Summer surgeries:
During the Parliamentary recess I have the chance to hold surgeries in all the towns and villages in my constituency of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock. In all I will have held 32 surgeries by the time Parliament returns. But I have also taken the opportunity to knock doors and meet my constituents, covering so far Barr, Dailly, Barrhill, Straiton, Crosshill and Kirkmichael with more to come.
It is a very good way for me to get to know the issues of concern to people in the various localities as well as making sure they have all my contact details for future reference.

I would like to thank everyone for the very warm welcome I have received when going round with local councillors John McDowall and Sandra Goldie. It was good to hear some very positive comments about village life. The dial-a-bus service in Carrick goes down very well and the courtesy and good service provided by the driver is very much appreciated. It was also good to hear about the new owners of the hotel in Barr and how the locals are enjoying their service, especially recommending the quality of the food.

The importance of providing and maintaining services in rural area was top of people’s agenda with the closure of Kirkmichael nursery, dearth of youth facilities, lack of gas in Crosshill and the need for affordable housing for local people all being mentioned on the doorstep.

Wendy’s in charge:
Talking about consulting people, I was very encouraged to hear our new Leader of Scottish Labour, Wendy Alexander, making such a strong commitment to listen to people and engage in dialogue throughout the country. The election results in May were not good for Labour and we have to listen to what people have to say on the big issues at every level, whether it’s the local MP knocking doors with the local councillor, or the new Leader of Scottish Labour travelling round Scotland. I am sure Wendy will be a great leader for Labour in the Scottish Parliament. Not only has she loads of experience as a senior minister in the first Labour led administration at Holyrood, she was also a valued advisor to the late Donald Dewar helping him draw up the Scotland Act which created the Scottish Parliament, and she is a close colleague of Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Oh yes! And you didn’t think I would forget to mention- the first woman to become a Labour Leader anywhere in the UK.

So that's what one looks like!
Next month, the work and remit of the Equal Opportunities Commission will pass to the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights. At this pivotal time the EOC has taken stock of sex equality in Britain to highlight the key issues where future action is still required (the Gender Agenda). You can visit the EOC website and take the Sex Equality MOT online. They also have a postcard campaign at the moment where one of the postcards, “So that’s what one looks like!” – highlights that only 1 in 10 of the top 100 directors in Britain is a woman – “she’d never seen the inside of a boardroom before.” When I was elected MP for Ayr in 1997 I was the first ever woman MP for Ayr. Now you have a woman MP, MSP and Provost and both the Chief Executive of the Health Board and the Enterprise Company are women. More significantly, Government action like the introduction of the Minimum Wage has done more to narrow the wage gap between men and women than any advertising campaign.

The Post Office Network
We will have to wait till next April to read what Post Office Ltd plan for sub post offices in Ayrshire. That’s when our area plan will be published. The Government has already decided that in return for a massive cash injection to secure a future for the Post Office network, 2,500 sub post offices will have to close out of the 14,200 branches UK wide. Many more than that have already closed unplanned over the past 20 years. It is the job of Post Office Ltd to implement that plan in a structured way against strict criteria laid down by Government. That criteria includes ensuring that nearly everyone is still within close reach of a post office. There will also be 500 new outreach services in rural areas to bring post office services to people in innovative ways (e.g. local pub; mobile van; community centre; home delivery) Although the plan won’t be published till next April and will then be subject to a six week consultation, the real input into this has to take place between now and April. I will continue to liaise with postmasters and mistresses and local organisations to ensure that local needs and local conditions are taken fully into account. I will also be co-operating with watchdog organisation, Postwatch Scotland who have an overall responsibility to ensure that the Post Office meet all their requirements. Once the area plan is out, I will be opposing any closures that do not meet the criteria or are clearly against local interests and deny local people reasonable access to post office services.

Sandra Osborne MP