As Scotland prepares for an unusual festive period filled with firsts, Zero Waste Scotland is encouraging Scots to start their own new tradition this Christmas.
The organisation is a launching a campaign to help Scots with practical ideas and tips on small changes to cut our carbon footprint linked to waste, calling on everyone to retain the joy in what for many will be a different festive period.
Many Scots have embraced lifestyle changes that benefit the environment during lockdown – from making the most of food to repairing clothing, and recycling as much as they can.
Now Zero Waste Scotland is challenging the nation to apply that ethos to Christmas and come up with a ‘Christmas first’ that’s good for the planet and spreads a little joy.
Jenny Fraser, consumer campaigns manager at Zero Waste Scotland, said:“It has been wonderful to see how people across Scotland have continued to do their bit for the planet during lockdown – whether that’s by making or buying reusable face coverings, baking yummy treats from leftover ingredients, upcycling furniture or making the most of every available space in their recycling bins.
“It has been a challenging year for many and lots of people will be experiencing Christmas ‘firsts’ because of circumstances beyond their control this season. We’re encouraging people to take the opportunity to set their own – and we’re excited to hear all about them via the hashtag #ChristmasTrimmings.”
As Scotland’s circular economy expert, Zero Waste Scotland helps consumers and businesses reduce waste and emissions to combat climate change.
The organisation has come up with the following ‘Christmas firsts’ as examples of actions that keep the joy of Christmas without a hefty carbon footprint:
Ask for a second-hand gift. Research from Zero Waste Scotland shows most Scots would be happy to receive a pre-loved gift – but many would be unlikely to buy one for someone else². Why not turn that around this year by asking gift-givers (and Santa) to shop second-hand – either in person where Scottish Government coronavirus guidance allows or on online auction sites likes Gumtree and eBay?
Give a gift that keeps on giving. Subscriptions, donations and sponsorship are a great way to share the love without the ‘stuff’ – and support a good cause. Why not invest in a streaming platform like Netflix for the movie buff in your life, subscribe to a comic or magazine, sponsor an animal, or donate to a charity close to a loved one’s heart?
Make your own wrapping paper. With Scots using upwards of 19,000 miles of wrapping paper in previous years, a DIY effort could be a fun way to cut your carbon footprint down to size. Why not use kids’ drawings to wrap gifts, or if you have received a delivery recently jazz up the brown paper it was stuffed with? Just remember to avoid glitter and foil as paper mixed with these can’t be recycled.
Have a ‘Christmas dinner conference’. We all know how hard it can be to please everyone, so with smaller gatherings this year it’s the perfect time to get everyone involved in planning the Christmas shopping list. Whether you’re hosting an extended household (following Scottish Government coronavirus guidance) or just the immediate family, why not start a conversation about what you’ll eat come Christmas? Planning ahead will help you buy only what you need and stop good food going to waste.
Zero Waste Scotland is encouraging Scots to share their own ‘Christmas firsts’ on social media using the hashtag #ChristmasTrimmings.
The campaign aims to help everyone in Scotland have a happy Christmas without the waste, whatever way they’re celebrating this year.
Plumbing and heating professionals in Scotland who are operating under historic grading “Grandfather Rights” are being warned that time is fast running out for them if they want to retain their Grading Card, without which they will be ineligible to work on sites.
The changes mean that plumbers will not be able to renew their SNIJIB/CSCS Plumber, Advanced Plumber and Technician Plumber cards without being able to show that they have attained an SVQ Level 3 Certificate or a City and Guilds Certificate in plumbing.
Industry sources are concerned that the new regime will hit experienced workers who have obtained their SNIJIB/CSCS cards on the strength of an employer’s recommendation rather than the achievement of an Industry recognised qualification.
Stephanie Lowe, Industrial Relations Manager for the Scotland and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF) and Secretary of the SNIJIB, said that her team had written to each individual concerned at the end of last year, but that the response had been disappointing.
She said: “The industry’s Grading Cards carry the CSCS recognised hologram and CLC imprimatur, so the Joint Industry Board needs to meet their criteria. These bodies want to ensure that everyone on site is appropriately qualified so that customers, as well as other personnel, can feel safe and confident.
“Active registered plumbers who previously qualified under ‘Grandfather Rights’, must now achieve and submit plumbing occupational qualifications before the expiry of their current Grading Card if they wish to renew it.
“For anyone who cannot provide evidence of qualifications, the last opportunity to seek a Grading Card will be at the end of this year and the card will expire in 2025, since current Grading Cards have a five-year lifespan.”
The SNIJIB team is also urgently engaged on an industry-wide pilot study to help identify levels of experience in the “Grandfather Rights” cohort in order to see if the SNIJIB can create an Applied Prior Learning scheme for them.
It has already gained qualifications for some 300 active plumbers, but there remain around 1000 plumbers without proof of qualifications who, if they do not act on their Grading Cards by December 31, will not be allowed on site”.
Fiona Hodgson, Chief Executive of SNIPEF, said: “SNIPEF has made great efforts to maintain communication with its 750 member firms which employ 3500 plumbing and heating professionals. If companies are concerned about the changes to the SNIJIB Grading Card Scheme, they should get in touch with the SNIJIB now.
“CSCS cards are proof of training and qualification to work on construction sites. A card-carrying workforce ensures that a business is compliant with safety standards and regulations. For workers, it is an easy way to display the ability to perform certain jobs on a construction site to a specific standard”, she said.
Eliminating digital exclusion is not a new challenge and the ways that organisations tackle the issue continue to evolve and refine. As a result, policy makers and funders also need to continually review how they support organisations to deliver the best outcomes to improve wellbeing, sustainably and efficiently.
In 2018, the Carnegie Trust launched the #NotWithoutMe Accelerator a development programme to create opportunities for different types of organisations to explore, experiment with and learn more about delivering digital inclusion support, specifically with young people.
This evaluation has been undertaken by Revealing Reality and is intended to act as a resource for individuals or organisations with an interest in development and capability building in their sector.
This reflective research explores various aspects of the programme design, factors around individual and organisational participation and provides 10 summary considerations. This report is intended to strengthen the evidence base for further capacity building interventions, and with a focus on digital, but also to inform practitioners about this, still relatively novel type of support.
You can read the report here and follow the hashtag #NotWithoutMe on Twitter to join the conversation.
We hope you find this report of interest and if you would like to learn more about this work please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Anna Grant
Senior Policy and Development Officer Carnegie UK Trust Twitter: @CarnegieUKTrust www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk
This project was undertake prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
UK’s independent regulator to evaluate latest data from Pfizer and BioNTech to ensure the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine meets the standards required.
The UK has ordered 40 million vaccine doses from Pfizer/BioNTech – enough for up to a third of the population
Initial data shows the vaccine is 94% effective in protecting people over 65 years old from coronavirus and clinical trials have not reported any serious safety concerns
The UK Government has today (Monday 23 November) welcomed the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) review of data from Pfizer/BioNTech to determine whether its vaccine meets robust standards of quality, safety, and effectiveness.
The companies have reported data that indicates their vaccine is 94% effective in protecting people over 65 years old from COVID-19, with trials suggesting it works equally well in people of all ages, races and ethnicities.
As the first country to pre-order the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech, the UK is expected to receive a total of 40 million doses by the end of 2021, enough to vaccinate up to a third of the population, with the majority of doses anticipated in the first half of next year.
The COVID-19 vaccine will only be authorised for supply by the UK’s independent regulator the MHRA if it meets strict standards of quality, safety, and effectiveness, and if they are satisfied the vaccine can be consistently manufactured.
Today marks the next step forward for the vaccine following the MHRA’s confirmation that it has received the necessary data to progress their review into whether the vaccine meets the required standards.
Despite encouraging data about this vaccine, people must continue to follow public health advice to keep themselves and their loved ones safe; regularly washing their hands, wearing a face mask and making space.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “The whole country will be cheered by the news that Pfizer/BioNTech have formally reported the data from their clinical trials for their vaccine to the regulator.
“This is another important step on the road to recovery. We must now allow the MHRA’s renowned teams of scientists and clinicians to make an independent assessment of whether it meets their robust standards of quality, safety, and effectiveness.
“If approval is granted, the NHS will be ready to deliver. The NHS has vast experience in delivering widespread vaccination programmes and an enormous amount of work has taken place to ensure we have the logistical expertise, transport and workforce to roll out a vaccine according to clinical priority, at the speed at which it can be manufactured.”
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “Today, we have renewed hope that we are on the brink of one of the most significant scientific discoveries of our time, as we reach the crucial last stage to finding a COVID-19 vaccine.
“While this news is a cause for celebration, we must make sure that this vaccine, like all new medicines, meets standards of quality, safety, and effectiveness. I urge the public to be patient while we wait for regulators to do a thorough assessment.
“Finding a vaccine is not going to end the pandemic overnight, but we are hopeful of being one step closer to defeating this terrible virus.”
Final deployment plans will depend on decisions by regulators but preparations have been underway for months and are in place to ensure that:
the NHS will be ready to begin vaccinating as soon as the first vaccine is approved and delivered to the UK
GPs have already been signed up to take part in the programme when an appropriate vaccine is ready
dozens of hospitals across the country will lead co-ordination on behalf of neighbouring hospitals, community trusts and local health groups in vaccinating staff and other priority groups
there will also be vaccinations sites across the country
The government has purchased 7 different types of vaccine in advance and procured 355 million doses. This includes 100 million doses of the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
The UK government is working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure an aligned approach to COVID-19 vaccine deployment across the UK.
Chair of Vaccines Taskforce, Kate Bingham, said: “We are moving ever closer to having the means with which to help end this pandemic but we must wait for the outcome of the MHRA assessment before we will truly know if we have our first approved vaccine.
“Irrespective of the outcome, which we all hope will be positive, this is a tremendous day for science. It is testament to the Herculean efforts of the scientific and biopharmaceutical community and it makes me immensely proud.”
The number of CCTV Cameras in the UK may be as many as 5.2 million, with 1 camera for every 13 people as the popularity of public surveillance, home CCTV and doorbell camera use increases. 96% of the total number of cameras in the UK are now operated by private businesses and homeowners.
“It won’t come as a shock to most people that the number of CCTV Cameras in the UK has hit a new high, driven mainly by residents installing home CCTV in the last year. The popularity of doorbell cameras is relentless”, explains James Ritchey from CCTV installation company CCTV.co.uk
Previously the number of cameras in the UK was estimated at 4.8 million, however it is now believed that this number has jumped to 5.2 million as the cost of technology comes down and the popularity of sub £200 surveillance camera systems and doorbell cameras increases. Anxiety over lockdown and the increase in mail order purchases has driven the use of DIY CCTV systems at home for monitoring and security purposes.
“The technology is getting much cheaper, and when we look at the number of doorbell cameras, DIY CCTV and Home CCTV systems being installed by homeowners currently, we think the numbers have risen much more than we previously thought”, explains Ritchey.
The difficulty in calculating just how many CCTV cameras there are in the UK
There is no exact number available as to how many CCTV cameras there are, as a camera does not need to be officially registered – anyone can install CCTV to protect their property.
Generally, there are 4 types of CCTV camera systems in UK:
Local Authority/Council/Police CCTV camera monitoring systems
A survey in 2002 by writers Michael McCahill and Clive Norris predicted 1 camera for every 14 people, and in high density areas this rises to 1 in 11. However, 18 years later we know these figures are somewhat inaccurate. CCTV.co.uk believes a figure of 1 for every 13 people is now a more acceptable average across UK cities.
Freedom of Information requests uncover that cameras operated by Local Authorities, Police and London Transport total 23,708 – which is just 3.4% of the total number in London. The remainder of CCTV cameras are operated by private businesses and homeowners totally over 96% – a number which is ever increasing.
Cities with the most CCTV Cameras in the UK:
689,000 – London
83,000 – Birmingham
58,000 – Leeds
46,000 – Glasgow
43,000 – Sheffield
39,000 – Manchester
38,000 – Edinburgh
36,000 – Liverpool
33,000 – Bristol
27,000 – Cardiff
26,000 – Leicester
25,000 – Coventry
24,000 – Nottingham
23,000 – Bradford
22,000 – Belfast
22,000 – Newcastle upon Tyne
20,000 – Milton Keynes
20,000 – Plymouth
20,000 – Hull
20,000 – Wolverhampton
“These numbers may send shivers down the spine of those worried about state monitoring, however it appears that the Government controls less than 4% of the total CCTV cameras in the UK – most are just homeowners protecting their property”, concludes James Ritchey from CCTV.co.uk
“This second wave is far, far worse than the first, because we now know what is coming” – anonymous health worker, who along with her team, and thousands of other NHS workers are questioning if they can do it again.
When friends and family on the NHS frontline began suffering severely with COVID-related stress and trauma earlier in the year, a group of over 30 professional complementary practitioners came together to set up FAST (Frontline Assistance for Stress and Trauma).
This voluntary team have worked selflessly through lockdown and now beyond into the second wave, providing a free, online support service to help all UK based healthcare and emergency workers overcome pandemic stress. Their confidential service uses EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) ‘tapping’ therapy – a powerful, cutting edge tool you can use anywhere, at any time.
For many of the healthcare workers, it was the first time they had tried any complementary therapy, but the results with EFT have been transformative (and eye-opening for many of the nurses and doctors). So far, FAST has provided over 300 sessions across the UK, with wholly positive results.
Up to now the FAST team have volunteered their time, skills, and expertise, raising simply for their basic set up and ongoing running costs. However, now FAST needs to fundraise so they can continue to offer their free service to every UK healthcare worker who needs their support.
As an anonymous hospital GP explains: “Before my FAST experience I was off the rating out of 10. It was 1000. In my first session I saw a change down to 3/10 and it has not gone back up.
“I find the techniques very functional, with real life relevance and applicable, which results in a positive impact in my ability to cope. I wanted to thank you for your incredible compassion and professionalism with me. All of you are so kind to donate your time and expertise to people like us and of course we can never thank you enough for this”.
EFT is not offered on the NHS – yet. Once considered a fringe therapy, EFT now has an impressive amount of scientific research to back it up. FAST believes it’s a matter of time until EFT is NICE recognised, but until then the team is committed to making EFT accessible by continuing to offer their service free of charge to our selfless front-liners for as long as they need to reach out to access support.
“We are now seeing evidence of ongoing mental health challenges, including emerging signs of PTSD amongst NHS workers, and demand for our FAST service is growing. With the predicted second wave upon us, the impact of COVID on our brilliant healthcare workers is only going to increase” says Wendy Power Stoten, founder of FAST.
“For six months FAST has proven its super efficiency, EFTs incredible effectiveness, and we, the voluntary FAST team, have grown our expertise in Covid-19 related issues”, continues Wendy.
FAST needs to be here for as long as the devastation and destruction to mental health that Covid-19 has created remains and has launched a fundraising campaign to raise £8000 to keep this vital service going.
Managers are much more positive about their staff working from home and working flexibly since lockdown says a new study undertaken jointly by the Equal Parenting Project at the University of Birmingham and the Work Autonomy, Flexibility and Work-Life Balance at the University of Kent.
The report titled ‘Managing Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Flexible working and the future of work’ is based on a UK wide survey with managers which aimed to understand the organisational perspective on managing homeworking since the UK COVID-19 lockdown.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, many organisations have been forced to move the majority of their workforce to remote working, often at very short notice. In many cases these businesses had previously discouraged flexible working and had very little infrastructure in place to support these new ways of working. The question arises, what impact did this shift to homeworking have and what does this mean for the future of work?
To answer this question, the research team undertook a survey of managers between the 24th July to 11th August 2020. The sample consisted of managers from across the UK, an array of industries and all levels of management.
In total, 742 managers completed the survey which involved questions around norms for working from home, attitudes toward working from home, trust, key learning experience what tools the organisation supplied to employees to enable them to work from home and what support was made available to the employees.
As the first academic piece of research exploring managerial experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, this research discovered that 54.7% of managers reported over 80% of their employees have been working from home since lockdown.
As a result of their management experiences during lockdown, fewer managers now believe that presenteeism and long working hours are essential to career progression within organisations.
Many managers also reported that working from home increases productivity, concentration, and motivation due to their experiences in lockdown. 58.6% of managers surveyed said that working from home increases productivity whereas only 44.1% agreed with this statement before lockdown.
However, managers also saw some draw backs, with 58.7% of all those surveyed saying that working from home lead to isolation, and other citing issues around blurring of boundaries as key negative outcomes.
Regardless, most managers now believe working from home will become much more commonplace in the future, with more jobs, including senior roles, being advertised as being available for flexible working and more support being made available for home working.
Commenting on the report Dr Holly Birkett, Co-Director of the Equal Parenting Project at the University of Birmingham said: “The report shows managers are much more positive about working from home and flexible working, than they were before the pandemic.
“Managers say their organisations are going to be more supportive of homeworking and flexible working in the future, including more likely to support working from home, job shares and part time working even for Senior roles.
“This change along with the breakdown of the presenteeism culture and the removal of a flexibility stigma, which existed before COVID -19, could help improve employee wellbeing, help to support people to take on caring roles and break down many of the barriers women face to balancing career and family, with the potential to improve female representation on Boards and close the gender pay gap.”
Overall, the data included in the report has shown that working from home has been commonplace since the initial lockdown and managers have faced a steep learning curve regarding how to manage remote teams often with very little support or guidance.
Despite this, managers have been pleasantly surprised about the results with their teams generally performing really well during this time. While there have been some performance issues these were generally where this was already an issue prior to lockdown.
Dr Sarah Forbes, Co-Director of the Equal Parenting Project said: “Due to positive experiences of working from home and with flexible working patterns amongst their staff, managers are keen to support more working from home and flexible working in the future.
“This could take the form of better flexible working policies and tools to facilitate this as well as training being readily available for managers to learn how to better support remote workers in their team. However, we also need to understand working remotely over long periods of time can also be very isolating and that some people much prefer working in an office environment.”
Dr Heejung Chung, Principal Investigator of the Work Autonomy, Flexibility and Work-Life Balance Project at the University of Kent said: “As we have also seen in our previous employee survey, the flexible working genie is out of the bottle – more workers want to work flexibly in the future, and as this report has shown, managers now see how flexible working can benefit companies.
“However, that shift will not be the same for all companies and for all workers. Government policies to help make that cultural shift, by introducing stronger rights to flexible working and better protection against discrimination for flexible workers may help this transition go smoothly after the COVID-19 lockdown measures end.”
The webinar will also have presentations by Lauren Adams, HR Director at CBI , Daisy Hooper, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at CMI, and Anthony Fitzpatrick, Employee Relations and Global Employment Policy Lead at Aviva will deliver organisational and managers’ perspectives on experiences of remote working during the pandemic and how these experiences are likely to change the future of work.
Platforms fail to adequately protect users, says Which?
Almost one in 10 people (9%) have fallen victim to online scam ads via social media sites or search engines as platforms fail to tackle a flood of bogus ads posted by fraudsters, new research from Which? reveals.
The consumer champion is calling for the government to give tech giants greater legal responsibility for preventing scam content from appearing on their sites, after hundreds of people shared their often distressing stories of falling victim to convincing purchase scams.
A purchase scam is when a consumer is misled into paying in advance for goods that are never received or are not at all as described. They are increasingly common on popular websites and platforms with criminals creating fake websites and documents that seem genuine to trick their victims.
With 43 million adult social media users in the UK, Which?’s research suggests that some 3.8 million people might have fallen victim to a scam from an advert that appeared on their social media feed.
When Which? separately asked for victims of social media purchase scams to get in touch, its researchers heard from more than 200 people in just 48 hours.
One victim, Christine, ordered a CBD oil product advertised on Facebook that had been falsely ‘endorsed’ by Fern Britton and David Attenborough. She was promised a sample for £2.50, but £170 was later taken from her bank account.
She told Which? the money was “more than my weekly pension and I’m so upset. It happened weeks ago but I can’t stop thinking about it”. Christine is worried she faces a fight on her hands to get her money back because she did receive a sample, although she doesn’t think it is genuine CBD oil.
Which? surveyed 2,000 members of the public, asking those who use social media and search engines about their experiences of adverts on these platforms. It found that nine per cent of social media users had fallen victim to a scam ad on social media feeds. The same proportion of search engine users also reported falling victim to a scam ad on those.
It also revealed that six in 10 (64%) social media users and almost six in 10 (57%) search engine users said they were confident they could spot these scams. But previous Which? research has suggested this confidence is misplaced – which could create a perfect breeding ground for scams.
Louise from Birmingham regularly shops at Ted Baker and started seeing convincing ads for what she thought was a Ted Baker Outlet store on Twitter over a couple of days. She visited the site linked to the advert and paid £75 for a discounted bag and shoes.
She never received her order and is still waiting for her bank to decide whether it will refund her. The retailer’s Twitter account had already been suspended before Which? flagged it. “I will never, ever buy anything I’ve seen on a social media advert again,” she said.
Ryan, 24, thought he was buying a keyboard and mouse through a retailer advertising on Google’s shopping results. He paid £65 but ended up receiving a cheap iPhone case instead. “To get a refund I had to return the case to an address in China at a cost of £35, which is obviously ridiculous,” he said.
Ryan paid with PayPal, which is still investigating. He said he didn’t report the advert to Google because he did not know how to. Which?’s researchers found that Google’s tool for reporting adverts in its search results involved filling in a long form which could put people off using it.
While the sums of money involved in these scams may appear small to some people, Which?’s investigation suggests that online ad scams are happening on an industrial scale. They also provide fraudsters with sensitive information about victims that could potentially be used to mount future attacks.
Over the last 12 months, Action Fraud says that it has received 83,822 online shopping fraud reports, with reported losses reaching around £62.3 million over that period.
Which? believes social media sites and search engines must be far more proactive in preventing scam ads from appearing on their platforms in the first place, particularly as people are more reliant on shopping and socialising online than ever this winter.
Platforms have launched initiatives to deal with scam adverts but many of them rely on users having to report these themselves. This leaves lots of people still exposed to scam ads and at risk of falling victim before they are reported and taken down.
Which?’s investigations continue to expose the harms consumers face when shopping and socialising online. The consumer champion is calling for online platforms to be given greater legal responsibility to prevent scam content appearing on their platforms. The government has an ideal opportunity to deliver this in the upcoming online harms bill, but if it is not included, ministers must set out proposals for new laws to protect consumers from online scams.
Adam French, Consumer Rights Expert at Which?, said:“Our research suggests that online purchase scams are taking place on an industrial scale, with scam victims suffering significant financial and emotional harm when they are targeted by fraudsters.
“Despite being known for innovation, social media sites and search engines are lagging behind scammers, seemingly taking little responsibility for stopping misinformation and harmful content from reaching their users.
“The government must step in and protect consumers by giving online platforms more legal responsibility to prevent scam content from appearing in the first place.”
Which?’s advice on what to do if you’ve been scammed by an online advert
It is possible to get your money back in many cases, although the process might be time consuming and inconvenient.
If you paid using a credit or debit card your money is covered by card protections. Ask your bank if you’re eligible to claim using chargeback or Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
When you use PayPal, your money should be protected by its Buyer Protection policy. You can make a claim through your PayPal account.
If you paid using a bank transfer, contact your bank as soon as possible and ask if it can help you. This kind of fraud on social media is on the rise, according to UK Finance.
How do I report a scam advert on social media or search engines?
Report the advert to the platform you saw it on. All the major social media platforms and search engines allow you to flag scam adverts using a ‘report’ button or a reporting form.
If you’ve lost money or personal details to a scam, report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.
James, from Lancashire, spotted an advert on Facebook for a Little Tikes clearance sale. It linked to a website that was convincingly branded to look like the official Little Tikes website, so he paid £105 for a climbing frame.
But it never turned up, and the website has since disappeared.
“It’s been so frustrating. It’s unbelievable scams can be so easily advertised on Facebook.” James said.
Fortunately his bank was “very helpful” and because he paid using a credit card, it refunded his money.
One victim in his 50s told Which? he’s been conned six times after buying products he’s seen advertised on social media, including shoes, toys and tools. He has lost around £200 in total.
Additional statistics from the market research
73 per cent of social media users aged 18-34 said they were confident they could spot a scam, although Which? research earlier this year into scams on Facebook suggested this group may actually be more vulnerable to being scammed on social media.
49 per cent of search engine users surveyed trust that the retailers that appear in their search engine’s results are safe from scams. Only 35 per cent of social media users say they trust the retailers that appear on their social media feed are safe from scams.
The Scottish National Investment Bank has officially opened for business with the completion of its first major investment. It is the UK’s first mission-led development bank and it is being capitalised by the Scottish Government with £2 billion over ten years.
The bank’s proposed missions will focus on supporting Scotland’s transition to net zero, extending equality of opportunity through improving places, and harnessing innovation to enable Scotland to flourish.
It will provide patient capital – a form of long term investment – for businesses and projects in Scotland, and catalyse further private sector investment.
Today’s £12.5 million investment in Glasgow-based laser and quantum technology company M Squared will support the company’s further growth in Scotland and speaks to the bank’s proposed core missions.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The Scottish National Investment Bank will help to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face now and in the years to come, delivering economic, social and environmental returns.
“It is hitting the ground running with its first major investment in M Squared – a great example of the ambitious and innovative companies we have here in Scotland that will be key to our economic recovery and future prosperity.
“The launch of the bank is one of the most significant developments in the lifetime of this parliament, with the potential for it to transform, grow and decarbonise Scotland’s economy.”
Scottish National Investment Bank Chair Willie Watt said: “Today is a key milestone for the Scottish National Investment Bank. Our launch enables us to make mission-led, strategic, patient investments in businesses and projects that can deliver benefits for the people of Scotland. I am excited about the role the Bank will play in supporting and enabling growth in the Scottish economy.
“We are particularly pleased that our first investment is in M Squared which is at the cutting edge of innovation and is a recognised world-leader in its field. It is our firm belief that the bank will make many more investments that deliver positive mission impacts in the years and decades to come.”
Dr Graeme Malcolm, CEO and founder of M Squared, said: “Science and advanced technologies have a major role to play in Scotland’s future economic prosperity. By increasing investment in research and development with a mission-based approach, Scotland has a real opportunity to actively tackle climate change and benefit from the coming quantum revolution.
“We are delighted that the Scottish National Investment Bank has invested in M Squared as its very first business – our shared commitments to society and the environment makes this an ideal partnership that will enable accelerated growth and progress in frontier technologies.”
Benny Higgins, Strategic Adviser to the First Minister on the establishment of the bank, said: “It has been a privilege to be part of an outstanding effort to make this a reality.
“We could not have predicted that the current pandemic renders the need for mission-led investment even more vital to create a robust, resilient wellbeing economy in Scotland.”
A £35 million five-year programme will make it easier for planners to work together and for members of the public to get involved in creating and shaping their places.
The new data and technology system, to begin development in early 2021, will provide a single place to access services and information about planning. This will generate up to 1,600 jobs in the construction and development sectors, and their supply chains, over the next 10 years, and bring as much as £200 million in economic benefits directly to users of the planning system.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart, who will launch Scotland’s Digital Strategy for Planning tomorrow, said: “There is immense potential for digital to provide new ways to get people involved in the planning of great places.
“Our Digital Planning team has been hearing about the experiences of people who work within planning, and also of those who participate in various ways. We’ve learned about what works well, what could work better, and how digital transformation can help deliver positive impacts and outcomes at both the local and national levels.
“We’re now preparing to put our findings into action, and over the next five years we will be building a world-leading digital planning system, helping connect people with their places, influence positive change, strengthen decision-making and focus on delivery of high-quality planned development.”
Introducing new technology and ways of working in the planning system will simplify and speed up the application and assessment processes. It will give planners the tools and data they need to collaborate and improve decision making, making it easier to understand the planning process and get involved at every stage.
Transforming Places Together: Scotland’s Digital Strategy for Planning will be launched by Mr Stewart on Tuesday 24 November.
