Call for regional funding to help save Perth aviation courses
Tay Cities regional funding cash could be used to save Perth aviation training courses dropped when the Perth's Air Service Training (AST) went into administration earlier this month. First Minister and Perthshire North MSP John Swinney has written to the chair of the joint committee overseeing the Tay Cities Deal to explore the possibility of any unused funding being allocated to AST. Perthshire Conservative Murdo Fraser had suggested in a letter to Mr Swinney that £8.1m earmarked for a Perth College Aviation Academy for Scotland (AAS) plan could help to restore the cancelled courses. Following the administration announcement, Mr Swinney said he would work with all stakeholders in an attempt to find a way forward – and the Scottish Government said this week work is under way to identify longer-term options for existing students to complete qualifications with alternative course providers. AST, which employs 28 people, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UHI Perth. The college has provided funding to ensure the BSc in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering and Management continues until the end of the academic year, but all other courses have ceased. AST was set up in 1931 and has since trained 190,000 engineers and pilots from around 150 countries. In a 2020 announcement, it had been due to receive investment from the £300m Tay Cities Deal, funded by the UK and Scottish governments, to establish a national aviation academy. Mr Fraser commented: 'Any prospective closure of AST would be deeply felt, depriving Scottish students of opportunities, worsening the local skills shortage crisis for firms within Scotland's aeronautical sector and decreasing international investment coming into Perth. 'Although AST's owners, the University of the Highlands and Islands, has intervened to keep the BSc course in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering and Management running until its completion at the end of the academic year, all other courses have been immediately cut which will have profound consequences for the students and staff affected by these changes. 'In my letter to the First Minister, I told him that I am aware that £8m of the Tay Cities Deal had been reserved to create a national aviation academy and that I understand he has pledged to find a way forward on this issue. 'I have asked the First Minister if he is able to specify what actions the SNP government will be taking to support AST during this difficult period and confirm whether the Tay Cities Deal funding can be used to aid these efforts or restore the courses that had been suddenly cut.' Plans for a UHI Perth-led Aviation Academy for Scotland (AAS) envisaged 540 training places over the first four years of operation. The aim was to integrate regional, national and international education and training to provide a skilled workforce which can 'respond to the global growth of aviation'. Perthshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Vicki Unite said following the administration announcement: 'This is a stark reminder of the fragility of even long-established institutions in the face of compounding financial pressures. 'We echo calls for all stakeholders to come together urgently to explore any viable routes to preserve the remaining course provision, protect jobs, and secure a future for aviation training in Perth. 'Perthshire has long held a strong place in the aerospace and engineering sectors, and it is vital that this expertise and infrastructure is not lost.' And Perth and Kinross-shire SNP MP Pete Wishart said: 'We simply cannot have this fantastic local asset going to waste or for Perth's reputation for flight training to be tarnished.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said this week: 'Air Service Training was a partner in a wider investment proposal for an Aviation Academy which secured £8.1m of funding from the UK Government as part of the Tay Cities Region Deal, but we will continue to work with regional partners and the UK Government to explore other viable delivery options. The funding will not be lost to the region. 'This will be a deeply concerning time for students and staff affected by the situation at Air Service Training. 'The Scottish Government's PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) service has contacted the company to offer redundancy support and affected employees have been made aware of the services available to them. 'It is welcome that UHI Perth has provided funding to ensure that current Aircraft Maintenance Engineering and Management students can complete this academic year and that work is continuing with alternative providers to identify longer term options for existing students to complete their qualifications.' A spokesman from Mr Swinney's constituency office said: 'Mr Swinney is engaging with stakeholders to try and find a way forward on this vital issue. 'Along with Pete Wishart and Jim Fairlie, he has written both to management at UHI Perth as well as the chair of the joint committee overseeing the Tay Cities Deal to explore the possibility of any unused funding being allocated to AST. 'Should any constituents have specific concerns, Mr Swinney would encourage them to contact his office directly.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
35 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Winter fuel payment u-turn exposes flaws in SNP's universalism
Reeves maintained that circumstances have changed so much that the u-turn now represents a model of safe fiscal navigation. She was bound to claim that and I don't really care, so long as it allows a costly political mistake to be neutralised. In fact, Reeves' statement indicated quite a few 'u-turns' which have headed the government in more recognisable Labour directions. Thank goodness for that too, I say. People voted for change and it needs to be more visible. In the run-up to last week's by-election, lots of voters were still angry about Reeves' initial action on Winter Fuel Payments but not enough, as it proved, to change the outcome. Labour has had the sense to listen and respond with more positive messages. The Chancellor was not just redistributionist in her commitments to health, education, housing and so on, which apply directly to England. She also spread serious investment around the nations and regions, on top of the record £52 billion to the Scottish Government. Read more from Brian Wilson: Her England-only funding will lead to lots of 'Barnett consequentials' for Scotland. Normally, these are taken with one ungrateful hand and recycled with the other as Scottish Government largesse, without a backward reference to where the money came from. Anas Sarwar will need to keep reminding them and this time more attention must be paid to whether the extra billions are used for priorities which generated them. For example, every penny of 'consequentials' which flow from extra NHS spending in England should be spent on the NHS in Scotland, which has not always happened in the past. There should be complete transparency around this and how other Barnett money, on top of the £52 billion, is spent, and the value we get. However convoluted the route to get here, Winter Fuel Payments now offer a perfect example of why 'universalism' is one pillar of nationalist rule which is long overdue for a 'u-turn', preferably under a new Holyrood administration which has the courage to take the argument on. Under Reeves' plans, pensioners with income under £35,000 a year will get the Winter Fuel Payment of two or three hundred pounds. Those above that amount will not. The vast majority of people will regard that compromise as somewhere between fair and generous. I haven't heard anyone plead the case for restoring universalism. Except, of course, in Scotland where the nationalists committed themselves to paying every pensioner £100, whether they need it or not. It was a political gimmick to demonstrate generosity, humanity etc in comparison to Whitehall, to be funded entirely from the Scottish budget (at the expense of something else). Now the money will come from the Treasury and it will be up to Edinburgh to divvy it up. If they persist in giving £100 to pensioners above the £35,000 threshold, it will either be at the expense of the less well-off or an entirely pointless use of scarce resources, other than to justify 'universalism'. Maybe that example could open the door to an overdue wider debate in Scotland around 'universalism' which opposition politicians tend to steer clear of because the assumption has developed that 'free things are popular' even if their effect is to widen wealth and attainment gaps, rather than narrow them. In a world of unlimited resources, universalism may be a desirable concept, to be recouped through correspondingly high taxation. In the world we inhabit, on the other hand, it is a lofty-sounding device for transferring scarce resources from those who have least to others who are much better off. That is a deception which the SNP have deployed to great advantage. Anyone who challenges it is accused of wanting to reintroduce 'means-testing' which carries the stigma of 1930s oppressors keeping money from the poor. In the 2020s, however, the case for 'means-testing' is to stop giving money to those who don't need it. Another obvious example of this con-trick involves 'free tuition' which now plays a large part in bringing Scotland's universities to the point of penury, forcing large-scale redundancies, excluding Scottish students from hundreds of desirable courses and making our great seats of learning more dependent on decisions taken in Beijing and Seoul than Edinburgh. 'Universalism is one pillar of nationalist rule which is long overdue for a 'u-turn', preferably under a new Holyrood administration' (Image: Radmat) At some point, politicians must have the courage to call out this deception for what it is. The guiding principle that nobody should be prohibited by economic circumstances from going to university does not equate to 'universalism'. Quite the opposite is true. Universalism actually works against those who need far more support if the dial on educational attainment is ever going to move, which it hasn't done in Scotland under present policies and posturing. If public money is to be better spent in Scotland to attack poverty and disadvantage while creating a thriving economy, then shibboleths will have to be challenged. The Scottish Government has never been short of money and certainly won't be now. The question of how it is spent and wasted should be the battlefield of political debate. Another satisfactory 'u-turn' confirmed yesterday was recognition that nuclear power will be an essential component in the transition to a clean energy future. I wish the same obvious conclusion had been reached 20 years ago, when I was arguing for it within government, or could be recognised even now by the student politicians in Edinburgh. With renewables and nuclear, Scotland really could have been a world leader on net zero. Without nuclear, it will still need fossil fuels for baseload for the foreseeable future with imports, rather oddly, regarded by some as morally superior to those extracted from the North Sea. Bring on another u-turn! Brian Wilson is a former Labour Party politician. He was MP for Cunninghame North from 1987 until 2005 and served as a Minister of State from 1997 to 2003.
Times
38 minutes ago
- Times
Swinney promotes ‘rising star' McAllan in cabinet reshuffle
John Swinney has created the largest cabinet since devolution in a 'modest' reshuffle, adding an extra ministerial post to his top team. Màiri McAllan, the MSP for Clydesdale, has returned from maternity leave and been named as the newly created housing secretary, as well as having an extra unofficial responsibility for media interviews. The Scottish cabinet now consists of 12 members with the ministerial team reduced to 11 from 14. Paul McLennan, who had been a junior housing minister, left the government at his own request, it was announced, with McAllan, who had previously been net zero and energy secretary, taking on overall responsibility for the portfolio. With the housing brief promoted to cabinet level, McAllan will be tasked with tackling Scotland's housing emergency as well as passing reforms to ensure homes are more energy efficient — a move that ministers hope can bring down bills while also tackling climate change. Senior SNP sources stressed 'the political significance' of her appointment. McAllan, 32, is highly regarded within the party and seen as a possible leadership contender in future. Some have suggested that Swinney's successor will be one of McAllan, the deputy first minister Kate Forbes and the Westminster leader Stephen Flynn. McAllan's former role as net zero and energy secretary has been filled by the Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin, who has been covering the post during McAllan's maternity leave. However, Swinney's opponents said that the reshuffle was merely 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' and contained the 'same old faces who have failed Scotland for far too long'. There was no cabinet place for Ivan McKee, the public finance minister, who has been overlooked for a second time by Swinney despite his reputation as one of the few well-performing junior ministers. Swinney described the reshuffle as 'modest' and said that the government was focused on four aims: eradicating child poverty, strengthening the economy, making the transition to net zero and improving public services, in particular the NHS. Speaking on the steps of Bute House, the first minister said: 'I've decided to make modest changes to the government because I think it is essential that the government, which is far advanced in delivering its programme of improvement in the lives of the people in Scotland, is concentrated on that delivery, it's vital that we have all the time available to us in this parliamentary term to improve the lives of people in Scotland and that is what the government is going to do.' The Scottish government is hoping to prioritise housebuilding on the back of the announcement of £39 billion for affordable and social homes over ten years by the UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in the spending review on Wednesday. In the wider reshuffle, Maree Todd, the public health minister, has moved to the drugs and alcohol portfolio, replacing Christina McKelvie who died in March. Todd's role as social care minister has been taken by Tom Arthur, the former employment minister. Some within the SNP had been hoping for a more extensive reshuffle to remove, or at least shift, poorly performing ministers, but claimed that Swinney's natural caution and a lack of talent among junior ministers and backbenchers had hampered big changes. One SNP insider described it as a 'missed opportunity' and another nationalist derided it as 'more a wee shuffle than a reshuffle'. Alex Neil, the former health secretary, said it was 'the same old, same old. Nowhere near the changes needed to win next year's election.' The changes follow the party's unexpected loss in last week's Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election to Labour. After the vote Swinney said that the SNP needed a period of 'soul searching' and that the result showed that Scottish voters were no longer prioritising independence. It had been suggested that the first minister would take the opportunity to replace at least one of Shona Robison, the finance secretary, Fiona Hyslop, the transport secretary, and Mairi Gougeon, the rural affairs secretary, who have all announced they will leave the Scottish parliament next year. Rachael Hamilton, the Scottish Conservatives' deputy leader, said: 'Scots will be forgiven for thinking 'is that it'? John Swinney is leading a government that is not only out of ideas, but out of personnel too. 'He's rearranged the deckchairs on the Titanic and ended up with the same old faces who have failed Scotland for far too long.' Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, said: 'The SNP lost the by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse because they failed to listen to the priorities of people who have been badly let down by the government at Holyrood. 'If, after 18 years in power, the best John Swinney has to offer as an answer to the issues facing Scots is to shuffle his cabinet around, then that is simply not good enough.'
Glasgow Times
41 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
We ask the Apprentice Boys of Derry what they stand for
For some, it is a celebration of culture history and identity for others, it is a display of bigotry and sectarianism better left in the past. The Apprentice Boys of Derry held their biggest Scottish parade of the year in Larkhall with more than 50 associated clubs, each with a band, taking to the streets, with many more following or watching from the side. READ NEXT:Rachel Reeves says Labour will end use of hotels for asylum seekers The Glasgow Times was invited by the organisation to come along and speak to its leaders to find out what it is all about. Larkhall's streets were decked out in red, white and blue for the day with Union flags hanging from lampposts, windows and in gardens along the route. Late morning in Birkenshaw Park, the parade was assembling, with groups from Glasgow, Lanarkshire and beyond. Men are meeting and greeting, shaking hands, dressed in suits and crimson collarettes, carrying white gloves and bowler hats. (Image: Colin Mearns) The flutes and drums were starting to be heard from the bands, the same bands that accompany Orange Order parades. (Image: Colin Mearns) READ NEXT:Rise in suspected drug deaths in Glasgow so far this year David Hoey, general secretary of the Associated Clubs of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, was in demand, being introduced to members from around Scotland. (Image: Colin Mearns) We asked him what the purpose of the organisation is, which has 52 branch clubs in Scotland and many in Glasgow, and what the parade is all about. He answered that it is 'principally, a historical, commemorative organisation.' He said: 'The organisation has as its main purpose to celebrate the siege of Derry and the brave 13, but particularly the two big events are: the shutting of the gates, which is usually December when the Gates of Londonderry were closed against the forces of King James and then the relief of Derry when the city was finally relieved after 105 day siege in August.' 'That,' he said, 'is the primary purpose'. Not everyone, however, can join and commemorate this historic event. Mr Hoey explains: 'The criteria for membership is male and Protestant.' 'In terms of local areas, people would have to know each other and be invited, or apply and they would have to be known. 'But other than that, there's no particular criteria.' The male-only element, he said, is a support network, a place for men to come together and help one another. Mr Hoey said: 'It's a good place to meet. I keep telling people when they ask about it being male, it's the biggest men's shed organisation available because men get together, they meet. 'We're getting a remarkable number of young members into the organisation now and I think they're in where they can get people they can learn from. He added: 'They can learn skills. You have to run an organisation, you get positions on committee. You organise some of the events, and you get some of the young people involved. 'So, it's very much people coming together to try and organise and to help each other.' (Image: Colin Mearns) As well as organising parades, he said branch clubs rea active in the community and fundraise for their benevolent fund. Asked what they do when not on parade, Mr Hoey joked they are "organising the next one". He added: "There's a lot of activity, but everything is really geared to the big days. "There's occasionally a church service, but it's predominantly for those two big days." The events from 1689 being celebrated, he said, are still relevant today. (Image: Colin Mearns) (Image: Colin Mearns) Mr Hoey said: 'I think it's largely identity and place, so it gives people a sense of belonging. 'There are a lot of the characteristics of those who were besieged, I think form the identity of the Protestant loyalist culture, if you like. 'And that's what people identify, the determination, the resilience, the preparedness to basically stick it out, but also to create dialogue, to try and change things as well. 'And we're very, very keen that we work outside.' The other exclusive criteria, the Protestant only rule, has led to claims of sectarianism and accusations of being anti-catholic. Mr Hoey said such claims are rooted in ignorance and said he and his organisation is willing to have dialogue to prevent any flashpoints at parades. (Image: Colin Mearns) The Larkhall parade passed with no incident but in Glasgow, there have been protests, particularly around passing a specific Roman Catholic church, and previously in Northern Ireland, there was well well-documented, high-profile, sustained and violent confrontation. Mr Hoey said: 'I think the biggest opposition comes from the people who are most ignorant of what it's all about and imagine some offence or imagine that it's against them. 'It's really not. It's for us.' On the anti-catholic accusation, he added: 'People who want to say that don't want the parades to happen and they're basically throwing or projecting sectarianism onto the parades, but they have no basis for saying that. 'This is a culture. It is on parade. It's not trying to offend anybody. It's simply walking down a very long street and being out and saying we are the association. 'We are remembering a very important part of British history and that is what the day is about. 'It's not about others or offending or anything else. It's about the identity of those people and saying this is us, we're out here having a good day with our brothers, with our friends, with our families watching.' He used the example of Northern Ireland to illustrate how communities can work together. Mr Hoey said: 'The association, 25 years ago, was the first to engage outside of itself, you know, to go to go into the Parades Commission, to work with the local community, to work with the business community because we had a really bad time with violent opposition in Londonderry and there was no violence back. 'Our approach was to engage, and I know here in Scotland the SAC (Scottish Amalgamated Committee) has been working closely with the Centre for Good Relations, again to try and open up avenues of dialogue. 'People say 'the other' but there are lots of communities in Scotland now.' They are, he said, willing to 'work in formal channels' and 'open up' as far as possible. He added, however, there are always people who just don't want you there, and it's very hard to talk to people who simply are impractically opposed and don't want to talk.' The approach in Northern Ireland, he said, took a long time but has worked but he said it is an ongoing process. He added: "We have kept working ever since because you can never stop on that process. Stopping is the worst thing you could do.' He said the willingness to engage must be a two-way process, adding: "You can do your best to reach out. But you know you hold out your hand, but if. Someone doesn't. Want to shake it's not our job to make them.'
