Dundee West Labour
Dundee Labour 's Budget Proposals
Statement from Councillor Kevin Keenan, Leader of the Labour Group on Dundee City Council on Dundee Labour’s Budget Proposals. PDF
Invest in education and mental health and drugs services The Labour Group on Dundee City Council is putting forward an alternative budget which focuses on investing in education and drugs and mental health issues.
The Labour Group remain concerned that Dundee is subject to yet another round of cuts to communities.
We are clear that whatever people try to call these, whether it is efficiencies or services changes the reality is that these are cuts.
These cuts impact on every community in Dundee.
The SNP Administration in Dundee is passing on Tory austerity from Westminster and their own brand of SNP austerity from Holyrood.
The Labour Group’s proposals aim to stop cuts to teaching and support staff in primary education, and to deliver a major IT investment aimed at giving every Dundee child the best possible start in life by ensuring that they have access to the latest IT equipment.
Labour would also stop the cuts to school crossing patrollers.
Any changes to the allocation of School Crossing Patrollers should not be made as part of the Budget process.
The Labour Group is clear that we should not be putting a cost on child safety.
The Labour Group will also be investing in ten new nurse practitioner posts, five of these would focus on drugs and five on mental health.
We are aware that there is a drugs crisis and a mental health crisis in our city.
The time for talk about this is over we need to take action to deliver on this and make a real difference to our city.
This is a start; we know that families across the city have been blighted by the scourge of drugs and that we need to take action to help.
It is clear that many families have been poorly served by mental health services in the city.
We are clear that we want to invest in services that will make a difference to families across the city.
The time for hand-wringing about mental health issues is over.
Dundee City Council must put its money where its mouth is and call on NHS Tayside and the Scottish Government to do likewise and invest in services which will make a difference to our communities.
There are a number of items in the Budget proposals from the SNP Administration which do not have a financial value attached.
We are deleting all of these from our proposals.
If there is any merit in any of these items then they should be brought forward in the course of the next year when councillors, staff and the public can have a genuine discussion about the merits of the proposals.
On this basis we are not prepared to accept proposals to change the Special Education sector in the city, or the closure of all remaining bowling greens in the city.
The SNP Administration should make the case for any changes and not railroad them through as part of the Budget process.
The SNP Administration also want to cut jobs in waste management and move towards three-weekly bin collections.
We are very concerned that this does not fit in the council’s commitments to promote recycling.
We already see fly-tipping all over the city and we are concerned that by attempting to push these proposals through the SNP Administration will just be making a bad situation worse.
The Labour Group are very concerned at plans to vastly increase burial costs in the city.
The Labour Group propose not to take this increase as we believe that the bereaved should not pay the price for SNP and Tory austerity.
The Labour Group will also attempt to restore funding to the hard-pressed Dundee Health & Social Care Partnership.
We want to end the scandal short ‘pit-stop care’ visits.
We should invest in the best possible care for elderly and the sick and ensure that the Health & Social Care Partnership is fit for purpose.
This is aimed at supporting people at home and preventing the revolving door of hospital readmissions.
Our Budget proposals make clear that our priorities are education and improving the life chances of every young person in our city along with dealing with the crisis in mental health and drugs.
We need an Administration which will put Dundee first and deliver the policies that Dundee needs rather than meekly do the bidding of their political masters.
That is why we are calling for a cross-party campaign to get a fair settlement for Dundee to deliver investment in our communities.
Statement from Councillor Kevin Keenan, Leader of the Labour Group on Dundee City Council on Dundee Labour’s Budget Proposals. PDF
Invest in education and mental health and drugs services The Labour Group on Dundee City Council is putting forward an alternative budget which focuses on investing in education and drugs and mental health issues.
The Labour Group remain concerned that Dundee is subject to yet another round of cuts to communities.
We are clear that whatever people try to call these, whether it is efficiencies or services changes the reality is that these are cuts.
These cuts impact on every community in Dundee.
The SNP Administration in Dundee is passing on Tory austerity from Westminster and their own brand of SNP austerity from Holyrood.
The Labour Group’s proposals aim to stop cuts to teaching and support staff in primary education, and to deliver a major IT investment aimed at giving every Dundee child the best possible start in life by ensuring that they have access to the latest IT equipment.
Labour would also stop the cuts to school crossing patrollers.
Any changes to the allocation of School Crossing Patrollers should not be made as part of the Budget process.
The Labour Group is clear that we should not be putting a cost on child safety.
The Labour Group will also be investing in ten new nurse practitioner posts, five of these would focus on drugs and five on mental health.
We are aware that there is a drugs crisis and a mental health crisis in our city.
The time for talk about this is over we need to take action to deliver on this and make a real difference to our city.
This is a start; we know that families across the city have been blighted by the scourge of drugs and that we need to take action to help.
It is clear that many families have been poorly served by mental health services in the city.
We are clear that we want to invest in services that will make a difference to families across the city.
The time for hand-wringing about mental health issues is over.
Dundee City Council must put its money where its mouth is and call on NHS Tayside and the Scottish Government to do likewise and invest in services which will make a difference to our communities.
There are a number of items in the Budget proposals from the SNP Administration which do not have a financial value attached.
We are deleting all of these from our proposals.
If there is any merit in any of these items then they should be brought forward in the course of the next year when councillors, staff and the public can have a genuine discussion about the merits of the proposals.
On this basis we are not prepared to accept proposals to change the Special Education sector in the city, or the closure of all remaining bowling greens in the city.
The SNP Administration should make the case for any changes and not railroad them through as part of the Budget process.
The SNP Administration also want to cut jobs in waste management and move towards three-weekly bin collections.
We are very concerned that this does not fit in the council’s commitments to promote recycling.
We already see fly-tipping all over the city and we are concerned that by attempting to push these proposals through the SNP Administration will just be making a bad situation worse.
The Labour Group are very concerned at plans to vastly increase burial costs in the city.
The Labour Group propose not to take this increase as we believe that the bereaved should not pay the price for SNP and Tory austerity.
The Labour Group will also attempt to restore funding to the hard-pressed Dundee Health & Social Care Partnership.
We want to end the scandal short ‘pit-stop care’ visits.
We should invest in the best possible care for elderly and the sick and ensure that the Health & Social Care Partnership is fit for purpose.
This is aimed at supporting people at home and preventing the revolving door of hospital readmissions.
Our Budget proposals make clear that our priorities are education and improving the life chances of every young person in our city along with dealing with the crisis in mental health and drugs.
We need an Administration which will put Dundee first and deliver the policies that Dundee needs rather than meekly do the bidding of their political masters.
That is why we are calling for a cross-party campaign to get a fair settlement for Dundee to deliver investment in our communities.