Support is being expanded to improve the energy efficiency of homes and tackle energy costs.
In response to the cost of living crisis, three key Scottish Government energy efficiency and heat programmes will be boosted from April.
These include:
Expanding the Home Energy Scotland (HES) advice service, which provides free, impartial advice available to all households in Scotland on making homes warmer, greener and easier to heat. Capacity will be increased by 20% to support an extra 12,000 households a year, whilst a service offering bespoke advice to the most vulnerable households will be doubled.
Widening the eligibility criteria of the Scottish Government’s flagship Warmer Homes Scotland fuel poverty programme to include more groups within the 60 – 75 years age range.
Increasing the level of funding individual fuel poor households could benefit from through the local authority-led Area Based Schemes.
More than £160 million of funding is being invested this year to help make Scotland’s homes and buildings warmer and more efficient, supporting efforts to tackle fuel poverty whilst helping householders manage their energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.
Zero Carbon Buildings Minister Patrick Harvie said: “Everyone needs a safe, warm place to call home. I am acutely aware that soaring energy prices will be causing many people to worry about the cost of their fuel bills and it is vital that people struggling with energy bills get the information and support they need, while governments step up with appropriate actions.
“We are using all powers and resources available to us to support people through the cost of living crisis and the Scottish Budget last month included a package of measures to provide immediate help with rising bills. At the same time, powers relating to energy markets remain reserved and we have repeatedly called for the UK Government to urgently take further, tangible actions to support households.
“However, immediate help also has to go side by side with longer term action. Investing in energy efficiency is the best buffer against the ebb and flow of global energy prices. That is why we are boosting energy efficiency programmes today and over the whole parliamentary term.”
Householders can access free and impartial support through Home Energy Scotland to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Home Energy Scotland can be contacted on their freephone number 0808 808 2282 or via the Home Energy Scotland website.
InterContinental Edinburgh The George is celebrating Women’s History Month by launching a new partnership with female-owned bookstore, Rare Birds Book Shop, to encourage guests to explore Scotland’s female literary greats.
The partnership will pay homage to the hotel’s impressive literary ties and its most-famous former guest, writer Susan Ferrier, with a new experience: ‘Scotland’s Inspiring Females Package’.
The package offers guests, who book a stay from 8th March 2022 (IWD), the chance to add an accompanying book bundle from trailblazing Scottish female authors, hand-selected by Rare Birds Books.
Included in the ‘Scotland’s Inspiring Females Package’ is Jackie Kay, Scotland’s former Makar, with her debut novel Trumpet, a fictionalised chronicle of the life and death of transgender jazz artist Billy Tipton; quintessentially Edinburgh author, Muriel Spark and her story of a glamorous outspoken teacher, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; as well as Susan Ferrier’s Marriage.
Susan Ferrier, who resided at the hotel when it was a collection of luxury Georgian townhouses in the 18th century, is widely referred to as Scotland’s answer to Jane Austin.
Her debut book, Marriage, was published in 1818 and tells the story of an English heiress, who elopes with a handsome Scot to live in a castle in the Highlands. Characters in the novel were based on real acquaintances she met during her time at The George, such as iconic Scottish poet Robert Burns and author Sir Walter Scott.
Books will be beautifully packaged and ready for guests in their room on arrival alongside a charming booklet with insider information on each book and its author. The package includes room, bed and breakfast and prices start from £289.
Rare Birds Book Shop, located in the heart of Stockbridge, is on a mission to champion women’s writing, by helping enthusiasts to discover great books by great women. Founded in 2017 it has built a vibrant community of booklovers around the world through its book club.
Rachel Wood, (above), founder and owner of Rare Birds Book Shop, said:“There’s nothing we love more than helping readers discover writing by women, and what better way to help visitors discover Edinburgh’s rich literary history than by shining the spotlight on three brilliant Scottish writers, whose work has captured the imagination of readers around the world.”
Kieran Quinn, Hotel General Manager at InterContinental Edinburgh The George, said: “We are so proud of our historical ties to some of Scotland’s greatest literary experts, so it felt only right that this International Women’s Day, we launched a new offering for guests to delve back into the work of those women who once stayed and were inspired by where we now call home and learn more about more modern Scottish female authors too.”
1000 free photobooth sessions across Edinburgh + Glasgow
Fore Play Crazy Golf are ensuring their customers go home happy, celebrating International Day of Happiness for a whole weekend from 18th-20th March. It’s time to say cheese as Fore Play make their fun photo booth free for 1000 customers across the weekend in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Determined to put a smile on punters’ faces, Fore Play Crazy Golf’s photobooth-fun will be FREE for 1000 customers across both venues in Edinburgh and Glasgow for one weekend only, giving customers the chance to take home a special memento of their visit. With the extra magic of added props, Fore Play’s photobooths are the perfect way to make memories and round off your International Day of Happiness with 500 customers in each venue able to take advantage of the free snaps.
The Glasgow venue has also teamed up with locally-produced liqueur Liquid Oats, as part of the new #MadeInGlasgow campaign, putting smiles on faces with a special tasting session of the velvety drink.
Fore Play Crazy Golf and Liquid Oats are both part of a new hospitality-led campaign to attract visitors back into Glasgow and support incredible independents with over 60 venues across the city taking part in a new Food and Drink trail.
The trail encourages people to dine and drink their way around the city with Fore Play’s speciality dish, ‘She’s a Belter’ taking centre stage.
The delicious buttermilk-fried chicken burger is stacked on a toasted brioche bun with homemade slaw and spicy chipotle mayo. To accompany the signature dish is the ‘Long Irn Iced Bru’, a mouth-watering blend of vodka, gin, cointreau, bacardi, tequila, lime juice and Irn Bru.
Scottish vegan cream liqueur, Liquid Oats will be stopping by Fore Play’s Glasgow venue for a special tasting session on Friday 18th March from 5pm – 7pm, allowing customers to sample the sweet blend of whisky and oats, all handcrafted locally and sustainably in Glasgow. If you’re feeling confident, sample Liquid Oats for a pre-putting libation, or save it for the perfect post-round treat!
From sipping on playful cocktails, to enjoying tasty gourmet burgers to tackling their signature crazy golf courses, you’re guaranteed to have a little pep in your step after your time on and off the green at Fore Play Crazy Golf.
Ts&Cs
Photobooth – 1 photo session per group. A photo session includes 4 x shots taken and 1 x printed photo. Up to approx 150 customers per day, per venue.
Our weekly drop-in community gardening sessions, on Thursdays from 1 – 3pm, are open to everyone.
The community garden is inside the allotment, go through the gate from the back of Toby Carvery car park, past the containers, and its the gate on your right.
Last week we prepped beds, planted strawberries, beans and peas. More bed prep and making paths and areas for fruit bushes for this week.
Dress for the weather, wellies for the mud are best”
Police are appealing to the public for help to trace two teenagers reported missing from Musselburgh who are believed to have travelled within the East Lothian area together.
Ivana Scott, aged 15, and Noah Holmes, aged 14, were last seen around 4pm on Friday, 11 March, when they left Loretto School in Musselburgh.
They were seen walking along Goose Green Road in the town heading in the direction of Levenhall Links area.
Ivana is described as around 5ft 7in, of slim build with short brown hair and when last seen was wearing black jeans, a grey hoodie and a red beanie hat.
Noah is described as around 5ft 7ins, of slim build with brown hair. He was wearing black trousers and a maroon/purple hoodie when he was last seen.
Inspector Alan King said: “Concerns are growing for Ivana and Noah and we are urging anyone who may have seen them or know where they are to get in touch. In addition, if they see this appeal, please get in touch with us to let us know you are safe and well.
“It is believed they may have travelled to the Port Seton area or elsewhere in East Lothian. Noah is from Edinburgh so they may also have gone there.”
Anyone who can help is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 2558 or 2513 of Friday, 11 March, 2022.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has outlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to maximise its contribution to the UK Government’s community sponsorship scheme, whilst emphasising it must provide more clarity on how the scheme will work.
It is expected that Ukrainians will be able to apply to come to the UK if they have been matched with a ‘sponsor’ who will provide accommodation.
In a joint letter to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, the First Minister and First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford have proposed that the Scottish and Welsh Governments act as ‘super sponsors’.
This would enable Ukrainians to get clearance to come to Scotland or Wales quickly and be accommodated temporarily, while the Scottish and Welsh governments then work with local partners to provide longer term accommodation (including where appropriate with private individuals who have volunteered rooms), safeguarding and access to services.
The letter makes clear that no cap will be set by Scotland and Wales on the numbers of refugees they will welcome.
As an immediate commitment Scotland has offered to support 3,000 refugees in the initial wave, in line with the numbers that were resettled under the Syrian scheme. Overall, the Scottish Government is committed to welcoming at least a proportionate share of the total number who come to the UK. The letter says it is essential all arrivals have access to public funds including welfare benefits, and are exempted from the Habitual Residence Test for accessing these.
In addition, the First Ministers’ letter calls for urgent clarity on funding arrangements to support local government and suggests a per head funding arrangement similar to the Syrian and Afghanistan schemes to support resettlement and integration costs.
While committed to doing everything possible to make the UK government’s proposed scheme a success, the First Ministers also renewed their call on the UK Government to waive all visa requirements for Ukrainian nationals.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I want Scotland to play our full part in welcoming Ukrainians seeking sanctuary from war. The UK response so far has been beset with bureaucracy and red tape, when what is needed is humanity and urgent refuge for as many as possible.
“We are still awaiting full details of the proposed community sponsorship scheme. If the UK government is still unwilling to waive visa requirements, it is essential that this scheme works efficiently and effectively and allows people to come to the UK as quickly as possible.
“However, I am very worried that if people have to be matched with an individual sponsor before even being allowed entry to the UK, it will prove slow and cumbersome.
“That is why the First Minister of Wales and I have made the ‘super sponsor’ proposal. We are proposing that our governments act as initial ‘super sponsors’ to allow large numbers to come to our respective nations quickly.
“Once they are here, and accommodated temporarily, we will then work with local partners to match people with longer term accommodation, including from members of the public who are volunteering rooms, and put in place safeguarding and support services – but while we do all of this, people will be safely here.
“I have committed to supporting 3,000 Ukrainians coming to Scotland in the immediate wave – and at least a proportionate share of those who come to the UK overall.
“I hope the UK government agrees to this proposal so that we can get on with welcoming Ukrainians to Scotland as soon as possible.”
The full text of the letter is below:
Dear Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities,
Further to our conversation this morning where you and Richard Harrington set out the UK Government’s plans for a humanitarian sponsorship scheme, the Scottish and Welsh Governments committed to set out an offer on how we would like to support this initiative in Scotland and Wales. This offer is based on a desire to see our respective countries given maximum flexibility and therefore able to take maximum responsibility to work with partners in the public, private and third sectors to support refugees arriving from Ukraine.
However, we want to repeat again that it is neither reasonable nor morally acceptable to expect people fleeing war to go through complex bureaucratic processes in order to reach safety within the UK. The UK Government should be following the example of European countries including the Republic of Ireland by waiving all visa requirements for any Ukrainian nationals seeking refuge in the UK, as well as implementing the temporary protection regulations. This proposal should therefore be taken in this context – the Scottish and Welsh Governments do not think the humanitarian sponsorship scheme goes far enough and raises some serious questions which have not yet been answered.
We propose that the Scottish and Welsh Governments act as the overall sponsor for the scheme in Scotland and Wales. The phrase used on our call was “super sponsor”. In this context a fair and proportionate number of refugees would be allocated to Scotland and Wales and the Scottish and Welsh Governments, working with their partners, would take forward the provision of accommodation, safeguarding and access to services as they have done successfully to support refugees in the past. On this point, we welcomed Richard Harrington’s positive reflections this morning about the very good and collaborative work done by the UK and Devolved Administrations on previous refugee resettlement schemes.
For this to work, it is imperative that our Governments have full access to data on Scottish and Welsh offers of accommodation in your proposed digital portal and we will then assume responsibility for matching refugees to accommodation, including public sector, private sector and voluntary sector accommodation.
We would like to understand more about the intended process for due diligence and checks and can see, for example, the value in collaborative approaches to the Disclosure and Barring Service in England and Wales to ensure an expedited route for enhanced DBS checks is possible.
It is equally essential that all arrivals have access to Public Funds, arrivals are exempted from the Habitual Residence Test for accessing Universal Credit, and a per head tariff (similar to the Afghan / Syrian schemes) is provided to the Welsh and Scottish Governments for the provision of integration support.
You asked us to provide an initial estimate of capacity. You will appreciate that it is very hard to give that without any of the aforementioned work being done on sourcing accommodation and matching individuals. Nevertheless it would seem reasonable that as a first wave Scotland should plan to support an equivalent number of Ukraine refugees as were resettled under the Syrian scheme, so 3000; and in Wales 1000 refugees would be welcomed in this initial tranche. We would build capacity from there for each country to take its fair and proportionate share of the total number of refugees entering the UK.
There are significant risks around the suitability and scalability of the sponsorship model as you have described it and our shared view is that there is considerable work still to be done on safeguarding and matching. We are confident we can deliver a comprehensive offer in Scotland and in Wales which incorporates contributions from private citizens and the third sector but draws in the capacity of the wider public service and their experience of large scale resettlement in the past.
Local Authorities can and must play a vital role in supporting refugees seeking sanctuary in our communities both in the provision of accommodation and in access to services and this needs to be properly funded by the UK Government. We need urgent clarity on the funding position as soon as possible as we are currently supporting capacity building for this work at risk.
We are absolutely committed to playing our full part in responding to this crisis and are seeking the maximum flexibility to develop clear plans, based on evolving what has worked in the past. The Scottish and Welsh Governments, working with local authorities and other partners, are best placed to deliver and to ensure the arrangements put in place are safe, sustainable and offer true sanctuary to those fleeing war. As we indicated this morning, our support for this scheme is predicated on reaching agreement on this point.
Yours sincerely
Nicola Sturgeon
Mark Drakeford
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove will announce the UK Government’s plans at Westminster tomorrow.
Now that the weather is improving Police are expecting more people to be out and about on their motorbikes. Here are some tips on how to secure your motorbike:
– Ensure your bike is fitted with a combined alarm and immobiliser which will deter thieves when the alarm sounds.
– Attach both a disc lock and U-lock. Do not rely on one device, The more security placed on your bike, the less attractive it is to a thief.
– Try to park under street lights.
– When applying your locks, ensure they are secured to a solid anchor point or a permanent piece of street furniture. Keep the lock off the ground where possible as this makes it difficult for the thief to remove.
– Cover your motorcycle and ensure the cover is attached to the security device.
– Where possible use ‘Thatcham’ or ‘Secure by Design’ approved devices www.securedbydesign.com. These have been tested by the industry and are generally agreed to be some of the most robust security devices available.
– Ensure you always activate the steering lock.
– Avoid leaving your helmet or other possessions on the motorcycle, in luggage space or panniers.
– Be vigilant, ensure that you are not being followed home and check for suspicious items attached to your motorcycle.
Social Media
Think about what you share on any app and regularly review your security settings
– Make sure your posts do not identify your home and make it a target.
Tracking Devices
Tracking devices are an effective covert security measure. Although they may not prevent your motorcycle from being stolen, it will assist police in tracing and recovering the vehicle quickly.
Marking and Identification Systems
Datatag ID – Datatag is a piece of technology which can be attached to various parts of your motorcycle. It comes in different forms, dependent on what is most appropriate and is unique to each individual. For more information on this product, please visit www.datatag.co.uk.
Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, marked the end of Scottish Apprenticeship Week by meeting apprentices at the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the city centre.
Based on Bothwell Street, SLC has a growing Emerging Talent Programme with over 100 colleagues currently on its apprenticeship, graduate and internship programmes.
Kaukab Stewart said: “I welcome the innovative work of the SLC Emerging Talent Programme, supporting young and older people to train and developing skills for the wider digital economy.
“I’m particularly pleased to learn about the Career Ready Mentoring Programme and the recognition that people with particular barriers in the labour market are being supported the most in building more equal and diverse opportunities.”
During the visit, Kaukab was also given a tour of SLC’s new collaboration spaces and Stephen Campbell, SLC’s Chief Information Officer, talked about the importance of developing the skills of the workforce and investing in their futures.
He said: “Our apprentices play such an important role in our business. We offer young people the chance to unlock their potential and gain a recognised qualification, as well as valuable experience in the work environment.
“But we also believe it’s vital to develop the skills of our workforce, encouraging their career growth by providing them with the opportunity to upskill. It was fantastic to welcome Kaukab Stewart into our office today during such an important week for apprenticeships in Scotland.”
The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the number of apprenticeships in Scotland and Scottish Apprenticeship Week, co-ordinated by Skills Develop Scotland, highlights how apprenticeships are providing the skills employers need now and for the future.
New equipment is helping NHS Lothian to provide “first class treatment” to cervical cancer patients in the South East of Scotland.
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under 35 and around eight women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each day in the UK.
The new brachytherapy kit, from Elekta, allows the delivery of a high dose of radiation directly into the tumour and minimises damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.
Brachytherapy is a form of internal radiation therapy which targets the cancer directly.
Dr Mark Zahra, Consultant Clinical Oncologist & Clinical Lead for Radiotherapy at Edinburgh’s Cancer Centre, said: “This kit will help us to continue to provide first class treatment to patients with cervical cancer.
“It gives us more options than our previous brachytherapy equipment as it can treat larger tumours and expand the dose of radiation to the tumour, whilst protecting the normal organs.
“The Elekta kit is used alongside image-guided technology to really tailor treatment to the patient’s anatomy and needs and minimise the long-term health effects of radiotherapy.
“Together we expect these technologies to have a real impact on patients’ cure rates and comfort.”
Edinburgh Cancer Centre has used image-guided brachytherapy for gynaecological cancers for over 10 years and is the first in Scotland to use Elekta technology. The technology will now be routinely used for all eligible patients in the South East of Scotland with gynaecological cancers.
Dr Zahra continued: “Edinburgh Cancer Centre is a leader in innovative treatments and progress such as this could not have been possible without a huge team effort.
“We strive to provide the best possible care we can and share our research and learning to help improve outcomes for patients everywhere.”
Over 99% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV. HPV is very common and four out of five people in Scotland will have it at some point in their lives.
HPV vaccines are offered to all S1 pupils and can prevent around 75% of cervical cancer cases. Alongside the vaccine, it’s vital to attend cervical screenings (smear tests) when invited.
