Who gets the big jobs? How much are they paid? And how is it done?

My time as a councillor is over, and at a time of my own choosing. That puts me in a better frame of mind than those members who lost their seats at the hands of their own party, or the Ferry electorate. I wish them well.

It may seem harsh. but no-one has the right to stay in public office forever. It's important to let new people through. Back in 2008, Cllr Andy Dawson stepped aside as the SNP's housing spokesman and made space for me. In time I stepped aside, and John Alexander took over the role. If political groups are to avoid damaging internal conflicts, that's the way it has to work.

What happens in Dundee City Council now? Over the next few days and weeks some significant decisions will be made. There are powerful convenerships to be decided, and those positions carry salaries. There is a limited pot of money to be shared out between the senior councillors. The Leader's salary of roughly £34,000 is fixed by statute. The Administration then has to choose whether to give a lot to a small number of busy councillors, or share the money as widely as possible to top up the basic councillors' rate of £16,500.

Doing any of the major Convenerships properly involves a huge time commitment. Whoever gets those jobs will find it hard to work for any kind of normal employer, as there are so many daytime meetings, papers to read and people to see. Even with some extra cash from the "pot", Conveners on around £22,500 will still be earning much less than the median weekly wage. That means people who are retired, or have private incomes, or have no family commitments, are in the best position to take these busy jobs. In practice, many councillors work for MPs or MSPs who can be very flexible about working time. The Lord Provost, on just over £25,000, could spend every waking minute at meetings or at functions, leaving no time for any other paid work.

There are some other "pots". The Chair of the Tayside Valuation Joint Board gets about the same as a Committee Convener. That post could be filled by a councillor from Angus, Perth or Dundee. The Chair and Vice Chair of the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board also get paid. I was Vice Chair and the £3,000 or so which I received topped my councillor's pay up to just under £20,000 a year.

Councillors who sit on the Tayside Health Board get between £5,000 and £10,000 a year (the NHS accounts only show bands, not actual amounts). The Health Board is a big commitment and the fee is appropriate for anyone ready to put in a shift and attend their famously long meetings.

In case anyone should misunderstand, I'm not against these payments. If you believe in democracy, then elected office should be open to everyone, regardless of income. But now comes the hard part. Who gets the jobs?

At the last election it was fairly straightforward. The SNP had an overall majority and so the Group Leader and the Whip made suggestions, put them to the Group at a private meeting and most of them were accepted. Then the Council effectively rubber stamped them.

This time things are not so clear. It is very likely that the SNP will form the Administration, as there will be strong resistance within Labour to any pact with the Tories. If the SNP can do a deal with even one other councillor, Cllr Alexander and his group will get their way.

If, on the other hand, all the opposition councillors unite around a single position ... say Convener of Development Management, or Lord Provost, there could be difficulties for Cllr Alexander and his team.

One thing is mistily clear. All of these decisions will be made in private meetings. The Standing Orders of the Council forbid any debate over these positions. So the candidates for Neighbourhood Services will not be made to stand up at a public meeting of the council and say what they would do if elected, and why they would be good. Equally, they will not be subjected to forensic questioning by other councillors.

These rules were written at a time when there was no Freedom of Information Act and a strong culture of secrecy in council corridors. The only reasons for them are to get the meeting over swiftly, and avoid incompetent candidates exposing their inadequacies.When there are powerful, salaried positions at stake, the public should be able to see who they're getting.

For the nerdy folks like me who read these things, here are the actual rules covering the first meeting of the new Council ...

SO 33(1) In the filling of vacancies and making of appointments, the following provisions as to voting shall apply:- (a) Nominations for vacancies or appointments shall be moved and seconded without discussion and shall forthwith be put to the meeting. 

SO 8(3) For the avoidance of doubt the appointment of Conveners and Depute Conveners of the Standing Committees and representatives on outside bodies shall be dealt with as a single item of business, ie a block. 

SO 33(2) Vacancies and Appointments (Single Block Nominations) (2) In the case of appointments being made in terms of Standing Order 8(3), members shall vote for a single block nomination.

https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/standingorders6mar17.pdf

Regional Sports Centre ... some learning points?

Councillors have been bombarded with material from objectors to the Regional Performance Sports Centre, planned for Caird Park.

Tempting though it is to dismiss this as grievance driven rubbish from obsessive people who will not listen to reason, I can't. Their arguments make a lot of sense. The problem is that everything revolves around process, and no-one's interested in that. Except, perhaps, the courts; and naive souls who think everything should be done properly.

A planning application for the Caird Park development very nearly reached the Committee in November 2016. It was withdrawn at the last minute, and the reason given was the objection from Historic Scotland. A large sports building was to be sited close to historic Mains Castle, an A listed building.

This objection had been around for months and was included in the report submitted to Committee with a recommendation for approval. Other factors cited in public were the objectors' call for a Pre-Determination Hearing, and the withdrawal of Dundee Football Club (announced in public in December).

Whatever the reason for the last minute withdrawal, it has become clear to me that many things about this application were wrong. My opinion is that we did the right thing by withdrawing it. At Monday's P&R Committee we have the opportunity to start again.

Here are the things we need to sort.

Pre Application Consultation
Consultation with the community was minimal and I cannot find any report which tells me what the community said.

Environmental Impact
Council Planning Officers decided an Environmental Impact Assessment was unnecessary. As it turned out, they were wrong. Objectors asked the Scottish Government to rule on this, and the answer from Government (in December 2016) leaves no-one in any doubt. There should have been an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Biodiversity
We have a duty to protect and enhance biodiversity when considering planning applications. We also have a legal duty to produce a biodiversity report every three years and publish it. We have not done so. Without that report, it is difficult to assess the effects on biodiversity of the Caird Park application.

It was only at the last minute ... 7 November 2016 ... that we published a Landscape Statement acknowledging the recent presence of otters close to the sports centre site. This was one of 45 documents connected to the planning application, and there was no reference to it in the report to Committee. Officers may have intended to point this out at the Committee.

Oak Ward Wood
The Scottish Woodland Trust call it "Ancient woodland" ... the Council called it "old trees" ... it may be that the new application will not affect Oak Ward Wood, but given the dispute over its status and value, I think we need more information.

A Pre Determination Hearing
Objectors have asked for a Predetermination Hearing, so that the issues can be more fully explored. The Scottish Government encourages this in major applications like Caird Park. Dundee has never had a predetermination hearing and has no set procedure for this. I see it as an opportunity to allow more evidence to be presented in a less rigid and stressful way than current procedures permit; and for councillors to be given time to consider that information before they take a final decision, perhaps two weeks later.

If we had had pre determination hearings on applications such as NEXT, Sports Direct and Aldi at Myrekirk, the public might have understood our decisions.

There is a view that the current system gives plenty of time and easy access for objectors and others to put their views and that no pre determination hearing is necessary. I disagree with that view.

Finance
I have been assured that the cost of the amended Regional Sports Centre will be reasonably close to the budget set out in the Capital Plan (approx £19.3 million) and that the new method of procurement ("SCAPE") will ensure that all is well. That's the capital cost.

As for revenue cost, I want to know that the city council is not exposing itself to unreasonable risk, and that the running costs of the centre will be covered. Leisure & Culture will run the Regional Sports Centre, and back in 2015 a business plan was included in the application to Sports Scotland for grant aid. I asked to see the business plan at least three times. My request was declined, apparently because it was a confidential document belonging to Leisure & Culture. I am grateful to the objectors for obtaining this plan via Freedom of Information legislation, and for letting me see it.

The Centre is projected to have a deficit of around £40,000 a year. This causes me no concern ... sports centres run at a loss ... but when the council is taking decisions involving long term financial commitments, we need to know the facts.

In conclusion
I think we, collectively, have messed up this planning application, and as Depute Convener of Development Management that causes me pain. I say collectively because there is an all party Project Board (I am not a member) which has overseen the process so far. That Board has a duty to get answers to the kind of questions which the objectors have posed, and there is still time. They should also be given full information at every stage.

I will support the report going forward on Monday night, but I will be arguing for a proper pre determination hearing to be held. I will also be seeking assurances that all of our processes will be robust and that councillors will be given the financial information they require to make good decisions.

And I thank the objectors for their painstaking work on this. I still support the idea of a Regional Sports Centre, but let's get the processes right. They exist for good reasons.

Planning and the Sports Centre

Nothing is ever simple. The idea of a new Regional Sports Centre for Dundee won all party support when it came to Committee. Now the same 29 councillors who cheered it through must decide whether the project should get planning permission.

That may seem strange, but the councillors on the planning committee must work by different rules when deciding planning applications. They must make their decisions on planning grounds and planning grounds alone. No political lobbying is allowed; councillors are expressly forbidden from saying how they will vote until the item is debated at the Development Management Committee.

It may also seem strange that the same department which drew up the plans for the Regional Sports Centre in Caird Park also provides planning advice to councillors. Like the councillors, the officers must play by different rules when it comes to planning. The system depends on the professionalism of the officers. And our officers are very professional indeed, bound by the rules of their professional organisation.

However, under our binding Code of Conduct, councillors have to be seen to behave in a way that the average person would regard as fair and honest. "Be seen to behave" are important words here. I imagine to anyone outside the arcane world of the council, the planning system as described here might fail that test. But there are safeguards.

Development Management always meets in public. Copies of the officers' reports and recommendations to DM are placed online. All the supporting papers submitted by developers are placed online ... these can be very long and sometimes there are forty-five of them. But at least they are there.

There also has to be public consultation. For a major development like the Regional Sports Centre, the developer (in this case the city council)  has to be carry out pre-application consultation with the community. This includes sending details of the proposal to local community councils and consulting the wider community using at least one locally advertised public event.

A number of official bodies have to be consulted too, for example Historic Environment Scotland which has objected to building the sports centre hub close to Mains Castle, a mediaeval building of national importance. That objection means the Scottish Government has to be notified and could presumably call the application in if Ministers had concerns.

It also includes preparing a "design and access statement" setting out information about the design of the proposal and access for disabled people.

Where there could be a significant effect on the environment, there may be a need for an Environmental Impact Assessment. Scottish Government guidance suggests this should be done at a very early stage. The developer should consult the planning authority, and planning officers decide whether there should be an EIA. The presence of rare or endangered species might trigger an EIA.

The application also has to comply with the local development plan unless there are "material considerations" which allow us to set the plan aside.

So as councillors on Development Management, what have we got to do? Government guidance provides the general answer ... " the planning system should help build a growing economy, but at the same time protect our environment for future generations and make sure that communities can enjoy a better quality of life."

In practice that means ensuring that all the procedures have been correctly followed; and deciding whether the plans as proposed are fit for purpose. It's not about whether a Regional Sports Centre is a good idea or not ... that has already been decided. What we have to do is decide whether the people who put this proposal together got it right.

For a long time in Dundee there was a myth that lobbying councillors was a bad thing and possibly illegal. I remember one senior councillor brandishing a letter some unsuspecting developer had sent him as if approaching an elected member was some sort of crime.

However, the Improvement Society guidance for councillors states ... "The Councillor Code of Conduct does not prohibit a councillor, either as a member of a planning committee, Local Review Body or as a local elected member, from discussing the details of any planning application with anyone. Applicants, their agents (planning consultants, architects, engineers, etc.), neighbours, local community groups and campaigners all have a legitimate voice that should be heard by councillors."

Had it not been for well researched lobbying by objectors the Caird Park proposal would have been heard at the last Development Management Committee. The objectors argue that the council has failed to do the public participation properly and have called for a pre determination hearing. This blog is long enough without explaining all that ... but Caird Park is a precious asset, and there is no harm in taking all the time required to get this right. I think we can live with the delay.

How we make decisions ... in private

For those who wonder why I am thundering against my own council in today's Evening Telegraph ... it is because I genuinely believe in open government. So does the SNP, as far as I understand things, and probably all the other parties. Who would vote against Freedom of Information? But in practice, politicians don't vote for anything that make their lives more difficult. And they tend not to vote against the advice of their officials, who tend to err on the side of secrecy.

For example, the Scottish Government felt it necessary to pass a law forcing councils to consult their tenants on important housing issues. Now the Government has passed a law giving community organisations the right to participate in decision making which affects their areas, and much more than that. The Community Empowerment Act is hard going, but if anyone manages to work out what it means, it could dramatically change the way councils take decisions.

So how do we take decisions? Almost all proposals come from officers of the council. If we're closing a school, the law says we have to consult parents. So we do. But there is no duty to consult on most of the decisions we take.

The officers discuss proposals with Committee Conveners and the Leadership. They then bring their proposals to the Administration Group. There will be a paper which will have a recommendation. Sometimes we get two or three options; officers will give their professional view as to which option we should choose. These are private meetings and we may get three or four working days to read the papers. Sometimes the papers are only tabled on the day.

Except where consultation is compulsory, we may never know whether anyone outside the council has been consulted, or what they said. Or we may get a potted summary. Unless councillors themselves have specialist knowledge, the decision will be taken on the basis of the advice given by officers. In fairness, we have very talented and knowledgeable officers who do genuinely work for the good of the city, as they see it.

That's the decision made. There is the formality of taking the decision through the relevant Committee, but since the SNP hold 16 out of the 29 seats, there is very little chance of the Opposition changing anything. On occasion deputations come to the Committee meetings in the hope of putting forward a reasoned case and changing our view. I find they generally do not know that they are wasting their time; and they can be quite upset when I tell them how it actually works.

Now why does this matter? Taking decisions in secret, and relying only on the advice of the Council's officers, means that councillors are not exposed to the full range of arguments and information which they need. What's worse, secret meetings can mean that professional reasoning goes out the window and character assassination replaces argument. Sometimes character assassination emerges in public at Employment Appeal Tribunals ... viz some of the wilder accusations flung at former Depute Head Teacher Linda Ross.

The glorious exception to the rule is Planning, known in the jargon we love so much as Development Management. At Planning we are not bound by the party whip. In fact, we are not allowed to lobby each other for a particular decision. The debates at Planning are real, and I have seen several deputations swing the vote as a result of a well presented, reasoned argument. On occasion it goes the other way ... deputations can be so hopeless, arrogant or incoherent that councillors lose all sympathy with them. But either way, the real decision is taken at the meeting.

I can only remember one free vote at a political committee on a matter of real importance. That was the great Biomasss Debate, preceded by large public meetings, acres of coverage in the local media, and a barrage of very expert information from eminent academics, community campaigners and local businesses. Normally that would have counted for nothing, as the decision would already have been made in secret by a majority on the Administration. Nine of the sixteen Administration votes, cast in secret, would have been enough to ram the biomass proposal through the Council. Fortunately, the SNP Administration Group insisted on a free vote, and the biomass plan was scotched.

My view is that people watching or listening to pretend debates on fait accomplis will feel resentful. They will be surprised at the occasionally brutal chairing of debates and discourteous treatment of their elected representatives. They will demand better behaviour. This is one of the reasons why I believe broadcasting Council meetings is essential. There are others which I will write about in another blog. But expose us to the piercing light of public scrutiny. Please. It would do Dundee the world of good.

Drag us into the light ...

At the council meeting on Monday night a journalist up in the gallery made the mistake of trying to tape the meeting. Yes, it was a public meeting of elected representatives and officers, and the item under discussion was in no way confidential.

Taping is not allowed without prior permission, and so the journalist was politely asked to stop. Given the hundreds of cctv cameras positioned around Dundee city centre, the Council Chamber is possibly the only place in DD1 where you can escape the camera's gaze or the microphone's reach.

There can't be much difference between the way we take decisions now and the way our forebears operated in the days before Dundee smashed up its Adam Townhouse and replaced it with the cold, gloomy, oppressive, acoustically dreadful and exceedingly uncomfortable Council Chamber. We pore over thick paper reports, ignoring all the advances of the 20th and 21st century such as computers, tablets or digital projectors.

And we behave badly. There's seldom anyone to see, and even on busy nights only a minority of the electorate can get the true measure of their elected representatives in action.

Which is one reason why we need to livestream the proceedings of the City Council. Video would be best, audio would do at a pinch. If you know that the folks who lobbied you on a school closure proposal or a budget cut were watching - or could watch later online - you might take more time to prepare your speech, work up some sensible arguments, cut out the insults. Or produce better insults.

It would also open up our strange and opaque procedures to public scrutiny. When a deputation makes a great case, wins the argument hands down and still loses because the decisions have been made in advance at private political group meetings, people might feel displeased. When the council appoints its new team of Conveners after the next election, people might expect to see them make speeches about the great things they intend to do. Except that no discussion is allowed on the appointment of Conveners. That might be a surprise too.

So let's catch up with the technology revolution and have councillors doing their work where people can see them .. online. Let's leave the recordings on the web so that promises made and assurances given can be checked against practice at a later date. (Did I mention these are not minuted?). And let's raise our game so that the people of Dundee can be proud of their elected representatives, putting forward their arguments confidently and taking reasoned decisions. I think we should start with the budget meeting on 25 February.

Menzieshill High - time to think ahead

Councillor Jimmy Black reflects on the decision to close Menzieshill High.

 

The debate surrounding the closure of Menzieshill High was generally mature and well argued on both sides. Perhaps the Scottish Government will overturn our decision, but I doubt it. On educational and economic grounds the decision made sense. But some of the points made by protesters made sense too.

We have had local community planning partnerships for a few years now. I would be interested to know if and when the Lochee LCPP debated the demolition of the multis and other housing, the closure and merger of schools, the town centre regeneration in Lochee High Street and the creation of the new community facility, all as part of a single, coherent plan for the area. Perhaps the decision to redevelop Harris Academy should have been part of those deliberations.

We also have a Dundee Partnership. Does the future shape of Dundee's schools and their relationship to local shops and businesses ever feature on the Partnership agenda? I hope the answer is yes, but as we move forwards we need to pay more attention to the unintended consequences of the decisions we take.

Normal practice is to demolish empty schools swiftly to avoid security costs, vandalism and fires. If the Menzieshill community wants to retain any part of the building, now is the time to start putting together projects, looking for funding and so on. There is a pool, playing fields, other facilities. I am not the local councillor and I don't know what is feasible or practical there, but I do believe in the Scottish Government's community empowerment agenda and Dundee has already begun transferring redundant council assets to the community.

Perhaps the best use would be small workshops for new businesses; or maybe new council housing, or allotments, or an urban farm. Now is the time for local people to see the potential in that site and start making plans.

If the Rev Mallinson can harness the energies unleashed in the Save Menzieshill High campaign to help create something new on the site which creates jobs and tackles poverty, then something good will have come of all this. Perhaps the young pupil who spoke so eloquently at the council about his school and his community could get involved.

Final thought... Harris Academy is an excellent school. I believe those who are worried by the new arrangements will soon be reassured by the warm welcome they will have. We will be working hard to make sure that happens.

Extent of poverty spelt out at Fairness Commission

Dundee's Fairness Commission had its second meeting on 26 May 2015; this session was to establish the facts and figures surrounding poverty in Dundee and Scotland.
John McKendrick of Strathclyde told us that only Glasgow had more poverty than Dundee. John Dickie of the Child Poverty Action Group said that child poverty has been increasing steeply since 2011, and that low wages meant being in work was no guarantee of an escape from poverty. Peter Allan of Dundee City Council outlined the work which has already been done, following the Fairness Strategy published in 2012 (which contains detailed statistics about poverty in Dundee).
The meeting heard some practical ideas about what could be done in our city to make things better. One Commissioner suggested that we should do an audit of all the money we spend on poverty related projects, from advice to employability and everything else ... and work out whether we are spending that money in the most effective way.
Another called for Dundee to declare itself a Living Wage City, and there was general support for that.
Commissioner Erik Cramb will be blogging on this meeting, as will others; there will be a website soon which will carry the presentations; meantime you can see interviews with John Dickie and John Mckendrick on YouTube here ... http://youtu.be/y8bkfYKFOq4

Frank's Law

The council meeting on 9 March 2015 agreed to support a request to Government to consider extending free personal care to people under 65, with dementia. Fair enough. If you are unable to support yourself through illness or disability, your age should not matter. I hope the Government will find a way to introduce Frank's Law, not just for people with dementia, but for everyone who requires assistance.

This brings us to the confusing part. The social work department and the NHS both provide care in various forms, and I sometimes struggle to know the difference between the services provided by each. In her moving speech to Councillors, Frank's Law campaigner Amanda Kopel said her family had initially received less support than required, possibly because "one hand didn't know what the other was doing".

My question to the Social work Department was ... will the integration of health and social care improve things? The answer from a senior officer was, basically, yes. That's good news; Alex Neil when Cabinet Secretary banged heads together and passed a legislation saying councils and the NHS simply had to work together. 

Sometimes it takes a law to make public bodies change their practice. I wish Amanda Kopel well in her campaign, and I hope Ministers will find a way of making it happen. The current UK government's austerity agenda will not make this easy, but there's an election soon.

The V&A - looking back, then forward

The Courier series on the transformational effect of buildings such as the Guggenheim was inspired; it strengthens confidence in the V&A project which has huge economic and cultural potential for our city.

However, a series of stories across the local national press about the secrecy surrounding the increasing cost of the project have not been helpful. As an NUJ member I am not prepared to blame the journalists for that.

One of the things I hope the independent enquiry will look into is the way the story of increasing costs was handled. As Professor Beatriz Plaza of the University of the Basque Country points out in this morning's Courier, honesty over budgets is vital to gain public trust. In Bilbao, they set a realistic budget of $100 million and stuck to it.

So our enquiry needs to look at the original budget and whether it was ever remotely realistic for a building of this type. It needs to look at the way the people who decided on the Kengo Kuma building assessed the likely cost of constructing it. For me, everything begins there.

We were warned at the time that the building could not be constructed for £45 million. Well done Jack Searle and Dundee Civic Trust who expressed doubts in 2010 about the construction costs of the Kuma design (see link below).

We have been promised that the enquiry will have the freedom to look at anything it considers relevant. Councillors will also have the opportunity to give their views to the enquiry. That's good; let's do this in an open, constructive spirit for the good of our city. And then let's look forward and deliver this project on time and on the (new) budget.

Story re Dundee Civic Trust and the V&A ... http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/dundee-civic-trust-recommends-half-of-v-a-designs-be-rejected-1.26847


 

Should we close Menzieshill High?

Dundee's Education Department has proposed the closure of Menzieshill High School, and parents and the community are being consulted via meetings and online surveys. As councillors we will take our decisions when the consultation responses come in.

I've been at two 'official' meetings and one protest meeting, listened to parents' arguments for keeping the school open, tried to respond to those who simply cannot understand why the council would close such a popular school.

There are some debates about practical matters like transport which I think the Council can deal with. The bigger picture is about the quality of education.

In the US there is a strong lobby for smaller schools; people think there is less pupil violence and higher levels of achievement if schools are small. On the other hand, Dundee's Education Department believes Menzieshill pupils will achieve more in the new, bigger school.

I try not to just accept what council officials tell me, so I went looking for independent research and found a 2002 report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/SPP01/SPP01.pdf).

115 pages later, I discovered there is very little evidence to suggest that big schools are better than small schools, or that small schools are better than big schools. It does seem fairly clear that bigger schools are more cost effective and can offer a wider range of subjects.

Then I looked up Parentzone (http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone/) and checked how well the pupils in Menzieshill do in exams, compared to Harris. Generally Harris is above the Scottish average, sometimes well above. Menzieshill is generally below the average.

I believe this is because Harris Academy is not truly a local school. Harris has a role of 940, and of those 490 live outside the Harris catchment. My guess is that parents with high aspirations for their children are bypassing their local schools and sending their children to Harris. To put it bluntly, Harris has higher numbers of clever kids. Already 150 pupils from the Menzieshill catchment choose to go to Harris.

So what would it mean to close Menzieshill? Harris would be full of children from its new catchment area ... Lochee, Menzieshill, West End, parts of Coldside and the city centre. There would be very little room for pupils from other parts of the city. Harris would be a real, local school.

Menzieshill pupils would have the chance to be educated in a state of the art building with better facilities (although Harris sports pitches are at a distance from the school, it will have a brand new pool, dance studios, music rooms and a recording studio, among other excellent features).

In future, pupils living in the catchment areas of Baldragon, Craigie High and Braeview would be much more likely to send their children to their local school, and those schools would benefit from having a more balanced intake. Plus the Council would eventually save nearly £2 million a year and avoid the inevitable costs of upgrading an old school.

So everyone wins? Well, maybe. It's clear that there is strong opposition from a significant portion of Menzieshill parents, and some pupils. I have very little idea what the Harris parents think because very few turned up to the consultation meeting. I'd be interested to know what the Harris pupils think about it all. Some Rosebank parents do not want to see families split between Morgan and Harris, and we're working on that.

No decisions can be taken until the consultation is over, and I strongly urge people to send in their views. The consultation paper is at http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/content/closure-menzieshill-high-school and the email address to use is education@dundeecity.gov.uk.

Personally I am beginning to think that closure is the best option, because the pupils in Menzieshill and Lochee will have better opportunities to learn and thrive in a brand new building with a long tradition of excellence. But I haven't made up my mind yet, and the debate continues.

Thanks for supporting me ... now support Chris

A wee word of thanks to the hundreds of people who voted for me to fight Dundee West for the SNP. As announced today, Chris Law will be our candidate. Chris burst on the scene with his Spirit of Independence Campaign and he has provided the excitement new members were seeking.

We now have to get Chris elected; he has a strong body of support behind him and that should now translate into a big team for leafleting, doorknocking and social media too. Good luck Chris; time Dundee West had an SNP MP.

What now for me? The prospect of a normal life, I guess, and that doesn't sound so bad. And I still have plenty of work to do in Coldside. That's what I'll be concentrating on for the next two years.

£80 million worth of lessons to be learned

To say the £80 million cost of the V&A came as something of a shock would be an understatement. Firm, confident assurances from a battery of expert advisers were clearly enough to dull our critical faculties over the past few years.

I am glad to say the mysteries have now been revealed and we all have a much better idea of what this project will cost and what it will bring to the city. Personally I wish the process had been different, but we are where we are.

In short, we now have a commitment to a Project Board including elected members from administration and opposition, an assurance that the Board will have independent professional advice, an independent inquiry into how 45 million turned into 80 million, and clarity on the respective roles of the Council's Project Board and Dundee Design Ltd.

There is roughly 70 million, perhaps 74 million pounds of external investment in Dundee for a council stake of 6.5 million and the prospect of a building which will transform the Waterfront and help us keep talented designers here in Dundee creating jobs. The underestimate is embarrassing but we can live with that, as long as we deliver this project for Dundee.

We also have more information about the contractor and previous blacklisting. To his credit, Cllr McReady produced some forensic questioning which made it clear that BAM Scotland, the council's preferred contractor. is part of the same legal entity as BAM construction UK. The UK outfit had stopped blacklisting in 1998. While representatives of the Scottish arm of BAM were adamant that they were a fair company who had never blacklisted in Scotland, it was a useful clarification.

Cllr McReady also pointed out that another member of the BAM Group had blacklisted much more recently. Given the assurances from our officers, from the BAM representatives present and the construction jobs which this project will bring to Dundee, there was little choice but to press on. I also believe the assurances from the BAM representatives present in the Chamber were credible. Nonetheless. if there is any hint that illegal practices such as blacklisting are being used in connection with any council contract, I hope workers and trades unions will come forward.

Finally, I hope the independent inquiry into the budget problems will go beyond technical questions and into the realm of public affairs. If anyone had told us back in 2007 that the V&A would cost £80 million; that the council would contribute at least £6.5 million; that there would be running costs to the council of roughly half a million a year in cash and kind; and that it could take until 2018 to build, would we have said yes?

I'd like to think we'd have had that level of ambition. But I'm not 100% sure.

Experience is the Key

Five SNP activists made their pitch to be the party's candidate in Dundee West to a crowded hustings (on Sunday 18 January). I was one of them.  In short, I said, "SNP can win Dundee West. My track record gives me the best chance". Here's more ...

* I have already been elected twice in Dundee West, as councillor for Coldside, where I live. I was raised in Coupar Angus, so I am very familiar with places like Muirhead, Birkhill, Liff, Fowlis and the Sidlaws.

* As a former Housing Convener in Dundee I can point to real achievements and change. I tackled fuel poverty in Hilltown and Lochee by insulating houses and putting in new heating systems; and stopped the unnecessary demolition of hundreds of homes.

* I persuaded the Council not to evict tenants who were struggling with their "bedroom tax". That policy was taken up by the SNP nationally and promoted by Nicola Sturgeon.

* Experience in housing and welfare rights with leading agencies such as Shelter and Citizens Advice Scotland has been useful in my job as a local councillor, helping solve problems for people.

* I was one of those behind the plan for a new primary school in Coldside.

* Training in radio journalism means I can communicate well - a vital skill for an MP. My name and picture have appeared in the local press many times over the past eight years. I handled press for the Yes Campaign in Dundee and performed well on TV and radio.

Standing up for people affected by Coalition welfare reforms is a big priority. I also want to help the highly educated, skilled people coming out of Dundee's Universities to set up businesses and create employment locally.

There are five good candidates for the SNP in Dundee West, and any one of them could do the job well. I believe my experience and track record can persuade traditional Labour supporters to vote SNP.

Winning the largest number of seats for the SNP will help us win the maximum powers for Holyrood. That will take us further down the democratic road to independence. I believe I can win Dundee West, if you select me.

Yours for Scotland

Jimmy Black

Homelessness and Eagles Wings

I was disappointed to read comment today (Thursday 15 January) from the Eagles Wings charity about Dundee's falling homelessness figures. Their "suspicion" is unjustified.  Homelessness is falling across Scotland as a result of a Scottish Government initiative, enthusiastically supported by Dundee City Council.

Instead of waiting until people become homeless before providing help and assistance, we are getting in early. We try and sort out disputes between tenants and landlords. We help people apply for council or housing association houses. Our Homefinder project will assist people to find a privately rented flat with a responsible landlord.

Sometimes linking people up with the right medical or social work support can help prevent homelessness. By doing this we prevent many people reaching crisis point and losing their homes. This national strategy is called Housing Options.

I chair the national Homelessness Prevention Strategy Group, which brings together the Scottish Government, local authorities and voluntary organisations such as Shelter. The Group oversees the Housing Options strategy across Scotland and drives forward change and improvement.

I'm keen to meet Eagles Wings, so I will be in touch shortly. Like them, I am concerned that some people are not finding their way to the homelessness services and I want to know more about that. If anyone is not getting the service they should, I want to know about that too. Meantime, let's celebrate the fact that fewer people are going through the misery of homelessness because we are helping them before the crisis strikes.

Standing for Parliament?

I am hoping to be selected to run as the SNP's candidate for Dundee West in the General Election. Here is my pitch to the members, which will be sent out directly to every SNP member in the constituency who is eligible to vote.

Councillor Jimmy Black

Well Placed to Win

Politicians have to get things done. As Dundee's Housing Convener, I led big changes. We insulated 1,000 council flats in Dundee West and put in heating that was cheap to run. We made those flats warm and comfortable. Labour would have demolished them.

I demanded to know why it took three months to re-let council houses when tenants left. The system was inefficient, and we changed it. We built brand new houses too, the first for decades.
When the Tories imposed the bedroom tax, I was advised to evict non-payers. I refused, and ruled that tenants who tried hard to pay should stay in their homes. The Scottish Government then called on all councils to follow our policy.

Politicians need to stand up for the people they serve. In Westminster, I would point out the flaws in Tory welfare reforms. They don't work and they leave people struggling to survive. Benefit sanctions are cruel and unnecessary and they have to stop.

I have been at the House of Commons before … as a lobbyist for Shelter. My first job was in welfare rights, back in 1982 in Dundee's Hilltown. Other jobs have been freelance radio reporter for BBC, campaigner for the Citizens Advice Bureau and assistant to MSPs Nigel Don and Shona Robison, and Stewart Hosie MP.

I am in the National Union of Journalists, and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Born in Caithness, raised in Coupar Angus, 23 years living in Dundee and eight years a councillor in Dundee West.

Many in Dundee worked hard for a YES vote. I was one of them, handling media, running the website, organising events. There were thousands of leaflets and newspapers to deliver, and I played my part. I was bitterly disappointed when we lost, but proud of Dundee and of the huge vote we got out for YES. I won't give up.

Given my track record as a well known, hard working politician in Dundee, I believe I am well placed to win Dundee West from Labour. I would relish that chance.

Warm homes at Lawton Farm, Coldside

Business coming up at next week's Council Committees

Tenants on the Lawton Farm estate (on the slopes of the Law) will be much warmer and easier to heat once a new programme of insulation gets underway. Next Monday's Housing Committee will vote on a £142,000 proposal to reclad 20 homes. Experience so far is that heating bills are slashed after the insulation is fitted. It's the best way to tackle fuel poverty, and it cuts carbon use and pollution too.

This is part of a programme which will insulate 596 houses in total this year, paid for largely by Scottish Government grants, and money from Scottish and Southern Energy under the ECO scheme. The SNP is determined to help tenants cut their fuel bills and we will ensure this gets through Committee on Monday night.

Other business at Committees includes grants for local groups under the Community Regeneration Fund. This is run by local people who make recommendations to the Council, and on Monday the Highwayman Management Group is asking for funds to pay a tutor in Digital Photography for the young people they work with.

Secondary school pupils from Coldside may also benefit from grants awarded to The Corner project. The Corner plans a residential course for nine young people from Coldside which will focus on skills development, personal development, teamwork and relationship building.

There is still around £50,000 available in the Coldside Community Regeneration Fund. There's still time to work up an application before the end of the year, and you can find out more at http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/communities/commregforums . You can also see the Council Report on this at http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/reports/agendas/p&r120115.pdf (look at page 29)

If you want to talk about this or anything else, please ring me on 01382 433742.

Dykes of Gray - A daft decision

(Jimmy Black is Depute Convener of the Development Management Committee. This is a very long blog ... please stick with it!)

£150 million pounds of investment, 100% local labour and 595 brand new houses. And we turned it down!
To explain, the City Council has been promoting the Western Gateway (behind the Hilton/Swallow Hotel at Dykes of Gray) for many years as a prime location for quality housebuilding. Developers have come and gone, and the credit crunch certainly didn't help.
Then at this week's Development Management Committe we had a proposal from Springfield Properties to invest a huge amount of money, and their confidence, in our city.
Grilled at the committee, they gave good answers to all the questions thrown at them, and it was clear that a considerable amount of preparatory work had been done by the developer and the Council's Planning Department. There were to be shops and a community hall, a village green, a playpark and a football pitch. Roads had already been improved (by the City Council) and the developer would sort out the circle at the Swallow to avoid congestion on the main road into Dundee.
There was capacity for children at Ardler Primary and Baldragon Academy. Baldragon will of course be in a brand new building before long, and Ardler Primary is right in the heart of a very successful and attractive community. There would be a school bus.
And what did we do? We turned down one half of the development. Then one councillor left and another arrived, that changed the voting, and we gave permission for the other half ... the bit without the shops, the hall and the village green.
It's hard to fathom why Bailie Borthwick proposed refusal of both parts of this development, and equally hard to fathom why so many councillors supported him. His reasoning seeemed to be that there was no school planned for the early stages of this development although this might be a possibility later. But building a school to sit empty while the development rolls out makes no sense at all when Dundee is full of schools with plenty of room.
Did some councillors feel that people would decline to buy houses at Dykes of Gray if this was in the Ardler/Baldragon catchment areas? Possibly, but I guess the developer had assessed that risk and still wanted to go ahead. For the record, I have every confidence in those two schools.
Was it the developer? Well Springfield is currently Scottish House Builder of the year for the second year running. They have won the Best Employer and Best Employee Homes for Scotland Awards. They have been Highly Commended in the Apprentice Employer of the Year Award. And in October this year they reported an unprecedented level of sales. So it wasn't the developer.
Springfield recently withdrew from a 200 home project in Rothiemurchus to concentrate on other opportunities in Scotland, one of which was presumably Dykes of Gray. They will be regretting that now. I can only hope they appeal this daftest of daft decisions, win, and build their attractive new village. But I wouldn't blame them if they took their investment elsewhere.

So how do we take decisions at Development Management? All 29 councillors sit on this committee. They must weigh up the evidence before them and take their decision on the night. These decisions are not made in secret by political groups (like many others). At Development Management, councillors must use their own brains.
So they get a carefully prepared and usually fairly long report from the Head of Planning which sets out the facts, the legislation and makes a recommendation.
The report is on paper in black and white, rendering many of the drawings difficult to read. Online versions are available but there are no facilities for councillors to use screens or computers at their desks. At one point during the Dykes of Gray debate the developer was reduced to holding up a small piece of paper and pointing at it to show the councillors where a football pitch was located.
We meet in the City Chambers. The acoustics are dreadful. At one point in the Dykes of Gray debate a councillor had to ask a deputation to speak up as he could not hear her. Anyone chatting to neighbours tends to blot out the speaker as indeed happened at that meeting.
Traditionally developers have been discouraged from"lobbying" councillors, although this is perfectly legal if done correctly. That means it is unusual for us to receive colour presentations which might make it easier for us to see what the developer wants to do. Equally, we seldom receive photographs or other material from deputations in advance of the meeting. Sometimes we get a copy of more detailed information from objectors placed in council lounges which we might notice and look at. We can of course go into the voluminous documents posted online as part of the planning applications. But will all 29 councillors ever have time to look at every one of these? I suspect not.
It's as though emails, pdf files and digital projectors had never been invented.
Members of the public, and developers, can ask to address the Committee for seven minutes to outline their support or opposition to planning applications. Councillors genuinely do listen to the arguments and sometimes change their minds at the meeting, often on the basis of what deputations tell them. That's a good thing, but in the absence of a really good understanding of what a development actually means, we can collectively make big mistakes. As we did over Dykes of Gray.
So what should happen? We should meet in a room where we can hear what's going on. We should  have access to computer terminals. There should be a big screen so that the public can see what's happening. That room is unlikely to be the City Chambers. Who cares? It's the decision which is important, not the venue.
We should positively invite developers and objectors to send us well presented material which will give us time to think about the decisions we are making. That would complement the thorough and professional reports which we receive from planning officers.
And we should consider reducing the size of the Committee to a smaller group of Councillors who would specialise in Development Management and have time to do the job properly. After all, the future shape of the city, millions of pounds of investment and thousands of construction jobs are at stake. It's all just too much of a lottery just now. Time to change.

Plain Language

Insulation for Hilltown homes

Clear communications can help a lot. At last night's council we agreed to insulate houses in several areas, including thirty in the Hilltown Terrace area. We have learned from experience that insulating houses does not simply mean sticking cladding on the outside. Drainpipes have to be moved, cables and ventilators shifted ... in one recent job coal cellars had to be blocked up and covered over. Piles of cladding will appear in gardens.

I urged the Housing Department to ensure that residents are told exactly what we propose to do, and not just at a public meeting. We need to give people clear information they can keep so they can track each stage of the job. As we discovered in Woodlands, failing to satisfy the reasonable but insistent demands of an unhappy owner occupier can use up valuable time and create angst. No-one wants angst!

Rosebank Primary pupils go to the Morgan?

We also need to be clear about changes in our schools. Pupils from Rosebank Primary go to Harris Academy just now, but this could change. There is  a proposal to close Menzieshill High and move pupils to the Harris. Rosebank children would go to the Morgan instead.

I think people living east of the Hilltown will be happier with this than those living to the west. When Harris returns to its new building in the Perth Road it will be a long trip for pupils who could walk to the Morgan in a few minutes. But people living on the west side may not see things this way.

So at last night's Council I asked the Education Department if they would be issuing information in plain language which would help answers the questions of parents about the future education of their children. Here's just some of what I would want to know ...

* when would the change happen?

* is there enough room in the Morgan?

* is the Morgan as good as the Harris?

* does it offer the same subject choice?

* how would my child get there?

* would kids already at Harris stay at Harris?

* would my family be split between schools?

* could I send my child to the Harris anyway? If so, how?

* are kids from outside Dundee taking places at the Harris?

* what is the Morgan's policy on bullying?

* what other options are there instead of doing this?

* is this just about saving money?

* are there educational benefits?

As it happens the Morgan is a very good school in an excellent building. This is not just about saving money, although money would be saved by closing a half empty secondary. I'll leave the Education Department to answer the rest of the questions and I am very confident that they can do so. But it is really important that parents ask the questions and contribute their ideas. Nothing is decided yet.

Fleming Trust ...

Scotland's most efficient landlord, arguably, is Dundee's Fleming Trust. It has no debt, houses which are better than the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, low rent arrears, and generally happy tenants. The Fleming Trust is made up of Dundee's 29 councillors, and the Trust has agreed to upgrade the sheltered housing lounge in Hindmarsh Gardens. This gave me an opportunity to praise the work of the housing managers who run the Trust. Yes, councillors are there to ask questions and point things out, but we should also recognise good work, and say so.

Mark Henderson Centre

Signpost International has left the Hilltown to make way for a new school and community centre, and I am sorry to see them go. The council has helped this international development charity to find a new home in Whitfield, and I think they will make a big contribution there.

The Council last night agreed to knock down their Hilltown home, the Mark Henderson Centre, and I had mixed feelings about this. It was a real community hall where everything happened from Burns Suppers to martial arts to poetry and song to alcohol rehabilitation to legal advice clinics. We still have Grey Lodge, the MaxWell Centre and other facilities and there is a new centre coming, but I'll miss the Mark Henderson Centre. I wish Signpost well in their new base.

Parking outside schools

Long debate in tonight's Council on parents parking dangerously at schools throughout Dundee. They park on the hatchings, on double yellows, on pavements ... in spite of our best efforts, they carry on. A Broughty Ferry councillor wanted the Chief Exec to chair a working group to sort out the problems at Forthill ... fine, but there are problems everywhere so the Council decided to create a group for the whole town.

My hope is that the group will help us design the new schools in Coldside and Menzieshill in such a way that children and cars are kept apart.

This is an emotive issue. It's not just that drivers are too selfish or lazy to get out of their cars. We're talking here about parents who naturally want to watch their child get safely into school. The problem is that their behaviour puts everyone's child at risk, including their own.

New homes in Mill o Mains

21st February saw the opening of the first new homes in Mill o Mains, replacing the old, cold homes which had come to the end of their useful lives. Housing Minister Keith Brown came to see the brand new houses which are bristling with solar panels and sun pipes and heavily insulated. They will be very warm, comfortable homes.
A partnership between Home Scotland and Dundee City Council produced a Masterplan; there was considerable consultation with the local tenants; the Scottish government provided funding to supplement Home Scotland's investment; and the end result is excellent.
Looming above are the tall blocks of flats which will soon disappear to make way for new homes. Mill O' Mains is turning into an attractive suburban village on the edge of the city, and the tenants and owners will have warm, energy efficient homes built to a very high standard.
Home Scotland is part of the very large Home Group, a not for profit housing association based south of the border whose Chief Executive is from Dundee. Although I am a big supporter of small community based housing associations, the big ones like Home and Sanctuary have their advantages too. They have been determined to ensure that local people have had their say in the design of the scheme, and they respond well to some very vocal criticism from people on points of detail as the work to build the scheme goes on.
There is still a long way to go before the transformation of Mill O'Mains is complete, but it is absolutely clear that Home Scotland and the City council are on the right track.
I was delighted to see that local residents have been charting the change by taking photographs of the various stages of demolition and construction. It's local history in the making and the next generations will be fascinated to see how their homes were created.