Citizens, businesses, and organisations across South East Scotland have helped shape a major consultation on the region’s economic future.
The Regional Prosperity Framework (PDF, 2.59MB) highlights the need to tackle inequalities and climate change, and to prioritise well-being and quality of life alongside economic growth.
The consultation took place over the summer, with public, private and third sector organisations providing their views on issues including transport and housing, education and digital inclusion.
Welcoming the Joint Prosperity Plan, City of Edinburgh council leader CllrAdam McVey said: “Edinburgh and South East Scotland is a central driver of the Scottish economy. It is essential that we use our economic success to deliver on our policies for fair work, provide opportunities to all citizens and communities and support people’s well-being.
“The Regional Prosperity Framework has been developed with input from public, private and third sector organisations and local communities and sets out our collective ambition to combine economic and social success with protecting the planet. We will work together as a region to meet that ambition.”
Garry Clark, Federation of Small Businesses Development Manager for the East of Scotland, said: “For small businesses across the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, the Regional Prosperity Framework represents an important touchstone for the collective economic ambition of the region.
“They will welcome the commitment to fostering and supporting business creation and growth and the recognition of the role that businesses play, not only in our economic prosperity, but also in social and community wellbeing.”
Cllr David Ross, Fife Council’s Co-Leader and Joint Committee Chair for the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, said: “This document sets out long-term aspirations for the region and informs policy development for the next 20 years.
“It has been developed with input from public, private and third sector organisations and aims to address the region’s challenges and opportunities to make Edinburgh and South East Scotland a better place to live, work, study, visit and invest for current and future generations.
“It is focused on tackling the important and pressing challenges of climate change, sustainability, biodiversity loss, inequalities, health and well-being, job creation and achieving a net zero economy.”
The Framework focuses on addressing inequalities and the challenges of creating new jobs and businesses while enabling a transition to a net zero carbon economy.
It does this through a commitment to actions that will deliver a more prosperous, innovative and resilient regional economy.
Other plans include making employment, training and education more accessible through better connected and sustainable transport.
Data-Driven Innovation is also set to play a vital role in strengthening the region’s innovation ecosystem to support organisations, irrespective of where they are based. This will bring the region a step closer to becoming the data capital of Europe.
Another priority is creating ‘twenty minute neighbourhoods’, where residents have closer access to everyday goods, services and amenities. These include seven sites at Blindwells, Edinburgh’s Waterfront, Dunfermline, Shawfair, Winchburgh, Calderwood and Tweedbank.
The Framework builds on, and widens, the partnerships developed through the City Region Deal, paving the way for further collaboration through regional economic plans with shared outcomes, responsibilities, and aligned priorities and resources.
Julie Lamberth, RCN Scotland Board Chair, said: “I wanted to highlight statistics which have been published today from NHS Education for Scotland, which show a worrying rise in NHS Nursing and Midwifery vacancies.
“Across Scotland a record high of 4,854 nursing and midwifery posts are vacant, which is 7.1% of posts, while in NHS Lothian, 750 nursing and midwifery posts are vacant, which is 6.9% of posts.
“Staffing levels are reaching crisis point across Scotland. As well as these vacancies, a significant number of nursing staff are on work related sick leave through stress and other mental health issues. Unless this is addressed, proposals to remobilise services and increase elective capacity are simply unachievable and the NHS Recovery Plan’s proposals to recruit 1,500 additional staff woefully inadequate.
“RCN Scotland members are clear about what needs to be done. Out of the 39% of members who have told us they are thinking of leaving the nursing profession, 73% of respondents said “improved pay” and 49% said “better staffing levels” would make them feel more valued.
“Implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, fair pay for nursing staff in all settings and robust workforce planning are needed urgently to ensure Scotland has the nursing staff it needs to remobilise services as we continue to deal with Covid-19.”
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs said: “The number of Nursing and Midwifery posts that we have vacant across NHS Lothian is extremely concerning.
“NHS Lothian staff work incredibly hard to care for everyone who comes through their door, but the current position is unsustainable. These vacancies need to be filled for health boards to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“SNP Ministers have failed to workforce plan pre-pandemic and we are seeing the consequences now, with many nurses considering leaving the profession.”
Edinburgh homeless project changing lives through DJ’ing nominated for major national award
An Edinburgh based social enterprise whose mission it is to use DJing to change the lives of people affected by homelessness, is appealing for votes in order to be crowned National Lottery Project of the Year.
Turn the Tables beat off stiff competition from more than 1500 organisations to reach the public voting stage in this year’s National Lottery Awards, which celebrate the inspirational people and projects who do extraordinary things with the help of National Lottery funding.
There are 17 shortlisted finalists from across the UK, who will compete in a four-week public vote to be named the inaugural National Lottery Project of the Year. Winners will receive a £3,000 cash prize for their project and an iconic National Lottery Awards trophy.
Turn The Tables was started in 2018 by Robbie Tolson, an Edinburgh-based professional DJ, when he volunteered at a homelessness charity. He set up DJ workshops for people living in hostels and temporary accommodation with the vision to share his passion for DJing and live performance. This grew into Turn The Tables.
A National Lottery grant received during the pandemic was a lifeline for the organisation and has enabled them to further expand their work in Edinburgh and Glasgow with The Homelessness DJ project.
Participants graduate through three creative stages from beginner to professional, with the programme culminating in a live stream performance. Some recent graduates of the project have done so well they have been offered positions as Turn The Tables resident DJs and have been booked to perform live under the Turn The Tables banner at major events including the recent Riverside Music Festival in Glasgow.
Robbie Tolson, founder of Turn The Tables, said: “We are delighted to have been made a finalist in this year’s National Lottery Awards, especially after such a tough year.
“Our belief is that nobody should live their life without live music. That’s why we have created a safe environment for vulnerable people, who often avoid music venues and events, to not only experience live music but to also be the headline act.
“We are so proud of all the people involved in this project and the positive changes being made by so many. To be recognised for that is an honour and we really hope people will get behind us and give us their vote.”
Jonathan Tuchner, from The National Lottery, added: “In these challenging times that we still find ourselves in, we see so many examples of inspirational work throughout our communities, driven by these very projects.
“It’s thanks to National Lottery players, who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes, that brilliant projects like these, are possible.
“Turn The Tables are doing some incredible work in their local community and they thoroughly deserve to be in the finals of the National Lottery Awards Project of the Year 2021. With your support, they could be a winner.”
To vote for Turn The Tables, please go to lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards. Or simply use the Twitter hashtag #NLATables. Voting runs from 9am on 6th September until 5pm on 4th October.
Over the last two years, Scottish drivers have collectively paid out a whopping £2 million to release their car after being seized by police forces.
More than 4,500 cars were destroyed by local police forces in 2019 and 2020, with a further 1,100 being auctioned, raising more than £500,000.
In total, offences increased by 16% across the UK between 2019 and 2020, with more than 101,000 drivers caught driving without insurance last year alone.
Further research finds a third (33%) of UK drivers have borrowed or driven another car without necessarily having the right insurance in place.
Can I drive someone else’s car on my insurance? Confused.com clears up confusion as one in seven (14%) drivers are unaware of the rules around driving other cars.
The number of uninsured drivers in Scotland has increased by 37%, new data finds, as local police forces report close to 20,000 offences during last year alone.
That’s according to new Freedom of Information data obtained by Confused.com, which showed that the number of motorists caught driving without the correct insurance in Scotland increased from 14,363 in 2019, to 19,726 in 2020.
This means those caught could have collectively paid more than £10 million in fines over the two years, based on the minimum penalty dished out to offenders being £300.
When a driver is caught without the right insurance, the police are within their rights to not only issue fines but also seize the car in question. Offenders would then need to show evidence of a valid car insurance policy to release the car and pay a fee.
In 2020, a total of 8,811 cars were seized across Scotland, up from 6,851 in the previous year. This could be from the number of cars seized after being stopped, or those found on the road without insurance. And collectively, a whopping £2 million was paid by drivers in the region to release their car, which could have been on top of the fines they’ve already paid, proving to be a very costly mistake to make!
Cars that aren’t reclaimed could be destroyed. In fact, over the last two years, more than 4,500 cars were destroyed by police in Scotland. Or alternatively, they could be sold off at an auction, which was the case for 1,161 of the cars seized in 2019 and 2020. This raised a very nice sum of £500,000, averaging at around £431 made per car.
It’s a similar picture across the rest of the UK, where 100,983 motorists were caught without insurance in 2020, up from 86,914 in 2019 (+16%).
Taking out car insurance is one of the first things drivers must do when they buy or lease a car. And as it stands, all insurance policies are set to automatically renew at the end of their terms so that a driver is never left without cover. So why are so many drivers being caught out?
Previous research by Confused.com shows that many people cancelled their car insurance throughout the coronavirus pandemic to save money, which could explain the increase in offences last year.
However, new research has found that a worrying one in three (33%) UK drivers have borrowed or driven another car without necessarily having the right insurance.
Of those drivers, more than half (52%) did so under the assumption that they would be covered, while close to one in six (16%) knew they didn’t have the right insurance in place. Almost two in three (64%) made the excuse that they were only making a short trip, while more than half (58%) took the gamble because the owner of the car was with them.
While it seems that many people are knowingly taking the risk by driving uninsured, the research also found that many drivers are confused about what their insurance policy allows them to do.
Nearly one in six (16%) UK drivers find it confusing to know if their policy allows them to drive other cars, while one in seven (14%) don’t know the requirements.
According to Confused.com’s experts, driving other cars (DOC) isn’t something that is automatically included on comprehensive policies, despite many believing that it is. In fact, not all insurers will offer it as an option. It’s simply there for emergencies, such as if a friend has had an accident and needs driving to the hospital.
But to have DOC on their policy there are a few requirements drivers must meet, including:
They must be aged 25 or over when the policy starts.
Their own car insurance policy needs to be a fully comprehensive one.
Worryingly, many drivers are unaware of the rules around driving other cars. In fact, one in eight (12%) wrongly believe its true that you are automatically insured to drive another car if you have comprehensive policy at any age, while a further one in eight (13%) believe this to be the case if you have a comprehensive policy and are over the age of 25.
However, experts suggest that motorists can only drive another car if their policy explicitly specifies it, although this will only cover for third-party damage, or if they are a named driver on the owner’s policy, in which case they would be covered for the same level as the policy holder.
This seems to be a popular option for the two in three (68%) drivers who drive or have access to another car. Almost half (49%) of these drivers are insured as a named driver, while almost two in five (39%) are insured on their own comprehensive policy.
However, it seems that drivers who have access to another car aren’t necessarily using it regularly. In fact, only one in four (25%) will use the second car at least once a week, while one in five (21%) claim to use it very rarely. But this isn’t surprising, given that more than a fifth (22%) claim they only have access to another car to reduce the insurance premium.
In fact, Confused.com car insurance price index (Q2 2021) data does suggest that this can reduce prices for some drivers, with the average premium dropping by as much as £204 for having another person on the policy(3). However, for two in five (41%) drivers, they have the option of which car to use depending on the journey they make.
Despite so many motorists being insured to drive another car, a worrying one in two (54%) admit they would still jump behind the wheel of another car without insurance, with almost two in five (38%) claiming they would take the risk in an emergency. However, this is a point that many drivers raised throughout the research, with one in three (30%) believing that having DOC on an insurance policy is important for emergencies, while more than one in five (22%) thinking it should be standard on all comprehensive policies.
Either way, it’s important for drivers to understand that having a comprehensive policy doesn’t automatically entitle them to drive another vehicle, and that they could in fact be hit with a very hefty fine.
And when it comes to buying or renewing a car insurance policy, having a conviction for driving without insurance is likely to increase your premium, with some insurers potentially not offering cover at all.
If a driver needs to use another car, Confused.com’s guide to driving other cars explains how to check if this is included on an insurance policy, or search for alternatives to help motorists avoid fines.
Alex Kindred, car insurance expert at Confused.com, said: “Driving without insurance is an offence that can be costly in fines but can also damage your record when it comes to applying for a new car insurance policy.
“Not only this, but you could risk having to pay to have your car released, which when you consider the fine as well, could end up costing you more than an insurance policy itself!
“Insurers appreciate that there are some emergency situations where you may need to jump behind the wheel of a car you don’t own, which is why some offer driving other cars within their comprehensive policy. But being over 25 or having a comprehensive policy doesn’t automatically entitle you to this. This must be outlined in your policy, or you do risk the penalty.
“If you’re confused about whether you policy allows you to drive another car, we’ve outlined what policies tend to cover, and how you can add it to your policy in our guide to driving other cars. Though it’s important to remember that this will only cover for third party damage.”
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of children’s services, has called for significantly increased investment in mental health services and warned of a mental health pandemic as the impacts of Covid-19 on the young become clearer.
The call comes as new figures published today (7th September 2021) from Public Health Scotland indicate that at the end of June 2021, 1,686 children and young people had been waiting over a year for treatment from specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) provided by the NHS. This figure represents a doubling from June 2020 (787).They also represent 14.4 per cent of those waiting for specialist treatment.
With already under-resourced and overstretched services facing overwhelming pressure due to increased demand, the SCSC has raised concerns over a potential “lost generation” of vulnerable children and young people whose mental health is being impacted by Covid-19.
Even prior to the pandemic cases of poor mental health were at unprecedented levels and there are a growing number of vulnerable children who cannot access adequate support. This was further reinforced by a recent blog post from Antony Clark, a director for public health watchdog, Audit Scotland, who noted that “serious concerns have existed for years”, and that action was now more urgent given the impact of the pandemic on young people.
Figures issued last month showed that self-harm among the young in Scotland was at its the highest level for 14 years and this is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg.3
While 4,552 children and young people were treated over the period April to June 2021 by CAMHS, only 72.6 per cent were seen within the Scottish Government’s waiting time target for the NHS of 18 weeks from referral to treatment (met for at least 90 per cent of patients).4 Nine out of 14 health boards failed to meet this target (full table in Notes to Editors).
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “These frightening statistics highlight the challenges ahead and while we welcome a commitment by the Scottish Government to increase investment in mental health services to 1 per cent of NHS spending over the next five years, we need this investment now.
“This increased investment should not however just apply to the NHS and one of the key problems is that early intervention support has not been available due to funding restrictions. Investing in early intervention limits the need for highly costly CAMHS and increasing resourcing in support services and intervention strategies must be a priority for this government.
“We have for some time raised concerns over a potential lost generation of vulnerable children and young people, whose mental health is being impacted even further by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is more important then ever that children can access the support they need, when they need it, irrespective of where they live.
“This is a crisis we can overcome, but it will require a similar energy and commitment to that demonstrated for Covid-19 if we are to achieve this and prevent many young people giving up on their futures.”
Care workers employed by the charity and social landlord Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association will start a programme of industrial action against their management’s “insulting” 1 per cent pay offer.
Action will involve a work to rule including a ban on all overtime and additional holiday working from 17.00 hours from today (Tuesday 7 September), impacting service delivery in care support, cleansing and domestic assistance across twenty-eight sites.
The dispute is the culmination of months of fruitless negotiations between GMB Scotland representatives and Hanover senior management, who themselves were awarded a 4.5 per cent pay rise in 2020, to substantially lift the pay and conditions of frontline staff.
GMB Scotland organiser Ude Joe-Adigwe said:“The employer’s offer means a real-terms pay cut for staff who have worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s totally insulting.
“Our members provide vital care and assistance for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and they deserve to be treated so much better than this.
“This is not a decision our members have taken lightly; they are proud of their work, but it’s a shame their employer won’t value frontline staff the way they value themselves.
“This action shows Hanover that their staff are prepared to fight for their dignity and value, and we would hope the employer reconsidered its position.”
The number of days that patients who have been delayed from leaving hospital because of no appropriate place to go to has risen to 7,829 for July 2021, the latest month statistics are available for.
This is an increase of 2,004 from 5,825 delays throughout June and triple the number of bed days occupied from delayed discharge at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when 2,531 delays occurred.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic SNP Ministers made the decision to move hospital patients into care homes, to free up hospital space for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. It later emerged that patients being moved from hospitals to care homes where not tested for Covid-19 leading to higher rates of Covid-19 deaths in care homes than anywhere else in Scotland.
The level of delayed discharge in NHS Lothian has now returned to pre- pandemic levels with the number of bed days in hospital for delayed discharge being 11 higher than March 2020, 7,278, when hospital patients where moved to care homes.
Edinburgh and the Lothians were in the process of recovering from a Social Care crisis before the pandemic hit, with the peak of delayed discharge in hospitals being in October 2018, when 11,855 combined days when patients were not able to leave hospital, despite being back to health.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “These figures are very concerning, with the number of patients being stuck in hospital without a suitable destination, returning to pre pandemic levels.
“In Edinburgh and the Lothians there has been a long standing challenge to provide social care, which started to shift towards care in the community.
“We are now seeing increasing numbers of patients not able to leave hospital and the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board are planning on closing more care homes.
“Patients leaving hospital must have a suitable destination to go once recovered, so that we are not in a position where people are waiting days on end in hospital, when they don’t need to be there.”
Whether you’re studying at university, college or online this year, it’s important to stay safe and #BeLikeSam.Sam knows how to appropriately behave at parties and with others, and understands the importance of keeping themselves, their belongings and their online profiles safe.
Before you kick off your university life, take a look at our Student Safety tips on our website: http://ow.ly/m4VI50G3BD8
Includes £1 billion to help tackle COVID-19 backlogs, delivering routine surgery and treatments for patients
The NHS will receive an extra £5.4 billion over the next six months to support its response to COVID-19 and help tackle waiting lists, the Prime Minister and Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid have announced.
The funding will immediately go towards supporting the NHS to manage the immediate pressures of the pandemic. This includes an extra £1 billion to help tackle the COVID-19 backlog, £2.8 billion to cover related costs such as enhanced infection control measures to keep staff and patients safe from the virus and £478 million to continue the hospital discharge programme, freeing up beds.
The additional £5.4 billion brings the government’s total investment to health services for COVID-19 so far this year to over £34 billion, with £2 billion in total for the NHS to tackle the elective backlog.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The NHS was there for us during the pandemic – but treating Covid patients has created huge backlogs.
“This funding will go straight to the frontline, to provide more patients with the treatments they need but aren’t getting quickly enough.
“We will continue to make sure our NHS has what it needs to bust the Covid backlogs and help the health service build back better from the worst pandemic in a century.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “The NHS has been phenomenal as it has faced one of the biggest challenges in its history.
“Today’s additional £5.4 billion funding over the next 6 months is critical to ensuring the health service has what it needs to manage the ongoing pandemic and helping to tackle waiting lists.
“We know waiting lists will get worse before they get better as people come forward for help, and I want to reassure you the NHS is open, and we are doing what we can to support the NHS to deliver routine operations and treatment to patients across the country.”
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: “This funding provides welcome certainty for the NHS, which has pulled out all the stops to restore services, while caring for thousands of seriously ill Covid patients requiring hospital treatment during the toughest summer on record.
“This additional investment will enable the NHS to deliver more checks, scans and procedures as well as helping to deal with the ongoing costs and pressures of the pandemic as the NHS heads in to winter.”
The UK Government has been clear that the NHS will ‘get what it needs’ to recover its usual services and deliver quality care to patients.
The waiting list for routine operations and treatments such as hip replacements and eye cataract surgery could potentially increase to as high as 13 million. While today’s extra £1 billion funding will go some way to help reduce this number, waiting lists will rise before they improve as more people who didn’t seek care over the pandemic come forward.
£478 million of this new funding has been dedicated to continue the hospital discharge programme so staff can ensure patients leave hospital as quickly and as safely as possible, with the right community or at-home support.
This will free up thousands of extra beds and staff time to help the NHS recover services. The government has also invested £500 million in capital funding for extra theatre capacity and productivity-boosting technology, to increase the number of surgeries able to take place.
This funding is for England only. The devolved administrations will receive up to £1 billion in Barnett consequentials in 2021-22. The final amount will be confirmed and allocated at Supplementary Estimates 2021-22.
On top of this funding, the NHS recently launched a £160 million initiative to tackle waiting lists. This is looking to accelerate the recovery of routine treatments and operations by trialling new ways of working, including a high-volume cataract service, one stop testing facilities where people can get tests done quickly and efficiently, to speed up the time to treatment, greater access to specialist advice for GPs and pop-up clinics so patients can be seen and discharged closer to home.
The UK government is ‘committed to delivering the greatest hospital building programme in a generation with 40 new hospitals by 2030’, backed by an initial £3.7 billion.
Yesterday’s announcement is in addition to the £3 billion announced at Spending Review 2020 to support the NHS.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce a further £2.5 billion increase in NHS spending in Scotland when she lays out her Programme for Government later today.
Operation Wingspan, a year-long campaign to tackle wildlife crime, working with partners, including the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland, has seen considerable success and is now entering its final phase.
This involves officers working on the persecution of fresh water pearl mussels and tackling all aspects of poaching, including hare coursing. As with previous phases, it will involve a combination of enforcement action and education.
Overall, the campaign has involved officers engaging with a number of organisations, including the agricultural community, ranger services, land managers and game keepers with the aim of educating the wider public and encouraging them to report wildlife crime to the police.
Detective Sergeant Billy Telford, Police Scotland’s Wildlife Crime Co-ordinator, said: “We have many internationally renowned species that attract thousands of nature lovers and tourists every year to Scotland, but many crimes against wildlife are cruel and barbaric, often involving a painful death.
“From hunting deer, hares or badgers with dogs, to using poisons or snares on protected birds, and protecting one of our lesser known species, the critically endangers freshwater pearl mussel, Operation Wingspan is raising awareness and hopefully encouraging people to come forward and report this kind of crime.”
Operation Wingspan began in October 2020 and Phase One saw officers tackling the trade in endangered species and included visits to over 300 business premises, such as antique dealers, retro shops and pet shops across Scotland to advise owners and provide information about potential contraventions under The Control of Trade in Endangered Species (COTES) 2018 regulations.
It resulted in the seizure and recovery of alligator heads from across the country.
Phase Two tackled badger persecution, working with the charity Scottish Badgers, to highlight that badgers and their setts are protected, that it is an offence to harm or interfere with them and that badger baiting is illegal. Where ongoing risks were identified, action was taken to protect the sett and the badgers.
Phase Three saw officers taking part in a construction conference to outline the responsibilities of developers, highlighting that it is an offence to destroy or damage roosts, as well as engaging with bat groups and visiting vulnerable roosts, ultimately leading to people being charged for undertaking development that threatened the welfare of bats.
In Phase Four concentrated on raptor persecution. Officers have carried out a number of activities, including patrols of vulnerable nesting sites, warrants executed in relation to wildlife crime and a social media campaign with an educational video that was produced in collaboration with the RSPB.
Detective Chief Superintendent Laura McLuckie said: “Reports of wildlife crime doubled during lockdown and Police Scotland is dedicated to working closely with a wide range of partner organisations to reduce the harm to species targeted by criminals and the communities who rely on them for employment and tourism across Scotland.
“Tackling wildlife crime is not just about enforcement, it is also about working with partners and raising public awareness to prevent it happening. Indeed, the public has an important role in helping up to investigate reports of wildlife crime and I would urge anyone with concerns or who suspect a wildlife crime has been committed to contact us on 101, and if it is an emergency to call 999.”
