Alison Johnstone MSP is calling for today’s revised Cycle Action Plan for Scotland to be matched with new funding from across Scottish Government budgets to meet its ambitions.

Alison led a Scottish Parliament debate on cycling last year, and started the Cross Party Group on Cycling.

Alison Johnstone MSP, Co-convenor of the Cross Party Group on Cycling said:

“There is much to welcome in this revised plan but funding remains the biggest weakness and we can’t expect everyone to do more without new money. Investing in better infrastructure isn’t cheap, but will save our health service a huge amount and we should draw far more on the large health budget and look at raising more income too. We need creative thinking from the Scottish Government to build a once-in-a-generation fund to bring our streets up to European standards.

“The Scottish Government and local authorities must now rise to meet the challenge of delivering this plan, drawing on the expertise of cycling organisations and from countries that are way ahead of us. An annual summit of local transport leaders should provide much needed political leadership, but there is still no clear path mapped out to show how we are going to get to 10% of journeys by bike.

“I’m particularly pleased to see that the Greens’ call for all pupils to have access to on-road cycle training by 2015 has been included as an outcome, but to achieve this we are going to need more paid trainers in our schools.

“I’m disappointed that the Minister is dismissing the debate on strict liability before really listening to the arguments. We need to rebalance the relationship between motor vehicles and cyclists on our roads, and using the law to do this deserves serious discussion.”

Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, is expressing concern at the 26 per cent rise in pay for the chief executive of Lothian Buses.

Ian Craig’s salary is now £265,000.

Alison said:

“Lothian Buses provide a high quality service compared to other cities and managers deserve praise for improvements but I’m sure lower paid workers in the company won’t have seen massive wage rises like this, despite having to deal directly with the on-going disruption to routes in the city centre. The company should focus on spreading wages more equally throughout the company, with a living wage for the lowest paid.”

The Scottish Greens have urged Ministers to rethink key planning documents to put sustainable development as the key principle when making planning decisions.

In an amendment to today’s planning debate at Holyrood, the Greens point to a legal requirement under the 2006 Planning Act to make sustainable development the objective when drawing up the National Planning Framework, which lays out key national projects for the decades ahead. (1)

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP said:

“Scotland’s key planning policies should be an exciting glimpse at a clean and modern future, but Ministers must be prepared to ditch dirty energy and reconsider the idea of everlasting growth. Many of the plans in the National Planning Framework are welcome but a number of the proposals on energy and transport are completely at odds with creating a more sustainable country.

“Planning law should put sustainable development at the heart of the planning system, not just on paper but in the decisions made every week that affect all sorts of communities. The attempt to allow claims around economic growth to trump sustainable development in planning decisions turns common sense on its head. Whether it’s transport or energy, we should only be investing in projects that get us a step further towards a fairer, sustainable and low-carbon economy.”

*Section 3D of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2006 states that in preparing the National Planning Framework, Ministers must have the objective of contributing to sustainable development

Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian and a member of Holyrood’s economy committee, is urging further investment in small businesses to help drive down youth unemployment.

The number of jobless in Scotland fell by 6,000 to 194,000 between February and April this year. Youth unemployment was 6.1 per cent lower than the same period last year.

The Scottish Government has today (12 June) announced measures to support youth employment, including a £37million SME Growth Programme.

Alison said:

“It’s encouraging to see this drop. But we continue to see problems in our economy where people want to do more hours to cope with the rising cost of living but can’t get the work. And we continue to see small and micro businesses squeezed out of being able to bid for public contracts.

“Investment by the Scottish Government in small and medium sized businesses to take on young people is very welcome. I’d like to see more of this kind of initiative rather than the false economy of tax cuts to lure big businesses with what are usually poorly paid, insecure jobs. By growing our local economies and our small businesses we have a better chance of success.”

Alison Johnstone is welcoming plans by the Scottish Government to extend Freedom of Information law to cover arm’s length bodies providing cultural, sports and leisure services.

Last year Alison wrote to deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon calling for such an extension after a previous plan by ministers was shelved following opposition from private bodies.

Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, said:

“Public accountability has clearly been eroded in recent years with hundreds of private and arms-length organisations delivering public services. It’s often incredibly difficult or impossible to find out if they’re making best use of public resources.

“There is a clear public appetite to extend FoI so this move by government is welcome, if long-overdue.”

We’re demaning an urgent debate in parliament following the failure to meet Scotland’s legally-binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for the second year in a row.

Figures released today show Scotland emitted almost a million tonnes of CO2 equivalent more than the target laid down in the Climate Change Act. This follows last year’s figures which showed a similar failure.

The target for 2011 was 53.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. Emissions were 54.2 million.

Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, said:

“This latest failure should be ringing alarm bells at the Scottish Government but instead ministers are showing breathtaking complacency. To claim we’re on course to meet the target in 2020 is utter spin; the need to compensate for their failure will clearly make things harder.

“Last year the government buried the figures during the summer recess to avoid scrutiny. Their lucklustre report on proposals and policies to address emissions must be updated and brought before parliament before summer recess at the end of this month.

“This government has failed to invest in the transport, energy and housing policies that would make a real difference. Instead they’re blowing billions on bigger roads and they’re determed to prop up the fossil fuel industry. It’s increasingly clear we won’t deliver on our climate change commitments unless we put Green policies at the heart of Scotland’s economic agenda.”

Responding to the appointment of Janet Archer as the new chief executive of Creative Scotland, Alison Johnstone says there is a huge job to restore confidence in the beleaguered quango.

The organisation has been widely criticised by the creative sector and its previous boss Andrew Dixon quit last year with a substantial pay-off.

Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, said:

“The arts community needs a public body that is in tune with its ambitions. There is a huge job ahead for Janet Archer to restore confidence.

“Uncertainty over funding for hard-pressed arts companies, and the bizarre business-speak and remote attitude of the quango are key issues that need resolved. The recent tour of Open Sessions around Scotland has generated a lot of great ideas and I’d urge the new chief executive to act on them.”

Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, is backing plans to revive Musselburgh town centre, and is urging the public to have their say on long-awaited proposals from East Lothian Council.

The strategy was drawn up following comments from 1,200 members of the community two years ago. It aims to make the High Street and surrounding areas more vibrant, attracting businesses, creating public spaces including a town square, and making more of the Honest Toun’s historic features.

Alison said:

“Last summer during a visit to Musselburgh I spoke with local activists and planners about these exciting proposals. It’s a shame it’s taken so long for them to come forward for public comment, and I’d urge everyone to take a look and make their views known.

“Musselburgh is far too often overlooked yet it has huge potential. It’s regrettable that planning permission was given for a 24 hour supermarket on the doorstep of the High Street and its effect is plain to see. The priority for our town centres should be local, independent shops and community spaces so that people enjoy a walk down the High Street and spend money in a way that genuinely benefits local people and businesses.

“Vehicle congestion and air pollution are big issues. It’s appalling at peak times with half the traffic simply passing through. If we want Musselburgh town centre to be a pleasant place to spend time, walk and cycle around we should be looking at ways to reduce the traffic.”

Patrick Harvie is describing today’s decision by the Referendum Bill committee of the Scottish Parliament to rule out any votes for prisoners as a missed opportunity to aid rehabilitation.

Mr Harvie tabled amendments to the Franchise Bill, which determines who gets to vote in next year’s independence referendum. These offered options for ending the blanket ban on prisoners voting, such as extending the vote to prisoners serving sentences of less than six months and to inmates who had less than six months of their sentence left to serve at the time of the vote.

But MSPs from the SNP, Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats voted against the amendments.

In today’s Scotsman the Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan, former Chief Inspector of Prisons, says the ban on voting has no punishment value. He says voting could help prisoners be rehabilitated into society.

Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, said:

“Nine years ago the European Court ruled that banning prisoners from voting in elections was unlawful. It’s unfortunate that we are heading towards probably the most important vote in Scotland’s history without applying the same principle to the referendum. It’s a bizarre situation rightly being questioned by Dr McLellan and other informed groups and individuals.

“The deputy first minister insists human rights legislation doesn’t apply to referendums but this doesn’t excuse the tone the government is setting. We had a chance to aid rehabilitation in our justice system. It’s a real opportunity lost.”

Alison Johnstone is welcoming confirmation from the Scottish Government that it intends to hold a debate in parliament on food labelling, amid growing concerns about GM materials hidden in everyday foods.

Alison recently tabled a motion in parliament highlighting the fact that major supermarkets have scrapped policies that prevented animals fed on genetically-modified crops reaching the shelves.

In a parliamentary answer to Alison received today (5 June) the environment minister admits the issue is not covered by labelling regulations, which means customers have no idea if the products they’re buying have been fed on GM feeds.

Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, said:

“While a debate on labelling is welcome it’s a shame it won’t happen till September at the earliest. This is an important consumer issue; there is increasing interest in where our food comes from and what it contains.

“A recent Food Standards Agency survey found 67 per cent of consumers want meat, eggs and dairy labelled to show whether they come from animals fed on GM feed. I urge the Scottish Government to challenge the retailers to improve their labelling so that we can at least choose not to buy these products.”

The minister’s response to Alison states: “Whether or not GM or non-GM feed is used in the rearing of livestock intended for food production is a commercial decision for food businesses. The Scottish Government intends to hold a debate, in Plenary, following summer recess, to allow for a discussion and exploration of issues such as food authenticity and labelling.”