Councillor Coleshill calls for more pressure on government to tackle homelessness

In his third blog for STV Glasgow, Councillor Coleshill calls for more pressure to be applied to the Scottish Government on the issue of homelessness.

Well it’s the “Christmanay” time of year, which means that with Christmas and Hogmanay holidays it is difficult to do anything not connected with eating, drinking, present buying, or family visiting.

Rain, dustbins and roads problems are what my constituents have been contacting me about. So no change there, these are perennial winter problems.

There will be no official council sponsored hogmanay celebrations on George Square this year – which is a pity I think (no one consulted the majority of councillors about that just the leader and the chief executive made the decision) but at least that has meant the fun fair and the ice rink are bigger and more permanent.

To end homelessness in Scotland by the end of 2012 (an SNP pledge) local authorities need to be able to provide people with council and housing association homes, as well as to develop strategies to prevent homelessness.

However the Scottish Government is cutting the budget for affordable housing and Infrastructure Secretary Alex Neil is backtracking on a pledge to build thousands of socially rented properties each year.

Interestingly Glasgow was the largest council not to supply figures for homelessness in response to a freedom of information request from the Liberal Democrat MSPs. Don’t the people running the city realise putting pressure on Holyrood is vital?

The council didn’t respond to consultation from the Scottish Government on prison visiting changes either.

Once upon a time – when ministers consulted and not one response was in favour of their proposals they would think again. The proposal to do away with independent prison visitors is to go ahead anyway.

At the moment these are a sort of inspectorate who were charged with looking at general conditions to make them comply with minimum decent standards but they can also take up individual complaints. The proposal is to have Government appointed agents who may be “advocates” for individual prisoners but will not look at the system as a whole to see if it is humane, and will be expected to make the prisoners accept their lot.

This will place Scotland in a position that not one European country is in, alongside North Korea and Iran.

There is some excuse for the council not putting in a response – they were only given a couple of days to do it and the consultation was supposed to be about suggestions for improving the existing system, not whether to abolish it – no clue as to this intention appeared in the government paperwork.

In the new year (after the May elections) the council will look very different. Nearly half the existing Labour councillors are standing down for one reason or another. Not being chosen by their party in the ward they currently represent, finally giving up their second salary after a year (in the case of the MSPs) or honourably retiring, play their part. In the main however this huge turnover is due to many being de-selected i.e. found not suitable to stand for the Labour party in any ward.

Taken with the inevitable changes occurring in the other parties (two of my Lib Dem colleagues are retiring after being on the council for many years) the council will have a lot of different individuals whichever way the electorate decide to vote next year.

I want to wish everyone the best of luck in 2012. As my Dad says, "Hope for the best, expect the worst and take what comes."