SNP must now come back with a better budget

The Scottish Green Party today rejected the limited proposals on home energy efficiency set out in the Chamber by Cabinet Secretary John Swinney as a seriously inadequate response to the current dual crisis we face, both economic and environmental.

The Scottish Greens met the SNP at the beginning of October last year and set out the £100m per annum cost of a ten-year plan to provide free loft and cavity wall insulation across Scotland, and to support both appropriate micro-renewables and more substantial insulation retrofit work.

Despite the months of work put in by the Scottish Green Party and by civil servants, the final proposal from the SNP was received less than five minutes before the end of the debate. The only confirmed Scottish Government commitment was to spend less than a quarter of the funding their own figures show would be necessary to get the job done. In addition, SNP Ministers made no firm pledges to improve this investment for future years, nor were they able to say where any additional funding might come from.

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“This has been an extraordinarily badly managed process on behalf of the Scottish Government. Four months of constructive discussions were today thrown away by Ministers, through last minute games, brinkmanship and poor faith.

“The SNP knew from the start what would be required to tackle fuel poverty, climate change, unemployment in the construction sector and rising bills for ordinary Scots. The budget rejected by the Parliament today was simply inadequate as a response to the dual crisis we face, both economic and environmental.

“As such, we believe the least worst choice available for Parliament today was to vote it down and for an improved budget to be laid, one which better reflects the urgency of the situation the country is in, and one which better reflects the balance of views across Parliament.

“I am pleased the SNP have committed to reintroduce a Budget to take this opportunity to try again, to take the time to work with other parties and come back with a better budget for Scotland. There is a need for a calm response to the situation and to the next Budget process, and Greens will continue to take a constructive approach during the forthcoming discussions.”

Hate crimes bill is important for Scotland’s reputation

Patrick Harvie MSP today gave evidence on his proposed hate crimes legislation to Holyrood’s Justice Committee. His Sentencing of Offences Aggravated by Prejudice (Scotland) Bill would extend the principle of statutory aggravations to cover grounds of hatred based on disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. (1) Statutory aggravations, which empower courts to hand down a tougher sentence for the same crime, rather than introducing any new offence, are already in force for crimes motivated by religious or racial hatred.

The Justice Committee is currently taking views on the Green proposal, and will report to the whole Parliament on the general principles of the Bill ahead of a Stage 1 vote in the Chamber. Scottish Ministers have given their backing to this proposal, and are providing clerking and legal support to Patrick Harvie through the “handout bill” process. (2)

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“This proposal is for a straightforward Bill, a small but necessary step towards tackling prejudice. The experience of those who suffer offences motivated by hatred is well understood – crimes of this sort tend to have a more serious emotional impact, and the pain is often felt by a wider community.

“Tackling hate crimes is not a symbolic gesture, or simply an opportunity for Parliament to send a message. The Bill wouldn’t bring in any new offences, merely recognise existing offences for what they are, and allow courts to respond properly to them. Scotland’s continuing reputation as a tolerant nation depends in part on making hate crimes of this sort a thing of the past, and proper records and proper sentences for such crimes would be an important step on that path.”

Notes

1. The Bill as introduced is here, along with the supporting documents:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/09-AggPrej/index.htm

2. See: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/01/15105227

Extra Forth road bridge is unnecessary, uneconomic and unsustainable

The Scottish Parliament today debated the Scottish Government’s proposals for an additional Forth Road Bridge, originally intended as a replacement for the existing road crossing. Although Ministers have now accepted that the existing bridge has a long-term future, today’s final vote saw MSPs from all parties apart from the Greens line up to support the Scottish Government’s decision. (1)

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“The road-builders and the politicians who support them are like addicts and their dealers. Every time we’re told the same thing – just one more infrastructure project, I promise, this one’ll fix our economic problems. But no amount of concrete can ever satisfy them, and they always come back for more.

“The time has now come to kick this destructive habit. We now know the existing bridge can be mended, either by dehumidification or recabling if required, and with proper traffic management for HGVs in particular it will last closer to its original 120 year design life. This is the prudent and sensible path to take.

“The fact is that this new bridge would do nothing for public transport, and the rationale is all about increasing capacity for cars. It’s unnecessary, it’s uneconomic, and it’s unsustainable. Building endless bridges might have seemed a sensible idea before we knew anything about climate change, peak oil or public health, but it looks cynical and absurd today.”

Notes

1. The final vote was Yes: 121, No: 2, with no abstentions.

Green budget proposals get new backing

The Scottish Green MSPs today welcomed the wholehearted support of the Scottish Building Federation for the party’s home insulation proposals. The party is calling on Scottish Ministers to amend their budget, which was published today, to include £100m a year in funding to support free loft and cavity wall insulation for everyone, plus funding for domestic micro-renewables and other energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Building Federation today urged the other parties at Holyrood to back the Green proposal, and set out how a proposal of this sort would support jobs in the construction sector at a time when 20,000 jobs have been lost, and when 1,000 fewer apprenticeships are expected in 2009. (1)

Scottish Business in the Community (2), a charity with more than 80 member companies, also today made clear that the Scottish business community is ready to rise to the challenge of such a universal energy efficiency project.

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“The Scottish Government’s Budget is, as it stands, not an adequate response either to the economic crisis or to the environmental crisis we face. Ministers know they need to back a massive boost to Scotland’s energy efficiency, and support a comprehensive programme to insulate Scotland once and for all if they want Green support for the Budget. We have not yet seen that commitment.

“This is a golden opportunity for Ministers to tackle both fuel poverty and climate change, to reduce people’s bills across Scotland, and to provide a much-needed boost to the construction industry. As today’s comments show, the industry is ready and willing to step up and deliver home energy efficiency across Scotland – all it will take now is for the Scottish Government to do the same.”

Michael Levack, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Federation, said:

“I would call upon every party in the Scottish Parliament to lend their backing to the Scottish Green Party proposal.

“For over two years now we have been calling for a retrofitting strategy to bring existing domestic and commercial buildings up to modern energy efficiency standards. Retrofitting is not only the right thing to do, it also makes good business sense.

“Thousands of construction workers who face a bleak 2009 could be redeployed in a matter of weeks if the political willing and financial support for householders is there.”

Lisa Dransfield, Scottish Business in the Community’s External Relations Manager, said:

“Scottish Business in the Community was set up to support Scottish companies who wish to contribute to the development of a successful, sustainable economy and environment. We believe that energy efficiency measures are one of the best ways to support job creation and regeneration in Scotland, and can provide an ideal opportunity for businesses to play their part in helping to tackle climate change. If a project of this sort is approved by Parliament, we are confident that business will rise to the challenge.”

Notes

1. Recent statistics from the Scottish Building Federation show that 20,000 construction jobs were lost during 2008 with many skilled tradesmen and women leaving the building trade to take up work in other industries. The crisis has also seen a reduction in the number of apprenticeships. Without new work the Federation expects 1,000 fewer apprentices to be taken on during 2009 compared to 2008 when 600 fewer apprenticeships were registered compared to 2007. See http://www.scottish-building.co.uk

2. See http://www.sbcscot.com/