A very busy few days - with the Liberal Democrats campaigning across the West End and the Dundee West constituency as a whole. Pictured above is John Barnett, Dundee West Liberal Democrat candidate, in Cleghorn Street yesterday.
I missed much of Sunday's campaigning as I have been in Belfast with the "day job" (photo below!) and returned just in time to attend my afternoon surgeries at the Mitchell Street Centre and Harris Academy, followed by City Council meetings tonight.
At tonight's Council's committees, I raised questions about the Bike Boost initiative as part of the Dundee Travel Active project, the review of 'out of hours' social work service, and welcomed the decision to give the job brokerage services contract to the Dundee Employment and Aftercare Project (DEAP). The handling of this matter by the Dundee Partnership and the SNP council administration has been unimpressive, the tendering process wasteful and unnecessary and - in terms of the future - I made the point that now is the time for all councillors in the city to get behind DEAP and the excellent work it does to secure job opportunities for Dundee people.
I also raised my concern at the expenditure of nearly £80 000 to change the car parking and access at the East District Housing Office - an office barely three years old. Why is the council spending such a large sum of rent-payers' money changing parking arrangements so soon after the project was completed? The SNP Housing Convener appeared disinterested in the matter and I have written to the Chief Executive of the City Council asking further questions about the concern. City Council tenants are entitled to know that their rent monies are being properly spent.