Postal Services - Dundee City Council

I was really disappointed that the SNP Administration in conjunction with the Conservative group forced through changes to the council's means of dealing with mail. I am concerned that these changes will add to the problems faced by the Royal Mail and the Post Office. This is turn will add to the problems faced by our constituents in getting a regular and reliable postal service. As councillors we have a moral duty to look at more than the monetary value of our decisions. I think that this is an issue about the ethical procurement of council services, I think that ethical procurement is something that we should be giving more prominence to.

I was disappointed that SNP councillors appear to have forgotten that they supported a motion by Councillor Keenan which attempted to prevent the closure of sub-Post Offices in Dundee.

We have a duty as councillors to take a great interest in the businesses which the City Council does business with. We are employers and we should take our duty as employers very seriously.

When we let contracts we are in a position where we are indirectly the employer. We cannot act as if the consequences of that companies actions have nothing to do with us..

In the council chamber we have joined together to protect local post offices, we have expressed our concern about the postal system in Dundee east.

All of these things happen in part due to the greater competition in postal services. In considering this report we should consider more than the bottom line, more than the monetary value. What impact will our actions have on a service which is one which is close to the heart of the people of Dundee.

It would be wrong for us to vote for a measure tonight which will in the longer term lead to a diminution of the service received by our constituents.

We should be supporting the Royal Mail and the ongoing provision of a universal postal service which private companies are not interested in providing.

Tayside Fire & Rescue Board

On Monday I was at Tayside Fire and Rescue Board's Performance Monitoring sub-committee. This was an interesting meeting which looked mostly at how the Fire and Rescue Board audits it work both internally and externally. The agenda does not appear to be on-line.

Tayside Police

On Monday morning I attended a meeting of the Tayside Police Board. This was an interesting meeting. In light of a recent murder conviction in Dundee I asked about what could be done to ensure that people convicted or on the run from a different jurisdiction, in this case the Republic of Ireland, were known about and dealt with effectively. I was informed that a report will be forthcoming on this issue.

The meeting also marked the launch of Annual Performance Report of Tayside Police. This is a good report. I am concerned that there is a drop in the number of people who have seen the police patrolling in their area. This is explained as being as a result of a change in the way the question was asked. That may be the case but it is important that a close eye is kept on this.