Sir, In his letter Allan Murray is correct in that the Scottish Government’s own attempt to introduce elected non-executive directors to health boards has been abandoned by Act of the Scottish Parliament in November last year as a costly exercise which was much too expensive to roll out across Scotland.
However, he then goes on to criticise the performance of these elected non-executive directors as not listening to the public and always supporting the “decisions of the board”.
As a recently elected and terminated non-executive director I can refute this in the matter of his example of the PCES (primary care emergency services) at Glenrothes which were preserved at the meeting of the full board when the vote was taken.
At this public meeting, reported in The Courier at the time, the votes of the non-executive directors were mostly cast against theproposal. I can say that all myfellow non-executive directors elected and appointed were all people of principle who were dedicated to serving the best interests of thepopulation of Fife.
His comments about complaints are also wide of the mark. There is a recognised complaints procedure which should always be the first port of call as otherwise the health service does not get the opportunity to investigate and take action to improve services.
In my time on the board an innovation suggested by an elected non-executive director as a way of improving the service was implemented and was indeed praised by a leading article in The Courier after the board meeting in December.
Arthur Morris. Strathkinness High Road, St Andrews.
We can’t “hold back the tide”
Sir, Although so many of the man-made climate change scientists’ predictions have proved wrong they now speak more cautiously about climate change, rather than global warming they are still undeterred in their weird campaign to convince us all that human beings are responsible for the current cycle of climate change.
Sceptics like myself are accused of burying our heads in the sand, of wishful thinking, of ignoring the facts. What facts? That the puny efforts of human beings can influence more than a tiny amount the massive forces of the universe? We are condemned for polluting the Earth’s atmosphere with our industrial and animalemissions, yet one volcanic eruption can equal many years of any pollution we mere humans can cause.
The most powerfulargument against all the pseudo-science of the climate change lobby is that the world has undergone innumerable periods of cooling and warming, most of the them far more extreme than we are experiencing at present.
Of course there is climate change; there always will be, but we humans haveabsolutely nothing to do with it. Like Canute, we cannot hold back the tide and wecannot alter our climate.
We should of course look after our environment and one most urgent need is to halt the spread of those monstrosities of wind farms now engulfing Scotland and other foolish countries!
George K McMillan. 5 Mount Tabor Avenue, Perth.
Facing tougher penalties
Sir, I see from the article in Tuesday’s Courier that tougher penalties are to brought against fly-tipping and littering.
Will this affect the people who arrive periodically with their caravans, park on any land they choose, then, when they leave the area, council employees have to be sent in to clean up the mountain of rubbish and filth left behind each time, costing thousands of pounds to take away? Why should Dundeepeople have their council tax used in this way?
Is there one law for those termed as “travellers” and a different one for law-abiding citizens of Dundee? It is high time something was done to dissuade them from being such a burden on the rest of the community.
June Reid. 12 Findhorn Street, Fintry, Dundee.
Is litter also “art” then?
Sir, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder claims A Train in his/her letter (March 26).
In my opinion graffiti vandalism is neither creative or art. It is damage inflicted on other people’s property (private and public), by vandals who should be convicted and made to paythe full restoration costs.
As I travel throughout our beautiful country it is a close-run race to say what wins in the “depressing-to-see” stakes. Is it the vast amount of litter everywhere or is it the graffiti vandalism?
The litter plagues our road system and graffiti vandalism our towns and railways. It is high time that those in authority got a grip on both these matters.
Or am I missing something here? If graffiti vandalism is art should I be “beholding” piles of litter as part of asculpture trail? I think not!
Peter Buxton. Auchenzeoch Cottage, Fordoun, Laurencekirk.
Balmullo torch-bearing success
Sir, After that wonderful picture of Joe Forrester, Clay Road, Balmullo running along the West Sands with the Olympic torch, the Commonwealth Games torch is also being carried by a Balmullo resident, Mrs Kim Carr, of Burnside.
I think Kim deserves a word of praise. She does a lot with the younger generation, being involved with the Robins and the Brownies. She is also Divisional Commissioner.
Her sister Dawn Docherty carried the Olympic torch through Leuchars.
Ina Cameron. Lucklaw Road, Balmullo.