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.