Day: January 30, 2022

Scotland leads way in switch to green motoring

Scotland is at the forefront of the country’s switch to greener motoring according to new figures from the Department for Transport.

The figures reveal that from 1 October 2021 to 1 January, Scotland had the highest ratio of publicly accessible rapid charging points for electric vehicles with 12.9 devices per 100,000 residents.

Following Scotland are the South East and North East with 8.6 devices per 100,000 population. The average across all regions was 7.7 per 100,000.

After London with 102 charging devices per 100,000 residents, Scotland had the best accessibility to public (non-rapid) charging points with 52 for every 100,000. The national average is 42 devices per 100,000.

Nationwide, new charging points for public use went up by 9% in the three months to 1 January. There are now 2,448 more available charging devices across the country. Publicly accessible rapid charging devices increased by 233, a 5% rise over the same time period.

This brings the total of publicly accessible charging points nationwide to 28,375, of which 5156 are rapid charging devices.

Greg Wilson, founder of www.quotezone.co.uk’s comments: “It’s likely that Scottish drivers, like those across other parts of the country, are nervous that the 2030 deadline for car dealerships to cease selling new fossil fuel vehicles isn’t that far off and that the infrastructure to charge electric vehicles isn’t ready.

“But this boost in activity in the last three months in Scotland, building on an already established upward trend, is reassuring. 

“Let’s hope this pace continues so that Scottish drivers feel the electric option is a valid one, and that barriers to the green motoring revolution such as ‘range fear’ are a thing of the past, with a wide and evenly distributed network of rapid charge and electric charging facilities.”

Tanya Sinclair, Policy Director UK & Ireland at ChargePoint, said: “We welcome the Scottish government’s commitment over the next four years to invest in charging points across the country.

“The investment goes further than just a cash boost and is specifically designed to attract private investment in EV charging, which is what makes this investment really positive for the EV charging sector. In contrast, funds in England are channelled to local authorities who are resource constrained and shouldn’t be expected to provide EV charging on top of the essential services we rely on them for.

“To increase the overall adoption of EVs in the UK, we would encourage the other devolved nations to follow Scotland’s lead to help increase the amount of chargers. The government has earmarked money to solve the issue of rural charging infrastructure but it has not yet been spent.

“Along with this funding, the UK government must also drive the installation of charging stations, as it is vital that chargers are easily accessible throughout the country, not just big cities.

“As well as  increased investment in on-street electric car charging, the government must also focus on helping key charging locations such as workplaces electrify in a cost effective manner.

“This needs to be  done quickly but correctly – it’s not just about needing a large concentration of charging stations but the speed, location, ease of use and incentives need to be carefully considered.“

Recommended by 97% of reviewers, Quotezone.co.uk helps around 3 million users every year, with over 400 insurance brands across 60 different products including electric car insurance -recommended by 97% of reviewers.

Letters: Pet-friendly renting

Dear Editor,

During the pandemic, many of us have benefited from the companionship, fun and comfort that comes from owning a cat. However, for many people in Scotland who rent rather than own their own home, cat ownership isn’t an option.

Blanket ‘no-pet’ policies and limited cat-friendly rented homes can make it difficult for some people to ever experience the pleasure of owning a cat. In other cases, owners are placed in the heartbreaking situation of having to rehome a much-loved cat if they need to move and can’t find another pet-friendly rental.

Cats Protection has been working to help more renters experience the joy cat ownership, and we need the help of cat lovers in Scotland. The Scottish Government is currently consulting on proposals to allow tenants to keep pets in rented accommodation, potentially giving responsible renters greater rights to cat ownership. We need your help to back these proposals and send a message that renters in Scotland deserve the chance to have a cat.

You can add your support for the proposals by using Cats Protection’s simple online form – it takes only a couple of minutes to complete.

Find out more by visiting: www.cats.org.uk/scottish-renters

Alice Palombo

Advocacy & Government Relations Officer (Scotland), Cats Protection

NHS Lothian launches vaccination clinics for 5-11-year-old children

Children in Lothian at risk from COVID-19, along with children living with an immunosuppressed person, are now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Launched yesterday, dedicated clinics especially designed for to cater for children will operate across the region.  They will be open between 8.30am – 4.30pm, seven days a week, for pre-booked appointments only.

Jane McNulty, Director of Nursing for Primary and Community Care, NHS Lothian, said: “We are delighted to offer these clinics to the youngest people in our community.

“These clinics will be operated by specially trained paediatric vaccinators in a clinical environment, which will allow children, parents and guardians to discuss the vaccination process in a calm environment.”

The vaccination will first be offered to children with a higher COVID-19 risk factor and children living in the household of an immunosuppressed person, it will then be offered to the wider child population in due course.

Those eligible for the vaccination will receive a letter from NHS Lothian in the coming days with details about how to book an appointment through the National Vaccination Helpline. Parents and guardian do not need to actively contact NHS Lothian to arrange an appointment.

The clinics are opening their doors following the publication and government acceptance of the advice of the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) to offer two doses of the Pfizer childhood COVID-19 vaccine.

All children will receive two doses eight weeks apart. A third primary dose is also being offered to children aged 5-11 years with a severely weakened immune system. The third primary dose will be offered from 8 weeks after the second dose.

Ms McNulty added: “We recognise that parents and guardians may have questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccination and we encourage them to visit the pages on NHS Inform where there is a range of information available.

“Alongside this, our paediatric vaccinators are one hand to answer any questions people may have when they attend their child’s vaccination appointment.

“Vaccination remains critically important in the continued fight against COVID-19 and we welcome the further expansion of the vaccination programme across Lothian.”

Established vaccination clinics for over 12s will continue to operate separately from these clinics, with NHS Lothian still encouraging all over 12s to get any outstanding vaccinations.

Over 18s can receive their 1st, 2nd and booster vaccinations at all drop-in clinics. Those aged 12-17 can also attend for their second dose if it has been at least 12 weeks since their first dose and they have not tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 12 weeks.

More information on the 5-11 vaccination programme is available on NHS Inform:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/the-vaccines/vaccinating-children-aged-5-to-11-years/

Information on clinic locations and opening times for over 12s is also available on NHS Lothian’s website:

https://www.nhslothian.scot/Coronavirus/Vaccine/Pages/Drop-in-Clinics.aspx

Council to invest £2.6m in Smart CCTV

“Edinburgh has big ambitions in becoming a world-leading Smart City“

The City of Edinburgh Council is to revolutionise security and surveillance across the capital with a £2.6million investment in the build and management of Edinburgh’s new CCTV Control Centre.

This forms part of the Council’s vision to create a Smart City Operation Facility, providing a holistic view of the city by utilising the latest technology to drive operational efficiencies, improve security and analyse trends.

The new Control Centre will see the provision of high-definition CCTV cameras, expanded security coverage, and the introduction of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence that can provide situational awareness and predict and alert new and existing threats.

The Council has partnered with North, the UK’s leading IoT service and solution provider, to lead on this transformational project which is set for completion in September this year (2022).

The project will see North intelligently integrate the security system with traffic and transportation platforms to enhance the management of city operations. It will improve efficiency, quickly identify and address issues, provide simple and rapid retrieval of footage, and integrate with remote security systems that are currently not connected to the existing Control Room.

The new system will allow for better city planning and will be able to provide a richer view of how people interact with the urban environment – whether on foot, bicycle or vehicle.

With the support of North’s expertise, the Council will have a true smart city platform which will have the ability to allow future integration with other smart technologies such as air quality sensors, smart parking applications, flood sensors to detect water levels, and intelligent camera analytics to monitor low emission zones.

Community engagement has also been factored into the project with North providing apprenticeship opportunities, work experience placements and volunteer schemes to support the delivery of the contract, including working with local communities and organisations.

The City of Edinburgh Council Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “Edinburgh has big ambitions in becoming a world-leading Smart City – a digitally inclusive, data-rich and sustainable city with services that are easily accessible by all of our residents no matter where they are in the city, or what their circumstances are.

“We’re looking to deliver a more digitally-enabled proactive service to help make everyone’s lives in our Scottish Capital better and so we can continue our work towards ending poverty, meeting our net zero targets and improving wellbeing for all. 

With this Smart City partnership with North we’re looking to make transformative differences to the way we manage our city – gathering real-time intelligence to improve safety on our streets, manage services more effectively and better serve the wellbeing of our residents.

Through North, alongside our other partners, we believe we’ve found a strong partnership that will deliver on our world-leading vision, changing the way we provide our services to all, while improving our communities.

Scott McEwan, Chief Commercial Officer at North, said: “The implementation of IoT technology within our security offering has the power to truly transform the lives of citizens, revolutionising the ways in which we work and ensuring that the environments we live and work in are safe and healthy.

“CCTV is not only vital for crime detection, but also for preventing offences from happening and through the implementation of these transformative systems, the City of Edinburgh Council will have the ability to access data which will bring together essential and critical services to create safer communities and allow better informed decisions to be made that improve services across Edinburgh.

“We are thrilled to be working with the City of Edinburgh Council to help them achieve their Smart City objectives with intelligent data-driven solutions.”

The City Operations Capability project is jointly funded by the City of Edinburgh Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme known as ‘Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City‘. 

Edinburgh is one of the seven Scottish cities collaboratively working toward becoming a world leading Smart City. Supported by the Scottish Cities Alliance, a partnership of Scotland’s seven city local authorities and the Scottish Government, £48.2 million, including £20.3 million of ERDF support, is being invested in the ‘Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City’ Programme.

This latest project with North also forms part of Edinburgh’s 2050 City Vision strategy, to become ‘the’ world leading Smart City, using technology to make day to day life simpler, greener and more connected while reducing carbon emissions to coincide with the Capital’s net zero carbon by 2030 ambitions.

Further disruption expected: Storm Corrie is on it’s way

A meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) – chaired by the First Minister and attended by a number of Ministers – was held yesterday to ensure appropriate measures are in place to deal with the impacts of Storm Malik and Storm Corrie.

Following Saturday’s Amber weather warning and the disruption caused as a result of Storm Malik, a further Amber Warning for the North of Scotland and a Yellow Weather Warning for the rest of the country is in place for Storm Corrie, which is expected to bring more very strong winds across Scotland, particularly the Western Isles, Highlands, Grampian and Tayside areas, through Sunday evening and into Monday morning .

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “On behalf of the Scottish Government, I would like to offer sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of the lady who died in Aberdeen this morning.

“Damage has been widespread across the country but the intensity of the impact is being felt very much in the northeast of Scotland. SSEN have engineers out across the area and will continue to assess the damage caused to their network and the extent of repairs needed.

“We know that power has already been restored to more than 33,000 homes, but an estimated 53,000 customers remain without supply and unfortunately we think about 20,000 of these will probably still be off supply overnight. As Storm Malik will be followed shortly by Storm Corrie, disruption could last for a number of days.

“Local resilience partnerships are working to put in  place welfare support for individuals who have lost power and there are many leisure centres in Aberdeenshire which are providing support for people. Some school catering facilities are also available and power companies have commissioned mobile catering companies.

“The Scottish Government’s resilience committee will continue to monitor the situation overnight and into tomorrow, and keep Ministers fully updated.

“We will remain in close contact with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed.”

UPDATE 19:03pm

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has chaired a further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) to co-ordinate the response to Storm Malik and Storm Corrie.

An amber warning is in place for Storm Corrie covering the Western Isles, Highlands, Grampian and Tayside until 6am tomorrow and gusts of 60mph to 80mph will be widespread, with 90 mph gusts in exposed western areas.

Gusts of between 60mph and 70mph are likely across the rest of the country, where a Yellow warning remains in place until noon tomorrow and there is potential for property damage.

Of the 98,000 households that lost power as a result of Storm Malik, all but 7,500 are expected to be reconnected tonight after additional engineers were drafted in. However, for the remainder – mainly in Aberdeenshire – disruption could last until Tuesday.

Rail travel has been disrupted today with all services on the Inverness – Aberdeen and the Far North lines cancelled, while ScotRail stopped all services from 18:00 for safety purposes. It is expected most will resume tomorrow morning.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Storm Malik caused significant damage on Saturday and Storm Corrie threatens to be similarly disruptive tonight. I urge everyone to heed the warnings, don’t travel unless you have to and stay safe. Remember, a Yellow warning does mean there are likely to be dangers.

“The power companies have drafted in a large number of additional engineers and are making significant inroads into reconnecting customers. However, we need to be aware that the arrival of Storm Corrie could hamper these efforts and add further problems.

“For those who will unfortunately not have power tonight, support with alternative accommodation is available to anyone who needs it. Special arrangements remain in place for vulnerable customers and local resilience partnerships continue to work with councils to provide welfare support.

“Rail services have been significantly impacted this weekend and will halt overnight. Whilst our expectation is that services will resume as soon as possible on Monday, people should check the ScotRail and Traffic Scotland channels for travel updates before leaving home.

“Safety is our number one priority. Ministers are being kept updated and will take further action as necessary. In the meantime I thank all those who are working in difficult conditions to keep people safe and maintain our lifeline services.”

Background

Follow @metoffice for any updates to the weather warnings in place.