlers, three flautists, who became two pipers, two guitarists, a bodhranist (is that a word?) a drummer, a double bassist, as well as banjo and accordion to complete the ensemble.

The strobe lighting that opened the show was excessive and incredible to behold. That was a warning of the audio and light storm that was to come but it was fantastic.

The Treacherous Orchestra has been encouraged by Celtic Connections since the bands inception 4 years ago. This year the festival was rewarded by its impetuous offspring finally producing a CD for us all to enjoy. We have been very patient. Patience has been a great virtue. Soaring tunes and belting rhythms brought to mind some great images and evoked the sounds of Pink Floyd and Fergie MacDonald at different times.

The sell-out crowd came warm and got hot waving fluorescent lights at times and up for the challenge from accordionist John Somerville to ‘Jump!’ The band – sorry Orchestra, led the way and the ABC jumped.

Gabby Young and other Animals got the gig started  and the crowd warm for the headliners. Gabby and her welldressed friends are destined to greater things in the future with their blend of European music made their own. The new album is available at the website and at all good music shops. The new animals will roar!

Music fans have attended approximately 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, which took place in 20 venues across Glasgow over 18 days in January and early February.

The festival is renowned for its ambitious programme of one-off shows, world exclusive performances and unique collaborative events.

The 2012 line-up explored the connections between Celtic music and cultures across the globe, bringing musicians from all over the world to Glasgow, with acts coming from as far afield as Australia, Greenland, Mexico, Mali, Pakistan, Serbia, Palestine, Senegal, Cuba, as well as most corners of  Europe, the USA and Canada.

On Thursday we caught up with a band from Tobermory and another one in support from Oban at the ABC02 in Sauchiehall Street.

Mull Historical Society is ‘Colin MacIntyre and friends’ and he is one great talent that deserves a much greater audience. Tom Morton on Radio Scotland and my good self on Oban Fm have been playing his new album, particularly City Lights, the new single at the drop of a fore and aft!

MacIntyre is a very clever songwriter who loves what he does and has a passion for the whole music business.At least he has now that he has extracted himself from the big music industry and is directing his own future. He played Samuel Dempster RIP as a tribute to his great Granddad – lost in the First World War aged 18. This comes from his last self-named album recorded back in Tobermory in his old classroom at An Tobar – called Island. It is the stripped down acoustic album whereas City Awakenings is the full four stars fuelled up rock record. Its a great night and the assembled audience go home well satisfied that the man from Mull is on a roll.

Washington Irving from Oban (in the main) supported MHS and they are a band on the make too! Already often likened to Mumford and Sons, that allows the boys to get all offended and strike out for their own sound. They are original and the early audience laps up the show.  Abbey Gallop is the single and the EP is available for you to inspect at the website. They are good and loud – a little too loud at times and as less is definitely more in acoustic music, albeit amplified acoustic music. Their songs deserve clarity and as they will be on the road to stardom, production values are all.

But it is all worth it though, as fans have come from all over Europe, the US and Canada to enjoy the fuss in the second city of Empire.

Did we earn a bob or two in the process? The results of an economic impact survey carried out at the 2011 festival revealed that Celtic Connections generated a total of £7.6m of new output to the Glasgow area and £3.1m to wider Scotland in 2011 alone. So yes we definitely did!

This year in the middle of the worst economic downturn since Woody Guthrie was at his height, the festival bucks that trend with sold-out shows that included Admiral Fallow, Treacherous Orchestra, ‘Bring it all home’ Gerry Rafferty Remembered, Bonnie Prince Billy, The Big Dish, Jack Bruce with Lau, James Vincent McMorrow, ‘Far, Far from Ypres’, Song For Ireland, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Skipinnish, Blazin’ Fiddles and the hugely popular Transatlantic Sessions.

The Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas directed Transatlantic Sessions is now touring, bringing a dazzling international cast of Scottish and Irish Celticana fused with Americana’s best musicians to entertain and amaze across the UK following its sell-out success at the last few festivals.

The team set off for Lerwick after Thursday’s show before returning for tonight’s finale back at the Royal Concert hall. ForArgyll’s review of the Thursday gig can be found here.

The Danny Kyle Open Stage brings the cream of new musical talent together and they get a chance to perform in the Royal Concert Hall.
Some great talents have first played here in the last few years – David Ferrard, Malinky, GiveWay, Phamie Gow, the Lori Watson 3,  Breabach and The Chair.

A diverse panel of judges – from industry stalwarts to members of the general  public – then picked six winners from the eighty acts which took part this year. The winners are Barluath, Realta, Rory Butler, Marit Fait & Rona Wilkie from Oban.

Stop press! (is that what you do on the internet?)
Rona Wilkie has just been announced as the winner of the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the year. What a year lies ahead for the Newcastle University student.

So that’s it for another year then but the final word goes to Donald Shaw, our man from Taynuilt, one of Oban’s Cultural Ambassadors, and the  Celtic Connections Artistic Director, who is pleased, to say the least, at bucking the economic trends.

‘We’re delighted that this year’s Celtic Connections has been such a success – it’s an honour to be able to bring some of the world’s greatest folk, roots and traditional musicians to Glasgow. We encourage artists to embrace the festival spirit and try something new when they’re here, and I think we’ve witnessed some very special performances in our 19th year. We’re now very much looking forward to staging the Celtic Connections Big Top in Skye this March, when we’ll be joined by amazing acts like Rosanne Cash and The Civil Wars.’

So – a wee jaunt to Skye on 11th March it is then!! All right for a few bob for fuel and food Ed?

Campbell Cameron, Music Editor

The photographs above, © Campbell Cameron,  show:

• Transatlantic Sessions (top)
• Colin MacIntyre conducts

Now Admiral Fallow are a band I’ve mentioned here a few times before. I’ve caught them live twice – once at The Arches in Glasgow, the other at Glastonbury. They’ve never disappointed me before and they didn’t disappoint me again, when I saw them for the third time last week at ABC in Glasgow.

They were playing a gig as part of Celtic Connections, so Mark and I trundled off to see them, as we’re both big fans. This time the band was supported by two up and coming bands, FOUND and Chasing Owls. Admittedly these two bands weren’t exactly my cup of tea but it’s always nice to give a variety of music a go.

Admiral Fallow  is fronted by Louis Abbott, who is as nice in person as he is on stage. He’s a lovely cheerful chap who was more than happy to have a bit of banter with us at Glastonbury last year and his personality comes across just as good on stage. He keeps the music flowing with a bit of chatter, playing up to his Glasgow roots and generally enjoying being on stage.

In terms of the music itself, Admiral Fallow were fantastic. They played a mix of old songs from their last album, Boots Met My Face (2010), alongside some new songs we all hadn’t heard before. These new songs are from their soon to be released album.

One of the new songs, Beetle in a Box, is kindly available as a free (and 100% legal!) download here. So if you haven’t heard them before, here’s a good song to whack onto your computer and give a little listen to.

Other favourites of mine include Squealing Pigs and Bomb Through The Town, which features the hauntingly beautiful vocals of the band’s pianist and clarinet player, Sarah Hayes. Hayes is an incredible instrumentalist as well as being a beautiful singer. Hayes’ and Abbott’s voices work incredibly well together, as is apparent in all their songs.

It was generally just a great night – they’re playing again this year in December at the Glasgow Barrowlands, so no doubt I’ll be harping on about them again come December-time. For now, go listen, and enjoy.

PS: on a total side note, I made the most fantastic flapjacks for my friend’s birthday this week, so just thought I’d share the recipe with you all.

Coconut and Almond Flapjacks

Ingredients :

• 170g/6oz margarine
• 170g/6oz caster sugar
• 225g/8oz porridge oats
• 50g almonds
• 50g desiccated coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. In a large saucepan melt the margarine. Turn off the heat, and add the sugar and oats, mixing thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

3. Then mix in the almonds and coconut.

4. Line with greaseproof paper a deep 20cm/9in square baking tin.

5. Pour the mixture into the tin, and flatten with the back of the wooden spoon.

6. Bake near the top of the oven for about 25 minutes. The flapjacks should be golden brown.

7. Cut immediately into squares, and leave to cool before turning out. The flapjacks will be a little gooey initially, but will harden after a short period of time.

Ellis Cameron, Young in Argyll correspondent

The photographs above are by Ellis Cameron.

Nancy Kovachik is a high school art teacher who works at a kindergarten to grade 12 school in Pine Falls – Powerview, Manitoba, Canada. She lives on the shore of Lake Winnipeg which is about a 30 minute drive from where she works. She is also an artist and had begun playing the fiddle about three years ago.

It was the fiddle that brought her to the Isle of Lismore in Argyll, to an international fiddle workshop with the well known Mairi Campbell. And it was on Lismore, at that workshop, where she found Cowal’s Walking Theatre Company. They were working with the Lismore youth team on creating a new play about the famous collector of folk lore, Alexander Carmichael, who lived on the island.

Nancy was mesmerised by the way the Walking Theatre Company worked with the Lismore youth team . She then initiated a joint project which will see  the company’s director, Sadie Dixon-Spain, work with a youth team from the High School at Powerview, creating a new play about the Selkirk Settlers.

The play will focus on the impact of these settlers on the indigenous population, especially the Metis – Franco-Canadian Scots’ offspring of settlers who took new wives when they came to work for the Hudson Bay Company. The giant fur trading company itself will also be at the heart of the play.

2013 will see the Powerview youth team come to Argyll with this play – already booked in for performances on Lismore and Easdale islanda and in Cowal and Oban.

Between now and then, Nancy Kovachik has agreed to write for us on her experiences as the project develops.

Today she begins with the meeting on Lismore that saw it all kick off.

The ‘pasture ceilidh’

‘I had no idea what would lie ahead when I was given the opportunity to come to Scotland to study the fiddle with internationally acclaimed Mairi Campbell at her retreat on Lismore.

‘Arriving on the island a day early so as to see Mairi perform, I was given the most amazing introduction to the island’s history by the Lismore Youth Theatre and Argyll’s Walking Theatre Company.

‘Wowed by these young performers, drenched by the rain and surrounded by the history of my ancestors, I began to feel a strong connection to the island and the people.

‘It was a sense of belonging combined with a burning desire to see and do as much as I possibly could while here; and to get to know the people who called the island home.

‘Totally unprepared for the pasture Ceilidh, I cleaned the sheep offerings from my sandals and peeled off my yellow plastic rain cover that was a sad excuse for a coat before I was introduced by Mairi to Sadie!

‘As a teacher, I was impressed with Sadie’s ability to work with these young people to bring alive the story of Alexander Carmichael in such a way as to cause me to fall in love with the island and the people.

‘I knew at that moment that I wanted to work with Sadie and the Walking Theatre Company to bring the experience to my students in Canada.

‘When I got home, I couldn’t wait to share my experience with my colleagues as we began imagining what possibilities could come from developing a partnership with Sadie and bringing the Walking Theatre company to Canada as a way of exploring and celebrating our shared connections!

‘From the moment that I stepped on the island of Lismore I felt the most overwhelming and magical feelings that this was not going to be a typical holiday by any means but the start of an adventure that begins when you take time to dance in the rain….’

Nancy Kovachik

Background story here. The photograph above is of the pasture ceilidh Nancy took part in on the Isle of Lismore.

Powerview-Pine Falls

Or Pine Falls-Powerview, depending on your affiliations, is a six year old amalgamation of the township of Powerview with the area of Pine Falls in eastern Manitoba – about 1,5 km apart and now with a joint name said to annoy Manitoba Highways because it’s too long for their road signs. The town has a population of around 1,300.

Just over two years ago this one-industry town hit trouble. That one industry – the Pine Falls Tembec paper mill, locked out its workforce when they refused to accept the company’s proposal to cut their wages, pensions and benefits. Ironically, the lockout was on Labour Day 2009.

A year later it shut, part of the collapse of the forestry sector across North America, wiht the fall in demand for paper a predictable  consequence of the dominance of digital communications and information services.

The Tembec mill closure left some 240 folk without a job. Some young families had to move away but overall the population has dropped only by around 20. The loss of the mill also meant the loss of contracting work for hundreds of tree cutters, chippers and transporters.

The economic hit was severe.

Another hit on the town from the mill closure will happen this year, in 2012. Tembec had been paying around $1 million a year in business taxes and 2012 will be the first year where none of this tax income will be available. The town is looking at residential property rates doubling to cover the cost of a necessary storm-sewer system and resurfacing the roads afterwards. The council is hoping the province will help to cover the rise.

Some of those left jobless have found work at AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd) which is decommissioning a plant  at Pinawa – and, with Doonreay in Caithness decommissioning, we know how long that process takes.

But what has kept the town going has been gold. With the price at its current astronomical level in a shaky global economic situation, San Gold Corporation first took on nearly 80 former mill employees to work in its Bissett Gold Mine and,  we understand, later employed around the same number again. The mine is two hours away from Powerview-Pine Falls so the workers do two weeks on-two weeks off, living in temporary accommodation at Bisset for their duty periods.

The settler spirit survives. Whatever it takes.

The detail of the briefing made it very clear just how influential Argyll First’s Sign for the A83 campaign has been. every point they have made has been accepted and is being investigated already.

The Argyll First councillors – Donald Kelly, John McAlpine and Dougie Philand say that they: ‘…are delighted that the Scottish Government have recognised all the issues raised in our ongoing petition, Sign for the A83.

‘This news should encourage any member of the public who has not yet signed the petition to do so now. (Sign for the A83)

‘We expect to present the petition to the Scottish Government in March. In the meantime we would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to sign the petition.’

Transport Scotland’s Network Manager North’s email to Councillor Philand

Sent: 03 February 2012 14:02
To: Philand, Dougie

Subject: A83 Rest and Be Thankful -

Dougie

The full brief has not been finalised as yet. I will provide a copy when it has. We are looking at a procurement lead in time of 2-3 months followed by 3 -4 months for the consultants to undertake the study, so we would be looking towards the end of the summer to have the report available to us.

As I say the brief is in the process of being finalised but it is likely that it will require the consulting engineer to examine the following issues:-

• Feasibility of providing an engineering solution at Rest and Be Thankful eg shelter (roof) protection that would allow landslide to flow over road or raise level of road on box culvert that would allow flow under the road/
• Feasibility of a new parallel alignment at RaBT
• Feasibility of a new alignment exploring possibility of an alternative route eg following a different valley altogether
• Review of safety of the A83 including pedestrian crossing facilities at Ardrishaig and Tarbert
• Feasibility of removing various pinch points eg Inveraray Bridge, Erines and Barmore Road, Tarbert
• Mention was made at Wednesday’s meeting regarding the diversion route should the road be closed south of Inverneil. The report will also examine the suitability of existing diversion routes including the feasibility of introducing new diversion routes similar to the RaBT forestry track diversion route that we’re currently investigating

Other issues will be considered separately and may if appropriate feed into the final report.

• The issue regarding trunking the A83 from Kennacraig to Campbelltown is a strategic issue and will be considered internally by Transport Scotland
• Upgrading of the Forestry Commission Track at RaBT to provide an Emergency Diversion Route will be progressed by Transport Scotland and our Operating Companty, Scotland TranServ.
• Long term plans to introduce vegetation to stabilise slope will be progressed with our Geotechnical expert, Mike Winter and other experts including the Forestry Commission. The conclusions of this will feed into the above report
• Installation of additional  geotechnical instrumentation at the site of the most recent landslide and Debris Flow Netting will be progressed by Scotland TranServ

As part of the above exercise it is envisaged that the consulting Engineer will also carry out a consultation exercise with local communities.

Regards
Andy

Andy Anderson
Network Manager North
Trunk Road and Bus Operations

Auchindrain, Scotland’s last preserved Highland farm township, is in the middle of a piece of pronounced practical conservation work.

The east village – the major cluster of extant buildings at the Inveraray end of the township looks as if it’s been beamed down on to a deeply furrowed field – but it’s a massive drainage scheme to protect the buildings, which suffered significantly in last winter’s deep freeze.

Temperatures then were so low that the ground froze to some depth – and everyone in Argyll knows that our prevalent clay holds water.

Rain runs off the traditionally unguttered roofs in the township and, yes, it does, in freezing conditions do damage to the walls it runs down. But the main damage done in last winter’s profound cold was much more serious.

The rain running off the roofs on to the ground around the cottages soaked into the clay and was retained by it, with no warmth in the air to let it evaporate.

Then came the freeze up.

When the water-soaked clay froze deep down, it expanded significantly, rising and lifting the buildings. Then, when the thaw came, it sank again. the impact on these old stone walls of this lift-and-drop experience has left bellied walls, cracks and doors that no longer work.

It is obvious that a few repetitions of this experience in a succession of cold winters would be too much for many of the buildings s0 a solution had to be found. Which is where ‘Och, it’s drains’ comes in to it.

Land drains – to collect and conduct roof water away from the buildings – are now being cut close to the side walls of the cottages in the east township. Proof of the need for them came  in the speed with which water drained in to them from the clay sides and started running almost at once. And then there were the springs.

The drains will have perforated piping, backfilled with gravel and topped with soil. By the time the first visitors arrive, it will all be in perfect order and the ground beneath their feet will be less ‘welcoming’ than it has been.

The current condition of the door on Stoner’s barn is a graphic illustration of what has happened to the buildings.

The framing timbers that carry the doors are fixed to timber wedges hammered into the stone walls in the depth of the doorway.

These wedges also froze, sodden with the water that had permeated them as it fell from the roof. When the wedges expanded, with stone behind them, they pushed forwards against the softer framing timbers for the door. The frames were pushed clear of the side walls, leaving insufficient room between them for the door to operate.

The wedges at the top, closer under the roof overhang, had got less wet, so expanded less significantly, leaving the top door frames more or less in their usual position and the tops of the doors would be or less operational except that below they are folded across each other by the projecting lower wedges and frames.

The work is being funded by Historic Scotland, through an Ancient Monuments Grant. This does not, in fact ,have to be limited to strictly ancient monuments. It can be used to support the addressing of factors that compromise the stability of buildings – as here at Auchindrain.

The grant his been given for physical conservation, to support the creation of a consequent management plan for the buildings. It also helps Historic Scotland itself to understand better how the site at Auchindrain behaves.

A spokesperson for Historic scotland says: ‘Auchindrain is significant as a very rare survival of a once common settlement type which survived widespread 18th and 19th century improvements.

‘Although the agricultural practices were improved, joint tenancy survived, and with it the older layout and many of the buildings.  Its rarity was recognised as early as the 1870s,  when the Duke of Argyll brought Queen Victoria to see the township.   It’s significance is reflected in it being A-listed for its national importance.

‘We have provided a grant of £5,000 to the Auchindrain Museum Trust for drainage works and repairs to the cartshed and £5,000 towards creating a conservation plan that will support the management and understanding of the site.

‘The drainage is particularly important as the accumulation of water around these historic buildings can cause damage.  This problem has become more acute during the recent severe winters and we recognised that resolving this as soon as possible was a priority.’

Archaeologist Roddy Regan from Kilmartin (left above)  has been commissioned to work with Auchindrain’s endlessly active Development Manager, Bob Clark (right), in making the plan for the position of the drains to ensure that they do not impact on sensitive areas of the site.

While they have previously excavated middens at Auchindrain and found plenty of pottery shards, Roddy Regan has been a little surprised that no pottery at all has been found in all of the drain excavations that have been going on in this project.  He mentioned finding no fewer than 22 teapots in an excavation at High Morlaggan, on Loch Long, south of Arrochar.

While Mike Campbell from Arduaine carefully cuts the drains in the east township, there is proof of other recent restoration work at Auchindrain, on the edge of this cluster of buildings and almost marking its western boundary.

The Munro Barn – or Martin’s barn – had previously been no more than foundations and heaps of boulders that had once formed its walls.

The West of Scotland Dry Stone Walling Association has patiently rebuilt the barn over the past 12 months or so, as an association project. It has since been roofed and now stands proudly on its height, commanding the east township and flanked to the west by the historically newest structure on the site, the wooden ‘Colt’ house, built in the early 1960′s for the last folk to live in Auchindrain – and a listed building in its own right.

Together, these two structures have long and new tales to tell.

Note: To correct our mischievous misuse of its name, Auchindrain is pronounced ‘Ach an dryan’ and means the field of the thorn tree.

Members of Oban Lifeboat crew and the Lifeboat Operations Manager met with Oban Yorkshire Building Society’s Branch Manager this morning ( 2nd February) to launch the building society’s Fundraising year.

The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) is delighted that the Yorkshire has chosen the RNLI. as its Charity of Choice for 2012.

The Building Society has named its campaign Come Rain Or Shine to highlight the fact that RNLI volunteer crews go to sea on rescue missions whatever the weather.

The photograph above of the group outside the Yorkshire Building Society.  shows (L-R) : Andrew Mead, Sally Jackson, Peter MacKinnon, Carol Darling, John Hill, Jason Philp and Billy Forteith.

The photograph has been provided by Oban LIfeboat press team and is  by Steve Flanagan, courtesy of The Oban Times.

The council has been unable to provide the Scottish Government with an audit trail to justify the scores claimed.

Detailed information, commentary and analysis will follow later – but for now, no one can measure the entirely voluntary work that Ewan Smith of the Muirfield Action Group and the Scottish Rural Schools Network have individually and together put into this campaign.

In emphasising right themselves, they deserve this right judgment.

It has been a matter of testing the claims of the council at every turn and it has been an exhaustive and demanding forensic procedure.

But this has been a test case in every sense. Nothing can be the same again in terms of the way the Schools Act 2010 is regarded and implemented – and the findings of the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education will, amongst much else, be required now to reflect the necessity for independent and rigorous testing of claim and ‘evidence’ before any school is allowed to be closed – rural or urban.

Rejection letter to Angus Council

(added 09.25 1st February 2012)

We’ve not read this ourselves yet – but will report o it later. For now here it is: Moore to Logue Muirfield rejection letter.

09.35: update

In the near future will have a reasoned analysis of the far reaching consequences of Angus Council’s sustained attempt to close Muirfield and Timmergreens schools on known false premises and of this decision by Scottish Ministers to reject its decision to do so.

The most compressed germane parargraph in the letter  – and one which sets important precedents – is the last one:

‘Ministers are of the view that it is important the consultees are able to rely on information provided to them and when this is challenged, Councils must be able to demonstrate clearly how the information has been derived. In this case, Minsters have concluded the Council has failed in this regard and are not confident that the information presented in support of the case for closure is both clear and accurate. Ministers are of the view that the Council’s consultation has not been fully transparent and that the information presented has not been wholly accurate. They therefore conclude that the Council has failed to fulfil its statutory obligations under section 17(2)(a) of the 2010 Act and consent to close Muirfield and Timmergreens Primary Schools is refused.’

A moratorium on closure attempts for Muirfield and Timmergreens schools

Justice demands that these two schools should now be given a formal protection from further attempts to close them for a period of five years or more.

Parents and children have been through a period of fighting for the survival of their school which was in fact, prolonged long beyond the point where evidence was there for this decision to have been made.

This is a matter to which we will return in the analysis of what this long drawn out case has to contribute to future law, guidance, management and adjudication -  but for now, it is important for the health of parents and children alike that they are given due comfort in an assurance  that they will not find their schools under further attack for a considerable time.

Not to do this would be to inflict further abuse on the innocent and right.

(21.00, 31st January update: Important clarification added in new section below: The ‘sequential test’ issue.) In a troubling development it has emerged that Helensburgh Councillor Vivien Dance appears not to have been anything like as detached as she would have it believed from the progress of the Waitrose application for a store at Cardross Road  opposite the new Hermitage Academy.

Bachground

The background to this is the question if whether or not Waitrose would be given permission for their preferred location at Cardross Road or encouraged to review the value of the Helensburgh pierhead site, which is prominent in the central area of the town.

A Press Release issued by the council on 27th January 2012 declared that in line with a public consultation, the council has decided that there will be no supermarket on the pierhead but that it will see the replacement of the current leisure centre with a new swimming pool and leisure centre and a few associated retail units.

This is to be built on the site while the current leisure centre continues its service.

The Press Release, while trumpeting the councils compliance with public opinion on this matter (because it suits its own preferences), makes no reference to the fact that public opinion was emphatically against it’s architecturally ignorant and potentially dangerous proposed change to the town’s structural kingpin -  Colquhoun Square. The council had no difficulty in setting that opinion aside – because is did not suit its intentions.

The Dance stance

Councillor Dance  has declared a non-financial interest in the Waitrose application and studiously removed herself from discussion on it at planning committee meetings.

However over the weekend copies of emails were sent to Councillor George Freeman which indicate anything but due detachment from this application and in fact suggest distinct engagement with it.

The email chain

The first of these was sent to Councillor Freeman by a constituent of his who is concerned about his situation.

From: ********  ******* Sent: 31 January 2012 09:43. To: Freeman, George

Subject: FW: Waitrose Planning Application

Hi George Thought you would be interested to see the comments from Mrs Dance below. Looks like there was a hidden agenda all along!.

********

From: Gill Fish [mailto:lgillfish@gmail.com] Sent: 27 January 2012 18:48. To: ******** *******

Subject: Re: Waitrose Planning Application

Hi all

Hot off the press- the Council have looked at the consultation results and are revising the master plan to reflect public opinion- No Supermarket On The Pier! as a result, Planning officers are likely to recommend Waitrose’s application be approved. This is hugely important and makes it look very likely that Waitrose will go ahead as planned!

(***  Ed: our separation to replicate the same separation in the original email from Gill Fish)

Here we go, love it when a plan comes together.   You will now satisfy the sequential test and I predict officers will recommend approval.   Have an extra gin and tonic on me.

Cheers,

Vivien

Councillor Vivien Dance J.P.

Ward 10, Helensburgh Central.

Chairman, Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee.

Depute Spokesperson for Education and Lifelong Learning.

Chairman, Social Affairs Policy and Performance Group. Argyll and Bute Council.

Telephone 01436 831995. Mobile 07795397947.

***

It seems that Gill Fish, a Helensburgh Community Councillor and leader of the Waitrose Support Group, has included Councillor Dance’s email within her own email. The immediate curiosity is Councillor Dance’s euphoric statement: ‘Here we go, love it when a plan comes together.’ This ‘plan’, presumably, is what has perturbed Councillor Freeman’s constituent who sees it as proof of ‘a hidden agenda all along!’

The ‘sequential test’ issue

You need to be a public sector insider to understand the ins and outs of planning and the obscure terminology current in that world. Many of us don’t fall into that category and neither, of course, does For Argyll – so here is what we have come to understand about the specific concerns on Councillor Dance’s apparent behaviour in this matter.

A part of planning procedure in the consideration of an application for consent for a retail development is called ‘the sequential test’.

It means that if there is an application for a retail development in an out of town location and if a site closer to the town centre is available for a retail development that site must be used first.

The relevance of this to the Helensburgh Waitrose situation is that once the council issued its decision on Friday (27th January 2012) that its revised masterplan would contain no supermarket on the pierhead site, that single action cleared the way for Waitrose to get the location it wanted at the Cardross Road site. Why? Because the alternative site that had been available for a retail development until this decision – the pierhead, right in the town centre area – was then no  longer available for this purpose.

Councillor Dance had declared a non-financial interest in the Waitrose application for the Cardross Road site.

The concern over possible conflict of interest arises from the evidence of the email chain above.

This  indicates that she was a part of a pre-Waitrose group organising objections to the use of the pierhead site for retail development. It suggests, in Councillor Dance’s own words, that this group had a plan and that the plan had been successful with the council decision to remove supermarket development from the masterplan of what it would permit on that site.

Her email ties this directly to the future for Waitrose by making her prediction on its how getting consent the subject of her very next sentence.

The opposition to consent for retail development on the pierhead had removed the one obstruction caused by the ‘sequential test’. Her email and its distribution places Councillor Dance as a part of that opposition – clearing the way for a development in which she had declared an interest.

This is the heart of the concern about conflict of interest.

If the Councillor’s email does not in fact suggest any such thing, then she can only be said to be extraordinarily careless with her words. As a JP – listed in the rather grandiloquent list she appends to her email above, such carelessness would be implausible.

There are other possible consequences of what may appear to be the victory Councilor Dance is so gleefully celebrating and they may not play out as the Waitrose Support Group naively imagine will be the result of their efforts. But that is for another day.

Councillor Freeman’s action

Councillor Freeman has, this morning, written to Charles Reppke, head of Governance and Law at Argyll and Bute Council and to Planning Officer, Angus Gilmour.

From: Freeman, George Sent: 31 January 2012 10:13.  To: Reppke, Charles; Gilmour, Angus Cc: Hendry, Douglas; Young, Howard; Macintyre, Robert; Philand, Dougie; Walsh, Dick; Robb, James (Councillor)

Subject: FW: Waitrose Planning Application

Importance: High

Charles, With reference to our brief discussion yesterday, please find attached a copy of an email that has been passed to me this morning which you may find of interest.  This appears to confirm the information that was passed to me on Saturday in Helensburgh that the Planners are now going to recommend approval of the Waitrose planning application.  Any comments would be welcome from you or Gus.

Regards, George Freeman

The Council’s framing decision

Setting aside Councillor Dance’s prediction that planning consent for Waitrose at the Cardross road site is now a shoo in, the Council’s framing decision that there will be no supermarket on the pierhead site is astonishingly irresponsible.

It is an irresponsibility to be shared by those in the consultation process who gave them comfort on what they say they are now set on doing with the new leisure centre development on the pierhead.

A council’s primary responsibility is to work to build the prosperity of their area  because everything else descends from that.

Helensburgh town centre is dying on its feet. It badly needs a buzz.

As we have said before, letting Waitrose set up out of town can only draw even more business away from the town centre. Waitrose will be a major draw both to those living elsewhere and to those living in the town itself.

The coffee bar on the site and the proximity of the school mean that parents will – inevitably and irresistably – drop off and pick up their kids at Hermitage school (across the road from the planned Waitrose) in a single outing involving doing the shopping and having a coffee with friends on the same mission. They will need little other than these facilities to sustain family life.

Visitors coming to Waitrose – and the main population catchment lies on the Cardross side, will never even see the town centre, which will become ever more depressed.

This council administration has now failed every single one of Argyll’s five major towns. This is some achievement given the potential each of them possess and which has been left neglected and undeveloped.

A major draw like Waitrose, bang on the pierhead – whatever the difficulties, none of which are insurmountable – would have drawn attention and business to the town, challenging retailers to make their services deliberately complementary, supplementary and compelling. They would have been immediately visible and accessible. But Cardross Road?

We are aware that Helensburgh Retailers Alliance is – necessarily – preparing to fight the council decision on the pierhead with vigour, employing a campaign coordinator who is already at work gathering information.

The council pierhead plan and public responsibility

As something of a coincidental first, the council says it is taking its lead from the consultation process where people wanted a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the pierhead – and wanted it to be built before the existing leisure centre only is removed.

There are several realities that the council has simply set aside in its decision to allow no supermarket on the pierhead, conveniently leaving an unchallenged Waitrose in residence on Cardross Road opposite Hermitage Academy.

Firstly, this silly schematic leaves the town to endure a doubly prolonged period with a major building site in the heart of the town, in a prominent position on the seafront. Tasty?

Then the decision to leave the current facility in place until after its successor is completed, means that the site as a whole will have no overall design integrity, It will be another civic hotch potch. Poor Helensburgh.

And with a serial construction and demolition and removal process, there can be no consistent finished surface on any of the site until both of these projects are completed.

Are these the circumstances of  usage at either end of this process that Helensburgh seriously wants to experience?

Leisure centres cum swimming pools only on the rarest occasion have the sort of aesthetic you can hope to fuel town centre regeneration around. But you never know.

In Campbeltown they built the glorious Aqualibrium – although they stuck it in an out of the way position which sidelines it rather than letting it command and direct attention to the town. This may change with the reshaping of that part of the waterfront area but it can be little more than partially successful because of the visual direction and weight of the place.

It is indulgent of those who asked for this in the consultation to prioritise a degree of personal convenience in keeping the leisure centre in this position where moving a new facility to the Hermitage site would have helped to build the fitness such centres exist to promote in the first place.

It was convenient for the council to go along with this because it clearly suited their own intentions not to have a supermarket on the pierhead.

The local authority elections are in May and this council administration is fighting for its life – with all the publicly funded means at its disposal. Giving the pierhead site over to a continued leisure facility was a crowd pleaser – but a pleaser of an uninformed crowd.

There is little point in personal convenience when the town you live in is becoming increasingly run down, disheartened, demotivated are declining.

You can walk to a more distant leisure centre. You cannot drag unwilling visitors from Cardross Road to a town centre they have no felt need to see or to spend time in. And you cannot stop town residents with homes and families to run from centering their daily lives on the facilities around the Waitrose and coffee shop development near the school in Cardross Road.

If this is what Helensburgh wants, this is what Helensburgh is going to get – but it would be hard to find anything more short sighted and civically destructive than this typically convenient council decision.

The photograph at the top shows the most currnetly couth part of the scrappy pierhead site – the resurfaced jetty out to the Seabus service across the Clyde to Kilcreggan on the Rosneath peninsula and on to Gourock on the south side of the Clyde estuary. This service is currently under threat of closure by Strathclyde Passenger Transport, uncontested by Argyll and Bute Council.

The false start was after a wee bit of brain fade on my part, in that I double booked myself – twice – and had two Oban Burns suppers on the night of the first couple of gigs I planned. That oops was sorted by putting the tickets the way of the other ForArgyll.com music sleuth, Ellis Cameron, who went off and took in the Vasen/ Chris Stout and Catriona MacKay/ Scottish Ensemble extravaganza at the Fruitmarket and the ABC o2 Admiral Fallow gig too! This was no hardship on her part as she will report elsewhere on these pages.

Thursday was an early start as I had offered to help my friend the Mull Shepherd – Singer Iain Thomson at the Scotland on Tour conference in the Royal Conference hall. This is a great fringe event run alongside Showcase Scotland which brings in promoters and agents from all over the UK and the rest of the world so we can sell them on booking artistes from our fair land for their events. We heard advice from some of the gurus of Scottish music and met some of the legendary characters who put on the festivals round the world – great experience indeed.

Later that night we headed off to the Grand City Hall to enjoy Finbar Furey, Dick Gaughan, and Martin Simpson. The slide guitar supremo Simpson has not registered on my radar despite nearly twenty albums under his belt – don’t know how that happened. His vocals are great too – very descriptive and delightful especially the “never any good” tribute to his dad. Simpson makes a great foil for Dick Gaughan who is a master song smith – together they were mega! Waste deep in the big Muddy – the Pete Seeger classic was delivered to perfection by Gaughan and Simpson.

The night was opened with the marvellous Finbar Furey – a multi instrumentalist and a voice that has been honed by strong whisky and quality cigarettes. Finbar vocals the very best version of the Green fields of France bar none – but not tonight! New York Girls made it into the set and the story behind getting a call from Film director Martin Scorsese while up to his arms in glue making a new set of pipes! It’s worth the ticket price just to hear the story in his brilliant laconic style. Promise.

Then…. dilemma…Finlay Wells and Sorren MacLean were debuting the new album  at the piping centre and June Tabor was not on stage yet…Highland loyalties prevailed!  Wells is from Oban and a guitarist of the greatest skill but largely undiscovered outside his home town. Maclean is his student and together they are magnificent. Maclean may even be better known, as his own band and his role in Colin Macintyre’s Mull Historical Society, have brought him to wider attention.

The boys will be touring and the show is not to be missed – Finlay will be on Oban Fm Wednesday Drivetime at 5pm on Wednesday 2nd February previewing the album – tune in online here or on air at 103.3 Fm if you are in the area.

Celtic Connections continues until Sunday at venues throughout Glasgow. Tickets online here.

And, by the way, Colin MacIntyre debuts his new Mull Historical Society album at the ABC O2 on Friday evening.  I’ll be there.

Campbell Cameron, Music editor

This week Mark and I headed off to the Old Fruitmarket in Merchant City, to attend a Celtic Connections gig. We went to see Chris Stout and Catriona McKay, alongside Väsen.

I was especially looking forward to this gig, because I love the venue. The old Fruitmarket is a lovely gig space; in fact it’s just a lovely space in general.

This gig was no exception; all around Mark and me was great ambient lighting and – thankfully, chairs and tables.

Now I’m not saying I don’t love to have a bit of a dance at gigs, but it’s also nice to be greeted with the opportunity for a bit of a sit down. There’s nothing worse than being at a gig and trying to enjoy the music, but you can’t because you’re fidgeting and your feet are killing you. So basically, for the granny tendencies in myself, I was glad I could sit down, get a drink and enjoy the music.

Chris Stout, Catriona Mckay and the Scottish Ensemble

First on the bill were the Scottish folk duo Christ Stout and Catriona McKay. Chris Stout is a Shetland born, Glasgow based violinist, while Catriona McKayis also a Scottish born and breed musician and composer, whose main talents lie as a harpist.

As a duo, the pair are simply incredible. They played alongside the Scottish Ensemble, led and directed by Jonathan Morton  and their collective sound was fantastic. They played lovely slow and melodic pieces, alongside more folky, upbeat work. Their sheer skill was something to marvel at, and I’d be incredibly surprised if anyone came away from the first half of the night disappointed.

Väsen

After the interval we welcomed Väsen to the stage. Väsen is comprised of three Swedish folk musicians – Olov Johansson on the nyckelharpa, Mikael Marin on the viola and Roger Tallroth on the guitar.

These guys loved a good polska, and they were one of the liveliest and friendliest bands I’ve ever reviewed. They had a hilariously dry sense of humour, which came out in small bursts throughout their set. They played a fun and upbeat set, and really seemed to relish playing in front of an audience. They kept the crowd going and Mark and I both agreed they seemed like lovely, talented guys.

All in all it was a great night, with a fantastic balance of sheer skill (Stout and MacKay) and lively enthusiasm (Väsen), which meant that we both went home feeling really pleased we’d ventured out to the Fruitmarket. For two quite different reasons, these two sets of performers are a definite must to see, if you ever get the chance to hear them live.

Ellis Cameron, Young in Argyll correspondent

The photographs accompanying this article are by Ellis Cameron.

The Scottish Government has called-in a proposal by Highland Council to close four primary schools in Wick, replacing them by two new build facilities.

The reason for the call-in is that it was shown that Highland had simply copied the ‘educational benefits statement’ from one put forward by another local authority in respect of a closure proposal in its domain.

The Scottish Government statement says: ‘Ministers noted that the Educational Benefits Statement was an exact copy of a statementwritten for another local authority. They are of the view that while there may be some similarities, the schools in question are different and unique to the communities they serve and as a result, the educational benefits to be realised will not be identical. Therefore as presented, it may not be possible for parents and others to judge precisely and clearly the educational benefits to accrue from the proposal.’

A matter of huge amusement is that, as these things happen, the education benefits statement Highland copied was the one concocted by Angus Council for its proposal to close – yes – Muirfield and Timmergreens schools (and replace them with a new build school, less well resourced than Muirfield alone and bang on the most dangerous road in Arbroath.

The educational benefits statement

The educational benefits statement is legally  – supposedly (practice has not always shown this to be the priority in fact) – central to the permitted closing of a school.

The Schools Act 2010 is deliberately extremely demanding on this matter – the bar is set very high indeed. It requires councils to demonstrate exactly how the pupils to be transferred from their current school to another one will benefit educationally from that move.

This means examining the latest HMIE assessment of teaching and learning at the school to be closed, against the latest HMIE report on the ‘receiving’ school. In the case of a new school, of course, there is no track record, leaving the case essentially dependent on claims. Pointing to the transfer of  familiar staff is not a complete reassurance on this, because the nature of space means that some enable learning and some disable learning.

The point is that an educational benefits statement cannot be other than absolutely site specific, utterly unique to a single proposal. No school is like another as no place is like another and there is an organic relationship between place, school and education.

In this case, Arbroath is a large and quite well found major town with a strong tie to the bustling neighbouring city of Dundee. Wick is an isolated small town wrapped around the isosceles triangle of Wick Bay in the far north east in Caithness, south of Duncansby head and at the railhead of the North Highland Line from Inverness well to the south.

It has a magnificent and characterful harbour, once the port for Orkney and  seeing arrivals of King George VI, Winston Churchill, Lord Kitchener and many others on their way to visit the Royal Navy’s northern fleet  in Scapa Flow during World war II.

It was also – equally once upon a time – a major fishing port which EU quotas have long seen decimated.

Its culture and the languages at its disposal are a long way from Arbroath.

The fact that Highland Council even thought it sufficiently like Arbroath just to transplant an education benefits statement from Arbroath says a great deal – all of real concern – about the competence of the education department at Highland Council.

To do what they have done demonstrates that:

• they don’t know what educational benefit is;
• they don’t trust themselves to write a competent educational benefits statement;
• they are afraid that there is no strong educational benefit in what they propose so have taken one off the shelf without even realising how inappropriate a match it was.

For whatever reason, it beggars belief that there is an education department in a major council that cannot write its own educational benefit statement.

Mind you, Argyll and Bute’s Education Director has just submitted evidence to the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education was unable to say a single thing about educational benefit and actually proposed hiving off the responsibility to either HMIE or Education Scotland. He didn’t much care so long as it wasn’t him.

There have been many low points in sheer chicanery by local authorities in their efforts to close schools which should properly remain in service and there has been much that is the territory of pantomime.

This says little for the knowledge of the subject and the integrity with which Scotland’s education is currently being managed. It  strengthens the case for centralising educational provision and removing it from the purview of local authorities.

This stunt from Highland takes the level of the game to an uncomprehending new low.

The Highland Council position

Highland Council are now, from a piece in yesterday’s John O’Groat Journal and Caithness Courier, trying to force the Scottish Government effectively to overlook theri dereliction of responsibility bvy saying that the investment money might not be available if there was a significant delay  – in giving permission to close the school.

They see – or strategically pretend to see – no other possible outcome and present the decision as foregone and purely a matter of time.

The simple fact is that the Scottish Government cannot actually do this.

The legal position

By law – and the Schools Act is very clear on this – when all other matters are resolved, the final judgment to approve or reject a local authority decision to close a school depends on the educational benefit of the proposed move.

There will have to be a proper educational benefit statement and its validity will have to be tested against due and informed scrutiny.

• There will have to be utterly specific educational benefit statements referring to the educational records of each of the four Wick schools and to each of the two proposed  new builds.
• They will have to be given to each of the four schools concerned, who will have to be ‘consulted’ on their own;
• They will have to go to HMIE to comment and approve or not – in a circumstance where what they do will be under very particular scrutiny – as indeed it should be more often than seems to be the case.
• Highland Council would then have to reconsider its decisions in the light of the four unique educational benefit statement.
• Their decision would have to go to the Education Secretary, along with all of the the required  documentation to do with the educational benefits statements.
• If the decision remained to close all fur schools, an appeal on educational benefits is more of a likelihood than not.
• The call-in team would then have to consider not only each of the new educational benefits statements but an appeal lodged on the decision against to close one or more of the four schools on that basis.

It is entirely possible, in theory at least, that, on educational benefit grounds, Highland could be given permission to close fewer than the four schools it wishes to close.

That might make the financial picture of the proposed two new build primary facilities non-viable – but, by the Schools Act 2010,  that it not a matter for proper consideration by the Scottish Government. It would be a matter for Highland Council to decide upon its most constructive consequential action.

The Hilhead view

In a position statement depressingly familiar to school campaigners in very many local authority areas, the John O’ Groat Journal and Caithness Courier piece quotes Dr Ewen Pearson, Chair of the Hillhead Parent Council, as saying that 97 per cent of parents at Hillhead were not happy with the proposal.

There are a number of issues evidently causing concern –’ including a perceived lack of information, the lack of a travel plan and worries about an education benefit statement which he claims was copied from another school in another town.;

Dr Pearson says: ‘We have yet to get a straight answer to fairly simple questions,” said Dr Pearson. “One really does wonder why the council has employed expensive consultants to write these documents when they are quite clearly riddled with mistakes and inaccuracies.

‘I do hope that questions are asked by our councillors about value for money from these highly paid consultants who, like cheating schoolboys, simply copy information from somebody else’s proposals.’

The photograoph above, of Wick, is by copyright holder, James Woodward, and reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.

Education Director Cleland Sneddon’s cruise to close rural schools in Argyll was given to sailing too close to reefs in order to create flourishes for observers on the shore. Had he paid attention to steering safely through the well buoyed navigation channel, his resulting sinkings might have been avoided.

But by his own words in this submission, he sees accurate evidence as an obstructive nuisance and wishes to see it made irrelevant in the process of trying to close schools.

This article is focused on Mr Sneddon’s submission to the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education. ( A & B draft response to Commission Dec 11 )

The submission was, on his recommendation, endorsed by Argyll and Bute Council’s Executive committee and sent direct to the commission on behalf of the council – without going first to the full council for discussion and approval.

Ironically, had it been sent to council, there is a chance that members outside the Executive might have noticed what the privileged did not – repeated errors of substantial fact and practice which were made highly public last year and which do not appear to have been understood.

 The focus of the Sneddon submission

As Education Director,  in 2011 Mr Sneddon lost two successive sets of substantial closure proposals to an abler and more hard working team of schools campaigners in Argyll. During this process he saw one partner party (the SNP) in the then ruling coalition walk out of power in protest against the flawed state of his proposals.

He has several consequent purposes in this submission:

• to try to neutralise at source all effective opposition to future closure proposals;
• to try to present his two successive failures as somehow resulting from unfair advantage to the campaigners – who are voluntary, unresourced and excluded from key stages of the closure proposal procedure as currently prescribed;
• to argue for changes to the procedure that would put evidence and veracity of evidence beyond scrutiny;
• to address perceived failures in the law as it stands.

On this last point, we would argue that the obvious problems lie far less with the nature and framing of the law than with the erratic and directionless manner of its implementation to date.

Its inconsistency – to which Mr Sneddon fairly points  – shows no evidence of being  guided by stable principle but to have staggered between the pressures of the moment from conflicting forces. This satisfies no one and discredits the law.

Summary account of  the Sneddon Submission

We link to the detail of the major issues listed in this summary but fundamentally Mr Sneddon’s  submission is the work of a sore loser, trying to sabotage the opposition’s barque for next time.

He seems to feel that parents and communities have no right to fight to save their schools, no right to test the validity of the evidence of the council case against it and certainly no right to win, as the Argyll Rural Schools Network campaigners, with the support of SRSN, did – twice in a row.

He says: ”The current Act and its associated guidance have produced a very adversarial process whereby opponents of a proposal believe to object to it implies that there is an argument to win by disproving the educational benefits statement of an authority. The result has been a massively disproportionate use of time and resources by both parties trying to “win” an argument by criticising the position of the other. It therefore engenders a bad feeling and the actual correct and proper consideration of education benefits and opponent’s views is overlooked in the adversarial process. ‘

This statement carries another issue that is echoed elsewhere in the submission – the nuisance of having to work to get it right. The Education Director, shown before and again here to busk his way through issues rather than do his homework properly, resents having to make the effort to do a professional job. He says: ‘The statutory consultation process was very time consuming. Officers and senior managers were required to collect and collate very specific information related to the educational benefits of facts and figures.’ Poor loves.

• He thinks that a rural school and an urban school should be treated as the same thing.
• He is unable to think positively about rural schools. Even when the commission asks for constructive ideas to make rural schools sustainable, he uses the response to focus on the difficulties and offers nothing of value.
• He abuses here the same evidence in the same way as he was publicly reprimanded in 2011 by the author of a research study (The Outer Hebrides Migration Study’) whose conclusions he had knowingly misapplied.
• He rubbishes the impact of losing its school on a community’s sustainability and wants to downgrade its current status in law.
• He suggests that teachers making a lifestyle choice to teach in rural schools are less capable teachers.
• He radically misunderstands the governing legislation – see below on the presumption against the closure of a rural school.
• He wants to sideline councillors from scrutinising his proposals.
• He wants to make ‘process’ (the box tickers’ charter) the prime criterion above content and evidence in the adjudication of contested closure decisions, neutralising the best work of school campaigners.
• He wants to pass the buck to external organisations on assessing educational benefit.
• He still can’t get his sums right on the GAE funding mechanism.
• He distorts the picture of the condition of the Argyll school estate.
• He feels that issues like travel times to school should be left to the council to judge as they are the experts. This comes from the man who fronted proposals that, when tested, would have required tiny children to do a total of over two and a half hours a day commuting to school; and allowed in their doctored calculations of 45 minute journeys, 30 seconds a time for a driver to stop, assist to board and secure tiny children before getting back in the minibus and driving off.
• He says: ”It is also important to clearly emphasise that a proposal may produce some dis-benefits to pupils (e.g. an extended travel journey) that cannot be fully mitigated but they should not automatically mean a proposal should be rejected. Rather the whole range of benefits and dis-benefits should be considered together so that the overall impact on pupils is considered. ‘ It is unsurprising that  he makes no suggestion as to how a two and a half hour daily commute imposed on a tiny child might be mitigated in any way.
• He wants to avoid ‘simplistic debate’ – yet it was his closure proposals that relentlessly touted the mantra: ‘Bigger schools are better’.
• He has the cheek to bleat at the end of the submission: ”Finally, the Council would wish to highlight the impact of the current process on its communities, on schools and on staff tasked with undertaking this work. The campaign that was undertaken in Argyll and Bute was very difficult and in some cases distressing for those involved or affected by it. Any conclusion of the Commission should consider these comments and reflect the duty of care the Council has to its pupils, communities and staff. ‘

This last is said in denial that all the distress was caused directly by his own out-of-scale and persistently flawed closure proposals – on two successive occasions.

We could go on – as virtually all of what he says can quickly be shown to be unsound – and we could expand our earlier judgment above to say that this submission is the work of a sore loser consumed by self-pity.

It is, typically, off the cuff and unedited – with unnoticed internal contradictions; carelessness in various renderings of just what pupil numbers are the limit for GAE per capita funding for rural schools; and shows no trace of awareness of the grave responsibility of contemplating closing one rural school – never mind twenty six, in an area like Argyll and Bute.

On the evidence of this submission, Mr Sneddon has learned nothing from his two defeats.

The presumption against the closure of a rural school

This is the heart of the matter. It is the central issue that has not been given primacy either by local authorities or government – and perhaps was never more than tokenism, not taken seriously by either.

This ‘presumption against the closure of a rural school’ exists for good reason – to protect the mutually sustaining life support that demonstrably exists between a rural community and its school.

Failing to understand this, Mr Sneddon is of the view that: ‘The legislation surrounding the closure of schools should be uniform throughout Scotland: there should be no distinction between rural and urban.’

The extent to which Mr Sneddon has not engaged with the core stance of the law could not be clearer than in his statement: ”The Act as it stands at the moment is discriminatory against the closure of a school.’

A member of the Argyll Rural Schools Network has dealt with this best in a  note saying: ”This was his best line. I had to change my pants after reading this. Yes Mr Sneddon: a presumption against closure does indeed mean that the Act is discriminatory against the closure of a school. That’s what the words “presumption against closure” mean. Where was this man educated?’

The photograph above was taken outside Argyll and Bute Council’s HQ at Kilmory in Lochgilphead, on a cold 5th January 2011 as school campaigners gathered outside. Inside, to a specially requisitioned meeting of Council, Sandy Longmuir of SRSN was making a presentation of his analysis of the flaws in Mr Sneddon’s first set of school closure proposals. This meeting ended with the retiral of the proposals.