Hello and welcome to my website.  Let me update you on a few things I have been doing lately:

School Closure Scandal

The campaign against school closures in Glasgow has been one of the hardest fought community campaigns I have ever been involved with. I have stood shoulder to shoulder with campaigners and opposition councillors since the beginning, united against the closures yet constructive in engaging with what turned out to be a sham consultation. I submitted detailed objections to 5 schools as did many people in Glasgow, all objections were ritually ignored. Indeed, 96% of the 7,200 respondents objected to the proposed closures. And the council still ploughed ahead regardless!

The peaceful occupation of St Gregory's & Wyndford schools over the Easter break summed up the strength of feeling in the community. I went to demonstrations at St Agnes', Ruchill and Our Lady of the Assumption schools, I spoke at events in the city centre and invited parents to the parliament to lobby MSPs. The final council vote saw Glasgow City councillors on the ruling administration vote zombie fashion for the slash and burn of Glasgow's school estate. Some councillors even voted shamelessly to ‘save’ schools in their own wards, then voted to close schools in every other ward safe in the knowledge that all would be axed. But I don’t think parents will be conned by their duplicity. Closures will mean less teachers, higher class sizes, potentially unsafe journeys for pupils and childcare thrown into chaos.

I am appalled by the refusal of Glasgow City Council to listen to residents and I will continue to support people affected by these closures to the best of my ability.

Tackling Fuel Poverty

I have met with the energy company regulator OFGEM and with the Energy Retail Association to discuss fuel poverty.

OFGEM

I discussed with Ofgem their ongoing consultation on energy supply which recommends a clear billing system to customers. The plans will see every customer getting an annual statement which explains tariffs and reminds them of their right to switch supplier. This is a step in the right direction. It remains of concern that customers on pre-payment meters who live in fuel poverty still pay more for their energy than customers who pay by standard payment or direct debit. I have raised the matter with our new Communities Minister Alex Neil MSP in the Scottish Parliament. He agreed with me that high pricing for the fuel poor is inherently unfair and we will both be submitting our objections to the Ofgem consultation.

Energy Retail Association

The Home Heat Helpline based in Glasgow helps customers that are in difficulty with payments or who have any other energy issues. They help the poorest customers by making sure they are on the best social tariff. However, the helpline is funded by the ‘big 6’ energy firms and they will not recommend to customers to switch supplier. Perhaps either CAB or the Scottish Government's new Energy Assistance Package (which has put record funds into tackling fuel poverty) could look at this. I will be following up on this over the next few weeks and I will keep you updated.

Commonwealth Games Legacy

During the Legacy debate in parliament recently I highlighted a number of organisations that should be at the heart of the legacy plan. Realise Community Project, based at Garscube Road, provide employability and wider support for adult students. Phoenix Futures provide residential rehabilitation in north Glasgow. Both projects work with recovering addicts. There is also Operation Reclaim, a partnership between Strathclyde Police and others who get kids playing sport rather than hanging about the street. I have also had Partick Thistle through to parliament recently to give a presentation to other MSPs about the wonderful community engagement work they do. I raised this during the Commonwealth legacy debate and suggested that community football clubs could use their social networks and be directly involved in the Games legacy. These organisations have a central role to play in the real 2014 legacy.

The next few weeks will be busy ones for me as I work to tackle the issues I have just mentioned and many others. I would ask anyone interested in any of the matters I have mentioned to contact me through this website.

Yours for Scotland

Bob Doris