Kids not suits has a vision for an emancipated healthy and democratic Scotland.
Kids not Suits campaigns to stop money being wasted on mismanagement and bureaucracy and spent instead on children and their education. How? Reorganising Council services into a regional delivery for schools and roads; whistleblower hotlines for public sector staff; giving power back to politicians with rolling contracts for top public sector mandarins; congestion charging for better roads and suburban trains + trams.. Stopping unnecessary protected cycle tracks on narrow shopping streets that carry arterial traffic,..(more radical ideas available on request).
In Scottish elections, we were faced by manifestos that were beyond boring- and failed to address the real issues Scotland faces right now. The Parliamentary petitions on the Home page were an attempt to get some real issues on the table.
Kids not Suits aims to secure a fair, free and open society, free from the curse of poverty and ignorance. Local government affects every aspect of our lives and has much to offer, if services are delivered wisely, efficiently and with accountability.
Contact
Contact Pete by email to peter.n.gregson@outlook.com
History
Pete Gregson started Kids Not Suits in March 2010 because he was angry that his youngest son, then aged 5, was to begin at his Edinburgh primary school in a much bigger class size because of an unfair and secretive staffing cut. He worked in housing regeneration at the time but was disciplined by his employer, Edinburgh Council, for his out-of-hours activism. Depression followed, but he was back on his feet two years later, when his warning expired, at about the same time as the Council proposed closing the popular Castlebrae High School in the most deprived part of the city. This was the time of many scandals: Mortonhall baby ashes, the trams and the property conservation disaster. Whistleblowers were being sacked and driven from their posts. As Pete campaigned for a staff whistleblower hotline to protect Council workers, he became a “filth magnet” for every bad thing that senior officers were doing. Eventually Pete was fired from Edinburgh Council for blowing the whistle on a scheming senior officer. Although the battle for Castlebrae was won and the hotline established, the stress of a six-month disciplinary was enormous. His wife left, the home was sold; more depression and time in the wilderness followed.. but Pete is now gainfully employed again with a brilliant employer.
He has developed Kids not Suits into a campaigning force which seeks better use of public funding by those whom we elect. The name reflects his concerns that money burnt in the back office (on “suits”) would be better spent on the front line (on “kids”) – who are the future.
It may be getting wasted on unnecessary bureaucracy, spent on purposes for which it was never intended, or blown in Council mismanagement. It may mean unnecessary school closures and swollen class sizes…
Kids not Suits started by seeking change in Edinburgh, but soon realised that all local authorities were affected by decisions made by the Scottish Government. It has therefore widened the campaign net to take in the Scottish Government too, so any successes would have an effect other Scottish local authorities too. So if you live anywhere in Scotland, you can help blow the winds of change here. Over the past years, Kids not Suits has been involved with a number of campaigns- to learn more, click here.
Kids Not Suits is always interested in new campaigns- if there are matters that you think need exposing, or if you have a query, or if you think something on this site needs amending, please get in touch.
To keep abreast of developments, “Like” the Kids Not Suits page on Facebook, and posts will be added to your newsfeed.
The Launch
Launch at City Chambers- August 2010 with MSPs and Cllrs
And on TV – see Kids not Suits Launch – BBC Reporting Scotland, 10 Sept 2010, 2 min 15 secs
With Alaistair McNish, explaining why Scotland can’t afford to have more local authority workers manning desks than anywhere else in Europe. Kids not Suits wants to see education delivered on a regional basis, as it was under the Regions before 1997; resources should be redirected from the back office into the front line, with many more teachers and much smaller class sizes, especially in poorer areas.
Pete has seen the benefit of small sizes first-hand. He was Co-ordinator of Young People Speak Out (YPSO), a video-making project, which ran from when he set it up in 1993 until a couple of years after he left to work for Edinburgh Council in 2005 (see Gwynedd Lloyd CREID evaluation of YPSO school’s work here). YPSO worked with 500 young people a year, aged 12-25, through 80 annnual projects. YPSO ran from 1993 until 2007 running outreach projects to schools- along with youth work projects in areas of multiple deprivation.
YPSO was funded up until 1996 by Lothian Regional Council Education Dept; thereafter by the Education Departments at Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian and Midlothian Councils. Therefore, over a period from 1984 till now (Mr Gregson maintains strong links with schools through being on the Primary School Parent Partnership until 2015)- he has grasped a pretty thorough knowledge of how schools are supported and funded. He chose the campaigning name of Kids not Suits because he’d like to see more money put into children and less into bureaucracy.