Port of Leith Housing Association has been named the 10th best housing association to work for and the 33rd best company to work for in the UK.
It is recognised as the 11th best company to work for in Scotland. Based in Leith and providing over 3,000 homes across north Edinburgh, it employs over one hundred staff who work closely with local communities.
The Best Companies rankings are based on staff feedback on workplace factors such as leadership, wellbeing and personal growth.
Heather Kiteley, Group Chief Executive said: “It is incredibly important to Port of Leith Housing Association that staff enjoy great working conditions and feel supported and motivated in their roles.
“This is captured in our strategic plan and we believe that employee engagement is key to being a brilliant company. It has been a great success to rank among the top companies to work for in the UK. I am immensely proud of all our members of staff who contribute to making our organisation a brilliant place to work.”
Three key workplace factors that stood out in Association’s Best Companies ranking were work life balance, charitable activities, and that the organisation is run on strong values and principles.
This includes an ‘open-door’ approach to leadership, referring staff members to free counselling and supporting wellbeing during lockdowns, and distributing over £200,000 to local community organisations.
This ranking comes just months after an award for Excellence from the European Foundation of Quality Management last year. The award acknowledged the flexibility and responsiveness with which the Association met the impact of the pandemic.
Today Leith-based charity, Venture Scotland, is celebrating receiving nearly £100,000 in funding over 3 years from The National Lottery Community Fund, made possible by National Lottery players.
Since 1989, Venture Scotland has used the outdoors as a vehicle to transform the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of Young People across the Central Belt of Scotland. Every year, their small team delivers four, progressive outdoor-based personal development programmes, known as the “Journey”, to over 50 Young People who are facing challenges to their mental health.
Venture Scotland utilise Scotland’s natural environments to deliver group-based outdoor activities, such as gorge walking, kayaking and hill climbing, alongside groupwork, 1-to-1 support sessions and remote bothy residentials.
Venture Scotland’s ethos is to use the outdoor experience to help our Young People gain confidence, overcome challenges, and discover their potential – all of which they can channel into their daily lives.
The National Lottery Community Fund has made it possible for their graduate Young People to give back to Venture Scotland and has ensured that Young People are at the heart of our organisation.
Venture Scotland’s innovative Ambassador Programme has embedded four of our graduate Young People at all levels of Venture Scotland:
They attend and offer feedback at our Board meetings;
Support our fundraising team;
Help our Outreach Worker engage with new Young People;
Volunteer with our delivery team on activity days;
And have helped recruit new staff and trustees.
Most importantly, Venture Scotland’s Ambassadors bring their “lived experience” to motivate and inspire the project’s young people and ensure that their wellbeing is at the heart of everything VS we does.
Jo graduated from Venture Scotland’s Journey Programme in 2019. Before Venture Scotland, Jo was stuck in a cycle of self-destruction and experienced crippling anxiety, eating disorders and isolation.
After completing our Journey Programme, Jo became a Venture Scotland Ambassador; she has this to say about the Programme:
“The Ambassador Programme has given me a purpose and structure in these turbulent times, a chance to connect with people, learn new skills, keep up old ones and a chance to give back to a place and people that changed my life. It has given me hope; something to hold on to.”
The National Lottery Community Fund will allow us to officially launch our Ambassador Programme to a whole new generation of Young People and will ensure that Venture Scotland is the best it can be.
The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “National Lottery funding can make amazing things happen in local communities across the country.
“This project delivered by Venture Scotland is a great example of community activity in action, showing just what can be achieved when people come together for a common cause or to help others. National Lottery players can be proud to know that the money they raise is helping to support this vital work and to help communities thrive.”
Venture Scotland’s CEO, David Brackenridge added: “Our Ambassador programme has put the voices of young people at the heart of our organisation and this has already had a transformational effect.
“So often, our Ambassadors have given us a whole new perspective on the work we do and the decisions we make and this has changed the way we operate, govern ourselves and has shaped our strategy going forward.
“I already can’t imagine them not being an integral part of Venture Scotland. A massive thanks to the National Lottery for funding this programme and for ensuring we can grow and develop it with young people.”
A partnership agreement to establish two ‘Green’ Freeports in Scotland has been reached between Scottish and UK Ministers.
Following ‘robust’ discussions in recent months, both governments have agreed:
to establish a joint applicant prospectus, with Ministers and officials from both the Scottish and UK Government having an equal say throughout the assessment and selection process
that applicants in Scotland are required to contribute towards a just transition to net-zero emissions by 2045, delivering net-zero benefits and creating new green jobs
that applicants in Scotland are required to set out how they will support high-quality employment opportunities that offer good salaries and conditions, and how fair work practices will be embedded in the green freeport area
Ministers have agreed that a joint offer set out in a prospectus offers the maximum benefits for the Scottish economy as both governments will be able to deliver tax reliefs and other incentives through a combination of devolved and reserved powers.
As a result of the recent negotiations, UK Ministers are expected to provide up to £52 million in seed funding to help establish Green Freeports in Scotland which is in line with funding offered to Freeports across England.
Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “I am pleased we have been able to reach an agreement on a joint approach that recognises the distinct needs of Scotland’s economy and enshrines the Scottish Government’s commitment to achieving net-zero and embedding fair work practices through public investment.
“The Scottish Government will have an equal say on all bids, and will expect bidders to adhere to fair work practices including payment of the Real Living Wage.
“Scotland has a rich history of innovative manufacturers and so as we look to grasp the many opportunities of achieving net-zero, the establishment of internationally competitive clusters of excellence will help us create new green jobs, deliver a just transition and support our economic transformation.
“We can only seize Scotland’s economic potential if we create secure, sustainable and satisfying jobs that also help build a fairer, more prosperous economy for everyone. That is my absolute priority and establishing Green Freeports will be integral to achieving this.”
Secretary of State Michael Gove said: “This is a truly exciting moment for Scotland, and I am delighted we will be working together with the Scottish Government to set up two new Green Freeports.
“Green Freeports help inject billions into the local economy, while levelling-up by creating jobs for local people, and opportunities for people all over the UK to flourish.
“By collaborating using opportunities like Green Freeports we can work to level-up the whole of the UK and bring benefits and opportunities to communities that need it most.”
The term ‘Green Freeports’ reflects the Scottish Government’s distinctive net zero aspirations. The UK Government will continue to use the term ‘Freeports’ for its programme in the rest of the UK.
Forth Ports – which owns and operates seven ports on Scotland’s East coast and the Port of Tilbury, which is part of the recently-announced Thames Freeport – has issued a statement following the announcement.
Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports, said:“We welcome the announcement by the UK and Scottish governments of the forthcoming bid process for two Green Freeports in Scotland and confirm that we plan to participate in this process.
“A Firth of Forth Green Freeport will catalyse the decarbonisation of Scotland’s major industrial cluster, creating 50,000 new, high-quality jobs in renewable energy, manufacturing, sustainable fuels and construction.
“Building on our first-hand experience of freeports, we plan to create an ambitious set of programmes to harness the regeneration benefits of this economic policy.
“The legacy of our green freeport will be the creation of large-scale green manufacturing industries with significant export potential and a sustainable fuel cluster, alongside major upgrades to infrastructure and skills development among young adults to ensure a Team Scotland approach as the UK transitions to a decarbonised future.”
£33,000 funding secured from the Scottish Government to help with fuel poverty debts
Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), in partnership with Changeworks, has secured £33,000 in funding from the Scottish Government and Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to support tenants with existing fuel poverty related debts.
The fund ensures we can support up to 50 households with this issue until the end of March 2022.
Currently, 21% of Edinburgh households live in fuel poverty, rising to 44% for social housing tenants. In Leith, 24% households live in material deprivation which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic.
Affordable Warmth Services Team Manager at Changeworks, Lisa Bygate, commented: “Through our work on the Link-Up Leith project we have seen increasing demand for support as people find themselves struggling with high bills and fuel debt.
“We are now seeing the highest incidences of households at risk of disconnection since the project started. This much welcomed funding will support people living on low incomes to have improved life skills and confidence to tackle fuel poverty issues themselves.
“We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Port of Leith Housing Association to provide support to their tenants and Leith residents with energy debt. We will be working closely with their welfare rights staff and other members of the Link-Up Leith project to identify and provide assistance to those who need it.”
PoLHA Group Chief Executive, Heather Kiteley, said: “I’m thankful that we have secured this funding to help our community during this time of rapidly escalating fuel costs.
“We are committed to ensuring our tenants’ welfare and I’m proud that the PoLHA Group has been able to react so quickly to our tenants’ needs and provide vital support.”
Eligible tenants will be identified for this grant through PoLHA’s Tenant Advice Service and Changeworks existing Link-Up Leith project run in partnership with Edinburgh Community Food and Stepping Stones.
Changeworks will also identify people eligible for support through referrals to their Affordable Warmth Service.
How to apply
Tenants can apply for the fund by speaking to their Housing Officer or our Tenant Advice team who can make a referral to Changeworks.
Other services
PoLHA offers the following support services to social housing tenants: welfare benefits advice, money advice and tenancy sustainment advice.
The public is to be given the opportunity to view proposals by Crosslane Residential Developments (Crosslane) for an exciting new residential serviced living development at Ocean Point 2, next to Leith’s Ocean Terminal.
Residential serviced living is a new type of fully furnished accommodation, with shared social spaces focused on creating a vibrant sense of community and all-inclusive rents, covering utilities and other living costs.
The scheme will comprise 293 units providing a mix of studio, 1, 2 and 3-bed apartments, with 74 of these offered at affordable intermediate rent levels.
The proposed high-quality, new development will be entirely different to other residential accommodation. The entire building is designed to be a living environment. The principle is that residents sleep in their room but ‘live’ in the building by taking advantage of the wide range of shared communal space and facilities available, generating a real sense of community within the development.
A development such as this responds to market demand for quality rental homes. This is fuelled by a lack of new housing supply coming to the market, an increasing proportion of young professionals looking for more flexibility in how they live and work, and challenges in affordability with many young people being priced out of an expensive and highly competitive apartment-based rental marketplace.
Research from letting portal Citylets reveals the average monthly rent in Edinburgh’s private rental sector rose by 9.8% to £1,191 in the last three months of 2021. This is rent cost alone and does not include utilities and other normal living costs.
93% of one and two-bedroom properties in the Capital found new tenants within one month, with average rents reaching £813 (up 4.9%) for a one-bed apartment, while two-bed apartments achieved average rentals of £1,111, up 9.8%.
The proposal from Crosslane will provide a new residential serviced living development that is affordable and hassle-free, in a convenient, accessible location, inclusive of utilities and bills. Target customers include local residents, young professionals, key workers and nomadic professionals drawn to Edinburgh by project led employment.
A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) has been submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council, and two consultation events will be held.
Due to the ongoing pandemic and issues surrounding the COVID-19 virus, the Scottish Government has issued guidance encouraging developers to use online or digital engagement methods whilst public gatherings are prohibited.
On Thursday, 10 February 2022, between 3 pm and 7 pm, the development team will be available at www.oceanpoint2.com to answer your questions through a dedicated chat system as part of the digital consultation.
This will enable visitors to communicate directly with the design and advisory team and for them to answer any questions.
Details of the proposals will go live on the website from 9am. A second event is planned for March.
Visitors who do not have online access to exhibition materials can request hard copies from hello@oceanpoint2.com or contact Orbit Communications on 0131 202 3259 orat 4 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JE.
Mark Hughes, Managing Director at Crosslane Residential Developments, said:“Crosslane and its advisory team are looking forward to be giving the local public the chance to view and comment on exciting proposals for our Ocean Point 2 development in Leith.
“This is an incredibly appealing prospect for both Leith and Edinburgh as a whole. Residential serviced living represents an innovative affordable housing solution at a time when rental accommodation prices in the capital are soaring, and there are serious demands on housing supply.
“Our proposals will significantly assist in the regeneration and expansion of this part of the city. We are consulting extensively to ensure that people from across the local area have an opportunity to input their views and shape our ambitious proposals.
“We encourage all interested parties to speak to the team on 10 February and to put any questions you have to them.”
The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) represents Scotland’s young people.
Democratically elected members listen to and recognise the issues that are most important to young people, ensuring that their voices are heard by decision-makers. All young people aged between 14 and 25 years old can stand for election to the SYP.
Following on from last year’s successful SYP elections in Edinburgh, one seat remains unfilled in Northern and Leith. SYP rules state that the vacancy should be filled.
Where a seat is vacant, it can be filled through existing youth structures.
We are therefore asking young people involved in pupil/student councils or other youth structures such as participation groups in youth work agencies if they are interested in becoming a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Northern and Leith.
Interested young people must live, study (i.e. go to school or college) or work in the constituency.
The city council is looking at how they can offer alternative locations for library services on a temporary basis for the communities where buildings are currently being used as COVID Testing Centres – principally Leith, Oxgangs and Newington Libraries.
Work to take forward plans to prepare and adapt the space available in Fort Community Centre has already started, which will allow some library services to restart alongside the Early Years Centre in North Fort Street.
The community centre is just a six minute walk from Leith Library and, once ready, will aim to provide the following services:
customers borrowing, returning and reserving library stock
bus pass applications
Hey Girls sanitary provision
hearing Aid batteries
food recycling bags
Bookbug under 5s rhyme times for children and their parents/ carers
CEC is also looking at ways to provide adult group activities in the building subject to Covid guidance. The intention is for the services to be running from Monday to Saturday and to build up the opening hours to closely match existing Leith Library ones.
More information will be provided soon, as the plans are developed further. Work is also underway to identify suitable alternative properties in the Oxgangs and Newington areas for their library services.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener, said: “I’m really pleased we’ll be able to relocate these essential services to the Fort Community Centre, which is only a few minutes walk from the existing Leith Library building, on a temporary basis until we get Leith Library back fully functioning.
“There is so much more to libraries in addition to borrowing books – they are trusted and much-loved hubs and bring local communities together. Although our online provision during the pandemic has been incredibly successful there’s no substitute for physical access.”
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Culture and Communities Vice Convener, said: “I’m sure the local community will be delighted to hear that the services provided by Leith Library will soon be available from the nearby Fort Community Centre. All our libraries are centres of learning and information and are also essential for the wellbeing of our citizens.
“We’re actively looking at how we can provide more services for our other communities where libraries are being used as test centres and we’ll do everything we can to get these up and running as well. I want to thank all the hard work and efforts from the various Council teams who worked so hard to achieve this.”
FoE Scotland: Pollution rebounds to illegal levels in 2021
Scotland breached legal air quality limits in 2021 after a historic low in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Hope Street in Glasgow recorded an annual average above the legal limit for diesel pollution, while many streets across Scotland saw pollution spike back up despite Covid-19 restrictions like working from home continuing through the year and the country being in lockdown for the first few months.
Friends of the Earth Scotland analysed official air pollution data for 2021, looking at two toxic pollutants which are primarily produced by transport. Legal air quality standards came into force in 2010, yet have been broken every single year since except 2020.
As traffic levels increased through 2021, air pollution rose correspondingly. While Hope Street in Glasgow once again breached legal air quality limits for nitrogen dioxide, other streets such as Salamander Street in Edinburgh and Atholl Street in Perth experienced increases in particulate pollution.
Campaigners say this data shows governments and councils have not done enough to reduce car traffic. Measures such as Spaces for People – brought in during lockdown to ease social distancing and create temporary cycle lanes and pedestrian spaces – were soon ripped out by councils like Edinburgh while other councils, such as Falkirk largely ignored the funding.
Air pollution kills 2,500 people in Scotland each year and puts the population at risk of serious health conditions, like asthma, heart attacks, and strokes. It’s especially harmful to children, the elderly, and people living in poverty or made vulnerable from other health conditions.
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Dirtiest streets for Nitrogen Dioxide
The European Ambient Air Quality Directive set a limit for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. The deadline for this limit to have been met was 2010.
Location / NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide Annual mean (µg/m3)
Glasgow Hope Street 45.411
Dundee Lochee Road 31.840
Falkirk West Bridge Street 31.219
Perth Atholl Street 31.077
Dundee Seagate 30.136
Edinburgh Queensferry Road 29.625
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Dirtiest streets for fine particles (PM10)
The Scottish annual statutory standard for particulate matter (PM10) is 18 micrograms per cubic metre.
Location PM10 annual mean (µg/m3)
Edinburgh Salamander St 15.439
Perth Atholl Street 14
Glasgow Kerbside 13.138
Fife Cupar 12.955
Aberdeen Wellington Road 12.314
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Friends of the Earth Scotland’s transport campaigner, Gavin Thomson, said:“Scotland once again has illegal air quality in 2021, which is shocking but not surprising given the lack of political action on the issue.
“2020 was an outlier for obvious reasons and we witnessed unprecedented changes to all areas of public life. But for traffic emissions, it was back to business as usual in 2021. From the evidence we have, virtually every street in Scotland experienced higher levels of pollution in 2021 than the previous year.
“Air pollution from transport is responsible for thousands of premature deaths in Scotland every year, and causes serious heart and lung issues. The growing evidence base showing the links between air pollution and vulnerability to Covid-19 is only the latest reason why we have to act to protect public health.
“The Low Emission Zones being introduced will not restrict private cars until summer 2024. Meanwhile, with pollution spiking in Perth, we should be asking why only four cities in Scotland are introducing LEZs.
“The temporary improvements in air quality in 2020 arrived at an enormous cost to our communities and societies. There was no intention or concerted political action to reduce emissions, which is why the falls were not maintained when restriction eased.
“We need a just transition for transport, including taking control of our public transport to run comprehensive services that serve passengers not profit, and more options for safe walking and cycling, to improve the air we breathe permanently.”
Felicity Neyme runs the Clean Air & Active Travel group at Davidson’s Mains primary school in Edinburgh. The group works to make routes to school safer and actively campaigns in the community for measures to monitor and improve air quality.
She said: “These days we all know about the dangers of smoking and even plastic in waterways but I am concerned about the lack of awareness amongst parents and grandparents about the impact of air pollution on children’s lungs.
“I regularly see cars idling at pick-up and drop-off whilst collecting the children they love, dearly ignorant of the fact that they are complicit in creating dangerous levels of pollution around school. We need publicly available data on air quality at schools, safer routes to school so parents don’t feel they have to drive and we need stricter regulation banning vehicles near school.”
Paul Wilson, 47, social care worker based in Ayrshire, said:“I’ve had serious asthma since I was a young child, and have been admitted to hospital over 50 times throughout my life. I have the condition in good control now through medication and lifestyle, but air pollution is something that can be really hard to avoid.
“I live in a small village in Ayrshire now, but when I lived in Glasgow I had far more attacks. Whenever I’m in the city now I’m aware of my chest being tighter, and I make sure to avoid certain streets like Hope Street in the city centre which are especially polluted.
“I always take my inhaler when I’m going through too. I’m incredibly aware of what affects my asthma because I have to be, but some people don’t realise what’s causing it to get worse when it’s something invisible like air pollution, and it must be very hard for people who can’t avoid these really polluted areas because of work or where they live.
“Tackling air pollution will obviously make a huge difference for asthma sufferers like me, but it’s also affecting everyone’s health so I think it needs to be prioritised more than it is currently.”
Caitlin Smyth, 24, a nurse based in Paisley said:“I’m really concerned about the damage done to people’s health from air pollution. Things like engine idling outside hospitals and schools needs to become a thing of the past. Your car fumes might be harming someone who is vulnerable.
“That air quality is getting worse, year-on-year, is shameful. We need to make our towns and cities safer and healthier. I’d like to see a big focus on public transport, but also we need to stop cars running their engines for no reason.”
If you live, work, study or volunteer in Leith vote for your favourite community project – £56,102 will be allocated to community projects that benefit people in Leith.
A new phase of work on the Trams to Newhaven project is set to begin, as the scheme continues to take shape along the route.
Significant progress has been made on several elements of the project, which remains on target for completion in spring 2023 and within the £207.3m budget. More than 60% of track has now been laid (2.8km), 85% of the necessary utility diversions have been carried out and construction work is complete on two new tram stops at McDonald Road and Ocean Terminal.
As part of the next stage of construction the temporary tram stop at York Place, built for the original tram line, will be demolished to allow for the installation of a crossover linking the existing line with the new route.
From 9 February until April the tram from Edinburgh Airport will stop at the West End stop on Shandwick Place. From April, the tram will terminate at St Andrew Square. Details of operational arrangements for this are available on the Edinburgh Trams website.
Construction work on a new, permanent stop at Picardy Place will begin in May. This will come into use when the line to Newhaven opens in 2023.
With construction works on the west side of Leith Walk nearing completion, February will also see changes to traffic management in the area. While traffic will continue to run citybound, from 2 February it will be moved from the east to the west side of the road so that changes to kerb lines, improvements to public realm and the creation of a new carriageway can be carried out on the east side.
This means Pilrig Street and Steads Place can reopen for southbound traffic. There will be some closures to side streets on the east of Leith Walk at certain times, with further details published on the Trams to Newhaven website when these closures are implemented.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “We’re entering a significant phase of the Trams to Newhaven project, as we work to link the old line to the new. We are in the final year of construction for the project which will be followed by a period of testing and commissioning ahead of opening for service in Spring 2023.
“With 60% of track laid and main construction on two of the new tram stops completed, we’re making great progress and it’s exciting to be able to see elements of the new line in place, giving us an idea of how the route will look next year.
“Of course, as is expected of major infrastructure projects of this nature, there is bound to be some disruption, and I’d like to thank all those living and working nearby for their patience.
“We’re working hard to mitigate the impacts and will continue liaising with residents, businesses and public transport providers to keep them up to date.”
Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, said: “Delivering the tram line to Newhaven will unlock a large area of the city for housing and economic development, while providing a sustainable, reliable mode of transport to densely populated communities.
“We’re clearly making great strides towards its completion, and we’re making every effort to minimise disruption as part of this process.”
Logistics hubs on Montgomery Street, Albert Street, Dalmeny Street and near the Foot of the Walk will remain open for local businesses as part of the Support for Business package, which also includes a local voucher scheme and a business continuity fund.
As work on a bidirectional cycle lane continues the existing cycle diversion remains in place on either side of Leith Walk. Pedestrian footways and access to shops, hospitality and leisure venues on the east side will be maintained at all times.
The London Road to Crown Street section of the project is estimated to be complete by July 2022, while it is expected that the London Road to York Place section will be finished in September.
EIGHT years on, there’s still no sign of any report from Lord Hardie’s Edinburgh Tram inquiry …
