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HOLYROOD MATTERS

THANK YOU for taking thetime to read about my work as oneof your MSPs over the past year.Its been a busy 12 months and

News in brief Highlighted Orkneys archaeological

treasure trove after 5,000yr-old Neo-lithic figure was found on Westray

Visited European Parliament as partof EET Committees Energy Inquiry

Met with European Languages Com-missioner to promote the Scots Leid

Lobbied Enterprise Minister for bet-ter broadband in Orkney and islands

Pressed MoD to take responsibilityfor destroying Laxford Bridge

Lodged motion for CEC to announcePentland leases locally

AttendedCaithness Transport Forum

Opened Far North Beef Event, Lairg

Questioned BBCs Robert Peston inEET Committees Banking Inquiry

Opened Taste of Tain Festival

Welcomed upgrades to 71 ruralbroadband exchanges

Lobbied HIE and Scottish Govern-ment over Dornoch Abattoir closure

Backed Beauly-Denny decision

Continuing to press for fair transmis-sion charging for renewable energycreated in Scotland

Enjoying the Year of Orkney Dialect

Email: Rob.Gibson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk Blog:www.robgibsonmsp.blogspot.comWick A: 4 Grant Street, Wick, Caithness, KW1 5AY Wick T: 01955 605 016

Parliament A: The Scottish Parliament, Room M4.06, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP Parliament T:0131 348 5726

Yours sincerely,

there is still much to do before anotherParliamentary term ends in 2011.

2010 promises real progress with agreat deal on the Parliaments agendaincluding crofting reform, protecting ten-ants rights, increasing affordable hous-ing, tackling Scotlands unhealthy rela-tionship with alcohol and debating a newpatients rights bill.

As a member of the Transport, In-

frastructure & Climate Change Commit-tee and Deputy Convener of the Econ-omy, Energy & Tourism Committee Ifocus on promoting green jobs and de-velopment in the Highlands & Islands inorder to help Scotland realise its renew-

ables potential and work towards deliver-ing the ambitious targets set last year inScotlands world-leading ClimateChange Act.

I work for you., so if there is an is-sue I can help you with please donthesitate to get in touch. Im honoured torepresent the Highlands & Islands andwill go forward in 2010 with the samelevel of commitment and enthusiasm that

I've delivered for the past 6 years. In themeantime, I hope you enjoy readingabout some of the things Ive done overthe past year.

Newsletter of Rob Gibson, MSP for the Highlands & Islands (SNP)

Published Spring 2010

Fair services in hard timesTHE Scottish Government budget was

passed earlier this year. Finance Secre-tary John Swinney included a review

group to inform the public and Parliamentabout the effect of expected budget cutsby around 1 billion (3.6%) each year inreal terms from 2011 through 2014. Themost significant reductions are expectednext year.

Councils and all other public serviceswill be hit. These forecasts of falls in pub-lic spending will hit ferry services, health

local consultations ofall services to compli-ment the reviewfor MrSwinney. Rob needsto hear your views loudand clear, so pleasecontact him using anyof the details below.

Left: View from Strom-

ness Hotel, Hamnavoegetting ready to sail.

spending and other services. All parts of the country will feel the pinch.That's why a wide debate is needed to maintain the quality of public services

which the Parliament agreed. Undue fears are expressed that Northlink services will

be unfairly hit. Orcadians know that choices are available and every communityacross the land will have similar concerns. Rob has been leading calls for full local

Rob sails on the Pentalina andoften compares the services of subsidised andunsubsidised ferry operators

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In the Constituency

THE HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS enjoy

some of the most beautiful landscapes inScotland. Equally, the Highlands & Islands isthe largest Parliamentary region in Scotland,constituting over 40,000sq km - roughly thesame size as Belgium! Rob spends a majorityof his time travelling throughout the north inorder to meet with constituents, communitygroups and local businesses.

When not travelling around the constitu-ency, Rob spends 3 days each week in Parlia-ment raising his constituents concerns inCommittees, in debates, with Ministers andwith fellow MSPs across parties.

ROB DEALS with hundreds ofconstituency cases each year, andduring the last 12 months the top 5

issues raised by concerned constitu-ents have been:

Local IssuesLocal IssuesLocal Issueseg. broadbandeg. broadbandeg. broadband

Environment & EnergyEnvironment & EnergyEnvironment & Energy

Jobs & EconomyJobs & EconomyJobs & Economy

EducationEducationEducationeg. school buildingseg. school buildingseg. school buildings

HealthHealthHealth

Were keen on being green!Did you know that more than one-third of the direct mail each household receives in Scotland is thrown away before ever being read?

EET Committee Visits Bank of England

From left: Chris Harvie MSP, Con-vener Iain Smith MSP, Wendy Alex-ander MSP and Rob, the Deputy Con-vener, on Threadneedle Street.

IN February, mem-bers of the ParliamentsEconomy Committeemet with the Bank ofEngland Governor Mer-vyn King at his historicHead Quarters in Lon-don to discuss the Com-mittees Financial Ser-vices inquiry

The Committee haspublished its report onthe need for future bank-ing to serve local busi-nesses. It can beviewed on the ScottishParliament website.

ON a visitto discusslocal healthissues at Bal-four Hospitalwith NHS Ork-ney ChairJohn Ross

Scott, Robwas shownthe vital handwashing proc-ess that is keyto cutting hos-pital-acquiredinfections.

visitors, investments and improve transport links. In the motionRob also praised the work of the Scottish Islands Federationthrough the European Small Islands Network and called for theEuropean Union to inaugurate a European year of islands.

ROB paid tribute to thegrowing support for a 2011festival of island culturesin a motion to the ScottishParliament last May.

In it he highlighted thework of Orkney Council inpromoting the importanceof the islands to Scotlandseconomy, sustainable

growth, environment andcultural diversity.

Such a natural devel-opment would attract more

Its time for a festival of island cultures

Enjoying the Orkney Folk Festival

75th Anniversary of Airmail Service

ON 29 May 2009, 75years after the launch ofthe UKs first internalRoyal Mail airmail service,Rob watched pilots take tothe skies in vintage

Dragon aircraft to recreate

the historic flight betweenInverness and Kirkwall,which for the first time car-ried airmail to the islandsfrom the mainland, remain-ing a vital link for island

communities today.Balfour aims for best practice

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In the Parliament

A COMMON request many MSPs get is

to host an event in the Scottish Parliament.Businesses, organisations and individuals usethis as an opportunity to meet with MSPs andother guests in order to raise areas of inter-est, opportunity or concern as well as to raisethe profile of their activities.

This kind of networking often results innew opportunities for projects and partner-ships which they might not have thought pos-sible before the event. Rob has hosted awide of range of events throughout his 6

years in Parliament. Some that have beenheld over the past 12 months include:

UHI introduced their new Principal andfuture plans to MSPs, the EducationSecretary and guests in February.

CifalFindhorn, Royal Mail, UNITAR andothers celebrated the new HydrogenCorridor from Aberdeen to Peterhead.

The Environment Secretary joined Robfor Scotland Food & Drinks to kick offto their annual Fortnight.

A delegation of female Congolese ac-tivists discussed the DRC crisis & im-portance of empowering women.

Albyn Housing profiled their work in

the Highlands providing quality, afford-able housing to thousands.

2009 in Numbers

858585 Parliamentary Questions

747474 Committee Meetings

727272 Journeys to Parliament

535353 Motions Lodged

383838 Chamber Debates

101010 Events Hosted

999 Cross Party Group

Memberships

If youd like to subscribe electronically to Holyrood Matters, just let us know using any of the details overleaf.

Thanks for doing your bit!

Rob joins in honour to WW2 Arctic Convoys

Erected in honour of all whosailed from Scapa Flow on theArtic Convoys. Their sacrifice

was made for our freedom.

Rob (in kilt & green bonnet) joined the official party last Augustat the unveiling of the WW2 Arctic Convoys memorial at Lyness,Hoy where OIC Vice Convener James Stockan addresses 300islanders and their Russian guests before the memorials unveiling.

ROB had the pleasureof visiting Kiln Corner,home to UHIs new ex-panded Nordic Studiescentre in Kirkwall.

Rob has since lodgeda motion in the Parlia-

ment welcoming the dy-namic role the centreplays in promoting andpreserving all the indige-nous cultures of theHighlands & Islands byincluding Norse, Scotsand Gaelic in its courses,which include the richliterature of Orkney.

Rob hails Kirkwalls Nordic Studies CentreIntangible cultural heritage

EDINBURGH NapierUniversity is leading aproject on Intangible Cul-tural Heritage in Scotland,documenting current

practices of traditions inScot

Scotland. At a recentParliamentary briefing,Rob took the opportunityto highlight the famousKirkwall Ba Game,

played since the 1800s.

ICH in Scotland Manager Alison McCleery (left) andJoanne Orr, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland, in Parliament

With the Centres Director Dr DonnaHeddle reviewing a rare Norse text

SINCE he success-fully lobbied HistoricScotland to augmentthe Scara Brae time-line on Gagarin Day2008, Rob has workedto develop Russianlinks with Orkney.

With Orkney IslandCouncil well-engaged,

further trade links arenow being forged withUgra, Siberias oil &gas province, showingthat mutual respectwith old allies helps toopen new trade doorstoday.

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Email: Rob.Gibson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk Blog:www.robgibsonmsp.blogspot.comWick A: 4 Grant Street, Wick, Caithness, KW1 5AY Wick T: 01955 605 016

Parliament A: The Scottish Parliament, Room M4.06, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP Parliament T:0131 348 5726

ITS been a busy year for Rob. As well as his work on the ClimateChange Committee, which helpedcreate Scotlands world-leading Cli-mate Change Act, Rob has takenevery opportunity to press the needfor environmental awareness, con-servation and forward-thinking inlegislation, national and communityprojects, infrastructure developmentsand in the economy.

In December, Rob representedthe Scottish Parliament at the globalclimate change summit in Copenha-gen. There, he met with representa-tives from countries such as Argen-tina and Sweden to explain themeasures Scotland has put in place

Orkney, Scrabster, Wick and Nigg can all share in the clean energy revolutionScrabster Harbour on the Pentland Firthand at Nigg needed to realise thenorths potential.

A fully functioning Nigg yard couldbuild & service offshore structures, cre-

Pictured (from top left, clock-wise): At the Climate LeadersSummit in Copenhagen; With aVIBES winner, Environment Min-ister Roseanna Cunningham andSEPA Chairman David Sig-sworth while hosting the Vision inBusiness for the Environment Awards (VIBES) in Parliament;With EU policy expert Dr AileenMcLeod on one of Robs visits toStromness EMEC to see devel-opments in marine renewables;On ferry from Lyness where theWW2 quays are due for majorupgrade, thanks to ERDF fund-ing, to launch wave power ma-chines into the Pentland Firth.

Rob nominated Green Politician of the Yearto demonstrate the urgent actionneeded to reduce green housegases and step up renewableenergy production.

At the end of the year, Robwas delighted to earn a nomina-tion as 2009 Politician of theYear at the Green EnergyAwardsa big honour.

Rob is now enjoying a newyear of championing the wealthof green resources and expertisewithin the Highlands & Islandsthe renewables capital of not justScotland, but potentially thewhole of Europe.

ating jobs and capacity for the north. Robhas been fighting for its revival since firsttaking office in 2003 and has been pressing

Highland Council to stick to its policy ofcompulsory purchase.

A clean energy revolution cancreate new jobs across the north,but needs to be backed up by seri-

ous funding to help put in place theinfrastructure in Scapa Flow, at

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