New Role for Mark
Mark Griffin MSP has been appointed Shadow Minister for Transport in the new shake-up of the Scottish Labour front bench.
Mark, elected in 2011, moves from his role as Shadow Minister for Sport to take up the larger role on the front bench. Mark has also retained his brief as Shadow Minister for Veterans Affairs.
Mark said:
"I am pleased to be taking on the role of Shadow Transport Minister and look forward to the challenges ahead.
"People in our community and across Scotland are enduring difficulties in accessing public transportation. Bus services are poor as a result of cuts to the Bus Service Operators Grant and the consistent underfunding of the concessionary travel scheme by the SNP Government. Furthermore, the once promising Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement rail Programme (EGIP) has had its funding reduced to the tune of £350 million.
"We need high quality, efficient, transport links, which are not restrictive of postcode. We need to invest in our bus and rail network, not cut its funding, and we need to once again regulate our buses, something that my colleague Iain Gray MSP is seeking to address with his Regulation of Bus Services Bill, which I strongly support. I hope the SNP Government will take steps to improve services for people in communities like ours across Scotland, and I look forward to pushing the Minister on this in the coming months."
BSL Bill Moves to Next Stage
Mark Griffin MSP’s British Sign Language (BSL) (Scotland) Bill is moving closer to statute after cross-party support was shown by one third of the Parliament’s MSPs.
In the aftermath of an extensive public consultation, the Bill required the cross-party support of at least 18 MSPs in order to go forward to the Committee Stage (Stage One). To date, 43 MSPs, one third of all MSPs, have signed up to support the Bill going forward; 26 Labour, 13 SNP, 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal Democrat, 1 Green and 1 Independent – far surpassing the 18 target.
The Bill will now be assigned a designated committee by the Parliament’s Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick.
Mark said:
"I am delighted that so many fellow MSPs have signed up to allow the Bill to go forward to the next stage and thank them for their support.
"BSL is the first language of many Deaf people in Scotland. For a great number it is the only language they have ever known, or ever will know, yet getting access to basic information in BSL is incredibly difficult.
"My Bill seeks to increase awareness of BSL throughout Scottish society, put pressure on the Government and Scotland’s public authorities to develop action plans on improving access to information for Deaf people, and work towards breaking down the barriers facing Scotland’s Deaf population on a daily basis."
Advice Offered to Local Carers
Mark Griffin MSP has hosted a special Carers Surgery in Cumbernauld Town Centre.
The event, which took place on Friday 14 June, allowed local carers to come along and get some advice from Mark and other charities and organisations, including North Lanarkshire Council’s Social Work Department, the Department of Work and Pensions, Watch Us Grow, Lanarkshire Carers Together, USDAW and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers.
After the event, Mark said:
"Carers, paid or unpaid, play an invaluable role in our community, supporting those in most need.
"I was pleased to host this event to mark National Carers Week, and highlight the excellent job done by local carers day in, day out across the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth area.
"I am grateful for the support of North Lanarkshire Council, the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, USDAW, Watch Us Grow, Lanarkshire Carers Together and the Department and Work and Pensions for coming along and offering their guidance and support to all the carers who sought advice and assistance."
Mark to Host Carers Surgery
There are over 500 unpaid Carers in Scotland providing invaluable support to family members who could not manage without their help.
Yet carers consistently tell us that they still have to fight for the support they need. Over recent months there have been a number of changes to the way support is offered and that is making the lives of carers even more difficult.
To mark National Carers Week, Mark Griffin MSP has organised a Special Advice Surgery for Carers between 11am – 2pm on Friday 14 June in the Old Scan Bookshop, Spey Walk, Cumbernauld Town Centre.
Mark said:
"I know the work and the huge contribution and personal sacrifice carers make to help and support family members and friends and that time taken out from caring is very valuable and has to be used wisely.
"The surgery will bring together people who support carers in every way and there will be people at the surgery who are able to offer advice and support on getting the best for the person being cared for and making the most of their income. There will also be people who can help carers juggle their busy lives or just offer a listening ear".
College Name Points to Lanarkshire Takeover
Mark Griffin MSP, Gregg McClymont MP and Stephen Leckie, Cumbernauld College Student Association Vice President, have commented on the announcement that the proposed merged Cumbernauld and Motherwell Colleges will be called New College Lanarkshire.
Mark said:
“This is a massive step towards Lanarkshire infringing on Cumbernauld. On the face of it, it may just be a name, but it shows how little consideration for Cumbernauld was taken. Names matter but students, courses and lecturers are the priority which is why I voted against this move.
“We are faced with this forced merger as a consequence of deep funding cuts to the college sector coming from the SNP Government.
"I voted against these cuts in Holyrood and I am calling on the Education Secretary to see sense, scrap this merger and actually fund Cumbernauld College properly so it can continue its excellent service to the local community. I hope SNP politicians will join me in this call. SNP politicians have continually argued that Cumbernauld should be removed from Lanarkshire, now their Government is forcing Cumbernauld deeper into Lanarkshire."
Gregg Said:
“The SNP Government are setting out to dismantle our local services one by one. The new name will certainly raise a few eyebrows but the main issue which is worrying people in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth is the loss of our college’s independence.
“The merger is being rushed through ahead of next term as a direct result of the SNP’s college cuts programme.
“First our x-ray services went to Monklands, our court service is going to Coatbridge and now our college will be taken over by Motherwell.
“Even if the name was more sensitive to the wishes of local people it wouldn’t hide the fact that under the SNP Government Cumbernauld and Kilsyth are losing public services to other towns in Lanarkshire.”
Stephen Leckie, Vice President of the Student Association also commented:
“The new name of the college may only seem like a minor issue but it is important and I would have liked student involvement in this to have been more widespread; if so we may not have ended up with the name we have.
“This forced merger, as a consequence of Government cuts, will hit Cumbernauld hard. It is the cuts that will make it more difficult for students to get access to their classes, which will cost jobs and reduce course options. The Education Secretary should reverse this forced merger and actually support college students.”
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