McMillan Underlines Progress Made on Inverclyde Regeneration

Stuart McMillan MSP (SNP) today (Wednesday) spoke in the Scottish Government’s Parliamentary debate on regeneration to commend the SNP’s record on investment in Inverclyde, against the background of unprecedented cuts from Westminster.

Mr McMillan highlighted the success that millions of pounds of central government funds have brought about through various initiatives. High on this list was Riverside Inverclyde who have received more than £52.3m since 2006 through a combination of Government, Scottish Enterprise and Inverclyde Council funding.

He went on to outline the other ways that regeneration in Inverclyde has benefited from Scottish Government funding under the SNP, including:

£99m invested in Social Housing, £18m in the Fairer Scotland Fund, £2.2m for Town Centre Regeneration, half the funding for the new additional needs school to be built in Port Glasgow, half the cost of the new Wellpark Centre dealing with addictions funded by the SNP.

Mr McMillan also fiercely defended the Scottish Government’s record against its detractors, instead condemning the Labour party’s record of government by saying;

"In the Greenock Telegraph of 3rd November, Duncan McNeil MSP is quoted as saying:

"Riverside Inverclyde has only just begun its mission to attract jobs and business to the area, and it appears the Scottish Government is pulling the rug from under their feet.’

"If Mr. McNeil actually believes that after receiving £52.3m that the job of job creation has only just begun, and I dare say he does, this just goes to show the state in which Inverclyde was left after decades of Labour misrule in Inverclyde."
　
Mr McMillan also reminded Parliament that the regeneration of Inverclyde and other such areas in Scotland takes place against the backdrop of very challenging economic circumstances, and noted that the job is made no easier when Parliament’s hands are tied by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition in Westminster. He said;

"I appreciate the Scottish Government does have some difficult decisions to make as a result of the ‘never, never’ borrowing of the previous Labour UK Government getting the UK into a mountain of debt and the current ‘too far and too fast’ cuts being implemented by the Tory / Lib Dem Coalition. This Scottish Government and indeed Parliament are at the mercy of political decisions made elsewhere.

"If ever there was an argument for this Parliament to become a normal Independent Parliament then the regeneration debate is it."