POLICE are continuing to appeal for information to help trace missing man Daniel Fraser two weeks since he was last seen in Musselburgh.
Around 1.37am on Sunday, 7 January, the 35-year-old was seen outside The Old Golf Course reception building, Stables Pavilion, near the racecourse in the town.
Extensive enquires, including reviewing CCTV, are ongoing to trace Daniel who is from the Drylaw area.
On the evening of Saturday, 20 January, officers were out and about in Musselburgh asking the public if they have seen Daniel or if they know where he might be.
They were asked to think back in case they remember seeing him in the area two weeks ago, when he was last seen.
He is described as white, around 5ft 8in tall, of slim build with short light brown hair. When last seen he was wearing a grey long-sleeved jumper with a white t-shirt underneath, dark-coloured jeans and black trainers with blue detailing.
Chief Inspector Neil Wilson said: “It has been two weeks since Daniel was last seen and we are becoming increasingly concerned. It is completely out of character for him not to keep in contact with his family and friends and this is a very upsetting time for them.
“Extensive searches and enquiries are continuing to trace him and a team of local officers have been assisted by specialist resources, including the Force helicopter, search teams and police dogs, in our efforts to find Daniel as soon as possible.
“I am appealing to anyone who was in the Musselburgh area, particularly near the Old Golf Course building to think back. Please get in touch if you think you may have seen anyone matching Daniel’s description.
“In addition, if you have private CCTV or dash-cam footage that could assist with our enquiries to find where he went then let us know. Any information, no matter how small, could help our enquiry.
“I urge anyone with information to contact 101 quoting incident number 3723 of 11 January.”
Did you know that a quarter of adults can’t think of something they’re truly proud of in the last 12 months? This statistic highlights the need for meaningful experiences that not only enrich our lives but also make a positive impact on the lives of others.
As we step into the promising year of 2024, I’d like to encourage people to embark on a journey that not only fosters personal pride but also contributes to a noble cause. Participating in an event for the BHF provides the perfect opportunity to achieve both.
The BHF is supporting more than 60 events across the country this year, including the Edinburgh Half Marathon. By choosing to take on an event like BHF’s iconic London to Brighton Bike Ride, Bournemouth Pier to Pier Swim or one of the AJ Bell Great Run Series events, which the BHF are official charity partner for, you not only challenge yourself physically and mentally but also contribute to funding crucial research.
Imagine the sense of accomplishment and pride you’ll feel as you cross that finish line, knowing that your efforts have made a difference to the 7.6 million lives affected by heart and circulatory diseases, in the UK each year.
To learn more about BHF events or to register, visit the British Heart Foundation website; www.bhf.org.uk/events
Sincerely,
Dan Geneen,
Head of Events Marketing at the British Heart Foundation
Love Your Business networking club, which has welcomed 185 speakers and over 4000 attendees since it launched in 2018, celebrates its 6th anniversary with the announcement of this month’s speaker on the 25thJanuary as Ben Scott, former Scotland Men’s Rugby Wellbeing Coach, who worked with the team to help bridge the gap between wellbeing and performance.
The club, at Black Ivy in Edinburgh, was launched by Michelle Brown, founder of the eponymous PR agency which marks its 10th anniversary this year, to help businesses make connections and build relationships, exchange ideas, referrals and contacts, and hear from inspiring speakers every month, sharing their entrepreneurial journeys and business insights.
These include Chris van der Kuyl CBE, Chairman and Co-Founder of 4J Studios, developers of the multi-award-winning Minecraft Console editions, former co-founder of Social Bite and business coach, Alice Thompson, California based environmental entrepreneur Paul Tasner, founder of PulpWorks and Michael Welch, OBE and CEO at Tirebuyer.com.
Also, Rachel Hanretty, founder of the award-winning Mademoiselle Macaron, which sells over 35,000 macarons a week, has a turnover of £1.2m and landed an order to send her meringue confections to the Barbie film set.
This month’s guest speaker, Ben Scott, specialises in health, wellbeing, performance and personal growth and was head-hunted to become Scotland’s Men’s Rugby Wellbeing Coach in 2021 to enhance the squads individual and collective wellbeing, on and off the field.
Having suffered from physical and mental challenges as a teenager, Ben embarked on a journey to discover the answers he needed to overcome them, which involved completing various courses, including a five-year master’s degree in Chiropractic, a three year postgraduate in Functional Neurology and a postgraduate diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy.
From January 2021 until April 2023, he worked with the team during a time that became one of their most successful performance periods, breaking many of their records, and seeing them rise two places in the World Rugby Rankings.
Ben, who continues to coach elite athletes in person and online, and also helps patients at Morningside Chiropractic, will be sharing the story of his career journey and the ‘4 Pillars of Wellbeing’ to help business owners get 2024 off to a positive start, professionally and personally.
Michelle said: “I’m delighted to welcome the wellbeing coach, Ben Scott, as the speaker at Love Your Business this month, whose advice on ‘purpose, potential and performance’ will help business owners to get 2024 off to a flying start.
“For the past six years so many speakers have given up their time to share their inspiring stories with us and learnings along the way and provide valuable advice for businesses which always leaves everyone in the room inspired and motivated.”
Ben said: “Being asked to speak at the Love Your Business networking event this month is a great opportunity for me to share insights on how our wellbeing effects our performances, both personally and professionally, and to highlight ways we can overcome our challenges, so that we are better able to fulfil our potential and reach our goals.”
“I’m really looking forward to celebrating the 6th anniversary of a club which has brought so many people and businesses together to share their knowledge and experiences, in what is such a fantastic achievement for Michelle.”
Over the years the networking club, has also supported various charities and social enterprises, including Make 2nds Count, Support in Mind Scotland, Invisible Cities, Epilepsy Scotland and Fighting Against Cancer Edinburgh, FACE who have received proceeds from ticket sales and marketing support.
Love Your Business networking club runs on the last Thursday of every month, from 11am till 1pm. The first event of the year is on the 25th January.
Over two fifths (41%) of Scottish parents think children have a wider choice of sports and facilities in the local community spaces and at school than they did as children.
Almost one in ten (9%) of women in Scotland surveyed have never played rugby but would like to give it a go
As Founding Partner of the first women’s Lions team, Royal London is championing women’s rugby by helping to level the playing field for future generations.
41% of Scottish parents of school aged children say that children have a wider choice of sports options and facilities both at school and in the local community than they did. A similar number (42%) say that children can play any sport they want to, and 37% of parents thought children today have more access to sporting role models of all genders and sports than when they were younger.
The research, from Royal London, follows the announcement of the first ever Lions Women’s tour, set to take place in 2027 in New Zealand. As Founding Partner, Royal London is committed to championing and supporting women’s rugby, and to making a difference by helping to level the playing field for this and future generations.
Only 5% of women surveyed in Scotland aged 55 plus were offered the chance to play rugby at school versus 56% of men of the same age. For younger people, the disparity lesses, with 24% of women aged 18-34 in Scotland given the same opportunity at school, compared to 37% of men in the same age range.
The decreasing gender sports gap will be welcome news for many with 9% of women who haven’t played rugby stating they would like to try.
Shaunagh Brown, rugby player and ambassador for Royal London, said: “In recent years there has been a significant increase in the visibility of women in sport, across the board.
“Undoubtedly, we still have a lot of work to do but the Lions Women’s tour is a great example of the progress being made. Increased accessibility at grassroots level, including a practical overhaul of facilities at grounds, coupled with visible role models for women and girls to look up to will help with this.
“Royal London’s meaningful commitment to coach and player pathways and grassroots funding is a significant boost to increasing access and interest in the sport, helping ensure a more diverse, bigger player and coach pool ahead of 2027.
Susie Logan, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Royal London,said: “It’s positive to see access to traditionally ‘male’ sports improving for young girls. Access to rugby is improving for girls but there is more work to be done. It’s clear that there are people who would have liked the opportunity to play and didn’t get the chance.
“This is why we’re so proud to be a founding partner of the first ever Lions Women’s rugby team and investing into the rugby programmes that will turn the dial even further at a grassroots level across the UK and Ireland.
“We are aiming to encourage more girls to participate in rugby by presenting more opportunities for them to get involved in a sport that they might not otherwise have considered.”
The partnership will also see Royal London invest in player development in each of The British & Irish Lions constituent Unions through the delivery of a special Pathways Funding grant.
The grants will support the women’s player and coach pathways in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England, to help Unions develop more players and coaches capable of being selected for the inaugural Lions Women’s Tour.
In addition, Royal London will also be investing in women’s and girls’ grassroots rugby across the UK and Ireland in the run-up to the Tour.
The Welcoming Edinburgh are providing a free course for parents to prepare New Scots (refugees and migrants) for working in the UK.
In this course, participants will learn how to search for jobs, write job applications and cover letters, improve interview skills, and learn about work culture in Scotland and UK employment rights.
The course takes place weekly every Thursday morning over 6 weeks and subsidies including childcare, and transport can be provided.
Classes start on Thursday 8th February at Granton Hub in Madelvic House and will run from 10:30am – 12:30pm.
Key stakeholders from across Edinburgh have come together to address the issue of graffiti in the Capital.
The graffiti summit held on Thursday (18 January) was chaired by Council Leader Cammy Day and included representatives from Police Scotland, parliamentarians, business leaders, heritage organisations, residents’ groups and members of the street art community, as well as local elected members and the Council’s street cleansing team.
Participants in the round-table event discussed the current picture across the city and the Council’s role tackling graffiti on public land, though acknowledged that the vast majority of graffiti is on private property. Key to the debate was the difference between vandalism and street art, and how ‘tolerance zones’ and murals like Colinton Tunnel and Marine Parade could be part of the answer.
Potential solutions considered at the summit are the provision of a specialised graffiti removal service provided by the Council for city stakeholders and property owners, funded by the Council and private landowners, and sharing Council data with the police. Participants also discussed the impact of graffiti, and its removal, on historical buildings and structures.
Councillors and officers will now consider options for expanding the Council’s graffiti removal service in partnership with Police Scotland, heritage groups and community representatives before reconvening the wider group to discuss next steps.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “I’m really grateful to all the people who came along to the graffiti summit. It’s clear from our discussions that we all share the same aim – we want to be proud of the city we live in and for people who come here to love it as much as we do.
“It’s clear from speaking to people today that there’s a real spectrum of ‘graffiti’, from formal murals like Colinton Tunnel which have the consent and support of the community, through to offensive tags. I know many of the complaints we receive are about the latter.
“One of the key outcomes today was to work with both the private and public sector to solve this problem, whether that’s sharing data with the police to help them to identify the extent of the problem or working with stakeholders to provide an enhanced service.
“This adds to the £0.75m investment we’ve already made this year, which is allowing our excellent cleansing and graffiti teams to use specialist vehicles to focus on removing graffiti from public buildings and infrastructure, as well as power washing areas such as streets, pavements and steps which need it most.”
Liz McAreavey, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: “I came along to the graffiti summit to find out more about what’s happening across the city and was really interested to learn about the differing perceptions of graffiti. There’s clearly a vast difference between graffiti as street art and as vandalism.
“When street art is approved and in an agreed space it’s an opportunity for young artists and I think harnessing that could potentially be a good way of reducing the incidence of vandalism and recognising young talent.
“Today I wanted to get a better understanding of how much of a problem this is for the city, the strategies in place and how the private sector can contribute. It’s very much a ‘Team Edinburgh’ approach. This isn’t something that can be solved overnight but we need outcomes that will support the visitor experience, support the private sector who are having to deal with this and understanding the value that creative street art can bring to the city as well.
Ross Blair, Founder and Creative Director of creative agency TrenchOne Industries, said:“We were really happy to be invited to the summit, and we welcomed the discussion with all the partners.
“I think there needs to be education across the board about what constitutes graffiti. People use graffiti as a catch-all term that covers vandalism, tags, murals and art on walls, but it’s more nuanced than that.
“We’re getting some great talent in the city and I think we should be celebrating that. We should focus on young people, educating them and encouraging them to become artists. It’s about having inclusive discussions, between all council areas, local groups, artists and other stakeholders to understand different points of view.”
The Council recently invested £0.75m to give the Capital a deeper clean and enhance its graffiti task force, all with the aim of improving the look and feel of Edinburgh’s streets.
The dedicated graffiti task force is on street daily, using specialist vehicles with fully trained operators to power wash landmarks such as the Scotsman Steps, closes in the Old Town and other priority areas across the city.
We are very excited to have an evening full of exciting FREE workshops including macrame projects and some woodwork at Granton Parish Church, next Friday-26/01 between 4 – 6pm.
WESTMINSTER’s Treasury Committee has asked His Majesty’s Treasury, and all associated agencies and public bodies, to send them details of any contracts awarded by their organisation to Fujitsu Services Ltd, or any other Fujitsu Global-owned entities, since 2019.
The international technology corporation has faced renewed questions over its role in the Post Office Horizon Scandal in recent weeks.
The Committee aims to understand the extent to which the company has continued to be awarded government contracts with HM Treasury-affiliated organisations since the High Court ruling in 2019.
Questions include whether the contracts went through a tendering process, the extent to which the company’s role in the scandal was considered as part of the due diligence process and whether they have considered terminating contracts with the company at any stage.
Treasury Committee Chair, Harriett Baldwin, said: “The public outcry regarding the Post Office sub-postmaster scandal is entirely justified, and I know I speak for the whole Committee when I express my horror at the injustices the victims faced.
“It’s clear that Fujitsu has questions to answer over its conduct. I think it’s important we can see the extent to which taxpayer money has been spent with Fujitsu since the High Court ruling as they are simultaneously assessed on their fitness to remain a government supplier.”
Legal charity highlighted as part of national campaign
Glasgow-based legal charity JustRight Scotland is the latest star in a nationwide campaign highlighting the work of Scotland’s voluntary sector.
#EssentialSector, a campaign developed by and about the voluntary sector, has been launched to great acclaim, with voices from across Scotland praising the opportunities provided for grassroots groups that are often overlooked.
Work towards #EssentialSector began earlier this year, with ten organisations selected as part of a new programme to highlight how voluntary organisations change people’s lives for the better, bring communities together, improve policy and contribute to the economy.
The films feature real people, telling their stories in their own words and paint an inspiring and raw picture of the value, diversity, and impact of the voluntary sector. They show the challenges the sector faces, as well as its many achievements.
Now, the general public have their chance to view the series of short films which capture the everyday work done by the dedicated individuals behind charities and voluntary groups in every corner of Scotland.
The #EssentialSector campaign partners are led by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Scotland’s national membership body for the voluntary sector, and include: ACOSVO, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, Evaluation Support Scotland, Social Enterprise Scotland, the TSI Scotland Network, and Volunteer Scotland.
The films were premiered at SCVO’s Gathering 2023, the largest voluntary sector event in the UK, in Edinburgh last month and are now being showcased on a weekly basis.
The project saw the ten groups given support and access to everyday equipment to make their own films, with training provided by ethical media production group media co-op. Charities were given the skills to produce their own video content, which was edited by SCVO’s video content creator, James Ewen.
Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of SCVO, said: “The #EssentialSector films tell the stories of just 10 of Scotland’s 46,500 voluntary organisations. The films are a lovely celebration of the work they do.
“We want to highlight as many stories as we can on a national stage to bring to life the vital role of voluntary organisations in communities across Scotland.”
JustRight Scotland is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) providing legal services to defend and extend people’s rights.
JustRight Scotland is a charity founded by human rights lawyers. They use the law to defend and extend people’s rights by providing direct legal advice to people who would otherwise struggle to access justice.
They work in collaboration with others to achieve social justice, with the aim of reducing discrimination and disadvantage. With their partners they have established four centres of legal excellence and a legal policy, research and training hub.
All of JustRight Scotland’s legal centres have been recognised as making a significant contribution to defending people’s rights across Scotland.
The charity has seen huge growth during their first five years, and has moved swiftly to meet people’s needs and to seize opportunities. Over the coming years, they plan to continue to make sure they are resilient and sufficiently agile to be able to thrive.
Alongside their core legal work with the people we serve, they will continue to develop their capability to influence policy, to communicate effectively, and to support others to learn and build on the approaches they have pioneered.
Emma Hutton, CEO at JustRight Scotland, said: “Taking part in the #EssentialSector campaign allowed us to share our stories and demonstrate the direct impact of our work nationwide, raising awareness of our work with wider networks.
“We emphasised the crucial role played by our dedicated team in achieving our mission of defending and extending people’s rights. Only through their strong commitment and passion, can we make a significant impact in the lives of people and communities throughout Scotland.”
Council Leader, Cammy Day looks to the year ahead – and beyond
Starting the year on a high
2024 is upon us and, with 40% of the world’s voters heading to the polls in the next 12 months, it promises to be a fascinating year of political debate – and change.
Here in the Capital, we’ve already enjoyed a great start to the year, welcoming in 2024 in style with our world-famous Hogmanay celebrations – bringing great pride to our residents and an estimated £48m to the local economy.
Overall, our Winter Festivals proved once again to be a great draw and the city centre welcomed a 6.4% increase in footfall in December 2023 compared to the same period the year before. In fact, we bucked the national trend, with the Capital the only city in Scotland to register an increase and the top performing city in the UK. Add to that hotel occupancy rates of well over 90%, shows just how attractive Edinburgh is and how far we’ve come since the pandemic.
Striking the right balance
But with this success, comes the other side of the same coin: the pressure on our core services and on the people who live and work here. Of course, we’re glad that so many people want to visit our beautiful city and recognise the importance of tourism to our economy. But we also acknowledge the impact this has on residents and that we have a responsibility to manage that impact.
One way we can do this is to introduce a visitor levy, which would present a major opportunity for us to generate millions of pounds in additional revenue to support, sustain and develop the city and this visitor economy – just as so many other major cities do so successfully. With MSPs endorsing the principles of the Visitor Levy Bill in Holyrood, I look forward to progressing our plans this year and keeping Edinburgh on track to become the first city in Scotland to introduce it.
Another way in which we can relieve this pressure is to better manage the number and quality of Short Term Lets in the city and I remain convinced this is the right thing to do – both for our residents but also for the businesses running them. Following the recent Judicial Reviews, we now have greater clarity on the legislation, and its application, and will publish a report outlining our next steps in the coming weeks.
Working towards net zero
Sticking with our business plan priorities in 2024, we remain determined to play our part in the global fight against climate change. We’re sticking with our bold and ambitious target to be a net-zero city by 2030 and, as our Climate Strategy and city-wide carbon emissions report demonstrates we’re continuing to make progress against these targets.
Coming on the back of a series of national and international awards and other accolades recognising our action on climate – most recently being named the world’s most sustainable travel destination and featured on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Global A list – we’re at the forefront of driving the change we need to make real and lasting difference.
We’ve also published a new Climate Ready Edinburgh strategy to address the impacts of climate change on the city. This new strategy will address issues around flooding and overheating whilst supporting the city to protect and enhance our beautiful greenspaces and biodiversity.
Cleaner, greener transport
Did you know that 91% of travel emissions in the UK are caused by road traffic? That’s why creating a better connected, environmentally friendly transport system is a must and, in the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing a major package of proposals for the way we move people and goods around the city. These will include recommendations for a consultation on a north–south tram line between Granton and the Bioquarter for public consultation and first sight of our new circulation plan, Our Future Streets.
This work will complement significant investment in active travel routes too and, in the coming year, we’ll see the completion of both the City Centre West to East Link, a major walking, wheeling and cycling route between Roseburn and Picardy Place, and the Roseburn to Union Canal route, which will transform public spaces and bring disused areas back into community use. The introduction of our LEZ from 1 June, meanwhile, will not only improve air quality in our city centre but is expected to have benefits citywide. For our part, we’re continuing to improve our own council fleet and 30% of our vehicles will be upgraded to electric by the end of 2024.
Over the coming years, through schemes like Meadows to George Street, we’ll significantly improve walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport, and reduce the dominance of cars on city centre streets. We’re already making great strides towards delivering our flagship city centre transformation project, George Street and First New Town,and this year will see us engaging in our final designs before beginning construction in 2025.
Of course, 2023 was a hugely significant year for trams, with the completion of the line to Newhaven and passenger numbers already well ahead of expectations. Taken alongside the outstanding work of the team at Lothian Buses in returning patronage to almost pre-covid levels, the future looks bright for our transport companies, not least as we continue our work to bring them together as one. This can only be good news for Edinburgh’s travelling public – better integration, better service and better value for money.
A catalyst for sustainable growth
The development of our tram network has been – and will continue to be – pivotal to the city’s evolution. From the huge and growing investment in the west of the city – think Edinburgh Park and the potential for an 8,000 capacity music venue or the £2bn West Town development, to the transformation of Haymarket and the West End. The ever-changing face of Princes Street – book-ended by the Johnnie Walker Experience in the west and ambitious restoration of the former Jenners building in the east. The latter sitting proudly on the corner of St Andrew Square, which has itself been completely transformed and rejuvenated.
Then, in between, we have a boutique Red Carnation Hotel due to open in the former Royal Overseas League building later this year, a £100m redevelopment for the luxury Ruby Hotels chain planned for the former Zara, Next and Russell and Bromley stores and Japanese clothing retailer, Uniqlo, moving into the former BHS building in the spring.
Not forgetting, of course, the unbridled success of St James Quarter – whose £1bn investment depended heavily on tram and significant support from the Council, the regeneration of Leith Walk and the Waterfront, with the long-awaited £250m reinvention of Ocean Terminal set to bring 500 much-needed homes and a direct pedestrian link to the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Just along the coast, the £1.3bn transformation of Granton Waterfront into Europe’s first net-zero coastal town, complete with 3,500 new, sustainable homes, will rely heavily on tram, while the prospect of taking the line south past the Cameron Toll to the Royal Infirmary, Sick Kids and beyond will be truly transformational for that part of the city.
I’m eagerly anticipating the completion of the Granton Gasholder refurbishment by spring 2025, which alongside the improvements to the public spaces surrounding it, will be a great resource for the local community and a beacon of hope for a bright future for North Edinburgh.
Like many in the city who spend their very first hours and days in the old Royal Infirmary, I’m also really looking forward to seeing inside the Edinburgh Futures Institute when it opens later this year – the latest product of the £1.3bn City Region Deal. And then there’s the Usher Institute at the Bio Quarter, ensuring we stay at the forefront of Life Sciences innovation in the UK and internationally.
Elsewhere, work is also beginning on designs for hundreds of new homes at the site of the old Liberton Hospital and good progress is being made on new housing at the old Sick Kids site. Having declared a Housing Emergency at the end of last year, we’re continuing to create as much new affordable housing as we can afford, from Pennywell to Greendykes and Wester Hailes, and buying homes that are already built at scale while turning empty homes around to help increase our housing supply.
Getting the basics right for our communities
As our city continues to grow, we must provide the right infrastructure and amenities in our local communities, and our 20-minute Neighbourhood Strategy will help us develop places where everyone can meet most of their daily needs within a short walk or wheel from their home. We’re approaching the next stages of exciting town centre improvement programmes in Dalry, Portobello and Craigmillar and are due to consult on our proposals in the spring.
This extends of course to the ‘everyday’, but no less important, services we provide, such as fixing roads, keeping streets clean and collecting waste. And the evidence tells us that these services are improving thanks to the additional investment we’ve put into them.
For instance, we’ve doubled the amount of money we put towards roads and pavement projects and, having delivered approximately 420,000m2 of carriageway improvements and 170,000m2 of footway improvements in 2023/24 – the highest ever delivered in one financial year in Edinburgh – our Road Condition Index (RCI) has improved yet again over the period 2022/24, having also improved in the two years before that. The investment is clearly paying off.
Likewise, we’ve seen year on year improvements in our street cleanliness scores. This is thanks to investing £3m towards keeping the city in a good condition, including £750,000 to give the city a deeper clean, tackling problem areas like fly-tipping and graffiti. Added to that the similar £3m boost we’ve given to our beautiful parks and open spaces, recognising their importance to everyone’s wellbeing, we’ve helped to keep Edinburgh’s 38 Green Flags flying – which is more than anywhere else in Scotland.
Tackling inequality and giving our young people the best start in life
Turning now to another key priority: tackling poverty. Over the past year we’ve doubled our homelessness budget, helped over 4,000 people into work or learning, and, through our advice partnerships, helped put more than £20 million directly into the pockets of residents who need it most. We’ve also begun to narrow the poverty related attainment gap in our schools and recorded the best performance we have ever seen on the proportion of leavers moving on to positive post school destinations.
Despite all this hard work, I remain deeply concerned that one in five children in this city still grow up in poverty. The cost of living crisis means that the wealth divide continues to widen and it will take urgent and consistent action from us and from both governments to meet this challenge. This year, we’re committed to carrying on our work with partners to deliver our End Poverty in Edinburgh plan, help people keep their family’s heads above water and ensure the very best future for Edinburgh’s children and young people.
We also have big plans for new schools and early years centres taking shape. The new Maybury Primary School will open its doors in October with new early years centres opening this year in Kirkliston and Ratho. Development is progressing at a pace on the replacement Currie High School and construction work on new schools and teaching blocks at Liberton, Wester Hailes and Trinity Academy has started in earnest.
Alongside delivering the best start to our young people in school, we also have a huge responsibility as corporate parents. All children deserve to have a safe place to live, where they feel loved and supported and, following recent inspections, I’m encouraged by the progress we’re making in our children’s and residential services.
We also have the responsibility of supporting our older residents in care homes and in receipt of at home care and everyone in between. We need to prioritise health and social care services across the city, ensuring faster and more effective early intervention – and, following a challenging period for the service, I’m heartened by the steps being taken under the new management team.
Fighting for fairer funding for our Capital City
To finish, then, 2024 promises to be yet another exciting and rewarding year for the Council and for the city; a year full of opportunities – but also of challenges.
For our part, we’ll continue to focus on our key priorities for Edinburgh: to face into the climate emergency, tackle poverty once and for all and to consistently deliver high quality services for our residents and businesses. With Chief Executive, Andrew Kerr, leaving us in June to enjoy his well-earned retirement, I look forward to working closely with his successor (once appointed) to build upon the progress we’ve made so far.
What’s clear, however, is that we can’t do this alone. As a Council, we can shape and influence change through our policies and plans, but this needs to be a team effort, a pulling together of resources and plans across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Where we’re lacking commitment, unfortunately, is from the Scottish Government who, rather than backing our plans, are systematically stripping away their support. You need look no further than December’s budget announcement, where, once again Edinburgh remains the lowest funded local authority in Scotland.
We will, of course, continue to develop sustainable financial plans for the future, but It’s imperative that we find a better way to work together more collaboratively, and my first big task this year will be to fight for fairer funding for our Capital City.
