New research published today calls for more support for Services leavers who face challenges transitioning from military to civilian life.
The report, Understanding ‘Negative Transitioning’ in British Ex-Service Personnel, was conducted by a research team from the Senator George J Mitchell Institute at Queen’s University Belfast led by Professor John Brewer.
The study is one of the largest UK qualitative studies to examine the experiences of veterans who make a negative transition to civilian life.
The researchers explored three measures of negative transitioning in the 323 people they interviewed: homelessness, imprisonment, or mental ill-health. They found that overall, these individuals face the same challenges as other ex-Service personnel, but lack psychological resilience and the economic means to deal with them.
While the majority of Service leavers make a successful transition to civilian life, a minority are known to struggle. The study found the reasons for a negative transition are not limited to operational experiences whilst serving, but due to multiple factors including pre-service experiences, age of enrolment, rank, capability to make decisions, over-institutionalism in the military and the effectiveness of support services.
The study found that negative transitioning particularly affects low rank veterans who are more likely to join the military from difficult or disadvantaged backgrounds, with the career in the military providing an opportunity to improve their outcomes.
However, the research suggests that the Armed Forces can fail to adequately prepare Service leavers which can result in a lack of the emotional, cultural, and social skills needed to ensure that the life they ‘escaped’ from is not the one they return to.
The research also identified several local and regional services which support veterans who have a difficult transition, highlighting the importance of local knowledge, resources, and facilities in improving outcomes for veterans and their families.
The researchers recommend a greater focus on local support provision, whilst calling for more collaboration and cooperation between support providers on a national and regional scale to ensure no Service leaver’s needs are left unmet.
Professor Brewer said: “This is an outstanding study into a very hard-to-access group of veterans, and while they are untypical of the majority of veterans who transition successfully, they attract considerable media and public attention.
“The research addresses their lived experiences in their own words, revealing remarkable testimony of their difficulties in transitioning back to civilian life. The research also captured the views from family members and support providers. No study before has dealt with these issues in such depth and scale.”
Mike Ellicock, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, said: “We know that most Service leavers transition successfully to civilian life, their lives enriched by their service.
“Forces in Mind Trust exists to improve transition for those who face additional challenges. This research is extremely helpful for us and those who support these individuals, in providing a greater understanding of why Service leavers might experience a negative transition. I would encourage anyone who is interested in this area to read the report in full.
“We acknowledge that significant progress has been made since this research was conducted, with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Transition Services becoming operational in that time. However, the research outlines some improvements which can be made to support those who are more likely to experience a negative transition, and we hope to see these taken forward.”
Westminster government steps up support for England’s social housing tenants
Sub-standard social landlords to be publicly shamed if failing to meet standards
Resident Panel will give tenants a voice to raise their complaints at the heart of government
Social housing reforms will transform the experiences of residents by tightening regulation and holding landlords to account
Measures will help ensure we meet target to half number of non-decent homes by 2030
The UK Government will “name and shame” failing social housing providers as part of major reforms to give residents a stronger voice and drive up standards.
Today’s move means social landlords providing sub-standard housing and services would be publicly called out on the government’s website and across social media channels.
Measures announced today also include a Resident Panel that will allow tenants who live in social housing to be heard directly by government. Around 250 social tenants from across England will be invited to share their experiences and help us ensure our reforms work to drive up standards.
As set out in the Social Housing White Paper, our reforms – due to be delivered through legislation – will transform the experiences of residents, with a major reform of the way in which social landlords are regulated and held to account for the homes and services they deliver.
The Westminster government has already set out a wide range of measures designed to drive up standards and fix a broken complaints system including by strengthening regulation of the sector, improving the Housing Ombudsman Service, and empowering residents to know and exercise their rights.
A package of measures announced today goes even further. It includes:
Publicising on social media where landlords have breached the Regulator’s consumer standards or where the Housing Ombudsman has made its most serious finding – severe maladministration – against them.
The launch of a Resident Panel, inviting residents to have their say on how to improve the quality of social housing. The Panel will allow residents to scrutinise and influence measures to strengthen the Decent Homes Standard, training and qualification for staff, a new Access to Information Scheme and other planned reforms.
Publishing draft clauses to legislation that will reform the regulation of social housing through tougher consumer powers, greater enforcement tools to tackle failing landlords and new responsibilities on social landlords.
A new factsheet explaining the role of the Regulator of Social Housing and Housing Ombudsman Service.
A single gov.uk page, setting out our progress on implementing the measures in the Social Housing White Paper and further measures being introduced to improve quality of social housing.
Minister for Social Housing Eddies Hughes MP said:“Everyone in this country deserves to live in a safe and decent home. It is unacceptable that anyone should have mould covering their walls, risk slipping on a wet floor or have water dripping from the ceiling.
“We have published draft legislation today to toughen up regulation of social housing landlords. This includes naming and shaming those landlords who fail to meet acceptable living standards and giving tenants a direct channel to raise their concerns with government.
“This package will help to deliver on our commitment in the Levelling Up White Paper to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030.”
The UK Government’s ‘Make Things Right’ campaign helps residents raise complaints if they are unhappy with their landlord’s services and struggling to get problems resolved, with clear advice on how to progress issues to the Housing Ombudsman if necessary.
Adverts have run on digital and social media channels, as well as music streaming sites, to raise awareness of the complaints process and barriers to these being progressed.
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has continued to increase its staffing and resources at pace this year as part of its Demand and Capacity Programme.
An additional 540 frontline A&E staff have been recruited this financial year – the highest number of staff ever to have joined the Service in a single year.
The new staff include 414 Technicians, 25 Paramedics, 58 Newly Qualified Paramedics, 23 Advanced Practitioners and 20 Ambulance Care Assistants. 192 staff have been recruited into the East, 111 for the North and 237 for the West.
A dedicated recruitment team was implemented to enable SAS to deliver the ambitious recruitment plan this year and to enable the foundations to be built in order to recruit a similar number of staff next year.
This increase in staffing and resources, coupled with alignment of shift patterns to patient demand profiles, aims to improve patient safety and staff welfare.
The programme has been supported by £20m investment from the Scottish Government so far.
This year, additional ambulances have gone live in Edinburgh and Lothian, Greater Glasgow, Tayside, Grampian and Clyde.
SAS has also established Seven new satellite stations, of which six are co-located with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Scottish Ambulance Service Chief Executive Pauline Howie said: “The last 12 months have been the busiest ever in terms of recruitment for the Service and this is great news for the people of Scotland.
“With the increased demand for our services, it’s vital we introduce extra resources and staffing. This will ensure we continue to deliver the very best patient care by boosting capacity and increasing our resilience in communities across Scotland.
“These new staff will compliment our existing staff who have done an incredible job before and throughout the pandemic.”
Cabinet Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service is the heartbeat of our NHS and staff have worked incredibly hard over the last two years to meet the unprecedented pressure.
“This record recruitment is a demonstration of the action we are taking to help our Health Service at its time of critical need. They will be vital in enhancing the service already provided by dedicated staff.
“The Scottish Government is fully committed to ensuring SAS has the resources and skilled staff in place to continue to deliver a high quality emergency health service.”
Police are appealing for information following an assault and robbery in Gilmerton.
A 42-year-old man was walking along the cycle path near to Gilmerton Station Road, around 00.30am on Friday, 25 March, when he was approached by two men, assaulted and had his personal items stolen.
He was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and released following treatment.
The suspects are described as being in their mid-twenties, wearing dark clothing and were on mountain bikes.
Enquiries are ongoing and officers are appealing for anyone with any information which may assist to get in touch.
They are appealing for anyone who was in the area at the time or who saw anyone matching the descriptions to contact them.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting incident 0142 of 25th March, 2022. Alternatively, information can be passed to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
There were 25,506 attendances in week ending 20 March 2022
Four-hour performance was 66.2%, the lowest on record
8,610 patients were delayed by four hours or more, this is the highest on record and means one third of all patients were waiting for four hours or more in an Emergency Department
2,615 patients were delayed by eight hours or more, this is the highest on record and means more than one in 10 patients were waiting for eight hours or more in an Emergency Department
1,015 patients were delayed by 12 hours or more, this is the highest on record and means one in 25 patients were waiting for 12 hours or more in an Emergency Department
Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said:“Each week the Urgent and Emergency Care crisis worsens.
“Scotland’s Emergency Care system is failing patients who are coming to harm, and failing staff who are overworked, exhausted, and burned out but are left to cover the widespread shortcomings of the health system. Shortages of beds, shortages of staff, the social care crisis; existing staff do all they can to keep patients safe in these exceptionally challenging circumstances.
“It is an untenable and unsustainable situation. This week saw the highest number of long waits on record yet again. Data show that there is one excess death for every 82 patients delayed for more than six hours.
“This week 2,615 patients were delayed by eight hours or more, from this we can estimate that over 30 patients in this week alone could have come to associated harm or death as a result of their delay to admission.
“The significance of this appalling harm must not go unnoticed and must be met immediately with effective and meaningful action. The Scottish Government must understand the severity and extent of harm befalling our patients, and see that existing staff facing moral injury, going above and beyond, running on goodwill and adrenaline is not reasonable or acceptable.
“This can no longer be the sole answer to the biggest patient safety crisis in Emergency Care for a generation. This must not continue.”
A SCOTTISH charity has shipped two tonnes of donations destined for Poland’s mobile clinics helping those escaping the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Working in partnership with NHS Scotland Global Citizenship, Artmedis and K&N, Kids Operating Room (KidsOR) has secured the transportation of eight pallets worth of goods from its global logistics centre in Dundee to Krakow, Poland where it will be put to good use by the emergency medics caring for the influx of refugees.
KidsOR is a global organisation focused on providing dedicated operating rooms for children’s surgery with bases in Edinburgh and Dundee.
The donation includes medical products, clothing and footwear as well as items specific items to help in a conflict situation, such as air chambers to assist with ventilation.
Dave Tipping, Director of Global Operations at KidsOR heads up the Dundee logistics centre. He said: “As events continue to unfold in Ukraine, donations are playing a vital role in supporting those most impacted by the conflict.
“That’s why a shipment of medical items once destined for Northern Iraq and Syria, but delayed for two years and eventually unable to be processed due to lack of documentation was, has been redirected to Poland.
“Over the next week, the shipment including blankets, clothing, sheets and gloves – all urgently required – will begin its travel and is expected to reach the mobile clinics within the next week.
“Under such terrible circumstances, we are proud to be able to help in a small way and know these items will be life changing for many.”
The seven-strong team at KidsOR’s Dundee warehouse typically facilitates large shipments of medical equipment to completely fit our paediatric operating rooms. Recent shipments have reached Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Zambia and Nigeria.
Founded by Garreth and Nicola Wood, it is the only global organisation focused on the single task of providing dedicated operating rooms for children’s surgery. They work in more than 40 countries to provide world-class surgical facilities and won’t stop until every child has equal access to safe surgery.
For more information on KidsOR, please visit: www.KidsOR.org
New report from Stagecoach sets out pathway to attracting over one million new passengers to the UK’s bus networks through the switch to Zero Emission Buses
New report sets out an ambitious national vision for achieving the introduction of 100% Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) across the UK
Independent research shows that over a million new passengers could start using buses if the transition to ZEBs is done right, having a significant impact on modal shift from cars to public transport
Research makes clear that the costs of the transition cannot fully be borne by passengers, with fare rises to finance the increased costs of greener buses risking a significant reduction in bus patronage
Report highlights significant operational and commercial challenges all bus operators face to introducing a full ZEB fleet
It sets out a detailed plan for introducing greener buses, with a series of recommendations for industry, government and local authorities to meet the practical challenges and deliver on passenger expectations, including securing a sustainable long-term funding model.
More than one million new passengers could be attracted to use the UK’s bus networks through the switch to zero emission buses, according to a new landmark report published today by Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest operator.
Road map to zero: the transition to Zero Emission Buses, what it means for people, and the journey to get there sets out an ambitious national vision for achieving the introduction of 100% Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) across the UK.
The independent research and recommendations build on Stagecoach’s target of achieving a 100% Zero Emission UK bus fleet by 2035 and are designed to support all bus operators in achieving this ambition as well as supporting the country’s net zero targets.
Looking at the challenge by focussing on the people who interact most with the bus network – both the public and the workforce – the report identifies the scale of the opportunity that electric buses present, showing how they can attract a new generation of bus users.
Over a million current non-bus users say they would start to use services if electric buses were introduced in their local area, as long as fares and frequency remain the same. What’s more, over nine million current passengers would expect to use the bus more often.
The research shows that almost one in five of people interviewed in Scotland would use the bus more if Zero Emission Buses replaced local diesel buses, with 73% of people wanting to see their local bus company move to using only ZEBs.
The report highlights the significant operational and commercial challenges that all UK bus operators need overcome to achieve this, including:
Upgrading infrastructure across the country, electrifying all vehicles and depots, recognising the increased space and longer charging times that ZEBs will require.
Upskilling the workforce and attracting a new generation of people to highly skilled, green jobs in the bus industry.
Developing a long-term sustainable funding approach which reflects the increased costs of a ZEB compared to a diesel bus.
Critically the research lays bare the importance of getting the approach to overcoming these challenges right.
Getting the transition wrong could have significant consequences for passengers and the sustainability of the bus network. Independent polling carried out as part of the report shows that if fares were to increase by just 10% to fund the transition to Zero Emissions Buses, more than 12 million passengers say they would use the bus less often, with 63% of people interviewed in Scotland agreeing with this stance.
If the introduction of greener buses failed to improve either punctuality, frequency or passenger experience, over 14.5 million people would be left disappointed.
The research highlights significant public support for the transition to ZEBs, finding that:
The public want to see the introduction of greener buses – 66% of the public think that the move to Zero Emission Buses is a good thing
Transitioning to Zero Emission Buses is likely to make the public have a more positive impression of their local bus operator – there is a likely 268% increase in satisfaction towards their local bus operator amongst non-bus users after the introduction of ZEBs
The public recognise the scale of the challenge – 53% of the public consider that it will be hard or very hard for bus operators to shift to 100% ZEBs.
To meet passenger expectations, Stagecoach has today proposed three core principles and 21 specific recommendations which will allow the industry to transition to 100% electric buses while increasing the number of passengers across the network.
Developed following a roundtable with industry stakeholders and policymakers, and reflecting the priorities of passengers, the principles identified from the report are:
Funding: The costs of the transition cannot fully be borne by passengers as patronage will fall further.
Customer experience: Passengers need to feel that the quality and reliability of service they receive when travelling by bus will improve with the introduction of green buses, rather than be put at threat.
Partnership: All stakeholders with an interest in delivering this vision need to work collaboratively to solve the barriers to rollout.
The report’s specific recommendations cover funding, infrastructure and operational changes, and workforce challenges, and include:
Bus operators, local authorities and national governments should work collaboratively to explore new or innovative long-term funding models, including local revenue raising solutions.
Bus operators should work with local authorities to promote the introduction of new ZEBs to ensure their introduction is effectively maximised as a potential trigger point for modal shift.
The bus sector should collectively promote new ‘green engineering apprenticeships’ to young people across the UK, securing a sustainable workforce of the future.
Local Transport Decarbonisation Partnerships should be established between different bus operators, Distribution Network Operators and local authorities to establish the gaps between existing grid capacity and that are required to achieve full ZEB rollout in each community
Government and Ofgem should assess the need for a new statutory duty on DNOs to prioritise grid infrastructure upgrades which have a significant social and community impact, such as bus charging infrastructure.
Martin Griffiths, Chief Executive of Stagecoach, said: “This report demonstrates the prize that is front of the country in terms of moving people out of cars and onto lower carbon forms of transport, if we get the transition to Zero Emissions Buses right.
“Not only can we reduce emissions by transforming the environmental footprint of the bus fleet, but we can build a new generation of bus passengers.
“This is exciting news for bus operators, the wider industry, government, local authorities and crucially for passengers. However, it’s clear that this is conditional on us all getting the transition right and ensuring that the priorities of passengers are put first.
“Our research makes clear that this transformational change needs to be done carefully. This road map is our contribution to the wider debate, setting out a plan that will support the whole sector make this a success.
“It’s clear that to achieve this we must take a collaborative approach that meets passenger expectations and focusses on improving the passenger experience. If we get this right there’s so much to gain, but if we don’t we risk setting back the transition to Net Zero.”
The recommendations in the report have been supported by leading voices across the sector including Scottish Government, Zemo Partnership, Campaign for Better Transport and Transport Focus.
Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth said: “I welcome this contribution from Stagecoach on practical actions that can be taken to decarbonise buses, putting workers and passengers at the forefront of considerations.
“Choosing bus is already a fantastic choice for the environment, but electric buses offer even more benefits for our air quality and climate.
“To respond to the global climate emergency, we all have to play our part. So I’m pleased that as well as producing this report, Stagecoach is active in our Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce, where we are working together to agree a pathway to a zero emission fleet for Scotland.”
The Rt Hon Norman Baker, Campaigns and Policy Advisor for Campaign for Better Transport, said: “It is great to see the enthusiasm within the bus industry for a determined move towards a zero emission bus fleet.
“This reinforces the point that the bus is key to any strategy to tackle climate change and rightly positions the bus as part of the solution and a vehicle firmly grounded in the future. We welcome this report from Stagecoach.”
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “We are pleased to see this report and research from Stagecoach. Zero emission vehicles will be increasingly key to helping public transport play its part in achieving Government decarbonisation targets.
“More investment in buses is really welcome. New vehicles, plus a focus on passengers’ key priorities of reliability and value, will tempt more people to give bus a go.”
Andy Eastlake, Chief Executive, Zemo Partnership – the organisation working closely with Government and key stakeholders to accelerate the net zero transition in road transport – said: “This report shows the potential ‘win-win’ we could achieve from the transition to zero emission buses if we work together to get things right.
“Travelling by bus can already be one of the most sustainable and lowest carbon modes of travel and the rapid transition to zero emission buses – that we’re working hard with Stagecoach and others to achieve – will improve this further.
“The shift to zero tailpipe emissions buses is a great opportunity to transform the image of the bus and capture a whole new set of users who want to do their bit for the UK’s net zero ambitions. The smooth, quiet, efficient zero emission bus using renewable energy can be a compelling proposition and should be in the vanguard of the UK’s journey away from fossil fuels.”
Stagecoach has taken positive strides in moving towards a Zero Emission fleet in Scotland, and is in the process of introducing 46 new fully electric buses in its key Scottish transport networks in Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Perth as part of the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme.
Stagecoach launched its new long-term sustainability strategy last year; Driving Net Zero: Better Places to Live and Work – which sets out plans to decarbonise its business by around 70% by 2035 as well as targeting a Zero Emissions bus fleet across the UK by that date.
The roadmap to becoming a fully carbon neutral business will see investment in new Zero-Emissions fleets, such as electric buses, and other green technologies over the next 15 years. It follows a 14% reduction in carbon emissions between 2014 and 2019.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss updated the House of Commons on the situation in Ukraine and on the NATO and G7 Leaders meetings in Brussels last week:
With permission, I want to update the House, on behalf of my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister, on the NATO and G7 Leaders meetings in Brussels last week.
Together with our allies, we agreed to keep the pressure up on Putin to end his appalling war in Ukraine: through tougher sanctions to debilitate the Russian economy; supplying weapons to Ukraine and boosting NATO’s Eastern Flank; providing humanitarian aid and dealing with the wider consequences of this crisis; and supporting Ukraine in any negotiations they undertake.
Strength is the only thing Putin understands.
Our sanctions are pushing back the Russian economy by years.
We owe it to the brave Ukrainians to keep up our tough approach to get peace. We owe it to ourselves to stand with them for the cause of freedom and democracy in Europe and across the world.
It is vital we step up this pressure.
We cannot wait for more appalling atrocities to be committed in Ukraine. We know that the impact of sanctions degrades over time.
That is why we need to act now.
Next week, NATO Foreign Ministers will meet to follow up on the statements of Leaders, and I will be pressing allies over the next week for all of us to do more.
We must agree a clear timetable with our partners across the G7 to end dependence on Russian oil and gas permanently.
On banks, we’ve already sanctioned 16 major Russian banks. We have hit Gazprombank and we have placed a clearing prohibition on Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank. We want to see others adopt these sanctions and go further.
As refugees come into countries like Poland, we are working with the UNHCR so they are informed about the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.
This scheme has already got over 150,000 applications, thanks to the generosity of the British public.
We know Putin is not serious about talks. He is still wantonly bombing innocent citizens across Ukraine. And that is why we need to do more to ensure he loses and we force him to think again.
We must not just stop Putin in Ukraine, but we must also look to the long-term.
We need to ensure that any future talks don’t end up selling Ukraine out or repeating the mistakes of the past. We remember the uneasy settlement in 2014, which failed to give Ukraine lasting security. Putin just came back for more.
That is why we cannot allow him to win from this appalling aggression and why this Government is determined Putin’s regime should be held to account at the International Criminal Court.
We will work to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
We have set up a negotiations unit to ensure the strongest possible support is available to the Ukrainians, alongside our international partners.
We have played a leading role alongside our G7 allies in driving the response to Putin’s war. And I want to ensure that unity continues.
Sanctions were put on by the G7 in unison and they shouldn’t be removed as long as Putin continues with his war and he still has troops in Ukraine.
That is not all. We need to ensure that Putin can never act in this aggressive way again.
Any long-term settlement needs to include a clear sanctions snapback which would be triggered automatically by any Russian aggression.
In the aftermath of Putin’s war, Ukraine will need our help to build back.
In these exceptional circumstances, we have a duty to step up with a new reconstruction plan for rebuilding Ukraine. And we will work with the international community to do this.
At this defining moment, the free world has shown a united response.
Putin is not making the progress he craves. And he is still not serious about talks.
President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people know that everybody in the United Kingdom stands firm with them.
We were the first European country to recognise Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union. Thirty years on, we are the first to strengthen their defences against Putin’s invasion, and lead the way in our support.
Over the next week, I will be working to drive forward progress in unison with our allies.
Together, we can secure a lasting peace, which restores Ukraine’s sovereignty. Together, we can ensure Putin fails and Ukraine prevails.
Community Safety Minister visits Crewe Toll Fire Station
Two new state-of-the-art height appliances for firefighters in Edinburgh have been added to the city’s fleet of emergency vehicles.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has invested £600,000 in each specialist vehicle to protect communities in the capital and surrounding areas.
They’ll be based at Tollcross and Crewe Toll Community Fire Stations and will complement the existing aerial ladder platform already at McDonald Road.
The Magirus Turntable Ladders will enable crews to fight fires and perform rescue operations at height, as well as dealing with other types of emergencies.
Stewart Nicholson, Deputy Assistant Chief Officer for the SFRS East Service Delivery Area, said: “These appliances are a very welcome addition to our existing fleet as we work to protect the City of Edinburgh.
“Their special features include an articulated boom, which allows for a far greater degree of flexibility to position the ladder. It means our firefighters can safely carry out emergency operations at heights of up to 32 metres and in positions that previously wouldn’t have been possible.
“This considerable investment is another example of the Service’s commitment to enhance the capabilities of our crews.”
One of the vehicles was part of a demonstration at Crewe Toll Community Fire Station earlier this month involving trainee firefighters during Modern Apprentice Week.
In attendance was the Minister for Community Safety, Ash Regan, who got the opportunity to see the new height appliance in operation.
Community Safety Minister Ash Regan said: “It was a pleasure to visit the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at their Crewe Toll Fire Station in Edinburgh and see one of these state-of-the-art new height appliances in operation.
“These appliances will help keep our communities across Edinburgh and the East of Scotland safer by enabling rescues at substantial heights that were not previously possible.
“The Scottish Government is happy to be able to support continued investment in our critical national fire service in this way.”
The UK’s leading IoT service and solutions provider, North, has been appointed by IT and business consulting firm, CGI, to support the City of Edinburgh Council’s vision to become one of the world’s leading Smart Cities.
A five-year contract has been agreed to support the Council’s plans to ‘transform the capital into one of the world’s leading Smart Cities’.
The deal is supported by a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant as part of the ‘Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City’ programme. City of Edinburgh Council will deliver three projects budgeted at £6.4m, of which £2.5m is part of the ERDF grant. Funding secured by the Council from Zero Waste Scotland through its Recycling Improvement Fund will also be used towards the scheme.
The development of a Smart City Operations Centre will transform and enhance city management and the citizen experience by utilising data captured through a range of emerging technologies to drive transformational change’.
Driven by CGI’s industry-leading Smart City Platform, North was selected by CGI to provide the Smart Waste sensors and to provide connectivity for the solution through the IoT Scotland network, the most advanced Internet of Things (IoT) network in the UK.
Intelligent sensor data will now be used to develop and drive improvements for better waste management, transmitted using North’s IoT Scotland network, allowing the City of Edinburgh Council to improve services across the city.
The project will see North provision 11,000 smart waste sensors in waste containers throughout the city. The state-of-the-art technology will enable clever waste management by detecting waste levels and predicting usage trends, enabling the Council to optimise waste collection and manage routes more efficiently.
The smart technology will assist in creating a cleaner and greener city and will help reduce the Council’s environmental impact.
The IoT Scotland network will also be used to transmit data for other critical services to enhance the council’s digital vision. In parallel with the waste project the council will roll-out a digitally enabled proactive service for Social Housing across the city, using the IoT Scotland network.
This solution will capture insightful data through real-time management and monitoring of the conditions in social housing properties. The proactive approach for the maintenance of properties and asset management will deliver efficiencies for the council while enhancing the living conditions of their residents and improving wellbeing.
Commenting on the partnership, City of Edinburgh Council Deputy Leader, Cammy Day, said:“Edinburgh has big ambitions for becoming a world-leading Smart City – a digitally inclusive, sustainable and connected Capital with services easily accessible by all of our residents no matter where they are.
“The use of intelligent sensors will help us to deliver a more digitally-enabled proactive service and address many of the challenges a rapidly growing city like Edinburgh faces and will support our work towards providing clean and green communities, meeting our net zero targets and improving living conditions and wellbeing for all.”
Scott McEwan, Chief Commercial Officer at North, said:“Edinburgh is one of seven Scottish cities working collaboratively on a Smart City programme. The introduction of the Smart City Platform will enable the Council to reach its ambitions efficiently and North is proud to accelerate this vision.
“The use of technology to introduce intelligent waste management services will create a cost-efficient solution to everyday duties, whilst improving the streetscape and health of communities, and increasing sustainability. Working with CGI, the roll-out of the smart waste scheme is an important step that will help Edinburgh reach its ambitions.”
Tara McGeehan, UK & Australia President at CGI, said:“Edinburgh is a vibrant and diverse capital city that is home to more than 518,000 citizens and CGI has been the primary provider of transformational ICT services to the City of Edinburgh Council since 2015.
“We very much look forward to taking Edinburgh’s vision of a Smart City and making it real through our innovative use of technology, analytics and data. Together, we will turn Edinburgh into one of the world’s leading Smart Cities.”
