North Lanarkshire
An angry reader from North Lanarkshire has been in touch - about an article that appeared in the Daily Record the other day.
The story involves the payment of taxi fares for a young girl - who just happens to be the grandaughter of a local North Lanarkshire councillor - John Pentland - John is also the local Labour MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw.
The Daily Record headline read:
"Fury as council pick up £27k taxi bill to take MSP's granddaughter to dance classes"
The £27,000 bill is made up of three annual payments of £9,120 apparently - which is the cost apparently of ferrying a talented young student back and forwards to a national dance school - which is part of Knightswood Academy in Glasgow.
The reader from North Lanarkshire is angry about North Lanarkshire Council's choice of priorities - which I can understand - particularly when so many council employees still have outstanding equal pay claims.
Councillor John Pentland and John Pentland the MSP were both unavailable for comment when the Daily Record tried to speak with him - before the story went to press!
Now £9,000 a year on taxis seems like an awful lot of money to me - but I say 'good luck' to the young girl - I hope she does well at the dance school which is a centre of excellence for the whole of Scotland.
But what I would also say is that North Lanarkshire Council should be settling the outstanding claims of its low paid workers.
And that local councillors and MSPs in North Lanarkshire - regardless of which party they belong to - should be standing up for their constituents when it comes to equal pay.
The story involves the payment of taxi fares for a young girl - who just happens to be the grandaughter of a local North Lanarkshire councillor - John Pentland - John is also the local Labour MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw.
The Daily Record headline read:
"Fury as council pick up £27k taxi bill to take MSP's granddaughter to dance classes"
The £27,000 bill is made up of three annual payments of £9,120 apparently - which is the cost apparently of ferrying a talented young student back and forwards to a national dance school - which is part of Knightswood Academy in Glasgow.
The reader from North Lanarkshire is angry about North Lanarkshire Council's choice of priorities - which I can understand - particularly when so many council employees still have outstanding equal pay claims.
Councillor John Pentland and John Pentland the MSP were both unavailable for comment when the Daily Record tried to speak with him - before the story went to press!
Now £9,000 a year on taxis seems like an awful lot of money to me - but I say 'good luck' to the young girl - I hope she does well at the dance school which is a centre of excellence for the whole of Scotland.
But what I would also say is that North Lanarkshire Council should be settling the outstanding claims of its low paid workers.
And that local councillors and MSPs in North Lanarkshire - regardless of which party they belong to - should be standing up for their constituents when it comes to equal pay.
