AGENDA
:— Acting for chfldren
Scottish children's welfare groups have banded together to make sure that MPs get the wording of the new Children‘s Bill right when it receives its second reading in Edinburgh next week. Under new House of Commons rules, amendments to the bill will be made away from Westminster by the Scottish Grand Committee of all Scottish MPs. The long-awaited bill has cross-patty support which makes this unusual procedure possible. However, the finer details are still to be thrashed out and
Scottish organisations with an interest in young people are eager to ensure their opinions are heard. 9
A consortium of these agencies has ' been formed and already more than 60 organisations have expressed interest in helping to shape the bill. including 'local authorities and charities. A standing committee of MPs will travel around Scotland to listen to their views in the New Year.
twenty years. so people are committed
GEOFFREY CRAIG
Children's Bill: trying to ensure children’s ileum '0' ""3 I18“ Went! #35
t to getting it right.‘ says Dr Kay Tisdall. ‘The reality is this legislation may last ;
policy manager for Children in Scotland. which is co-ordinating the
consortium. ‘Parliamcnt moves so
; quickly it is important that everyone
gets heard.‘
Children in Scotland is particularly keen that the legislation incorporates the key principles of the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The proposed shake-up of the law relating to children is wide-ranging. It includes: reinforcing the responsibility of both parents for the welfare and upbringing of a child. increased responsibility for local authorities towards children in their care. and the possibility ofexcluding a parent from the family home where abuse has been aHeged.
This commitment is welcomed by Cathy Jamieson of Who Cares? the organisation which represents children in care. ‘Young people will have the opportunity of face-to-face contact.’ she says. ‘We hope that will mean we are better able to argue our case. We are delighted with the potential for excluding alleged child abusers from the home — we have been campaigning for that for a long time.‘
However. Who Cares? believes the bill does not go far enough. and will be pressing for local authorities' responsibility for child welfare to be extended from the age of IS to 21. (Stephen Naysmith)
Children in Scotland can be contacted on 03/ 228 8484.
Glasgow smiles again
After Glasgow’s success in securing the 1999 City of Architecture title, the future of a cornerstone project in the city’s bid - the National Gallery of Scottish Art - may be about to become 1 clearer. ; The National Galleries of Scotland trustees are expected to announce in
December a public consultation over the site of the proposed gallery. The leading contender is almost certainly the former Post Office building in
are believed to be committed to creating a new gallery in Glasgow and are looking for alternative sites after Scottish Secretary lan Lang rejected their favoured proposal for Kelvingrove, announced a year ago. Glasgow City Council has offered the Post Office building free and the trustees are thought to be keen on a city centre site. ‘The Post Office is one of a number of sites to be considered,’ says James Holloway,
1 assistant keeper of Edinburgh’s ;' National Portrait Gallery. ‘You couldn’t
get a more central site and from that
E point of view, the trustees like the
‘ Glasgow’s George Square. The trustees
idea very much.’ The suggested break up of the Portrait Gallery’s collection,
? which caused huge public outcry in : Edinburgh, now appears to have been j ruled out.
Glasgow’s bid leaders are bullish that
the City of Architecture tag will help the city secure the Scottish art
gallery. ‘The location in Glasgow has
; almost been accepted so we’re saying, j let’s make sure it can happen either
i by 1999 or during 1999,’ says a city
council spokesman. (Eddie Gibb)
Radio activity ‘ Two separate plans to start community
developed in an attempt to give a voice to local people.
radio stations in Edinburgh are being
Hailes FM has already been given a l
temporary licence to broadcast in 3 Wester Hailes for three days in December as a way of gauging interest in a permanent station. lf the weekend trial is successful. Hailes FM plans to apply for a month-long Restricted Service Licence to broadcast during the Wester Hailes carnival next June. This in turn could lead to a permanent licence to broadcast to an area with a potential 100.000 listeners.
The weekend broadcast will be a mix oftalk and music-based shows
presented by local people. including the
cheekily-titled ‘Crammond lsland Discs‘. The Wester Hailes group has modelled the station on a similar community station. Drumlink. broadcasting in Glasgow‘s Drumchapel.
The Hailes FM scheme is backed by CSV Media in Edinburgh. which runs basic training schemes for people
4 The List 2—l5 December 1994
' I, .
’ 4+ h.
if
interested in radio. It also makes short community information programmes
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g
Tuned in: CSV volunteers are given basic training
‘ information networks,’ says council ' project liaison officer Scott
for daily broadcast on Radio Forth. ‘We i
are trying to empower people to play an active part in the community using radio.’ says CSV Media manager Norma Fraser.
Meanwhile. Edinburgh District
’ Council is backing a more ambitious plan to set tip a permanent community
radio station in Craigmillar using Urban Aid funding. The council has
just submitted a proposal to the Scottish
()ffice outlining the scheme which
1 would cost £70,000 to set tip and more than £I(X).(X)() to run in the early years. 1 ‘The main objective is to improve local
Weatherstone. The community group behind the Craigmillar scheme will hear in April if
their Urban Aid application has been successful. The next step would be to apply to the Radio Authority for a
licence with the target of starting broadcasting in April 1996. (Eddie
I Gibb)
. Hat/es NW 13 l)t'()tt(1t‘(t.\‘ttltg on [07.215111
from Fri 9—Star // Dec. CSV Media can
be contacted on ()3/ 557 3/94. The
(.‘raigmillar Community Information
Service is on 03/ 659 5558.
I Oriving force The tabloids‘ love of a good joyriding story is the inspiration for the launch of Young People Speak Out. an Edinburgh video workshop for youngsters. The project kicks off on Monday 12 December with a screening of ‘Madness on the Motorway', which uses the chroma-key video technique to simulate a group of sixteen-year-olds speeding down the M8 in a high performance car. Best of all it‘s at the expense of tax-payers. who are footing the bill for this £400,000 project. enabling groups of young people to learn video-making skills. YPSO can be contacted on 031 220 4244.
I Pedal power Lothian Region has started work on a cycling strategy. to be published early next year in an attempt to turn Edinburgh into the ‘cycling capital of Britain‘. Transport committee chairman David Begg told a meeting of members of cycling pressure group Spokes: ‘We will give the needs of cyclists high priority in the design ofall traffic management schemes and any new road building.‘ The council's target is for at least five per cent of all journeys to work to be made by bicycle by 2010.
I Home truths Human rights abuses around the world are likely to be highlighted during European Human Rights Day on Saturday 10 December. but the Scottish Council ofCivil Liberties is planning to draw attention to a political freedom under threat at home. SCCL is opposing the local govemment reform bill which it believes will violate the rights of nearly 300,000 local authority workers. Under the single-tier local authority structure. council employees will effectively be barred from becoming councillors. SCCL claims this breaches an international code on political rights and will call for local government reform to be scrapped. Details from SCCL on 041 332 5960.
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