Category: North Edinburgh News

Show of Defiance: British Gas strike ‘rock solid’ as members prepare to burn their contracts

British Gas workers are burning the new contracts to show graphically their defiance of the imposition of hourly pay 15% below the agreed rate, says GMB Union.

Day six of the British Gas strike was ‘rock solid’ as an estimated 7,000 workers downed tools over the company’s plan to sack them all 

Meanwhile angry engineers across the country are set to burn new contracts – which they have been told they must sign, or be fired in March: 

In a show of defiance, engineers across the UK will burn new contracts tomorrow (Friday 22 January) at 10am: 

London: Havering Town Hall, Main Road, RM1 3BB 

Edinburgh: Scottish Gas call centre, 1 Waterfront Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1SG 

Cardiff: British Gas Customer Call Office, 4 Callaghan Square, Tresillian Way, Cardiff, CF10 5BT 

Windsor: Centrica HQ, Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, SL4 5GD 

Leeds: British Gas Call Centre, New Bridge House, Leeds, LS11 5BD 

Uddingston: Scottish Gas, Murdock House, 29 Bothwell Road, Uddingston G71 7TW 

Leicester: 195 Aylestone Road, Leicester, LE2 7QJa 

Stockport: British Gas Office, New Bridge Lane, Stockport, SK1 2HQ 

Members across the country – picketing at their vans due to the pandemic – will also be filming and photographing their contracts being burned at the same time.  

Engineers and other workers will also down tools on January 22, 25, 29, 30, 31 and February 1 in anger as profitable British Gas provokes further disruption for its customers.  

British Gas engineers and staff voted overwhelmingly by 89% to strike after boss of parent company Centrica Chris O’Shea threatened to fire them all if they didn’t “accept” cuts to pay and terms and conditions.  

The strikes provoked by the company have caused massive disruption already – with an estimated 100,000 homes waiting for service across the country.  

British Gas parent company Centrica reported an operating profit (before exceptional items and tax) of £901 million in 2019.  

The operating profitability of its UK home heating business rose by 27 per cent in the first six months of 2020.

Justin Bowden, GMB National Secretary, said:  “GMB members at British Gas are burning the new contracts to show graphically their defiance of the imposition of hourly pay 15% below the agreed rate – as well as other changes. 

“This is yet another attempt get through to Mr O’Shea that staff accepting cuts of this magnitude in a profitable company is wishful thinking in the extreme. 

“British Gas has provoked disruption to more than 100,000 households already in the backlog for services. That number will grow due to the seven new strike dates. 

“The company needs to put customers and staff first by abandoning wishful thinking and taking ‘fire and rehire’ off the table. 

Youth arts and creativity to be celebrated in virtual festival

UNCON 3.0 is the third iteration of a biannual festival, designed for and by young people, celebrating the best in youth arts and creativity in Scotland.

The coronavirus pandemic has had an enormous impact on every aspect of children and young people’s lives, including on art provision, and their opportunities to participate and progress within the arts, screen and creative industries.

During the virtual UNCON on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 January 2021, partners from across the youth arts sector will share reflections on the challenges of the past year and consider how children’s voices and aspirations can be heard in the recovery process.

The partner organisations are: Media Education, Intercultural Youth Scotland,  Collective, Arts End of Somewhere/PAMIS, Glasgow Connected Arts Network, Starcatchers, Fèis Rois/Highland Youth Arts Hub and CELCIS. 

The programme will feature a mix of pre-filmed and live performances, presentations and panel discussions, artwork and manifestos created by children and young people.

Children, young people, policy makers and anyone with an interest in children and young people’s rights are invited to join the conversation. The programme includes live events which are free to access. Full details of the programme and information about how to register is available on the Creative Scotland website. 

Fiona Dalgetty, Fèis Rois said: “Young people from Fèis Rois and the Highland Youth Arts Hub have taken part in every UNCON to date, and we are excited to participate online this year.

“Overcoming the challenging move to a digital event, the team at Creative Scotland have put together an ambitious programme and we are excited for the audience to see the video our young people have created.”

Katie Brennan, Collective said: “For this year’s UNCON, we’ve been working in partnership with Edinburgh Young Carers on a postal project, asking young people to reflect on their experiences of lockdown and hopes for the future through mail art.

“We look forward to UNCON as a space in which the hopes, concerns and priorities of young people from all backgrounds will be heard by organisations and policy makers.”

Paul Sullivan of CELCIS said “We know the importance of creativity in helping children and young people to develop new skills, express themselves and have fun. COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on every aspect of children and young people’s lives, including their opportunities to access creativity.

“Our hope for UNCON is that through showcasing the creative skills of a number of talented care experienced young people and projects, we can further highlight the need for creative opportunities to be protected for children and young people all across Scotland.”

Sarah Mcadam, Time to Shine Manager, Creative Scotland said: “As with so many things, the lead in to this UNCON has felt very different to previous years. We know that the coronavirus will continue to have a significant impact on children and young people’s futures and it’s more important than ever to make sure we are listening to what is important to their lives.

“As this UNCON takes place at the beginning of a new decade, we look forward to working with a youth arts sector that meets these challenges head-on and continues to support Scotland’s children and young people to thrive in and through the arts and creativity.”

UNCON 3.0 is an outcome of Time to Shine – Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy. 

Lanark Road set for the ‘Spaces for People’ treatment

“we are aware of local concerns, and we’ve made a number of changes in response” – Transport and Environment Convener Cllr Lesley Macinnes

Work on measures to ‘significantly improve’ cycle safety on Lanark Road, Longstone Road and Inglis Green Road as part of the Spaces for People programme will begin next week, the city council has announced:

Following feedback from the community we’ve made several amendments to the scheme, which will include a segregated cycle lane on both sides of the road and speed limit reductions.

Along with pop-up cycle lanes on Slateford Road and Dundee Street/Fountainbridge, interventions will help relieve congestion on the Union Canal towpath and Water of Leith walkway. These shared use paths have seen a substantial increase in pedestrians and cyclists during lockdown with at least a 150% rise in cyclists during the summer. This alternative route will help reduce conflict and allow for physical distancing, particularly on narrower sections like the Slateford Aqueduct.

Since sharing the original proposals with stakeholders we’ve made changes to the designs in response to comments from local people, largely to maximise parking access for businesses and any residents who don’t have driveways.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes (SNP) said: This scheme will introduce a much-needed safe and welcoming route for those making essential journeys by foot, bike or wheelchair, offering an alternative to the Union Canal towpath and Water of Leith walkway.

“It’s clear from our own monitoring that these popular shared-use paths are becoming over-crowded and we simply must provide other options for the many people who don’t own a car, who don’t feel comfortable using public transport at present or who want to take daily exercise on foot or bike.

“Of course, we are aware of local concerns, and we’ve made a number of changes in response. The beauty of the scheme’s temporary nature is that we’ll be able to continue monitoring its effectiveness too, making further tweaks where possible.

Transport and Environment Vice Convener Councillor Karen Doran (Labour) said: “This is all about providing safe, convenient options for those making essential journeys and this is a key route for those travelling out of the city.

“Our Spaces for People team have worked hard to respond to concerns from residents and businesses and as a result the designs have been changed. Ultimately, this is about protecting the safety of vulnerable road users, and providing space for people to physically distance, and schemes like these are essential for achieving that.”

Measures on Lanark Road and Inglis Green Road will include: 

  • Segregated cycle lanes on both sides of the road, protected from traffic
  • A reduced speed limit, from 40mph to 30mph
  • The removal of the kerbside traffic lane, except on approach to junctions
  • The introduction of a bus lane on approach to Gillespie crossroads

Measures on Longstone Road will include:

  • Introduction of segregated, and advisory cycle lanes as space allows
  • A reduced speed limit, from 30mph to 20mph
  • Carriageway narrowing and parking restrictions at certain points
  • Safety improvements at Longstone Roundabout

Changes to designs following community feedback will see additional parking retained at:

  • Cranley Nursery
  • Lanark Road Nursery
  • Dovecot Park
  • Inglis Green Road
  • Kingsknowe Golf Course
  • Redhall area

As part of the development of the scheme we’ve liaised closely with a range of stakeholders, such as the emergency services, Lothian Buses, community councils, equalities organisations, Spokes and Living Streets to ensure designs don’t impact on essential services or accessibility and that they provide an improved environment for pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists.

Once introduced, we will continue to monitor the changes, carrying out regular reviews and tweaking where necessary.

This project is one of a range of improvements being made across the city as part of the Spaces for People programme, which is helping to provide safe, welcoming routes for walking, cycling and wheeling while allowing people to physically distance during COVID-19 restrictions. 

Find out more about Spaces for People on the Council website.

Roll Your Sleeves Up: Scottish Government launches vaccination information campaign

A new campaign encouraging people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as they are eligible launches today.

The ‘Roll your sleeves up’ campaign will emphasise the importance of the vaccine and its safety, as well as the prioritisation list set out by Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to ensure those most at risk are vaccinated first.

Vaccination will be offered to 4.5 million people in Scotland and is currently underway for residents of care homes for older people and their carers, frontline health and social care workers, and those aged 80 years and over. Local delivery is being led by NHS boards, who will contact those eligible to arrange their vaccination.

Those aged 70 and over and the clinically extremely vulnerable, including those on the shielding list will receive their first vaccine dose by mid-February, those aged over 65 will receive their first doses by the beginning of March, and vaccination of the wider adult population will commence once the remainder of the JCVI priority groups are complete by early May.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Vaccination offers us greater protection against COVID-19 and it offers us hope that this year will be a brighter one.

“It is another vital tool in our work to suppress the virus, but other measures including testing, and lockdown restrictions remain absolutely essential to suppress COVID to the lowest possible level in Scotland.

“These three critical actions will help us protect the NHS and save lives, towards a brighter year ahead. However, we don’t yet know how well vaccination stops people transmitting the virus to others – which is why it’s essential people protect the progress we’ve made, and continue to follow the restrictions currently in place, whether they have been vaccinated or not, while vaccine delivery is rolled out across the country.”

The ‘Roll your sleeves up’ campaign will run from today (21 January) to the end of March 2021 on TV, radio, press, outdoor and digital channels.

Interim Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Dave Caesar said: “No matter which vaccine you receive, each has passed a rigorous three-phase testing process, reviewed by independent regulatory and advisory bodies to ensure it is safe and effective. 

“Your local NHS health board will be in touch with you to arrange your vaccination appointment when you are eligible, and I encourage everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible to do so.

“However, vaccination on its own it won’t be enough to win the race against this virus. 

“Each one of us needs to do all we can – following the guidance, abiding closely to the restrictions, washing our hands, wearing face coverings, maintaining 2m distance from each other – everything we can to slow down the spread of the virus and suppress its prevalence as low as we can, so that increasing vaccination can do the job we need it to do. 

“Doing all of that will help you protect yourself, protect the NHS and save lives.”  

For more information visit nhsinform.scot/rollupyoursleeves or call 0800 030 8013.

Adult-information-covid-19-vaccine-leaflet-Jan2021Download

Amazon Edinburgh team’s funding boost for music students

A £10,000 gift will help the next generation of stage, screen and behind-the-scenes talent fulfil their dreams at one of the world’s top destinations to study the performing and production arts. 

Amazon Development Centre Scotland is supporting students as they develop their craft at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in Glasgow, a global leader in performing arts education. 

Powered by performance, with a culture of creativity and collaboration, the nation’s conservatoire nurtures the most promising Scottish, UK and international artists and performers as they prepare for the professional world. 

Scholarships enable young people from across Scotland and around the globe to study at an internationally renowned conservatoire. Donations remove the financial barrier or pressures they might otherwise face and may cover either part or the full cost of tuition fees, help with living costs or to purchase essential equipment. 

Graeme Smith, Managing Director at Amazon Development Centre Scotland, said: “We are proud to support the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and its efforts to encourage as many people as possible to get involved with the performing arts.

“At Amazon, we’re passionate about helping young people succeed, whatever their background, and we hope this donation will help the institution as they continue to find and nurture talented artists across our community, especially in these challenging times.” 

Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, added: “An arts education should be available to all and financial barriers or otherwise should never stand in the way. 

“Scholarships are life changing – they open up a world of opportunity, offer enriching experiences and allow artists to immerse themselves fully in their studies as they work towards a career in the performing arts.                                                         

“We are grateful to Amazon Development Centre Scotland for their donation which is an investment in the future of the arts.” 

Amazon Development Centre Scotland has been based in Edinburgh since 2004 and is responsible for devising and growing innovations that bring new levels of choice and convenience to hundreds of millions of customers around the world. 

It houses teams of leading engineers, scientists, designers and product managers who work on everything from interactive user interface design to large-scale distributed systems and machine learning. The team is currently recruiting for a number of positions including software developers, engineers and applied scientists. 

Community donations are one of a number of ways in which Amazon is supporting communities across the UK during COVID-19. Amazon Prime Video recently committed over £1.5 million to support the recovery of the European TV, film and theatre production community in the UK. 

Throughout the pandemic Amazon has provided students with free online STEM resources and supported virtual classrooms with no-cost resources from AWS. The company has also teamed up with charity partner Magic Breakfast to deliver over 2 million healthy breakfasts to disadvantaged children around the UK. 

For more information on how Amazon is supporting the UK during COVID-19, click here. 

RCS is the only place in Europe where all of the performing arts are taught on one campus, with specialist training in music, drama, dance, production, education and film. 

Donations to RCS’s fundraising campaign, We Are Still Here, will safeguard the future of the arts through student scholarships. We Are Still Here launched in November 2020 with a powerful short film narrated by award-winning Hollywood and West End actor James McAvoy, a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s BA Acting degree programme. 

With footage filmed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the film features music from acclaimed pianist and composer Fergus McCreadie, a rising star on the European jazz scene, who is an RCS graduate and scholarship recipient.  

RCS is committed to providing pathways for emerging artists, helping them to realise their potential and achieve their ambitions, regardless of their background. Its Fair Access programme and pre-higher education initiatives work with young people from across Scotland, to ensure the performing arts are accessible to all. 

The award-winning Transitions programme is for Scottish residents living at postcodes that are identified as being within the top 20 per cent on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) list.

It provides funded training, tailored support and mentoring for those wishing to study the performing or production arts and prepares them for degree-level training at conservatoire or university level. 

Find out more and donate to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland student scholarship fund.

End Child Poverty publishes Holyrood elections manifesto

“the pandemic has pulled families even deeper into poverty, while many more have been swept into poverty for the first time. A rising tide of child poverty now threatens to overwhelm many in our communities.”

John Dickie, Child Poverty Action Group Scotland

All political parties in Scotland should commit to at least doubling the value of the new Scottish Child Payment to stem the rising tide of child poverty, a coalition of anti-poverty groups, children’s charities and women’s organisations have urged today.

The End Child Poverty coalition in Scotland made the call in A Manifesto for Ending Child Poverty: Our Priorities for the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election, launched today, in which it set out its key asks ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.

While warmly welcoming the new £10 per week per child benefit for low income families – due to begin its roll out for under 6s next month – the manifesto warns that it will not go far enough in helping to meet Scotland’s child poverty reduction targets. By increasing the payment to £20 per week, the coalition say, at least another 20,000 children could be lifted out of poverty.

As well as doubling the Scottish Child Payment, the coalition are also calling for all parties to commit to:

• Bolstering other support for low income families, including by increasing the value of School Clothing Grants and Best Start Grants;

• Ensuring crisis support is adequate and accessible, including by investing in the Scottish Welfare Fund;

• Guaranteeing holistic whole family support to all families needing help;

• Supporting migrant children and caregivers, including increasing financial support to families with No Recourse to Public Funds;

• Setting out a child poverty-focused labour market policy, including action to tackle the gender pay gap.

Launching the manifesto, John Dickie (Director, CPAG in Scotland) said: “Even before Covid-19, almost one in four children in Scotland were growing up in the grip of poverty.

“Now, the pandemic has pulled families even deeper into poverty, while many more have been swept into poverty for the first time. A rising tide of child poverty now threatens to overwhelm many in our communities.

“That’s why we have set out this range of measures that would help to stem that tide, by putting much-needed cash into the pockets of families who are struggling to stay afloat. We urge all political parties to commit to the action we’ve set out, and to use the next Scottish Parliament to loosen the grip of poverty on the lives of Scotland’s children.”

Anna Ritchie Allan (Executive Director, Close the Gap), said: ““The existing inequalities women face in the labour market means they’ve been hardest hit by COVID-19 job disruption.

“The pandemic has starkly illuminated the link between women’s in-work poverty and child poverty. Women who were already struggling are now under enormous financial pressure as they and their families are pushed into further and deeper poverty.

“The End Child Poverty Coalition manifesto calls on Scotland’s political parties to commit to bold action to reduce child poverty. Close the Gap welcomes the focus on substantive action to address women’s inequality in the labour market including tackling women’s low pay and boosting the provision of funded childcare.

“Ensuring economic recovery policymaking prioritises measures to build a labour market that works for women is a necessary step in tackling the growing child poverty crisis.”

The manifesto – along with a summary version – can be found here.

‘Economic security trap’ driving millions of Brits to work with Covid symptoms, RSA warns

Millions of British workers are putting themselves and others at risk of Covid-19 due to inadequate sick pay and pressure from their employers, new research shows.  

The RSA (royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) warns that a growing ‘economic security trap’ — the choice workers face between protecting their income and their health — is contributing significantly to the spread of the virus. 

Polling carried out between 13 Jan and 15 Jan by Yonder (formerly Populus) of UK workers finds: 

  • around one-in-25 (4%) British workers has worked within 10 days of a positive test, rising to one-in-ten (10%) of those in insecure work such as a zero-hours contract, agency work or the gig economy 
  • 6% of British workers have worked with Covid-19 symptoms, rising to 8% of insecure workers and 13% of the self-employed 
  • 12% have been ordered into work when they could have easily and more safely worked from home 
  • only 16% think Statutory Sick Pay is sufficient to meet their needs. 

The RSA calls for an emergency package to address economic insecurity, including: 

Recent RSA research on key workers has found that many staff in key industries report struggling to take time off when unwell, including 29% of those working in social care.  

The RSA has a long-running programme of research dedicated to tackling economic insecurity in the UK. Last year the organisation published A Blueprint for Good Work, putting forward practical solutions for providing good work after the pandemic. 

Alan Lockey, head of RSA’s future work programme, said: “Our polling shows that millions feel forced to put themselves and others at risk of the virus because of insecure work, pressure from bosses, and the failings of our deeply inadequate welfare state.   

“Rishi Sunak must close this ‘economic security trap’ — the terrible trade-off many workers face between their health and putting food on the table — by allowing self-isolating workers to access the furlough scheme, and retaining the £20 per week uplift in universal credit.

“We also need to see help for the millions currently excluded, through no fault of their own – and the self-employed in particular. An ’emergency basic income’ style scheme, using the current tax infrastructure, is the best way to help reach all this group and close the gaps which we believe are helping to increase the infection rate.” 

£250 million to tackle Scotland’s drug deaths emergency

An additional £50 million will be allocated every year for the next five years to improve and increase services for people affected by drug addiction.

Talks have been taking place with people with lived experience, a range of organisations and the Drug Deaths Taskforce following the publication in December of statistics which showed that in 2019 there were 1,264 drug related deaths in Scotland.

In a statement to Parliament, the First Minister said a national mission was needed to turn things around.

She outlined a number of areas where improvements will be made and a further £5 million is being allocated in this financial year to ensure work starts immediately.

These actions include:

  • substantially increasing the number of residential rehabilitation beds across the country
  • reducing stigma and increasing the number of people in treatment for their addiction  
  • allocating funding directly to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, third sector and grassroots organisations to improve  work in communities
  • widening the distribution of naloxone
  • implementing new standards for medicine-assisted treatment to ensure equitable services for all drug users
  • reassessing how overdose prevention facilities might be established despite legal barriers

The First Minister said: “Anyone who ends up losing their life as a result of drug addiction, is not just failed at the time of their death – in most cases, they will have been failed repeatedly throughout their whole life.

“I believe that if we have the will, we can and we will find the ways to stop this happening.

“Doing so requires a national mission to end what is currently a national disgrace.

“It is a reasonable criticism to say that this government should have done more earlier, and I accept that.

“But I am determined that we will provide this national mission with the leadership, focus, and resources that it needs.”

Full statement

CCTV appeal following assault in The Meadows

Police Scotland has released CCTV footage of a man officers wish to speak to in connection with assaults in the Meadows area.

A number of women were approached separately by a man between 10.30pm and 11.30 pm on Monday, 11 January, 2021, when they were walking in the area close to Melville Drive.

A man, described as Asian, aged 20 to 30-years-old, about 5ft 7 ins to 5ft 9 ins and of a skinny build, wearing a dark slim-fit puffer style jacket, was seen at the time.

https://youtu.be/TEOjEBxgVYA

Detective Inspector George Calder said: “A number of women were approached by a man who assaulted them and we believe the man shown in these images can help with our enquiries.

“Officers are also keen to speak to anyone may have seen the man walking towards the city centre or near Argyle Place or who may have dash-cam footage, particularly from driving along Melville Drive at that time of night.

“Anyone who has not spoken to officers already and may be able to help identify the man, or the man himself, can contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident 3502 of 11 January 2021, or make a call anonymously to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”