Lumberjon McColl, West Dunbartonshire coat of arms and Chief Executive Joyce White.
Nicola Sturgeon eat your microphone. Your place as Scotland’s informant in chief on the Covid 19 pandemic is dangerously in peril. The first signs are out there that it will no longer be Wee Nicola but Big Joyce who addresses us on the statistics for deaths and hospital admissions in front of the TV cameras.
The word in the streets of Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale are that Joyce White, the chief executive of West Dunbartonshire Council, has pushed aside the SNP councillors and other hangers on who now form the administration. And that she is one that is calling the shots in the not-fit-for-purpose £16 million Burgh Hall in Church Street.
Not that that this is anything new. It’s two years now since she refused to co-operate fully with The Dumbarton Democrat by refusing to have her £500,000 a year “communications” department answer our legitimate questions about the way the council is being run.
West Dunbartonshire, however, appears to have taken its lead from anti-democratic countries as Russia, China and Hong Cong, where sanctions and even jail sentences are imposed on journalists who deal in the truth.
Here, we don’t spin, we stir because that is our job. Journalists are an integral part of democracy. Remember Edmund Burke’s famous statement in the Westminister parliament – “Yonder sits the fourth estate.”
I have just returned from Edinburgh, where the emasculated Scottish Parliament sits, to find this leaked briefing on my computer.
Without people leaking things, the electorate in West Dunbartonshire would be left in the dark about important events which affect their lives day in and day out.
Secret Scotland? You are living in it in the 21st century.
I don’t think even Lumberjon McColl could deny that Covid19 is a matter of life and death.
The word from Joyce White is this, and it’s hardly worth keeping secret: “As positive cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in West Dunbartonshire and indeed across the whole of Scotland, I wish to update you on the current situation and our continued efforts to suppress the virus.
“This afternoon the Leader, Chief Executive and Chief Officer of HSCP met with GGC PHS to seek assurance that all organisations were taking appropriate action to continue to mitigate the ongoing risk of COVID incidence in our local communities and additional communication actions were confirmed.”
“As of today (Friday 25th June) the rate for West Dunbartonshire is 351 positive cases per 100,000 people. This continues on the sharp trajectory of rising case numbers over the past week that currently places West Dunbartonshire as the highest rate in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board area.
“However, it is important to note that a significant rise had been anticipated, especially among young people, as a result of the recent easing of lockdown restrictions and this has proved to be the case.
“The positive side is that, at this stage, we are not seeing an increase in the rate of infections within hospitals and we are not seeing rising admissions. Similarly, there has been no negative impact on care home which is evidence of the immense success of the vaccination programme protecting the most vulnerable members of our community.
“As the First Minister has outlined, the priority is to continue at pace with the vaccination programme in order to deliver the maximum protection of both doses to our adult population.
“As of this week a total of 59,565 West Dunbartonshire residents have received the first dose of the vaccine, representing 83.3% of over 18s in the area. Second doses have been administered to 41,197 people, amounting to 57.6% of the local population.
“This is thanks to the continued commitment of NHS GGC, West Dunbartonshire HSCP and the WDC employees who work so hard to ensure the efficient running of our vaccination centres. Indeed, may I take this opportunity to alert all Elected Members to the extremely positive media coverage in today’s Daily Mail that highlights the success of the young people currently working in the vaccination centres as part of our Kickstart work placement programme.
“Initiatives such as Kickstart show the proactive response that we have shown in West Dunbartonshire throughout the pandemic to find positive outcomes from these extremely difficult times.
“We will continue to tackle the virus head-on with strong leadership. In this climate of rising cases it is more important than ever that our residents are regularly tested to help stop the unseen spread of the virus.
“Therefore, we continue to work in partnership with the Health Board and Scottish Government to refine our communications with targeted strategies designed to reach specific demographics in our community where data shows that cases are on the rise.
“The most recent example of this attempts to reach young males in response to cases linked to the European Football Championships, after many fans travelled to London for Scotland’s game against England.
“Our targeted social media messaging appealing to fans to keep supporting Scotland by getting tested is intended to appeal to their patriotic fervour, focusing minds on protecting the country they are so passionate about.
“Please be assured that we continue to react to an ever changing situation and I would urge you to please share our messaging with your constituents and followers on social media to help spread the word.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and update Members [n o mention of the public here] in due course but, in the meantime, if there is anything further that you wish to discuss please feel free to contact me.”
If you have as much success as The Democrat when it comes to contacting the Chief Executive and eliciting a reply from her, then you will be on to plums.
We have been paying council tax, rates, call it what you will, in Dumbarton for the past 50 years come April next year and never missed a payment to support what we expected to be a council that carries out its business in a fair and democratic manner.
That is not happening. This rally round the flag boys message from the chief executive will not do. Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel. It’s high time things changed.