Yesterday was the first Full Fife Council Meeting since the budget and there were some interesting discussions and debates taking place.

The Provost began by discussing the recent weather and there was general agreement amongst Councillors that the entire community had rallied round to face this.

As we went into the meeting we had presentations from a trade union reprentative of workers at BiFab and a representative from the Levenmouth rail campaign. These were interesting and both the presenters had widespread backing with the Council.

We also had the latest Council leaders’ report. I asked a question on a topic raised by the leaders regarding making positive changes to the Council’s working culture which seems to show it taking a positive direction.

At Question Time I asked two questions this week. One was regarding the expanded use of the Peripatetic model for early years education. Early Year’s teachers will now be expected to divide their time between different nurseries. I asked how standards would be upheld, and as a supplementary also asked how much consultation took place with Trade Unions and teachers. I was given an explanation of the Council’s view as well as details of a meeting which took place with the EIS in December. I will provide the answer in due course on the website.

My other question concerned a recent report by an academic at Dundee University which showed that older children started reading lower level books. I asked what the Council will do to respond to this and the answer discussed what was done in schools.

Later in the meeting there were various motions, including on International Women’s Day and also reaffirming support for the Levenmouth rail link.