Students and seasonal staff working in Scotland are being reminded by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to check that they are being paid the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
All workers are legally entitled to be paid the NMW. This includes temporary seasonal staff, who often work short-term contracts in bars, hotels, shops and warehouses over the summer.
Last year (2020-21) HMRC helped 155,000 workers across the UK to recover more than £16 million in pay which was due to them. HMRC is reminding workers to check their hourly rate of pay, and to also check any deductions or unpaid working time.
One person who has benefitted from HMRC’s enforcement of the NMW is Amber, a marketing apprentice. She was concerned that she was not being paid correctly, so contacted HMRC online. HMRC looked into Amber’s concerns and spoke with her employer. Amber was being underpaid and she received £1,900 in back pay.
The National Minimum Wage hourly rates are currently:
£8.91 – Age 23 or over (National Living Wage)
£8.36 – Age 21 to 22
£6.56 – Age 18 to 20
£4.62 – Age under 18
£4.30 – Apprentice.
Steve Timewell, Director Individuals and Small Business Compliance, HMRC, said:“We want to ensure that Scotland’s seasonal workers and students are being paid what they are entitled to and, as the economy reopens, help employers if they are unsure of the rules.
“Workers should check their hourly rate and look out for any deductions or unpaid working time which would reduce their pay. It could take them below the minimum wage.
“HMRC investigates every complaint made about the minimum wage, so whether you are selling sun cream, giving a hotel room a clean, or serving a strawberry smoothie, if you think you are being short-changed you should get in touch.”
granton:hub are having a Plant Sale and the Edinburgh Scrapstore Open Day today (Sunday 11th July) from 2.00 – 4.30pm.
Not heard of The Edinburgh Scrapstore? This is the repurposed blue shipping container in our community garden which is a unique resource where scrap materials can be donated, stored and collected by members to be re-used. Some of the materials include textiles, paper, paint and tiles. Come along and see what resources and gems you can find for your next project.
We will be running a plant sale which will feature young plants grown organically in our community garden by our volunteer garden group. We want our plants to be affordable for all, with most plants costing £2 from our nursery. Come see the selection of Scottish plants we have grown and ask our garden team advice for your gardening needs.
Emergency Department performance figures published by NHS England for June 2021 show the highest number of Type 1 attendances ever recorded, the worst four-hour performance for the month of June, and the highest ever number of total emergency admissions for the month of June.
The data show that in June 2021 1,436,613 patients attended Type 1 Emergency Departments, the highest ever figure since records began.
A total of 400,826 patients were admitted via Type 1 Emergency Departments, the highest ever recorded figure for the month of June.
Four-hour performance in Type 1 departments was 73.2% which is by far the lowest June percentage on record.
1,289 patients were delayed by 12-hours or more in an Emergency Department – almost double the figure of the previous month. It is also the highest ever recorded figure for the month of June, and almost triple the previous highest figure for June recorded in 2019.
Dr Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “We have a serious problem in urgent and emergency care. We are deeply concerned. We are facing record breaking figures in the high summer. We can only begin to imagine what this winter may bring.
“We are facing record breaking attendances with a tired workforce and fewer beds; it is seriously challenging. Busy departments are a threat to patient safety, it increases the chance of crowding and corridor care, this risk is significantly increased if covid and non-covid patients are sharing the space for long periods of time.
“We ask that there is a transparent discussion about how the whole of the health service deals with the current levels of demand. Emergency care does not happen in a vacuum but is often the canary of the system. Managing demand in Primary care, the elective backlog and what is happening at the front doors of hospitals is all connected and there is urgent need for a plan that balances these needs in a way everyone can understand.
“The data show what is happening on the ground, and it is likely that things will worsen in the coming months, especially as we enter the winter. The government must realize there is a looming crisis and take swift and urgent action – this is critical ahead of Winter.
“Hospitals can only do all they can to boost capacity, in the face of serious resourcing constraints. And we would ask patients to only attend Emergency Department if they need urgent and emergency care, and seek alternative care, like from their GP or NHS 111, if they have a minor injury or mild condition.
SOON-TO-BE newlyweds have snapped up their “dream home” in one of Edinburgh’s most desirable new postcodes.
As the first-footers in “The Avenue”, part of the final phase of homes at Ravelrig Heights by CALA Homes (East), Craig and Alise are the first to enjoy life in one of the eight impressive five-bedroom homes on the crescent shaped The Avenue.
As well as some showcase interiors, each home at The Avenue features a large driveway with electric gate entrance, a double garage with self-contained accommodation above and gardens up to a third of an acre in size.
The Avenue features two house types, the Waverley, the house type purchased by Craig and Alise which spans 3726 square feet, and the Roxburgh which spans 3252 square feet.
Craig, a portfolio manager, said: “We weren’t planning to move so soon but because of everything that happened during the pandemic, we spent a lot of time at home and wanted a bit more space.
“After looking at a few developments, we still weren’t set on buying a new home, but when we looked at The Avenue it just made sense. It’s amazing coming somewhere where our money can go a lot further.
“We wanted some place quieter, but still reasonably close to Edinburgh city centre and close to my parents. Alise used to live in Balerno so we always talked about starting a family here as the schools and community are really great. After seeing The Avenue, we were like ‘yeah this is it’.”
Welcomed by a statement double staircase, upper galleried landing with an upper balcony and large rear garden, the development stood out to Chris and Alise for its family-friendly charm.
Alise, an events coordinator said: “When we walked in and saw that staircase that was it for me, I was like I need to live here. Every part of the house just had that wow factor.
“We knew there was a garden but when we stepped out we were in shock. I had never seen a home with a garden this big. From the kitchen you can slide the doors open and step right out which is perfect especially for the summer.
Designed with light and spacious living in mind, The Avenue’s homes benefit from designs equipped with an open planned kitchen, built-in appliances, bi-folding doors and under floor heating.
Alise added: “We knew CALA had a great reputation and were going to look after us but they truly do go above and beyond.
“The journey doesn’t end when you move in. We have the development manager checking in regularly to make sure everything is alright and that we’ve settled in well. We can’t speak highly enough about CALA.”
Craig added: “We are both very active people so the space above the garage has been amazing as we’ve been able to convert it into a home gym.”
With a separate home office, The Avenue offers buyers an ideal place to work from home with a range of outdoor networks into the countryside and excellent transport links into the capital.
Homes at Ravelrig Heights start from £795,000 with homes on The Avenue ranging from £1,095,000 – £1,215,000.
For more information on The Avenue, Ravelrig Heights, Balerno, please visit: https://www.cala.co.uk/theavenue or call 0131 516 6832.
The campaign highlights a range of activities and opportunities for families, children and young people such as exploring a local museum or discovering a National Cycling Network Trail
Families encouraged to get back out and Rediscover Summer after a year of missed opportunities
The government’s Rediscover Summer campaign has launched to help inspire families to get out and about safely and make the most out of summer.
Whether it’s visiting the places that inspired your favourite books, trying out a new sport or even learning how to code, the campaign will show families that there are plenty of new activities to try wherever they live. Throughout the duration of the campaign, each week of the summer holidays will promote a separate theme from sport and creativity to nature and heritage.
A Save The Children survey has shown how the pandemic has negatively impacted the social lives of our children and young people, with a third of children playing alone more, and a quarter having played less sport since the pandemic, raising concerns about the impact on their well-being.
To help combat this, the government is encouraging families to Rediscover Summer and enjoy the range of leisure activities on offer after a year of missed opportunities.
Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said: “Our young people deserve a summer filled with exciting and enriching activities after everything they’ve missed out on as we’ve fought to control the virus.
“We want families to get out there and enjoy what’s on offer, and our Rediscover Summer campaign will help them do that. The summer has been given the best possible start with a terrific England run in the Euros.”
Children and Families Minister Vicky Ford said: “Rediscover Summer will provide families with some fantastic opportunities to get back to the activities they may have missed out on over the last year.
“Our Summer Home Activities list will offer up more free ideas and options for children to stay active and have fun, and our expanded Holiday Activities and Food programme will also help families access opportunities both indoors and outdoors.
“Parents have worked so hard to keep their children entertained so I hope they can take advantage of these to use the holidays creatively, helping to boost children’s wellbeing after what has been a really difficult time.
Launching today, a gov.uk page features a taste of the activities available over the summer to inspire parents and families and help young people get involved in their local communities. The activities suggested range from the Summer Reading Challenge to Chance to Shine cricket sessions and from trips to the Imperial War Museum to Mercury Theatre’s Family sing-a-long.
No matter where you live, the campaign will show there is something for everyone.
Working closely with our partners, including Arts Council England, Sport England and National Museums Greenwich to help promote the breadth of summer activities on offer, this campaign will help get young people out and about this summer and make a difference in their communities.
This campaign will also be supported by the Summer Home Activities List due to be published online in the coming weeks which will inspire activities for families to do in and around their home this summer.
FURLOUGHED staff for a hospitality business in the heart of the Scottish capital have amassed more than 2600 hours of recorded training in the past year, securing a combined 169 industry-recognised qualifications.
Surgeons Quarter, which operates the city’s largest independent hotel alongside a host of venues and outlets owned by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), reinforced its culture of learning prior to the pandemic, with the appointment of a Business and Talent Manager.
It meant that as Covid-19 hit, it was able to work with employees, furloughed and working, to devise a training plan to boost their prospects and career ambitions – in keeping with government recommendations to encourage and facilitate professional development.
Sarah Williamson, who took on the newly created role and managed just a few short weeks with her team before working from home, has helped more than 60 workers achieve new accreditations.
Sarah, from Linlithgow in West Lothian, said: “Multiskilling is going to be the biggest aspiration in the hospitality industry after Covid-19 as many venues will have a smaller team, so staff will be required to do a bit of everything.
“There was a lot of amazing training happening within the industry whilst many were furloughed and we encouraged all 60 members of staff to take part and get full advantage of the opportunities.
“We have supplied laptops and tablets for individuals to complete training to ensure the opportunities were available and accessible to all staff.”
Staff have been encouraged to take part in courses available with industry bodies including, HIT Scotland and Hospitality Action, on top of the £3,400 investment which was made to FLOW – the company’s online training facility.
FLOW includes lots of Covid-19 health and safety modules as well as the statutory training requirements.
Nine employees were also successful with an application to the HIT Scotland scholarship, a 10-week virtual learning leadership course.
Further training has been made available through the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in partnership with the Scottish Government which is worth £5000 and will include online training courses with Edinburgh College.
Certificated courses on offer through Edinburgh College include Social Media and Content Creation, Sales Skills and IOSH Managing Safely.
Sarah added: “Some may think with our team returning to work from furlough the training opportunities will stop, however it’s actually the complete opposite – we have more to come and a calendar of training planned up until November.
“I feel very lucky to be part of a company who care about their staff and individual development, with the opportunity to get involved in areas of the business that are of interest.”
Prior to joining Surgeons Quarter, Sarah was Human Resource Manager at DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Westerwood Spa & Golf Resort and before that worked with Holiday Inn Edinburgh.
Surgeons Quarter’s profits go towards the College’s charitable objectives of improving surgical standards and patient outcomes worldwide.
Ten Hill Place accommodated frontline NHS workers for 2137 nights, at a cost of £100,000 and provided thousands of free meals to workers.
This week is the 25th anniversary of BBQ week and many of us will be heading outdoors to fire up the BBQ. Foods traditionally cooked on BBQs, such as burgers and sausages, can be high in calories, fat and salt.
We have some tips for enjoying a heart-healthy BBQ without compromising on taste:
Choose a healthy source of protein
Foods that are high in saturated fat, such as red meat, sausages, burgers, butter and hard cheese, can increase your risk of heart disease.
You can cut down on saturated fat by swapping red meat, sausages and burgers by threading cubes of chicken, firm fish or tofu onto skewers with slices of bell pepper, courgettes, mushrooms, red onion and cherry tomatoes before grilling.
Swap white bread rolls for high-fibre alternatives
Increasing the amount of fibre in your diet can reduce your risk of heart disease. Why not switch from white bread rolls to wholegrain rolls or wholegrain pitta, brown rice or jacket potatoes.
Add some colour
Include plenty of salad and vegetables to make your BBQ colourful and nutritious. Avoid using too much salad dressing as it can be high in calories. Try rubbing a spicy marinade on pieces of courgette, bell pepper, onion, corn-on-the-cob and mushrooms and grill them on the BBQ.
Healthy grilled desserts
Ditch the high-fat puddings and switch to grilled slices of pineapple, bananas, peaches, nectarines or plums. The natural sugars will caramelise on the BBQ, giving them a lovely sweet flavour.
Serve with a spoonful of thick, creamy yoghurt and sprinkle with a handful of chopped toasted nuts, such as hazelnuts or almonds.
For the first time in over a year, businesses in Scotland can see the first shoots of recovery as COVID-19 restrictions begin to lift, according to a leading quarterly survey led by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC).
The SCC’s Quarterly Economic Indicator (QEI) for the second quarter of 2021 indicates more positive growth across all sectors surveyed, albeit, caution is still the watchword for many businesses.
Key Findings:
• Pent up demand unleashed: All sectors have reported substantial rises in confidence and domestic sales, owing to the easing of general and domestic travel lockdown restrictions. Most results are positive for the first time in over a year, albeit from historically low bases. • Caution looking ahead: All sectors have projected positive expectations for Q3, on balance, likely boosted by the expected further easing of lockdown restrictions. While firms are optimistic about sales revenue, they are more cautious around investment and staff levels with most firms envisaging no change to these in Q2. • Faltering export sales: Covid-19 disruption and Brexit fallout has resulted in trading difficulties for businesses in services, manufacturing and retail as evidenced by falls in export sales and orders across these sectors. • Inflation pressures: All sectors have recorded increases in concern over inflation, which may escalate as more consumers spend savings accumulated over the last 16 months and create uncertainty for business in terms of their costs and prices. • Flat labour market: Most sectors saw a slight increase in employment, apart from retail, which saw no change over the quarter. Most firms, across all sectors, expect little change in Q3 which could result in sluggish jobs growth, with further challenges expected as the furlough scheme is withdrawn.
Tim Allan, President of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said:“The success of the vaccine rollout has enabled the easing of restrictions and the gradual reopening of the economy, unleashing pent-up demand in the economy. This has allowed some sectors to rebound more quickly than others, however, the route to economic recovery will be a marathon, not a sprint.
“It’s clear that concerns remain around the ongoing impact of Covid-19 as businesses grapple with huge uncertainties over what the economy will look like post-pandemic. Towns and city centres face new challenges as more people work from home and more flexibly, impacting on footfall and changes to consumer behaviour.
“The needs of employers and employees alike need to be finely balanced as we shape the recovery of our city centres which will impact on a wide range of sectors and supply chains.
“Equally, sectors such as tourism and international travel, which continue to operate with severe restrictions, are having to adjust to increased domestic demand, a simultaneous fall in international travel and a tightening supply of skilled labour. The sector needs continued financial support and greater clarity on when confusing and burdensome travel regulations will end, allowing greater numbers of international visitors to return.
“As we approach the end of restrictions businesses are increasingly turning their attention towards how to achieve long term growth and renew Scotland’s economy.
“We have recorded the first shoots of growth returning to our economy, and it is essential now that both the Scottish and UK Government’s do all that they can to stimulate demand and boost confidence in the coming months.
“Priority must be given to continuing the provision of targeted financial support where it is needed most and looking ahead, both Governments must create the right environment for businesses to get back on their feet, create jobs and trade successfully again.”
Commenting on the results, Mairi Spowage, Director at the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute, said:“In April, we saw growth in the Scottish economy of 2.0%.
“This takes us above the previous post-pandemic peak in October. However, the economy still remains 3.7% below the pre-pandemic peak.
“Despite the optimism in the economy, there are risks to recovery which could provide headwinds to growth. The dislocation in global trade was significant due to the pandemic.
“However, we also know that the end of the EU Transition Period has caused significant issues for manufacturers and others trying to rebuild these supply chains since the start of this year. This chimes with today’s survey results, which show significant negative impacts on exports.
“Recent announcements of the delay to the restrictions roadmap will lead to calls from some sectors that there should much more extensive business support to get them through to a position where they can properly operate. As well-meaning as initiatives like a new Council for Economic Transformation may be, practical policy measures to help these businesses survive through the winter are likely to be needed.”
