The tents are up, the sun is out and we are now counting down the days until we bring you our 2023 festival!
We open the gates to our site in the Lodge Grounds at 10am on Friday and we can’t wait to welcome you inside.
Fringe by the Sea is for everyone: big people, little people, four-legged friends so, whether you’re coming to see a show or not, you can still soak up the festival atmosphere at the North Berwick Trust Festival Hub with free live music and performances from the Lighthouse Live Stage, have a wander round the stalls at the Coulters Makers’ Market, grab a bite to eat at our Street Food Village or Pincho tapas bar, or a drink from our new container bars.
All the big headline shows have now sold out but with more than 225 events in the programme, there is a lot more to uncover whether you’re looking for family fun, musical gems or inspiring talks.
Police Scotland’s next Chief Constable, Jo Farrell, will take up post on 9 October.
Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone QPM will leave office on 10 August with Deputy Chief Constable Designate Fiona Taylor QPM taking on the responsibilities of Chief Constable in the interim period.
The three senior officers met with Justice Secretary Angela Constance and Scottish Police Authority Chair Martyn Evans at Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan, yesterday (Tuesday, 1 August).
Sir Iain said: “An effective handover which maintains stability in Police Scotland was a key priority in my retirement plans and I will continue to work with Fiona and Jo to that end.”
DCC Designate Taylor said: “My focus will be on ensuring effective policing is maintained for the communities of Scotland and I will support the effective handover from Sir Iain to Chief Constable Farrell.”
Chief Constable Farrell said: “I thank Sir Iain and Fiona for their work to ensure a smooth transition when I take command of Police Scotland.”
The leadership arrangements were agreed by the Scottish Police Authority.
Chair Martyn Evans said: “An effective and stable handover during this leadership transition is a priority and I am grateful to Sir Iain and Jo Farrell for their commitment and support.”
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “I’m pleased to meet Jo Farrell ahead of her taking up post as Chief Constable and looking forward to working with her in the years to come.”
In June 2023, there were 116,244 attendances at major (Type 1) Emergency Departments across Scotland.
69% of patients were seen within four-hours at major Emergency Departments.
This is an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the previous month.
36,015 patients waited over four-hours in major Emergency Departments, this is a decrease of 7.7% from the previous month and an 3.8% decrease from June 2022.
It is encouraging to see performance improving but it is still well below the target to see 95% of patients in four-hours or less. This is the second worst June on record. The number waiting more than four hours was an increase of 296% compared with June 2021.
9,489 (8.2%) patients waited eight-hours or more in an Emergency Department
This is a decrease of 16.5% from the previous month, and a 0.9% decrease compared with June 2022.
2,991 (2.6%) patients waited more than 12-hours before being seen, admitted, discharged, or transferred
This figure has decreased by 24.2% from the previous month, and an increase of 30.6% compared with June 2022.
Responding, RCEM Scotland Vice President Dr John-Paul Loughrey, said:“A&E performance in Scotland is slowly trending in the right direction. Our members continue to work hard to reduce delays, mitigate dangerous overcrowding and improve patient care and these figures are in no small part thanks to them.
“To capitalise on these improvements, we hope to have continued engagement with the Health Secretary and support from Scottish Government. Now is the time to plan and prepare for winter and provide adequate resources and beds as well as measures to retain staff.
“Our #ResuscitateEmergencyCare campaign lays out the necessary steps we need to take to ensure the health service is equipped to deliver effective, high-quality care and prevent another catastrophic winter.”
Monday to Saturday – 10am to 5pm (last entry 4.30pm)
Price – Free
See the world’s best photojournalism for free, at the only venue in the UK to host this exhibition.
This year’s World Press Photo Contest winners, chosen from thousands of entrants, highlight the climate crisis, community, war’s impact on civilians, and the importance of press photography around the world.
There’s no need to book – the exhibition will be free to view in the Main Hall during opening hours.
World Press Photo exists to celebrate and champion photojournalism and documentary photography.
This year the winners were chosen out of over 60,000 photographs and open format entries, by over 3,700 photographers from 127 countries.
The Scottish Parliament has been one of the only UK venues to host this global exhibition since 2006.
Special preview tour with curator (and BSL interpreter) – Friday 4 August, 2pm
Join us for a tour of the exhibition by the World Press Curator Mariana Rettore Baptista, and see the exhibition before anyone else!
Mariana will talk about the background to the stories and themes covered, and why they were chosen to feature in the exhibition.
This is a free tour, open to the public, but spaces are limited. Spaces will also be given to BSL users, as there will be a BSL interpreter present:
UK Government will continue to top-up the Scottish Government’s tax revenues, worth £1.4 billion last year, as a benefit of strength and scale of the UK.
Boost to borrowing powers and backing of Barnett formula will build a better future for Scotland and help to grow the economy.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen hails a fair and responsible deal in line with the Prime Minister’s economic priorities.
The UK and Scottish Governments have today reached an agreement on an updated Fiscal Framework.
Holyrood’s capital borrowing powers will rise in line with inflation, enabling the Scottish Government to invest further in schools, hospitals, roads and other key infrastructure that will help to create better paid jobs and opportunity in Scotland.
The new deal maintains the Barnett formula, through which the Scottish Government receives over £8 billion more funding each year than if it received the levels of UK Government spending per person elsewhere in the UK. It also updates funding arrangements in relation to court revenues and the Crown Estate.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said:“This is a fair and responsible deal that has been arrived at following a serious and proactive offer from the UK Government.
“We have kept what works and listened to the Scottish Government’s calls for greater certainty and flexibility to deliver for Scotland.
“The Scottish Government can now use this for greater investment in public services to help the people of Scotland prosper. These are the clear benefits of a United Kingdom that is stronger as a union.”
The funding arrangements for tax will be continued, with the Scottish Government continuing to keep every penny of devolved Scottish taxes while also receiving an additional contribution from the rest of the UK.
Under the previous Fiscal Framework, the Scottish Government could borrow £450 million per year within a £3 billion cap, as well as receiving a Barnett-based share of UK Government borrowing. Going forward these amounts will instead rise in line with inflation, which supports additional investment across Scotland and lays the foundations for economic growth.
The UK Government has listened to calls from the Scottish Government for greater certainty and flexibility to help them manage their Budget and agreed a permanent doubling of the resource borrowing annual limit from £300 million to £600 million.
Limits on how much can be withdrawn from the Scotland Reserve to spend in future years will also be removed. This will boost spending through borrowing by £90 million in 2024/25. All future limits will increase in line with inflation.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:“The renewed Fiscal Framework shows what can be achieved when there is a collaborative focus on delivering economic opportunity and why we are stronger and more prosperous as one United Kingdom.
“The deal – worth billions of pounds to Scotland over the coming years – builds upon work to support economic growth and provide more high skill jobs, investment and future opportunities for local people, such as the establishment of Investment Zones and Freeports in Scotland.
“The UK Government knows that high prices are still a huge worry for families. That’s why we’re sticking to our plan to halve inflation, reduce debt and grow the economy. As well as providing targeted cost of living support, we are directly investing more than £2.4 billion in hundreds of projects across Scotland as we help level up the country.”
As both governments continue to work together to tackle challenges like the cost of living, an updated Fiscal Framework equips the Scottish Government with the instruments for growth while protecting the wider public finances.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said: “This is a finely balanced agreement that gives us some extra flexibility to deal with unexpected shocks, against a background of continuing widespread concern about the sustainability of UK public finances and while it is a narrower review than we would have liked, I am grateful to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for reaching this deal.
“As I set out in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, we are committed to tackling poverty, building a fair, green and growing economy, and improving our public services to make them fit for the needs of future generations.
“We still face a profoundly challenging situation and will need to make tough choices in the context of a poorly performing UK economy and the constraints of devolution, to ensure finances remain sustainable.”
This morning the UK and Scottish governments have published the long-awaited update to the Fiscal Framework, following the review that has been going on for the last couple of years (writes MAIRI SPOWAGE of the Fraser of Allander Institute).
Since this was due to happen in 2021, we have been waiting for the outcome of this review. For more background, see our blog from late 2021.
For those new to it, the Fiscal Framework sets out the rules for how devolution of tax and social security powers following the Scotland Act 2016 is supposed to work in terms of finances. It sets out the mechanisms by which the Scottish block grant is adjusted to reflect the fact that large amounts of tax and social security powers are now the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.
It also sets out fiscal flexibilities that the Scottish Government can choose to use in managing these new powers, as new tax and social security powers also come with risks that require to be managed.
In this blog, we set out the main headlines and our initial reaction to the updates.
The mechanism for adjusting the Block Grant will remain permanently as the Index Per Capita (IPC) method.
This is one of the most complex areas of the fiscal framework but definitely one of the most significant.
For tax, it sets out the mechanism for working out how much the UK Government has “given up” by devolving a tax to Scotland, given that it is a significant loss in revenue. As, following devolution, there are different policies pursued in rest of UK and Scotland, this is not straightforward. Essentially though, the mechanism agreed in 2016 was to grow the tax at the point of devolution at the rate, per person, that it grows in the rest of the UK. This is known as the Index Per Capita (IPC) method.
So, the idea is that if taxes per head grow quicker in Scotland, the Scottish Budget will be better off – conversely, if taxes per head grow more slowly, the Scottish Budget will be worse off.
In 2016, when the fiscal framework was first agreed, the IPC method was the SG’s preference, whereas the UKG preferred the “Comparable Method” (which would generally be worse than the IPC method for the Scottish Budget). SO they agreed to use IPC for the first 5 years and review it in this review published today.
They have now agreed that the IPC method will remain on a permanent basis.
Interestingly, this means that on a permanent basis, the mechanisms for adjusting the block grants for Wales and Scotland will be different, given Wales’s Fiscal Framework uses the Comparable Method, albeit with additional provisions to keep a funding floor in place.
Borrowing Powers for managing forecast error have been increased significantly
Resource borrowing powers to manage forecast error associated with tax and social security powers have been increased from £300m to £600m. This is required because when budgets are set, the tax, social security and block grant adjustment estimates are set on the basis of forecasts from both the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Office for Budget Responsibility. When the outturn data is available, if there is a discrepancy (which is very likely) then the Scottish Budget has to reconcile these differences.
This will be good news for the Deputy First Minister looking ahead to delivering her first budget in December, given that it was confirmed recently that there will be a large negative reconciliation to reflect income tax receipts in 2021-22 of £390m. As these changes are coming into effect for the 2024-25 budget year, this means she will have more flexibility to borrow to cover this.
All limits, such as resource and capital borrowing powers, will be uprated in line with inflation
When the Fiscal Framework was first agreed, the limits on borrowing for both resource and capital, and the limits for what could be put into the Scotland reserve, were set in cash terms and have been fixed ever since.
This agreement today sets out that the ones that remain will be uprated by inflation (although the exact inflation measure and timing is still to be confirmed), and that the limits on the additions and drawdowns on the Scotland Reserve will also be abolished.
The VAT Assignment can gets kicked down the road again
One thing that is a little disappointing is that there was no final decision on VAT Assignment. See our blog from 2019 to get the background in this.
VAT Assignment was included as part of the Smith Commission powers. The idea was that half of VAT raised in Scotland would be assigned to the Scottish Budget, which would mean, if the Scottish Economy was performing better than the UK as a whole, the budget would be better off, and conversely, if VAT was growing less quickly in Scotland, the budget would be worse off.
However, after almost 10 years, it has become clear that there is no way to estimate VAT in Scotland that is precise enough for this to have budgetary implications. It is a large amount of money (more than £5 billion) so even small fluctuations in how it is estimated can mean changes of hundreds of millions of pounds.
Today, the Governments have agreed to just keep discussing it. We think it is time that everyone admitted it is just not a sensible idea.
We’ll keep digging through the detail of everything published today and will provide more commentary through our weekly update on Friday.
First wave of exciting film talent set to visit the city at this year’s EIFF include Shane Meadows, Irvine Welsh, Ella Lily Hyland, Ira Sachs, Paul Higgins,and Fran Rubel Kuzui
Industry professionals and EIFF alumni invited to reconnect at Talent Assemble event
Edinburgh International Film Festival, this year hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, has announced its first wave of guests appearing at this year’s edition alongside a special Talent Assemble event celebrating the festival’s community of filmmaking talent.
Talent Assemble
Talent Assemble is a special event to celebrate EIFF’s community of filmmakers and give thanks to the wider industry for the goodwill and supportive energy shown to the Festival this year.
In partnership with BBC Film, BBC Scotland and MG ALBA, Talent Assemble will introduce and reconnect alumni of EIFF’s many talent development initiatives and raise a glass to the wealth of emerging and established talent who have made EIFF a vibrant Festival, bursting with creativity year after year.
Filmmakers who have screened work in the Festival in the past, and industry professionals who have taken part in the myriad EIFF talent development schemes, who are interested in attending are encouraged to get in touch with the Festival. More information can be found at https://www.eif.co.uk/edinburgh-international-film-festival/talent-assemble
Guests at EIFF 2023
On 18 August, the Festival opens with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from BAFTA-nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington.
Barrington will be in attendance to present the film, alongside the film’s stars Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Louis McCartney, Mark Lockyer, and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education).
On 19 August, acclaimed director Ira Sachs (Love is Strange, Little Men) will be on hand to present his intimate new feature Passages, the thorniest and horniest film of the year. Sachs will also be taking part in a special Sunday Salon event on 20th August, discussing queer cinema and representations of intimacy with 2020 Booker Prize nominated writer Brandon Taylor (Real Life, The Late Americans).
Filmmaker Ella Glendining will be at the festival to present her smart, honest and beautifully illuminating documentary Is There Anybody Out There? which examines questions of disability on a journey to find herself in others.
Writer/director Karoline Lyngbye joins the Festival to present Superposition, her stylish and chilling existential thriller.
While in the Festival’s weekend of outdoor screenings, Cinema Under the Stars, director Charlotte Regan presents her Sundance award-winning feature film Scrapper.
On the 20 August, feel-good LGBTQ+ romance Chuck Chuck Baby receives its World Premiere, with director Janis Pugh in attendance.
Filmmakers Sam H. Freeman (whose television work includes Industry and This Is Going To Hurt) and Ng Choon Ping attend the Festival to present their tense, stylish thriller about desire and self-loathing, Femme.
Director Bette Gordon joins the Festival for the special 40th anniversary retrospective screening of her neo-noir feminist classic Variety.
Huw Lemmey (host of podcast Bad Gays)presents Ungentle, a thought-provoking study of British espionage and homosexual identity.
At Cinema Under the Stars, artist Julia Parks presents Wool Aliens (and other films), a series of short films, created during a residency in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. The screenings are preceded by a performance from musician Miwa Nagato-Apthorp. –
On 21 August, Director Hope Dickson-Leach (The Levelling) joins cast member David Hayman to present the World Premiere of her atmospheric Edinburgh-set period thriller The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.
David Hayman also joins writer/director Paris Zarcilla to present his chilling debut film Raging Grace, a haunting gothic horror which recently took the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival.
Jeanie Finlay arrives in Edinburgh to present her rousing portrait of author, activist and podcaster Aubrey Gordon in Your Fat Friend.
On 22 August, Kill, a nail-biting debut feature from director Rodger Griffiths, assembles an exceptional cast of Scottish talent in a gritty and bloody revenge story. Griffiths will attend the Festival alongside the film’s stars Paul Higgins (The Thick of It), Daniel Portman (Game of Thrones), Callum Ross,Anita Vettesse, and Brian Vernel (Dunkirk).
A forgotten gem of American indie cinema, Tokyo Pop is newly restored to mark the film’s 35th anniversary, and the Festival is thrilled that writer/director Fran Rubel Kuzui (who later went on to direct the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie)and producer Kaz Kuzui will present the film.
Lead actor Thomas Schubert of Afire is in town to present the Festival’s screening of the film: a sharp and funny take on the struggles of creativity.
Dead Man’s Shoes, Shane Meadows’ radical revenge thriller, had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film festival in 2004. Now nearly twenty years on, Shane Meadows joins the Festival alongside producer Mark Herbert for a special retrospective gala to celebrate the film’s extraordinary legacy. –
On closing night 23 August,celebrated author Irvine Welsh will join director Ian Jeffries to present the World Premiere of their collaborative new documentary Choose Irvine Welsh, charting the author’s life and philosophy in his own words and those of his collaborators and admirers.
The 2023 Edinburgh International Film festival closes with stylish deadpan dramedy Fremont, presented by the film’s director Babak Jalali and writer Carolina Cavalli (Amanda).
Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August.
Investigations are being carried out at the Western General Hospital following detection of Legionella bacteria in water supplying parts of the radiotherapy treatment area.
The source has been isolated and there have been no cases of infection in patients or staff. The type of Legionella detected does not usually cause infection in humans.
In line with national guidance, a thorough programme of disinfection and cleaning is being carried out and services temporarily relocated to minimise any potential risk.
Essential patient services are continuing to be provided in other areas of the building.
Two specialist radiotherapy treatment machines (Linacs) have been temporarily closed while remedial works continue. Patients who are normally treated on these Linacs will be reallocated to one of the other five treatment machines at the Western General Hospital which are not affected.
The remaining radiotherapy machines will be run for extended hours to ensure patient appointments continue to be allocated and carried out as quickly as possible.
Alison MacDonald, Nurse Director, NHS Lothian said: “Legionella bacteria was detected during routine water sampling as part of our building monitoring and hygiene vigilance measures.”
“The risk to patients and staff is low but we’ve enhanced infection and control measures across the building as a precaution.
“We assure patients that radiotherapy treatments will continue to be carried out as quickly as possible and apologise to anyone who has been affected or had their appointment rescheduled.”
The situation is being closely monitored and continuously assessed. Patients will be kept informed of any changes and should speak to their treatment team if they have any concerns.
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL’s COMMUNITIES PROGRAMME
‘celebrating the diverse voices, stories and talent of local people, from across the city and beyond’ – NOELLE COBEN, EIBF Communities Programme Director
As a charitable non-profit making organisation, the work of the Book Festival stretches far beyond the month of August. Our Communities Programme runs year-round and isfocused on inspiring and empowering people of all ages and backgrounds.
Our dedicated team work closely with local organisations to create tailored events and activities for a range of community groups throughout Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.
This year we have:
developed a new partnership with The Ripple Project to bring monthly author events to their social club for older adults
worked with young people and staff from NHS Lothian’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) on a three-day creative writing and illustration project
facilitated sessions with our Writer in Residence, Chris Barkley, for young people at The Alternative School at Spartans Community Football Academy
… and so much more.
As an outpouring of this year-round work, we run a series of events during the Festival that have been created both for and by those taking part in the programme. We can’t wait to share them with you!
STORIES AND SCRAN
Stories and Scran – Mon 14 Aug | 19:30 – 20:45
Stories and Scran returns for its fourth year – a joyful event celebrating the dynamic and thought-provoking work created by our Citizen participants.
The evening includes a sweet snack provided by Scran Academy (a catering social enterprise based in North Edinburgh) and readings and performances from local groups across the city.
Tickets are on a Pay What You Can basis.
LETTERS OF HOPE
Letters of Hope – Mon 21 Aug | 19:00 – 20:00
What would you tell an outsider about where you live? What hopeful things would you write to your future self?
These were two creative questions our writer in residence, Chris Barkley, has been exploring with young people from the Spartans Alternative School.
Featuring short film, music, and readings, this event celebrates the diverse voices and creative talent of local young people.
Tickets are on a Pay What You Can basis.
OUR CITY, OUR STORIES
Our City, Our Stories – Various dates | 18:15 – 19:15
Our City, Our Stories is an inspiring, recurring event, showcasing new writing from both professional and non-professional writers across our Citizen project (and other community-based groups including Intercultural Youth Scotland and Open Book).
Join to hear them perform their stories: a collective love letter to Edinburgh.
These events are free.
RETURN TO PLANET CITIZEN
Return to Planet Citizen – Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug
Explore the weird, wonderful world of Planet Citizen in this multi-media installation. You’ll find artifacts, writing, and impressions of a planet as far away as imagination can take you.
Return to Planet Citizen was created by pupils from St. Thomas of Aquin’s RC High School and Tynecastle High School in collaboration with professional artists. Join free 20-minute tours of Planet Citizen every 30 minutes (last tour 15:30).
This event is free.
Beyond the Book Festival Village …
Aware that not everyone can attend Book Festival events in person, our Communities Team work closely with partners and institutions to bring events to groups who might otherwise be excluded. This is thanks largely to the support of the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
This August, author/illustrators Rob Biddulph and Nadia Shireen will visit the wards of the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, for instance,and writers including Jenni Fagan, Doug Johnstone, and Alan Bissett will visit six prisons across Scotland.
We hope this newsletter has given you a taster for some of the amazing work our Communities Programme are involved in.
Police have launched their summer campaign to keep people safe throughout the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe 2023.
From Tuesday, 1 August, an enhanced policing presence will be deployed throughout the Capital’s city centre as part of Operation Summer City to engage with the public and offer a range of crime prevention and personal safety advice.
In addition, the dedicated patrols will deter and detect criminal activity and provide public reassurance.
Local officers from across Edinburgh will be supported throughout Operation Summer City by colleagues from neighbouring divisions, as well as a range of national and specialist departments within Police Scotland.
Each day there we be a mobile police station in the High Street, where the public can report any crime or suspicious activity they experience, or receive in-person safety information from the officers working within.
Throughout the duration of the campaign, the Edinburgh Division social media channels will be used to provide crime prevention advice and other guidance aimed at safeguarding the public from harm.
Local residents and visitors to the city alike are asked to follow Police Scotland Edinburgh on Facebook and @PSOSEdinburgh on Twitter.
Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton from Edinburgh Division said: “The Edinburgh Festivals form the largest festival in the world and turns an international spotlight on the Capital. As such, we must ensure that the policing response is adequate and proportionate during this time.
“From 1 August we will have increased foot patrols within the city centre and officers will provide a visible and reassuring presence to all of those who live, work and visit the area over the course of the Festival and Fringe.
“We benefit greatly from our ability to call upon additional resources from across Police Scotland and I am grateful to the officers coming from other local policing divisions and specialisms who will enhance our response capability for Operation Summer City. We also work closely with event organisers to ensure the event spaces are safe and enjoyable for everyone who attends.
“Throughout the duration of the Military Tattoo, there will be an Air Restriction Zone in place around the Castle esplanade, Castlehill, Lawnmarket and Johnstone Terrace.
“The restriction operates from 4pm until midnight between Thursday, 3 August and Saturday, 26 August. This is to ensure the safety of all of the Tattoo performers and attendees and means that unauthorised drone flying within this area is strictly prohibited.
“Despite the population of Edinburgh doubling during the coming weeks, I am confident the Capital will remain a safe place for both tourists and local residents, but nonetheless, I would ask that anyone who sees anything suspicious during their time within the area reports their concerns to police immediately.
“In addition, I’d encourage the public to follow our social media channels so they can stay up to date with all relevant crime prevention and safety information we will be publishing.”
Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton, Operation Summer City Silver Commander, has shared the following message:
Yesterday we launched Operation Summer City 2023 to keep the public safe during the festival season.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps meets with industry leaders to discuss the Government’s energy security and business plans to invest over £100bn, including to accelerate renewables, to help grow our economy
Discussions include new powers to protect critical energy infrastructure from disruptive protest groups and maintain energy supply
Summit hosted at No10 Downing Street as part of Government push to strengthen energy security, support jobs and attract investment in the UK’s energy industry
Leaders of the UK’s energy industry will meet in Downing Street today to discuss their plans to collectively invest over £100bn and create jobs around the country, working with Government to boost energy security.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps will meet a wide range of energy companies – including EDF, SSE, Shell and BP, who collectively have multi-billion pound plans to invest in low and zero-carbon projects.
Each of these will support thousands of jobs across the country, which could help reduce household energy bills while delivering cleaner, more secure sources of energy, to deliver on the ambition to have the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe by 2035.
Mr Shapps will outline Government measures to protect UK energy supplies from disruption both at home and abroad. He will highlight decisions to invest in home-grown energy sources – including renewables, a revival in nuclear power, and backing North Sea oil and gas.
But he will also highlight measures to protect critical energy infrastructure from disruptive protests. This follows in the wake of protests such as those at the Kingsbury and Thurrock clusters of oil terminals and Grangemouth refinery.
The Public Order Act now includes a new criminal offence of interfering with key national infrastructure – including oil refineries – aimed at preventing protests from causing or threatening public safety or serious disruption.
It particularly addresses tactics that these protesters have used such as locking on and tunneling.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We need to send the message loud and clear to the likes of Putin that we will never again be held to ransom with energy supply. The companies I am meeting in Downing Street today will be at the heart of that.
“Energy industry leaders can see that this Government will back home-grown, secure energy – whether that’s renewables, our revival in nuclear, or our support for our vital oil and gas industry in the North Sea.
“But it is a sad reality that we also need to protect our critical national infrastructure from disruptive protests. Today I’ll be setting out what we are doing to achieve this and want to hear from the energy companies the vital work they are doing in this area.”
Energy firms have demonstrated their confidence to invest in the UK, and collectively the firms meeting at 10 Downing Street plan to invest tens of billions over the next decade in energy projects across the country.
Some of these investment commitments include:
Shell UK aims to invest £20-25 billion in the UK energy system over the next 10 years. More than 75% of this is intended for low and zero-carbon products and services.
BP intends to invest up to £18bn in the UK to the end of 2030.
SSE plc have announced plans to invest £18bn up to 2027 in low carbon infrastructure creating 1,000 new jobs every year to 2025. SSE’s plans could see it invest up to £40bn across the decade to 2031/32.
National Grid plc will be investing over £16bn in the five-year period to 2026.
EDF have outlined plans to invest £13bn to 2025.
RWE have an ambition to invest up to £15bn in clean energy infrastructure in the UK by 2030.
To provide greater reassurance and support to industry, the Energy Security Secretary will outline the range of measures the Government is taking to protect energy infrastructure from intentional disruption, as well as maintaining the network’s strong resilience.
This includes:
The Public Order Act, with specific powers coming into effect in July to protect critical infrastructure;
Working with the Police to ensure protestors cannot gain unauthorised access to sites;
The work of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, whose 1,300 officers and 300 support staff operate to protect nuclear sites across England, Scotland and Wales
The Energy Security Secretary will also discuss progress on major UK energy investment projects across renewable projects, oil and gas, new nuclear, and new technologies such as carbon capture.
They include:
Carbon capture – earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced two further projects in Humber and the North East of Scotland, which can move towards becoming clusters for this new technology – alongside eight already being considered, and two existing clusters in the North East, and in the North West and Wales.
Oil and gas – The Prime Minister has also confirmed future licensing rounds will continue for the extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea – while the North Sea Transition Authority reports they have received over 115 bids from 76 companies in the latest licensing round.
Nuclear – companies can now register their interest with the UK’s new organisation, Great British Nuclear, to secure funding support to develop new technologies including Small Modular Reactors.
Offshore wind – the UK has the world’s largest operational wind farms off its shores, with plans for further development off the East Anglia Coast and at Dogger Bank in the North East which could collectively provide enough clean energy for over 6.5million homes.
