The Chancellor is in Edinburgh today to showcase the support the UK Government is providing the people of Scotland through a £37bn package.
It comes after July’s National Insurance Contribution threshold rise for workers across Scotland, putting £330 back into the pockets of a typical employee this year and saving households over £260m.
The Chancellor will also be meeting leaders of Scotland’s green energy industry, emphasising our drive to improve Britain’s energy security.
The Chancellor will today reaffirm the UK Government commitment to help the people of Scotland with rising costs in the coming months, as it continues to deliver its £37bn package of support.
On a visit to Edinburgh, Nadhim Zahawi will also emphasise the UK Government’s commitment to energy security and making sure we have the green supplies of power we need for the future.
He will be meeting some of the figures who have led Scotland to the cutting edge of green power generation technology, as well as apprentices starting out in the industry. His visit will take in one of Scotland’s leading companies in the field of tidal energy as well a windfarm capable of providing power to up to 11,000 homes.
This comes in the same week that Chancellor began a series of meetings with energy generation companies as part of ongoing discussions on what more the industry can do to ensure markets function effectively for consumers.
The visit comes as the UK government is providing 689,000 households in Scotland with the £650 cost of living payment as well as £400 to help people with their energy bills, from October, over the winter months. It has also committed an extra £82 million for the Scottish Government to help vulnerable families at their discretion – in addition to the significant income tax and welfare powers they already have.
The UK Government has also launched the Review of Electricity Markets Arrangement to address higher energy costs, the need to boost energy security and the need to move the UK to a cleaner energy system as well as the Energy Security Bill, the most ambitious piece of legislation in the sector for more than a decade.
Zahawi is also sitting down with the leaders of Scotland’s financial services industry, which employs thousands of people in Scotland. He will listen to their concerns and emphasise the UK Government’s commitment to the sector.
The Chancellor will also meet performers from the world-famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “I know families across Scotland are feeling anxious about rising costs and the UK Government has stepped in to ease pressures on household budgets.
“We delivered an unprecedented level of support in July with a National Insurance cut that will put £330 back into workers’ pockets this year, while many of Scotland’s most vulnerable households have already received the first instalment of a £650 Cost of Living Payment.
“And there’s more to come. Not only will the second instalment of that payment arrive this autumn, but I’ve been clear that we are absolutely committed to bringing an equivalent to the £400 energy bills discount to Northern Ireland as soon as possible to ease the burden on families.
“We will continue to help support families in Northern Ireland through the global pressures we are all facing.”
The UK Government has provided a record £41 billion annual settlement for the next three years and we will continue to work collaboratively with them.
TALKS to resolve the local government workers strike ended without an agreement being reached yesterday.
Unions had sought clarity over a 5% offer tabled at a meeting with local government organisation Cosla but the employers were unable to give sufficient reassurances to enable unions to call off planned strikes across the country.
This means the ongoing strike in Edinburgh will continue, with other council areas also being hit by industrial action for the first time today.
Edinburgh North and Leith SNP MP Deirdre Brock said the capital’s Labour-run council had failed to put forward a decent pay offer.
Edinburgh council’sLabour leader Cammy Day was criticised last week for offering just 3.5% to council workers while other council leaders were pushing for a 5%pay rise for their workers.
Ms Brock said: “The SNP in government put an extra £140m on the table, on top of the £100m extra given to councils earlier in the year, yet Labour refused to offer that money to refuse workers for over a week, leaving our capital streets an eyesore.
“Residents and tourists alike need to see a plan from Labour to clean up the capital starting today. All we’ve seen so far is ineptitude.”
Her Edinburgh SNP colleague Angus Robertson MSP weighed in:
The Labour administration in Edinburgh is propped up by the Scottish Conservatives and the Lib Dems, but the Tory Local Government spokesperson Miles Briggs MSP had a go at both the Labour-led council and the SNP Holyrood government:
Lamenting the city council’s ‘astounding’ lack of contingency planning – trade unions have made their plans very clear in the run-up to the strike – Lothians list MSP Miles Briggs said: “More could have been done to prepare the city, such as working with private companies or providing additional bins.
“The SNP government must get around the table and fix this before it’s too late. They cannot stand by and watch while a situation that they created by giving councils a poor funding settlement spirals out of control.”
Scotish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole Hamilton lays the blame squarely on the Scottish Government:
“Think of the white elephants the SNP has splurged cash on: independence, the ferries debacle, the embassies so they can play ‘dress-up diplomat’. All of this could have gone to councils to allow them to settle these very reasonable pay expectations.”
Talking of white elephants, our cash-strapped city council chose yesterday to announce £1 BILLION plans for a new North-South tram line … but that’s another story!
Responding to the Edinburgh refuse workers’ industrial action, Labour Lothian list MSP Foysul Choudhury said:“SNP representatives should get off their high horse about the ongoing industrial action when they should have been canvassing their own party in the Scottish Government to agree extra cash with COSLA for councils to pay workers a fair wage, rather than expecting Edinburgh City Council to cut services elsewhere.
“It is up to the Scottish Government and COSLA to agree further funding, and then up to COSLA and the unions to agree the terms of any new pay deal, not Edinburgh City Council. As a former City Councillor, Deidre Brock knows this and yet has pretended otherwise in the media.
“Nobody wants to see the streets of Edinburgh in their current state, but the ongoing industrial action shows what a crucial job refuse and recycling workers do and demonstrates why we should be paying them fairly for their work.
“At the same time it is ridiculous for SNP representatives to lay the strike at the hands of a Labour-led council when it is their party which has repeatedly slashed local government budgets in real terms, forcing councils to cut their services to the bone.
“If the SNP really wanted to avoid these strikes rather than play politics, they should have come to an agreement with COSLA sooner, or better still, avoided imposing successive years of painful austerity for local authorities across Scotland.”
UNITE City of Edinburgh Branch pointed out: “Misinformation on #edinburghbinstrikes today is rife. Strike is a national dispute—one council can’t stop it. 14 more councils tomorrow.
“Local government funding has been slashed for a decade. Idea that 5% definitely would have stopped this is a fantasy. An insulting one at that.”
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer is backing the striking unions. In a tweet yesterday, Ms Foyer said: “Solidarity to all of you. Keep fighting!
“All Scotland’s local government workers deserve a decent pay rise for the vital work you do. Let’s show our support on the picket lines across Scotland tomorrow.”
PLANNED INDUSTRIAL ACTION:
Unison
School and early years workers will strike on 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September, joining UNISON waste and recycling staff who will have already started their strike action on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th August and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September.
Unite
Strikes will be held between the 18th August – 30th in Edinburgh with a second wave expected in a further 14 local authorities this week.
Aberdeen City, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
In the first wave of action cleansing workers will strike in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire councils for the first wave of strike action to take place on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th August and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September.
Cleansing workers will strike in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire councils for the first wave of strike action to take place on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th August and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September.
City of Edinburgh Council: Disruption to Waste Services
We appreciate the impact and inconvenience this will cause you and appreciate your understanding. Please help us to keep the city as clean and safe as possible during the strike by following this guidance:
Regularly check our website and Twitter account for updates on services suspended and when collections will restart in your area. Be aware normal collections may take a while to get back to schedule after the strike ends.
Don’t put any bins, boxes or bags out for collection until the situation changes.
Stock up on strong black bags, and be prepared to fill, seal and store these with extra waste.
When separating your recycling, please try to flatten all cardboard and crush drinks cans and bottles. You can bag these up, separated, to empty into the recycling bin when you can.
Store waste sensibly and safely. If possible, use and share empty garage space with your neighbours or store bags in your garden or driveway.
Don’t store waste in stairwells or landings, where it could become a fire hazard.
Be careful not to block bin chutes or overfill them.
Keep all food waste separate and in an enclosed container, to help prevent smells attracting wildlife.
Talk to your neighbours and share responsibility for keeping spillages to a minimum. Help neighbours who may need support managing their waste. Explain the situation to those who may not have heard.
Please do not leave bags or any bulky items next to full bins. These will not get cleared away and could become a hazard.
Join with neighbours to do local litter picking clean ups, especially around on-street bins and litter bins on your street.
If a bin is full to overflowing, don’t use it, particularly for dog fouling. Please either use a bin that’s not full or take it home and double bag it to reduce smells.
Report a waste emergency
If you need to report an emergency issue where waste is causing injury or hazard call us and listen to select an option carefully. Phone 0131 608 1100, from Monday -Thursday 1000-1600 and Friday 1000-1500. After these hours, phone 0131 200 2000.
You can also email waste@edinburgh.gov.uk with the specific location and details of the issue.
