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Monday evening saw meetings of the City Council and its committees start again after the New Year. In the Environment Committee meeting there were a number of reports on improving parks. I was pleased to see progress being made at Camperdown Park and I made the point that we need to see progress on all the assets at Camperdown especially Camperdown House. I look forward to hearing more about progress in the future. The improvements at Dudhope Park are also welcome and I was pleased that my colleague Helen Wright highlighted the work of the Dudhope Park Friends Group.
There was also an important report on the Dundee Law Master Plan. I think that this is a welcome report as is the involvement of the Coldside Forum in its development. Over the last couple of years the Law has shown that it needs some attention. Clearly, the Law and the War Memorial at its summit are iconic images of Dundee, indeed they form a large part of the City Council's logo. That's why I was so shocked last year to see that the War Memorial had been vandalised. It is important that we preserve this important part of Dundee's heritage. It is important in the run up to the centenary of the First World War that we remember the sacrifice made by Dundonians who gave their lives for their country. The Scottish Government announced on Monday that funding will be available to conserve and preserve war memorials I hope that the council seeks to access this money to protect memorials in Dundee.
Councillor Kevin Cordell spoke with passion about remembering those like Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee who had shown their support for the Stuart cause in 1689 by raising the Stuart standard on the Law. I think that it is important to remember these events as well and I would support this although I would point out that there is some historical controversy about how popular this was in the town of Dundee at that time. I would also say that Councillor Cordell's party appear to be fully supportive of the Hanoverian cause nowadays.
There was an interesting debate at the Policy and Resources Committee about the future of the Hospital Fund and Johnston Bequest. This is a fund which currently gives one person, per year, per councillor, a pension of £80 a year. The proposals before us were to spend money from the Hospital Fund and Johnston Bequest on a pilot on targeted welfare benefits advice to older people rather than more pensions. Since these funds are administered under the terms of Acts of Parliament I sought a reassurance from the legal officers of the council that we had the power to make theses changes. I was told that officers were happy that we did have the power to do this. On that basis I was happy to support the proposals. In the course of the debate there was much discussion about what went on in the seventeenth century and the nineteenth century. Even though I am a historian I made the point that interesting though it may be to discuss what people were trying to do in the nineteenth century we are faced with a situation where the Tory/Lib Dem Government want to take us back to the nineteenth century in terms of support for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society; and that we should be looking to defend people from the worst of this. Therefore I think providing targeted advice to the elderly is a good use of this money and is a modern use of it.
There was also an important report on the Dundee Law Master Plan. I think that this is a welcome report as is the involvement of the Coldside Forum in its development. Over the last couple of years the Law has shown that it needs some attention. Clearly, the Law and the War Memorial at its summit are iconic images of Dundee, indeed they form a large part of the City Council's logo. That's why I was so shocked last year to see that the War Memorial had been vandalised. It is important that we preserve this important part of Dundee's heritage. It is important in the run up to the centenary of the First World War that we remember the sacrifice made by Dundonians who gave their lives for their country. The Scottish Government announced on Monday that funding will be available to conserve and preserve war memorials I hope that the council seeks to access this money to protect memorials in Dundee.
Councillor Kevin Cordell spoke with passion about remembering those like Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee who had shown their support for the Stuart cause in 1689 by raising the Stuart standard on the Law. I think that it is important to remember these events as well and I would support this although I would point out that there is some historical controversy about how popular this was in the town of Dundee at that time. I would also say that Councillor Cordell's party appear to be fully supportive of the Hanoverian cause nowadays.
There was an interesting debate at the Policy and Resources Committee about the future of the Hospital Fund and Johnston Bequest. This is a fund which currently gives one person, per year, per councillor, a pension of £80 a year. The proposals before us were to spend money from the Hospital Fund and Johnston Bequest on a pilot on targeted welfare benefits advice to older people rather than more pensions. Since these funds are administered under the terms of Acts of Parliament I sought a reassurance from the legal officers of the council that we had the power to make theses changes. I was told that officers were happy that we did have the power to do this. On that basis I was happy to support the proposals. In the course of the debate there was much discussion about what went on in the seventeenth century and the nineteenth century. Even though I am a historian I made the point that interesting though it may be to discuss what people were trying to do in the nineteenth century we are faced with a situation where the Tory/Lib Dem Government want to take us back to the nineteenth century in terms of support for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society; and that we should be looking to defend people from the worst of this. Therefore I think providing targeted advice to the elderly is a good use of this money and is a modern use of it.
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