Hypocrisy on council tax
Dear Editor
The hypocrisy in this statement (no rise in council tax – page 15) from Eddie McAvoy is completely overwhelming.
We have had to sit in committee over the last eight or nine years listening to Eddie on every possible occasion bemoaning the fact that he can’t raise council tax to maintain services and that the Scottish Government is blackmailing him to continue the freeze.
The freeze has now gone but he is not going to raise council tax.
The rest of the statement is typical SNP Baaad with the usual inaccuracies.
You would think that at least he would know that we are considering savings for 2017/18 not 2016/17!
Just to be clear, the money raised by increases to properties in Bands E to H will go to schools to deal with the attainment gap and support children who are most disadvantaged.
The grant from the Scottish Government to South Lanarkshire Council is needs-based and will take into account the issues of poverty and deprivation faced by many in South Lanarkshire.
He very conveniently puts the blame for cuts in grant on the Scottish Government, ignoring the fact that they continually face cuts from Westminster but still have to balance a budget the same as the council.
No doubt people will welcome the fact that their council tax bills will not go up but they may not be so happy when their services are also cut because of this.
It is heart-warming to read of such benevolence, however.
I’m sure the fact that there are council elections next May is purely coincidental.
Councillor Sheena Wardhaugh Health service deserves praise .. not criticism Dear Editor I would like to shed light on the criticisms of the NHS and the Scottish Government by the Labour / Tory opposition and the media regarding Audit Scotland’s NHS report last month.
The report states that “Over the last decade, there have been improvements in the way health services are delivered and reductions in the time that patients need to wait for hospital inpatient treatment.
“There have also been improvements in overall health, life expectancy, patient safety and survival rates for a number of conditions, such as heart disease.
“Despite the significant financial challenges facing NHS boards, there have been improvements in some areas, for example in reducing the overall number of bed days from delayed discharges. The budget increased by 2.7 per cent in real terms from the previous year”.
The report highlights the waiting time targets missed, but scrutiny of the figures show them not to be catastrophic as claimed by the Holyrood opposition and the BBC etc.
A&E had an interim target of 95% and achieved 93.1%; referral to treatment target was 90% and achieved 86.6%.
Of the key waiting time standards, one was met (+5%), four were within five per cent of standard (all > 90%) and three were missed.
It is obvious that most targets were not met but our NHS is still getting a scorecard of nine out of 10 which isn’t bad in the current economic climate.
Our NHS, with the backing of the Scottish Government, is doing well and deserves praise rather than criticism.
Charles Andrew Elphinstone Crescent The Murray East Kilbride