MSPs are to forgo a pay increase next year, it has been announced.
In a message to MSPs Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh MSP said that, in the midst of a public health crisis with such devastating economic consequences and hardship for so many, now more than ever was the time for political leadership on Members’ pay.
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), chaired by the Presiding Officer, agreed unanimously (on 3 December) that no uplift will be presented in the SPCB’s budget bid for next year with regard to Members and Ministerial salaries.
The full text of the Presiding Officer’s message to all MSPs is as follows:
Dear Colleagues
MSP pay: financial year 2021/22
Later this month, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will present its budget bid for 2021/22 to the Finance and Constitution Committee for its scrutiny.
As ever, it is the duty of the SPCB to make provision for the resources and services that Parliament needs to function. Within its annual budget bid, the SPCB is required to make provision for the salaries of all Members and Ministers.
You will no doubt recall that in the previous session of Parliament, Members voted to break the pay link between MPs and MSPs salaries. Instead of receiving 87.5% of MPs’ salaries, we voted to link our future pay increases to those of public sectors workers in Scotland, using the ASHE index.
Last year, the ASHE index applied to our salaries stood at 1.4%. This year the corresponding rate is 5.1%.
In the midst of a public health crisis with such devastating economic consequences and hardship for so many households, the SPCB unanimously agreed yesterday, that it would be wholly inappropriate for the ASHE index to be applied to MSP and Ministerial salaries next year.
Instead, the SPCB agreed that Members, Ministers and Presiding Officers will forgo a pay rise and that our budget bid to the Finance and Constitution Committee will freeze the current salary rates for Members.
These are exceptional circumstances and no other decision would have been appropriate or welcome at this time – either inside or outwith Parliament. Now more than ever is a time for political leadership where our own salaries are concerned.
I am grateful to each of the members of the SPCB for their collaboration on this matter and in agreeing the budget bid that will be made to the Finance and Constitution Committee later this month.
Hart Builders have been appointed to lead work to design around 150 brand new affordable homes at the former Silverlea care home in Salvesen. The Council-led development is expected to start on site next summer.
Hart is working with designers Smith Scott Mullan; Will Rudd Davidson; Hulley and Kirkwood and Hardies to bring forward proposals for the site as part of the £1.3 bn Granton Waterfront regeneration project.
The site will provide net zero carbon homes for social and midmarket rent as part of Edinburgh’s ambitious 20,000 affordable homes target as well as a new home for Craigroyston Community Youth Football Club.
Residents will benefit from improved energy efficiency and savings on fuel bills, helping to halt our impact on climate change. Residents will have access to high quality green space and links to the promenade and shoreline.
In addition to delivering the project, the contractor will provide a range of community benefits for surrounding residents including apprenticeships and mentoring programmes as well as supporting local organisations.
The £18m investment will be funded by the Council and grant funding from the Scottish Government.
Councillor Kate Campbell , Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work, said:“Granton is a site of national importance – recognised by the Scottish Government as strategically significant. To us it’s an opportunity to provide a large number of the much-needed affordable homes, and to open up a beautiful part of our city’s waterfront so that residents can live there, work there and enjoy it.
“The views are amazing, the history is rich – and it’s our job to build homes and community spaces so that we protect and enhance that history and make it a fantastic place to live.
“I’m delighted that we have approved significant funding for Granton Station, one of the most important historical buildings, and that we now own, and are working to light up the gas holder. It’s critical that new development grows up around these buildings respecting, and enhancing, the history of this important part of Edinburgh.
“We’ve also got plans for a coastal park linking Granton Harbour, Cramond and Lauriston Castle, which will be one of the largest coastal parks in Europe.
“Residents told us during consultation on the masterplan that they wanted to see things happening on the ground, not a document sitting on a shelf.
“Appointing a contractor for these 150 new homes at Silverlea demonstrates clearly that we’re listening, and that we will get things moving so that our collective vision for this special part of our city can be realised.”
Councillor Mandy Watt, Vice Convener, added: “All of the steps we’re taking to make homes – new and existing council owned – more sustainable are also making them warmer and more cost efficient. This helps us to tackle poverty by making the running costs of a home more affordable as well as helping us meet our targets to tackle climate change.
“Already under way is our extensive £350 million investment programme in council housing which will, over the next 10 years, make them more energy efficient, help tenants save money on their energy bills and ensure more generally they are comfortable to live in.
“The appointment of a contractor is great news as this development will not only deliver much needed affordable homes but the project will also boost employment and help our economy recover from the challenges of the pandemic.”
Gill Henry, Business Development Director for Hart Builders, part of the Cruden Group said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been selected to deliver the Silverlea project in partnership with The City of Edinburgh Council.
“This landmark development will not only deliver one of the first net zero carbon home initiatives to the capital, it also provides the opportunity to really focus on placemaking and designing homes for the future and will address many of the issues highlighted throughout the pandemic in terms of homeworking, home schooling and the importance of accessible green spaces.
“Importantly, we are looking forward to engaging with Craigroyston High School and Edinburgh College to encourage more young people into the construction industry and offer first-hand experience of a live project being constructed on their doorstep.
“We will also be offering training and employment opportunities for local SMEs; supported work placements and employment opportunities for members of the community and sponsorship for local organisations to ensure the community benefits as far as possible from this new development.”
NHS Lothian’s official charity, Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation (ELHF), have been proud to work with Hibernian FC, Warner Music and The Proclaimers on the reissue of Sunshine on Leith which was announced last week.
This special edition, pressed for the first time on 7″ clear green vinyl, is due for release on 29 January 2021 – pre-orders opened on 3 December.
The money they raise will help Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation continue to provide additional support for NHS Lothian staff during one of the largest global health crises of our lifetime.
It will also enable them to put in place a programme of longer-term, sustainable wellbeing support that will address the lasting effects of the pandemic, both in the recovery phase and beyond. In aid of this, The Proclaimers also released 100 limited edition signed copies, exclusively through Hibernian Direct.
Jane Ferguson, Foundation Director of Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation, said: “We are delighted that The Proclaimers and Warner Music have re-released Sunshine on Leith to support our partnership with Hibs and help our amazing NHS Lothian staff as they respond to the ongoing challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Funds raised will enable Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation to continue to provide additional support for our NHS Lothian colleagues, providing a fast and flexible response to meet any urgent and emerging needs, as well as supporting them in their long term recovery from the profound impact of the virus on their physical and emotional health and wellbeing.”
In a statement Craig and Charlie Reidsaid: “We’re very happy to be supporting NHS Lothian during this challenging time for our people and health service.
“The NHS is very much loved by both of us and we have much reason to be grateful to it.”
Hibernian Captainand Scottish Cup hero David Gray added: “”Sunshine on Leith is a phenomenal club anthem and I’ll never forget it ringing out around the east stand of Hampden during the celebrations of the Scottish cup final in 2016, it was a proper hairs on the back of your neck moment.
It’s such a powerful track and whenever I hear it I always get a buzz thinking back to that day.
“This limited edition version of the track is a fantastic gesture from The Proclaimers in support of The NHS and Edinburgh and Lothian’s Health Foundation and it’s great to see them partner with the club for such a great cause. Our NHS heroes have been brilliant during this pandemic and even before then and we wear the ‘Thank You NHS’ message on our shirts with pride.
“I’m sure our fans will snap up this limited edition version and raise plenty money for the charity. I’ll be after one as well!”
Police Scotland is running a major campaign to help people protect themselves from fraud – which has become one of the most commonly experienced crimes in the country.
Cases of criminals exploiting vulnerable and unsuspecting people and persuading them to part with money or personal information are continuing to rise.
During the six-week campaign, in partnership with Take Five to Stop Fraud, officers will also warn that criminals are becoming more sophisticated and convincing in their methods, and taking advantage of advances in technology.
Latest Scottish Government figures show that in 2019-20, fraud increased by 23% and since 2010-11 has gone up by 33%.
In the last year (April 2019- March 2020) there were 11,939 crimes of fraud recorded in Scotland – including many committed online, as criminals use the internet more and more to target victims. An increase of 2,264 crimes the previous year.
Throughout the campaign members of the public and businesses will be encouraged to follow straightforward and impartial advice – Stop, Challenge and Protect – aimed at reducing the chances of becoming a victim of financial fraud. This includes online fraud, email deception as well as phone-based and social media scams.
Essential information will be advertised on social media, digital screens as well as on Spotify.
Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said: “Fraud, in any form, is a despicable and cowardly crime with, often anonymous criminals targeting the most vulnerable people in our communities. We know these faceless crooks will take any opportunity to exploit any situation to their own nefarious advantage.
“We are well aware that fraud continues to rise and want to take the opportunity to warn the public and businesses take a few steps to protect themselves and remain vigilant.
“Our advice is clear and the public should be aware that a telephone call, email or text may not be from the person or organisation it appears to come from. Never click on a link from an unsolicited email or text, and remember that banks, police or other legitimate organisations will never ask you for personal banking information or ask you to move funds to a different account.
“With people spending more and more of their time in the cyber and digital space and the growth of the internet has seen otherwise traditional crimes, such as fraud, being carried out online. Our ambitious Cyber Strategy, published in September, sets a clear direction for how we will tackle the threat, risk and harm from digitally-enabled crimes including fraud.”
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf said: “While levels of crime including those involving robbery, housebreaking and theft have fallen over the last decade, reported cases of fraud have risen by a third over the same period, at a time when we have all increased our use of online and mobile technologies.
“During 2020 we have seen unscrupulous individuals using the lockdown and on-going restrictions as an opportunity to target some of our most vulnerable citizens and exploit businesses. Such criminal behaviour is absolutely abhorrent and the Scottish Government is working with police and other partners to pursue those who cause harm and misery to our communities and to support people to stay safe.
“As we enter the festive season, I welcome Police Scotland’s timely campaign urging people to ‘stop, challenge and protect’ in order to help households, businesses and communities to keep themselves safe and secure this Christmas and into 2021. In addition anyone can sign up to receive trusted alerts and advice from Neighbourhood Watch Scotland on a range of safety and security issues targeted to their local area.”
Katy Worobec, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance said: “The banking and finance industry is committed to protecting customers from scams and is working closely with law enforcement and others to target the criminal gangs responsible, with almost £7 in £10 of fraud prevented in the first half of this year.
“Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. Particularly with the impact of Covid-19 and an increasingly digitised society, criminals are ruthlessly adapting their methods to target consumers online, via social media and over the phone.
“These scams are often sophisticated and well-researched: we encourage customers to be wary of unsolicited calls, emails, or text messages and avoid clicking in links in any unexpected correspondence.
“We would urge people to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign to keep themselves safe from fraud. Always take a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information, and don’t let a criminal rush or panic you into making a decision that you’ll later come to regret.”
Deputy Chief Constable Graham added: “Sadly, during the current pandemic when people have been at home, the occurrence of fraud has also risen. Our management information showed that fraud increased by 45% in the first six months of 2020-21 compared to the same period last year.
“Police Scotland is absolutely committed to working with a wide range of partners to pursue anyone who sets out to cause harm and misery in our communities and make Scotland a hostile environment for them to operate.
“We remain vigilant and I would urge the public to do the same to reduce the risk of becoming a victim.”
