Call to display Titian’s £50 million Diana and Actaeon in Dundee : MSP ” very encouraged” by National Galleries of Scotland response

31 July 2009

Marlyn Glen said that she was ” very encouraged” at Dundee’s prospects of displaying the £50 million Titian painting Diana and Actaeon by the description of the city by the National Galleries of Scotland as “ideal”, with the McManus Galleries having been “suggested as a possible venue”

Ms. Glen had recommended Dundee as a venue to display the 16th. painting to the National Galleries of Scotland.

The initial scheme for the public display of the work involved an alternating eight- month stay in either London or Edinburgh over the next three years, until May 2012.
However, following lobbying from Glasgow, the city will now also host displays of the painting.

After May 2012, the painting will be exhibited at various venues that have yet to be decided.

In reply to Ms. Glen, John Leighton, the Director-General of the National Galleries, said,

” We are, of course, keen that Diana and Actaeon can reach as wide an audience as possible and over the coming years, the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) will be developing a programme of displays for Diana and Actaeon at various locations across the country and Dundee is certainly a city we would consider ideal for this.

“The McManus Galleries in Dundee( shortly to re-open after major refurbishment) has already been suggested as a possible venue and this is something NGS will be exploring with Dundee over the coming months.”

Ms Glen said,

“The positive message from the National Galleries illustrates Dundee’s status as a growing centre of culture.

” Titian’s painting is regarded as amongst the finest of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist

“Greater public access to his work would allows us to enjoy the very best of art.”

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61 applications for 3 teaching posts : Responsibilty rests upon Scottish Government, says MSP

30 July 2009

Marlyn Glen said today that the 61 applications for 3 posts at Braeview demonstrates “the continuing responsibility that rests upon the Scottish Government to properly fund teacher recruitment and fulfill its obligations to teachers, parents and pupils.”

A total of over 60 applications were received for three unpromoted teaching posts at Braeview Academy, Dundee in May.

Information released to Ms. Glen by Dundee City Council revealed that there were 15 applications for a Chemistry post at the school, 20 for a post in English , and 26 applications for a post to teach Craft Design and Technology.

This compared with 3 applications for the post of Principal Teacher of Religious and Moral Education at St. Paul’s Academy, and 5 for the post of Principal Teacher of Home Economics at Menzieshill High School.

Ms. Glen said,

“So few unpromoted teaching vacancies and so many applying for them demonstrate a large waste of taxpayers’ money that funded their training.

“The acute squeeze on council funding by the Scottish Government means that councils simply do not receive enough money to employ the talents and skills of these teachers.”

Ms. Glen added that there are 20 planned places for the Post Graduate Diploma in Education for secondary education and 143 for Primary Education in the new academic session at Dundee University.

She said that she was writing to Education secretary Fiona Hyslop asking “what guarantee of employment the Scottish Government will give these trainee teachers after probation.”

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Rape cases : MSP says new legislation must be matched by action on attitudes and behaviour towards women’s rights

28 July 2009

Marlyn Glen is asking Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill how many of the 54 cases of rape made known to Tayside police in 2008-09, have been proceeded against in court and how many have been proved.

Ms. Glen said that the number of cases of rape reported to the police in the past 10 years in Tayside was 589.

Only 48 were proceeded against in court, and only 20 resulted in a conviction.

In the last two years 2006-2008, there were a total of 113 cases of rape reported to the police in Tayside, only 3 of which resulted in prosecution, and none of which was proved.

Ms Glen said,

” Last month, the Scottish Parliament published the new Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill which will now provide a statutory definition of rape and consent.

” A new legal definition will be very important and is to be wholeheartedly welcomed.

“However it must be accompanied by a greater obligation to change the sexist attitudes and behaviour of some men in Scotland towards women’s rights such as respect, equality, and protection from the myths about women’s sexuality.

” The female victim is not responsible for this horrifying crime.”

The figure of the number of people proceeded against is much lower than the number of cases reported to the police because it deals only with cases where the main charge was rape.

It does not include convictions for rape where the main charge was murder or each conviction for rape where a person was convicted of more than one rape.

The cases which did not result in conviction include cases in which :

no report was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal

there was insufficient evidence in law to prosecute

there was sufficient evidence to prosecute a crime other than rape

the accused was acquitted after trial

proceedings were discontinued by the prosecutor.

However, even when all that considered, in the past ten years overall in Tayside less than half of cases where rape was the main charge resulted in a conviction.

Ms. Glen is also asking Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill how many Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal staff in Tayside have now trained to specialise in the investigation and prosecution of rape and sexual offences.

“It was the Scottish Government’s intention that all such investigations were to be undertaken by specialists by this summer.

“Victims can face traumatic barriers to living through the experience again in court.”
she said.

Ms. Glen is supporting the Rape Crisis Centre campaign “This is Not An Invitation to Rape Me”.

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Funding for Dundee Baccalaureate exams : Scottish Government “must do better” says MSP

22 July 2009

Marlyn Glen, said today that the Scottish Government “must do better than quote national statistics rather than local facts as evidence of the funding and resources required to ensure Dundee’s largest possible participation” in the new science baccalaureate and the language baccalaureate exams for senior schools pupils in the coming school session.

She said,

” I have received no word from the Minister of additional educational resources, provision of courses and extra teaching staff for Dundee, all of which are crucial to the success of the new exam.

” I shall now be contacting Dundee City Council to ask them what additional resources they can consider devoting to the new exam at a time when there are other new competing demands on the curriculum.”

Ms. Glen had written to the Scottish Government asking them to ensure that Dundee’s involvement in the new exams would ” have the necessary finance and resources provided by the Scottish Government to ensure as large as possible participation by the city.”

She had received information from Dundee City Council that it had entered into a partnership with both Abertay University and Dundee College to provide pupils with the opportunity to study for the Baccalaureate from the start of the new year.

The council said that the final numbers would not be confirmed until the results of the current SQA diet of examinations, as this might have had an impact on pupil choice and their entitlement to take part in the Baccalaureate.

The provisional numbers indicate that 20 pupils across the city will participate in the science baccalaureate and 2 pupils in the language baccalaureate.

The baccalaureates will be made up of two subjects at Advanced Higher level with another at Higher, plus an Interdisciplinary project at Advanced Higher level.

Ms Glen said then,

” I am asking the Minister for details of the number of secondary schools in Dundee who currently offer Advanced Highers and in which subjects.

” Participation in the new baccalaureate exam will depend upon these courses being provided in Dundee schools.

“This in turn will depend upon the number of teachers available.

” It is the responsibility of the Minister and her Government to ensure that additional funding and resources are made available to ensure as large as possible participation by Dundee in the new exam awards.”

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Statement on decision by NHS Tayside to continue Community Health Nurse pilot scheme

16 July 2009

“I am seeking clarification from NHS Tayside on how long it now intends to continue with this pilot.

” I am asking if the extended pilot will deal with aspects of community nursing other than the rejected community health nurse model.

” The idea of the all-purpose community health nurse to replace the time-honoured professional roles of the district nurse, health visitor and school nurse has been abandoned nationally, a move widely welcomed across the nursing profession

“The focus on the way forward in community nursing is now on the needs of particular age groups such as children and the elderly and the particular nursing skills that they require.”

Ms. Glen is raising with Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon the cost of continuing the pilot in Tayside and the overall cost of the evaluation of the community health nurse model.

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MSP to raise Dundee Social Work vacancies with Scottish Government

14 July 2009

Marlyn Glen is to raise with the Scottish Government figures from Dundee City Council showing that there is a vacancy rate of almost 10 per cent in social worker posts on the council.Ms. Glen welcomed the recent decision made by the council to invest an extra £500,000 in social work, including money for more staff.

She said that there was an “urgent need for the Scottish Government to help the council to attract more staff to Dundee and to help sustain the improvements that the additional £500,000 will bring.”

Ms. Glen said that she would be seeking further information from the council on matters such as caseload levels of social workers, co-working on child protection matters,

staffing levels in all social work teams, agency staffing, and supervision and support.The figures released to Ms. Glen the council indicate that there is a 10 per cent vacancy rate in posts for social workers on the council, with half of those posts having remained vacant for over a year.

The Scottish Government indicated last August that it regarded the then overall Scottish vacancy rate for social work posts as “relatively high”

In whole term equivalent terms (WTE) there are 125 qualified social workers on Dundee City Council, plus 6 Senior Practitioners.

There are 12.4 vacant posts, 6.4 of which have been vacant for more than 12 months.

The council say that 5 newly qualified Social Workers have been employed in the last year.

There are 55.7 WTE Social Workers with specific responsibility for child protection plus 4 Senior Practitioners. 

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Stobswell residents’ worries over prostitution : Parliamentary questions to be tabled

13 July 2009

Marlyn Glen is tabling questions in the Scottish Parliament , on how many prosecutions there have been in Dundee under the Prostitution (Public Places) Scotland Act 2007.

She is also asking Tayside Police how many incidents have been reported to the police in Dundee.

Ms. Glen said , “The Act tackles in a new manner street prostitution and the anti-social behaviour that it can bring to communities through noisy rows, kerb-crawling, and intimidation.

” The Act ended the legal unfairness that previously focused on prostitutes who risked prosecution for soliciting while men seeking their services did not .

” Now any man found to be soliciting prostitutes in public, which includes kerb-crawling, can be prosecuted.

” Most of the women engaged in prostitution are not there through choice, and for many it is to fund their drug habit or someone else’s.

” I support the work of the Vice Versa initiative in Dundee and all other agencies seeking to tackle the underlying personal and social problems linked to prostitution.”

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MSP queries National Galleries on displaying £50 million Titian masterpiece in Dundee

Marlyn Glen is asking the National Galleries of Scotland if it is planning to display £50 million Titian painting Diana and Acteon in Dundee.

The move follows correspondence between Ms. Glen and Scottish Culture Minister Mike Russell in which she asked him and the National Galleries of Scotland, to study the feasibility of displaying Titian’s Diana and Actaeon at the proposed Dundee V&A extension.

The initial scheme for the public display of the £50 million painting involved an alternating eight- month stay in either London or Edinburgh over the next three years, until May 2012.

However, following lobbying from Glasgow, the city will now also host displays of the painting.

After May 2012, the painting would be exhibited at various venues that have yet to be decided.

Ms Glen said,

“Millions of pounds of Scottish taxpayers’ money has been spent to buy this painting for the nation in the National Galleries in Edinburgh.

“It is only right and fair that the people of Dundee get their opportunity to see in their own city the 16^th. century masterpiece that has been bought with their money.”

Ms. Glen said that a commitment to display the Titian painting to Dundee could be “influential in encouraging the private sector and benefactors to contribute towards the construction costs of the V&A.”

“It would be further evidence of the significance of Dundee as the choice to locate the extension of this museum of international reputation, ” she said.

The Dundee V&A could be open by 2013, the year after the Diana and Actaeon painting is to be exhibited at various venues in the UK.

The capital cost at current values could be around £47.6 million.

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US Independence Day marked

Marlyn Glen marked US Independence Day with a display of the self-portrait of the 18th. century Americam portrait painter John Singleton Copley at the statue of Admiral Duncan outside Dundee’s  St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Copley painted Admiral Duncan receiving the Dutch surrender at the Battle of Camperdown.

Copley also painted two of the early US Presidents – John Adams and John Quincy Adams – before they sought office.

Copley’s father-in-law owned the tea that was tipped into Boston Harbour in the incident that became famous as the “Boston Tea Party”

View Marlyn with the Copley picture

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10 Years of devolution

01 July 2009

Statement by Marlyn Glen on 1o years of devolution in Scotland

Ten years ago, the process of devolution, “the settled will of the Scottish people” as former Labour leader John Smith described it, created the Scottish Parliament.

“Today, ten years on, very few people now want to return to the governing of Scotland that existed before the Scottish Parliament.

” The Scottish Parliament has been good for the people of Scotland

“Looking back, some of its outstanding achievements have been in the provision of free personal care, concessionary free travel for the elderly, the ban on smoking in public places, and the very high profile given to tackling domestic violence.

“Looking to the future, the recent Climate Change Bill has set bold targets for carbon emission reductions to benefit the Scots of tomorrow.”

” Devolution was not just a single event – the creation of the Scottish Parliament .

“It is a continuing process, as the proposals of the recent Calman Commission demonstrate.”

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