Inverclyde

Inverclyde Inbhir Chluaidh
Coat of arms Logo
Coordinates: 55°54′N 4°45′W / 55.900°N 4.750°W / 55.900; -4.750Coordinates: 55°54′N 4°45′W / 55.900°N 4.750°W / 55.900; -4.750
Admin HQ	Greenock
Government
• Body	Inverclyde Council
• Control	Labour minority (council NOC)
• MPs	Ronnie Cowan
• MSPs	Stuart McMillan Derek Mackay
Area
• Total	60 sq mi (160 km2)
Area rank	Ranked 29th
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	81,000
• Rank	Ranked 28th
• Density	1,290/sq mi (497/km2)
ONS code	00QU
ISO 3166 code	GB-IVC
Website	www.inverclyde.gov.uk

Inverclyde (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Chluaidh, pronounced [iɲiɾʲˈxlˠ̪uəj], "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which currently exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west central Lowlands. It borders the North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire council areas, and is otherwise surrounded by the Firth of Clyde.

Inverclyde District was one of nineteen districts within Strathclyde Region, from 1975 until 1996. Prior to 1975, Inverclyde was governed as part of the local government county of Renfrewshire, comprising the burghs of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock, and the former fifth district of the county. Its landward area is bordered by the Kelly, North and South Routen burns to the south west (separating Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire), part of the River Gryfe and the Finlaystone Burn to the south-east.

It is one of the smallest in terms of area (29th) and population (27th) out of the 32 Scottish unitary authorities. Along with the council areas clustered around Glasgow it is considered part of Greater Glasgow in some definitions,^[1] although it is physically separated from the city area by open countryside and does not share a border with the city.

The name derives from the extinct barony of Inverclyde (1897) conferred upon Sir John Burns of Wemyss Bay and his heirs.

Towns and villages

‡ Taken from Inverclyde Ward 1 figure, minus Kilmacolm settlement population.

Council

Until recently, Inverclyde was the only authority in the United Kingdom not to have named electoral wards: whilst the local authority reserved its right to name wards, it failed to supply any to the Local Government Boundary Commission. This was rectified in the 2006 review.

Composition

Following the Council elections of 2012, 10 Labour Councillors were elected, 6 SNP, 2 Liberal Democrats, 1 Conservative and 1 Independent. In 2014 during the Scottish Independence Referendum, one of the Labour Councillors, Cllr V. Jones, announced she would be supporting the YES campaign, and shortly thereafter left the Labour party, remaining on the Council as an Independent member. Therefore, the current composition of Inverclyde Council is:

• denotes coalition parties

The election resulted in no overall control of the council.

Recent history

The council is based at the Municipal Buildings in Greenock.

The council gained national notoriety in 2005 following harsh criticism from the Accounts Commission regarding poor leadership and accountability.^[2] In November 2005 the council was given a 6-month deadline to reorganise and improve further, following the resignation of the council chief in September and organisational changes in the wake of the original report.^[3]

Following this criticism the Chief Executive of Inverclyde Council Robert Cleary stepped down and a new chief executive John Mundell was appointed. The position of Chief Executive commands an annual salary of £112,000. There was criticism over the benefits the outgoing chief executive received on leaving—he was given a six figure severance payment and his pension will be approximately £50,000 per annum.

In June 2006, changes were still ongoing: Inverclyde Council altered its directorship structure by adding new corporate director positions and removing senior manager positions. It was expected that the £90,000 a year posts will mostly be filled by new applicants, although existing Council workers were able to apply.^[4] There was some criticism with regards to the merging of council services; for instance, Education and Social Work merged and now share the same director. This was frowned upon as at the time the Director responsible for the two merged departments had an educational qualification, not a social work one.

The 2007 council elections took place at the same time as the Scottish Parliament elections. The Liberal Democrats lost nine seats; Labour gained two, but fell short of a majority. The SNP and Conservatives both entered the council with five seats and one seat respectively, while an independent candidate also won a place. In 2014, one of the Labour Councillors, Vaughan Jones, announced she would be supporting a YES vote in the Independence referendum - and shortly thereafter left the Labour party, to remain on the Council as an independent member.^[5]

On the 18th September 2014, Inverclyde said "No" in the Scottish Independence Referendum with a 87% turnout (54,601 votes) - just, with 50.1% votes for NO - a majority of 86 votes from the YES vote on 49.9%.

Places of interest

• Ardgowan Estate
• The Bogal Stone
• Cappielow
• Castle Levan
• Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park
• Greenock Cut Visitor Centre^[6]
• Custom House Quay and Museum^[7]
• Duchal House
• Finlaystone House
• Gourock Outdoor Pool^[8]
• Granny Kempock Stone
• Loch Thom
• Lunderston Bay^[6]
• McLean Museum and Art Gallery^[9]
• Newark Castle^[10]
• Waterfront Leisure Complex^[11]

Education

Inverclyde has twenty primary schools serving all areas of its settlements. These are:

• Aileymill Primary School, Greenock (merger of Larkfield and Ravenscraig primaries). Head Teacher is Mrs Catriona Miller.
• All Saints Primary School, Greenock (merger of St. Kenneth's and St. Lawrence's primaries). Head Teacher is Mrs Angela Kennedy.
• Ardgowan Primary School, Greenock. Head Teacher is Mrs Alison McLellan.
• Gourock Primary School, Gourock. Head Teacher is Mrs Patricia Robertson.
• Inverkip Primary School, Inverkip. Head Teacher is Mrs Diane Blyth.
• Kilmacolm Primary School, Kilmacolm/Port Glasgow. Head Teacher is Mrs Simone McCredie.
• King's Oak Primary School, Greenock (merger of King's Glen and Oakfield primaries). Acting Head Teacher is Mr Graeme Marshall.
• Lady Alice Primary School, Greenock. Head Teacher is Mrs Maureen Morris.
• Moorfoot Primary School, Gourock. Head Teacher is Mrs Alison Irvine.
• Newark Primary School, Port Glasgow (merger of Boglestone, Clune Park, Highholm and Slaemuir primaries). Head Teacher is Mr Douglas Creighton.
• St. Andrew's Primary School, Greenock (merger of Sacred Heart and St. Gabriel's primaries). Head Teacher is Mr Alan Connick.
• St. Francis' Primary School, Port Glasgow. Head Teacher is Mrs Anne Marie Mullan.
• St. John's Primary School, Port Glasgow. Head Teacher is Mr Mark Coyle.
• St. Joseph's Primary School, Greenock. Head Teacher is Mr Alan Graham.
• St. Mary's Primary School, Greenock. Head Teacher is Mrs Angela Guthrie.
• St. Michael's Primary School, Port Glasgow. Head Teacher is Mrs Colette Wallace.
• St. Ninian's Primary School, Gourock. Head Teacher is Mrs Lesley McCabe.
• St. Patrick's Primary School, Greenock. Head Teacher is Mrs Kirsteen Doherty.
• Wemyss Bay Primary School, Wemyss Bay. Head Teacher is Mrs Elaine Montgomery.
• Whinhill Primary School, Greenock (merger of Highlanders' Academy and Overton primaries). Head Teacher is Mrs Elizabeth Ruddy.

These are connected to several Secondary schools which serve Inverclyde as follows:

• Clydeview Academy, serving the West End of Greenock and the town of Gourock. Head Teacher is Mr Willie Todd.
• Inverclyde Academy, serving South and East Greenock as well as the villages of Inverkip and Wemyss Bay. Head Teacher is Mrs Denise Crawford.
• Notre Dame High School, serving Greenock. Head Teacher is Mr Grant McGovern.
• Port Glasgow High School, serving Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm. Acting Head Teacher is Mrs Fiona Craig.
• St. Columba's High School, Gourock/Greenock, serving Gourock, Inverkip and Wemyss Bay. Head Teacher is Mr Jim Docherty.
• St. Stephen's High School, serving Port Glasgow, Kilmacolm and the East End of Greenock. Head Teacher is Mr Stephen Parsons.

Demography

According to research by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Inverclyde male residents have the second-lowest life expectancy in the UK, with only Glasgow having a shorter projected lifespan per resident. The average Inverclyde male lives for 73.7 years. The average Inverclyde female lives for 79.9 years, to rank 28th out of the 32 areas in Scotland.^[12] There are large health disparities between settlements in Inverclyde with many health indicators being above the Scottish average in certain areas, whilst considerably below in others.^[13]

See also

• List of places in Inverclyde

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inverclyde.

• Inverclyde Council website
• Internet Radio for Inverclyde
• Inverclyde at DMOZ
• Inverclyde Tourist Group
• Inverclyde photo gallery
• Inverclyde forums

Photographs

• Port Glasgow
• Greenock
• Gourock
• Inverclyde Waterfront Port Glasgow