Girvan Harbour Regeneration
I was delighted to welcome Alec Clark and his team from Girvan Community Developments Ltd to the House of Commons when they were in London to give a presentation to the Lottery Board. The presentation was on the Girvan Harbour Regeneration proposal which includes community facilities. They are working in a very competitive environment but if the bid is successful we could see the renaissance of Girvan as a seaside resort.

Support Our Soldiers
Support Our Soldiers is a campaign organised by local woman Agnes Hunter to press for free parcel post for our troops who are deployed. The Government announced that there would again be free parcel postage this Christmas and Agnes collected donations for parcels from all over Scotland to provide some Christmas cheer to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was pleased to smooth the way for their safe delivery and I also gave a couple of hours to help with the packing. The parcels include a small bottle of Scottish Water to remind them of home. (No I don’t mean whisky!) Agnes and her team, which included the TA, worked a miracle in a short period of time and I know their efforts will be very much appreciated by those far away from home.

Digital Switchover in Carrick
I am keen to keep up to date with developments on digital switchover as part of Carrick will be amongst the first to switch over when the Border ITV region starts to go fully digital in 2008. So I attended a meeting with Ford Ennals, the Chief executive of Digital UK last week to hear how plans are taking shape. Most people are aware that digital conversion is taking place but I was assured that meetings will be held with members of local government, charities and community organisations as well as exhibitions and advice sessions to answer any questions about how to prepare for the switchover. Those who need extra help will be given support to help them through the process. The support scheme will provide equipment to convert one TV set, help with its installation and follow up support for people aged 75 years and over and people with disabilities who are in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance. There will be no charge for this help for those on Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance or Pension Credit but there may be a modest fee for other households. Those who are eligible for help will be sent out information well before their area goes digital.

Queen’s Speech
The Digital Switchover Bill which will legislate for the switchover was amongst the provisions announced in the Queen’s speech. It also contained measures on climate change, pensions reform, replacement of the Child Support Agency, Immigration and Asylum and Reform of the House of Lords. I was one of the Members of Parliament who called for a full debate on the future of Trident nuclear weapons and a White Paper will shortly be published outlining the options and giving the Government’s view on the best way forward. It is likely that there will be a vote on this in the New Year. In the meantime I will be looking at the issues and listening to different points of view. I can provide information on this to anyone who wants to weigh up the pros and cons and I would like to hear the opinions of my constituents on this very important matter, whether for or against.

Farepak Fiasco
Finally, the Farepak fiasco has dominated this month and both Cathy Jamieson and myself have donated a day's pay to the national response fund. The fund has now closed and although it raised £6m it will allow for reimbursement of only around 15% of what people have lost. So I am hoping for a local response now to supplement what has already been done. In this regard I welcome the very kind gesture of the Fairfield House Hotel in Ayr. They are bringing some Christmas cheer to Farepak victims by organising a free lunch on Saturday 23rd December for Ayrshire people who lost money when Farepak crashed last month.