Day: December 23, 2020

Alexander McCall Smith to receive 2020 Edinburgh Award

Internationally-admired Edinburgh-based author Alexander McCall Smith CBE has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Edinburgh Award.

In recognition of his writing success, legal career and work within academia, Mr McCall Smith will be presented with an engraved Loving Cup from the Lord Provost and have his handprints set in stone at the City Chambers as soon as it can be arranged within the ongoing pandemic restrictions.  

Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, Mr McCall Smith became a hugely successful novelist through his The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, The Sunday Philosophy Club and 44 Scotland Street book series, the latter of which is set in the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town. 

He is now one of the world’s best-loved writers for both adults and children and his 2books are published in 47 languages. 

He will become the 14th person to receive the Edinburgh Award, following in the footsteps of last year’s recipient Ann Budge (2019) and fellow writers Ian Rankin OBE (2007) and JK Rowling OBE (2008), as well as fellow academics Professor Peter Higgs (2011) and Sir Timothy O’Shea (2017).

Writing four or five new books every year Mr McCall Smith’s career continues to go from strength to strength. The Edinburgh Award will go some way towards recognising Alexander’s celebrated and thriving writing career, through which he often shares his love of Scotland’s capital city.

Lord Provost Frank Ross said: “Through his wonderfully charming and engaging writing Alexander McCall Smith has done much to promote Edinburgh across the world. It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce him as the recipient of the 2020 Edinburgh Award.  

“The Edinburgh Award enables citizens to pay a lasting tribute to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to our great city, and Mr McCall Smith has done exactly that through his truly impressive bibliography.

“He has written and contributed to more than 100 books including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and a number of immensely popular children’s books, becoming one of the best-loved authors in the world. He is a true advocate for Edinburgh through his writing and legal career and is a highly deserving recipient of one of Edinburgh’s most prestigious awards.”

Alexander McCall Smith CBE said: “I am immensely honoured by this award. The people who really deserve it, though, are those who have helped me in my work: the publishers, editors, and bookshop staff who help get the printed word out about this wonderful city.”

Nominations for the Edinburgh Award are invited annually from Edinburgh citizens and the awarding decision is taken by a judging panel chaired by the Lord Provost, with representatives from all political groups on the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

First launched in 2007, the Award is a way for Edinburgh residents to pay a lasting tribute to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the Capital through their achievements.

Coalition urges Government action as latest figures highlight more than 50 per cent drop in legal support for those children with complex needs

An alliance of leading providers of services to vulnerable children and young people has called on the Scottish Government to ensure that those with complex and high-level needs receive the support they are legally entitled to.

The call from the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), which campaigns to improve services for these children and young people, comes as the latest statistics highlight a dramatic decline in the number of children with additional support needs (ASN), such as autism, dyslexia and ADHD, receiving a so-called co-ordinated support plan (CSP).

Despite a Scottish Government promise that there would be no reduction in the proportion of pupils receiving them since their introduction in 2004, there has been a significant fall in the number of pupils with CSPs, from 3,448 in 2012 [1] to 1,534 in 2020 [2], amounting to a drop of 55.5 per cent (publicly funded primary, secondary and special schools). This is a reduction from 2.9 per cent to 0.7 per cent of those with ASN and currently amounts to 0.2 per cent of the pupil population.

This is against the background of an almost doubling in the number of those with ASN from 118,034 in 2012 to 226,838 pupils in 2020, amounting to 32.3 per cent of pupils.

In May 2019, the Scottish Government announced that it will review the use of CSPs, which the SCSC had also called for, but despite this being more than 18 months ago, this has yet to be published.

A CSP is a legal document, the only education plans that are legal documents, requiring services such as education, health and social work to work together to give a child or young person the support they need. It provides some guarantees of entitlement to additional resources and legal redress, placing statutory duties on local authorities to review and ensure the provisions contained within it are being met.

While those with ASN come disproportionately from the most deprived neighbourhoods, they have a lower proportion receiving a CSP when compared with those from the least deprived neighbourhoods. 

This raises concerns that those from deprived communities who are entitled to a CSP are not receiving this required legal support.

Local authorities are more reluctant to provide a CSP than previously, viewing them as cumbersome and time-consuming. They instead prefer to use other types of plans, such as Child Plans, which are not legally enforceable. Many local authorities are now not providing them unless the parents or carers request them, reinforced by the fact that cuts in health, education and social work services mean that authorities are reluctant to provide such support.

Parents or carers on the other hand believe statutory plans are important to ensure the needs of children and young people are properly recorded and reviewed.

This is in contrast with England where the number of those receiving an education, health and care plan (EHCP), the CSP equivalent, is 3.3 per cent of the pupil population, fifteen times the rate of that in Scotland and is on the increase and amounts to 27.3 per cent of those with special education needs (SEN).[3]

This is an important difference between the countries. While more than a quarter of SEN pupils in England have a statutory support plan, less than one per cent of ASN pupils in Scotland have equivalent legislative protection.

The SCSC has called on the Scottish Government to urgently publish its review and, working with local authorities, ensure that those children and young people requiring it receive the legislative support they both require and deserve.

A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “It is clearly of some concern that we are experiencing a decline in the use of CSPs, which are designed to support those with the most complex needs.

“This is despite an increase in the numbers of those requiring such support and is in contrast with south of the border where the number of those with the equivalent of a CSP is more than a quarter of those with special educational needs while in Scotland it is less than 1 per cent for those with additional support needs.

“The disparity in those with a CSP between those in the least and most deprived areas is troubling, as if we are to close the educational gap, it is key that we target the resourcing to those in the most deprived communities.

“We are also concerned about the disparities that exist between local authorities on such support, which clearly raises concerns about how such a policy is being implemented and a lack of standardisation of who is identified as having ASN and who get a CSP.

“It is vital that the Scottish Government urgently publishes its review of CSPs, which has now been ongoing for more than 18 months and working with local authorities ensures that those who require a CSP get it, making parents and carers aware of their legal rights.”

Inspiring Volunteer Award 2020? This one’s for YOU!

Thousands of Edinburgh citizens who have given up their time to volunteer and support their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been honoured by Lord Provost Frank Ross.

This was after it was announced they are all Inspiring Volunteer Award-winners 2020.

Edinburgh’s Inspiring Volunteer Awards, now in its fourteenth year, reflects the huge range of organisations and individuals who give their time freely to work with the city’s vibrant charity and non-profit sectors.

Volunteers within community projects received award certificates earlier in the year but until now the winner of Volunteer of the Year had yet to be announced.

It was decided that this year a different approach was needed and, in recognition of those many thousands of citizens who have assisted others during the coronavirus crisis, that ‘the Citizens of Edinburgh’ should receive the Volunteer of the Year award.

The updated Roll of Honour plaque naming the Citizens of Edinburgh as the joint winners was unveiled during a special virtual meeting between the Lord Provost, Deputy Lord Provost Joan Griffiths and Paul Wilson, Chief Officer of Volunteer Edinburgh as they paid tribute to the volunteering efforts in 2020.

Edinburgh routinely benefits from around 30% of our residents giving up their time to assist their fellow citizens. During the pandemic, the commitment from volunteers remained and interest in volunteering in the Capital has grown by more than 200%.

Lord Provost Frank Ross said: “Edinburgh has always had a thriving voluntary and community sector with thousands of volunteers helping people throughout the city and giving their valuable skills and time to worthy causes every year.

“In my role as Volunteer Champion I have the privilege of meeting many who go out of their way to help others and I’ve been truly humbled this year by how brilliantly our city has come together to respond to the pandemic. Every single person giving their time, skills and commitment to help others is a vital part of Edinburgh’s resilience and a symbol of how we’ll move forward.

“Choosing my Inspiring Volunteer of the Year is always a virtually impossible task and for 2020, in such difficult times, with so many more people giving their time for others, the Deputy Lord Provost and I, with the assistance of Paul, agreed that we needed to take a different approach.

“That’s why we’re awarding the Citizens of Edinburgh our Inspiring Volunteers of the Year, to recognise and thank the many thousands of citizens who have gone the extra mile help others during the coronavirus crisis. My sincerest thanks to you all for the help, time, care and consideration which has been so freely given, you have truly done Edinburgh proud.

Deputy Lord Provost Joan Griffiths said: “In recognition of how many people have helped others, be they family, friends, neighbours or strangers, countless people have benefitted from this assistance, and I was honoured to unveil the Lord Provost’s Inspiring Volunteer of the Year 2020 entry for the Citizens of Edinburgh.

“The entire city is united in our gratitude to the legions of volunteers who have, and who I hope will continue to, help looking after our most vulnerable citizens throughout this pandemic and going forward as we return to normality.”

Paul Wilson, Chief Officer of Volunteer Edinburgh, added: “Edinburgh has always been a city of volunteers with many thousands of people giving their time, energy and commitment every single day.  However, this year it has been inspiring to see how many people wanted to support their communities. 

“Whether that was informally by being a good neighbour, joining one of the brilliant mutual aid groups that sprung up during lockdown or volunteering more formally, I am confident that the city could not have gotten through the past 10 months without them all.  I can’t think of a more fitting Inspiring Volunteer of the Year 2020, than the people of our city who made and continue to make such a huge difference.”

The Inspiring Volunteer Awards plaque in the City Chambers is part of the city’s civic heritage, which will be seen by the public for many years to come.

Relief all round as border reopens

An agreement to reopen the UK-French border to allow accompanied freight services and some passenger services to resume between the two countries was reached by the UK and French governments last night.

Rail, air and sea services will resume this morning, with all people travelling from the UK into France required to show proof of a negative Coronavirus test taken within the previous 72 hours.

The protocol agreed with the French Government will be reviewed on 31 December, but could run until 6 January. All lorry drivers, irrespective of nationality, will require a lateral flow test.

This can detect the new strain of COVID-19 and provide results in around 30 minutes, rather than the 24 hours required after a PCR test.

The French government will also carry out sample testing on incoming freight to the UK.

The UK government continues to strongly urge hauliers not to travel to Kent until further notice, while a mass testing programme for HGV drivers gets underway to alleviate congestion at ports.

Operation Stack remains in force along the M20 while lorry drivers in Kent are continuing to be directed to the Manston holding facility, where they have access to food and welfare facilities.

Under the agreement announced this evening, admittance into France will only be granted to those travelling for urgent reasons – including hauliers – French citizens, and British citizens with French residency. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “I am pleased that we have made this important progress with our French counterparts this evening. This protocol will see the French border reopen to those travelling for urgent reasons, provided they have a certified negative COVID test.

“We continue to urge hauliers not to travel to Kent until further notice as we work to alleviate congestion at ports.”

The Transport Secretary also announced the temporary relaxation of drivers’ hours for hauliers to help drivers get through UK borders safely, including via Kent, during the coming weeks. The rules came in force at midnight.

Scotland’s Transport Secretary Michael Matheson has called for drivers moving goods such as seafood and salmon to be prioritised as an agreement is reached to allow hauliers into France.

Speaking after a discussion with the UK Transport Secretary last night, Mr Matheson, said: “This has been an extremely worrying time for a number of our sectors who are heavily dependent on the Channel ports, especially at this time of year.

“It has provided an alarming insight into the likely disruption a No Deal Brexit or any additional trade barriers will bring, and I would again stress the need to extend the transition period while the country gets to grips with coronavirus (Covid-19).

“I spoke with the UK Transport Secretary and am pleased that he reported that significant progress had been made regarding arrangements to reopen the closure of the French border to UK freight and that the UK Government has agreed that a Lateral Flow Test – of similar quality to that being used by the NHS – will permit drivers and other essential travellers to travel to France within 72 hours of a clear test. Arrangements will be in place until 6 January, with a mutual review agreed for 31 December.

“The UK Government has informed us that they have a plan to deploy Lateral Flow Tests to drivers at locations in Kent where drivers are parked, and UK Ministers must now urgently prioritise those drivers with perishable goods, such as Scottish seafood and salmon.

“What has always been of concern is the impact on exporters, not least of Scotland’s premier food produce rightly in demand in Europe. This is their most critical time of year and the dismay caused by the uncertainty and length of delay has been avoidable and regrettable.  

“Now we have clarity on the type of test required, the Scottish Government will work with the haulage industry and the NHS to explore how we can support drivers to take those tests in Scotland in the future, before beginning their journey. 

“To reiterate, Scotland is currently well stocked with food and medical supplies. We remain in close communication with the NHS and with food retailers and there is no issue that causes concern for the immediate few days ahead.  What has always been of concern is the impact on exporters, not least of perishable goods such as seafood. This is their most critical time of year and right now, and the dismay caused by the uncertainty and length of delay has been avoidable and regrettable.  

“I have again raised the question of financial support for those hit by this action with the UK Government. We stand ready to help in any practical way we can as this situation develops and will keep all actions under active review.”