Day: February 21, 2014

Double blow for campaigners as Court of Appeal upholds benefit cuts

cooncilhooses

Five disabled tenants have lost their Court of Appeal bid to overturn  benefit cuts brought about by the ‘Bedroom Tax’. The court also ruled against two lone parents who claimed the cap on benefits violated both human rights and common law because of its impact on vulnerable families.

Lawyers for the group had argued the regulations failed to reflect the accommodation needs of disabled people, but Court of Appeal judges ruled that the court could not intervene in the government’s housing benefit changes, however ‘controversial’.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the courts have once again found in our favour and agreed this policy is lawful. Reform of housing benefit in the social sector is essential to ensure the long term sustainability of the benefit. But we have ensured extra discretionary housing support is available for vulnerable people.”

On the benefits cap ruling, the spokesperson added: “We are pleased that the courts have ruled again that the benefit cap complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. The benefit cap sets a fair limit to what people can expect to get from the welfare system – so that claimants cannot receive more than £500 a week, the average household earnings.”

Since the introduction of the spare room subsidy or ‘bedroom tax’ last April, people deemed to have one spare bedroom have had their housing benefit reduced by 14% while those with two or more spare bedrooms have seen reductions of 25%.

Lawyers representing the appellants said they are ‘baffled’ by the decision and plan to fight on.

 

City council: improving services, increasing satisfaction?

capital

The city council’s latest survey of Edinburgh residents has shown record levels of satisfaction with local services. Overall, 87% of Edinburgh residents are satisfied with the way the Council is managing neighbourhoods, a 20% rise on 2008.

The annual survey also shows that 96% of residents are satisfied with Edinburgh as place to live and satisfaction with how the Council manages the city overall has increased to 74% from a low of 35% in 2009.

The public’s top priorities for improvement include roads maintenance, street cleaning and refuse collection, and tackling dog fouling.

In a sign of growing confidence in the economy, over half of respondents feel confident about their job prospects in Edinburgh, with those feeling ‘very confident’ more than doubling in a year.

Council Leader Cllr Andrew Burns said: “The top line figures continue to offer great encouragement and reassurance that, broadly speaking, residents believe we are managing their city well.

“What’s even more impressive is that this has been achieved against a backdrop of real pressure on public finances and the need to make efficiencies throughout the Council.

“Our recent budget clearly shows we have listened to residents, with a further £16m going into the budget for fixing potholes and pavements, as well as investment in other facilities and services that the public value.

“But we will, of course, make sure that we tackle those areas where the survey shows we need to do more. That’s essential for the people who live and work here, but also for maintaining our reputation as a world-class capital city.”

Deputy Council Leader Cllr Steve Cardownie added: “We know from the many awards that the city receives each year what visitors think of Edinburgh but what these results demonstrate is that residents agree; it’s a great place to live.

“It is particularly encouraging that they believe that our world-famous festivals make the city a better place to live and that they are attending ever more performances and events right here on their door step.

“We are ambitious for the city and there is much work yet to be done, so we simply need to continue delivering the pledges we made to Edinburgh residents and look for that to be reflected in future surveys.”

Key findings in the Edinburgh Peoples Survey 2013 include:

  • Edinburgh continues to be highly regarded as a place to live with 96% expressing satisfaction, continuing a year-on-year increase since 2010
  • Satisfaction with neighbourhoods as place to live has also stayed very high at 93%, up by 7% since 2008
  • Satisfaction with nursery, primary and secondary schools reached its highest recorded levels
  • Road maintenance continues to have a lower satisfaction score than other services (53%), staying about the same over the five year period. Satisfaction has reduced in refuse collection (to 75%) and recycling (to 80%)
  • Satisfaction with library services remains very high at 93%, well above the long-term average of 87%
  • Over three-quarters (77%) of residents felt Festivals made the city a better place to live, up 9% on last year, with almost two-thirds (64%) having attended a performance (up 7%)

More detailed analysis will be carried out to understand the reasons underlying the changes in satisfaction. The research will also be used by managers and staff to develop action plans for maintaining high performance and addressing areas for improvement.

The Edinburgh People Survey (EPS) is the Council’s annual citizen survey, measuring satisfaction with the Council and its services, identifying areas for improvement and gathering information about residents which is not available through other sources or at neighbourhood level.

The survey is undertaken through face-to-face interviews with around 5,000 residents each year, conducted in the street and door-to-door.

Do you agree that council services are improving? Let us know!

Staying safe during National Chip Week

Chip Week

This week sees the 21st annual ‘National Chip Week’ and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) would like everyone to enjoy their chips.

Across Scotland, 600 people were injured in around 3,000 cooking related house fires in 2012-13, while over the past four years, 60 per cent of all accidental house fires have involved cooking.

Assistant Chief Officer Lewis Ramsay, Director of Prevention and Protection, said:

“More fires start in the kitchen than in any other room in the house and with three billion meals per year containing chips within the UK, it is clear that they still remain a national favourite. However cooking chips can involve a significant fire risk.

“It is so easy to get distracted while cooking. The doorbell can go, the phonemay ring, children can distract us, or we leave the room to do other chores while food is cooking. A significant number of cooking related fires start when people are under the influence of alcohol, start to cook something and then fall asleep on the sofa.

“You can join Scotland’s Fight Against Fire and significantly reduce that risk by taking a few simple steps. Make sure you have working smoke alarms. Consider fitting a heat alarm in your kitchen. Heat alarms are specially designed to quickly detect cooking fires while avoiding false alarms caused by cooking. In the event of fire, a smoke or heat alarm will alert you and give you time to react safely and sensibly. It could save your life.”

During ‘National Chip Week’ enjoy your chips safely. In addition to smoke and heat alarms, the following simple steps will help protect everyone in your home:

Use a thermostat controlled deep fat fryer

The best way to avoid having a chip pan fire is to use a thermostat controlled, electric deep fat fryer instead. The safety cut out (thermostat) controls the temperature of the fat or oil. You can even win one on Chip Week’s website (http://www.chips.lovepotatoes.co.uk/chip-n-pin). Oven chips are another safer alternative to using chip pans.

Visit a chip shop at the end of a night out

Chips are a traditional treat at the end of a night out. If you do want chips, buy them on the way home rather than attempting to cook when you get home.

Don’t cook whilst under the influence of alcohol

Cooking whilst under the influence of alcohol is a recipe for disaster. If you’re tired, have been drinking, or taking drugs, don’t cook. You will be less alert to the signs of fire, and more likely to fall asleep.

Book a FREE home fire safety visit

If you, or someone you know, is at risk from fire, we offer free Home Fire Safety Visits 7 days a week at a time that suits you. We’ll fit smoke alarms free of charge if your home requires them. Booking a visit is easy:

Call 0800 0731 999

Text ‘fire’ to 61611

Visit www.firescotland.gov.uk

If you must cook chips in a traditional chip pan you should follow these additional fire safety tips – not just during National Chip Week but all year round.

  •  Turn the pan handle to the side so that fat or oil doesn’t get spilled by accident
  • Never fill the pan more than one-third full of fat or oil
  • Make sure chips are dry before putting them into hot fat or oil
  • Never walk away when the pan’s on the heat

A wide range of tips on how to keep yourself and your home safe from fire are available on the SFRS website: www.firescotland.gov.uk

SFRS recently ran a TV, radio and press advert featuring Station Commander Scott Kennedy recounting a fatal chip pan fire he attended. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfvMMUpeFM

While it’s better to be safe than sorry as far as cooking chips is concerned, chips clearly have their ‘plaice’ (sorry!) at the top of the charts of the nation’s favourite foods. One artistic lady is taking this love the length and breadth of the UK this week:

AngelOFNorth

When a tourist thinks of Great Britain, the first things that spring to mind are our national icons such as Big Ben and Stonehenge, and our most famous dish – Fish & Chips. Other than eating a portion of chips looking over the White Cliffs of Dover, the two have never been combined – until now. To celebrate Chip Week renowned food artist Prudence Staite has recreated six British icons using 10kg of chips, including: the Angel of the North, Big Ben, the Loch Ness Monster, Stonehenge, the London Eye and the White ‘Chips’ of Dover.

Prudence Staite and her team spent six months planning, trialling and carefully constructing each sculpture.  Both chip shop chips and oven chips were used, carefully selecting the perfect combination of chips for each sculpture.

Here are juicy facts on the creation of the sculptures:

·         Angel of the North- 240 chips were used and took 12 hours to build

·         Big Ben – 200 chips were used and took 6 hours to build

·         Loch Ness Monster – 7 chips were used and took 5 hours to build

·         Stone Henge -75 chips were used and took 5 hours to build

·         London Eye –  207 chips were used and took 12 hours to build

·         White ‘Chips’ of Dover – 70 chips were used and took 4 hours to build

Prudence said: “We had so much fun with this project, from the very first sketches to the technical challenges around how the sculptures would hold together.

“Iconic landmarks in Britain are so important to our cultural history and eating chips is such a British tradition, it felt natural to combine the two and create some history of our own. It did leave us a little hungry though!”

Yes everyone loves a chip, but one great debate still rages – salt and sauce or salt and vinegar? Food for thought …!