An Aberdeenshire Councillor has expressed huge disappointment that once again, Aberdeenshire Council’s Provost refused to debate important motions that backs local MSP Mike Rumbles and could help many Aberdeenshire families
Councillor Paul Johnston was seeking to get support for Lib-Dem MSP Mike Rumbles bid for a boiler scrappage scheme in Scotland.
“Despite it being a genuine late issue for debate because of an impending motion to the Scottish Parliament it is ruled out of order. This Provost does not have to give an explanation and cannot be challenged. ”
“There is a very important reason we need to pressure the Scottish government over a boiler scrappage scheme. There is good support for this in the Scottish Parliament and money has been allocated to Scotland from the Barnett formula as a consequence of spending commitments to do similar things in England. So there is no real excuse for lack of money. The government needs to be persuaded that it should do a sensible and practical scheme rather than just use the extra money within the pet schemes of the SNP government.”
“Real people within real problems can benefit from any scrappage scheme. Potentially 12,000 households could qualify for this and many jobs can be sustained while at the same time saving money for hard-pressed families. It helps us meet the challenges of climate change so it’s a complete win-win situation. Its a pity the Provost thinks it’s not worth doing”
“if we are to represent our constituents effectively we have to be aware of these issues and as a Council press government to take the best decisions which meet the needs of Aberdeenshire residents.”
“After a period of severe cold weather, many more vulnerable lower income families will have heavy costs of extra heating. Mike Rumbles MSP is right that this is something that will directly help them in the future and be of most use in colder areas like ours. Yet the Government are clinging to the cash. They need to stop dithering and commit to a boiler scrappage scheme.”
