North Edinburgh News – Page 2085 – The NEN

Scottish Power supports Young Person’s Guarantee to aid Green Recovery Plan

ScottishPower today confirmed it will commit to the Young Person’s Guarantee as part of its overall plan to support the UK’s Green Recovery.

To avoid a ‘lost generation’, the new Young Person’s Guarantee aims to ensure all 16-24 year olds in Scotland get the chance to succeed through an apprenticeship, job, training, further education or volunteering.

The commitment by ScottishPower marks the start of 2021’s Scottish Apprenticeship Week (1-5 March).

ScottishPower is one of the largest employers in Scotland and currently has around 5,500 staff at sites across the UK, including 1650 at its Glasgow-based HQ. It is the UK’s only integrated energy company and generates 100% green electricity.

A Principal Partner for the United Nations climate change conference (COP26) to be held in Glasgow later this year, it is investing a total of £10bn in the clean energy generation and networks infrastructure needed to help the UK decarbonise.

Under the Guarantee, it is making five commitments to help young people at this critical time:

prepare young people for the world of work through work experience, volunteering and work-based learning opportunities
engage with and provide opportunities to young people who face barriers to work
create work-based learning, training and upskilling opportunities for young people
create jobs and opportunities for young people through apprenticeships, paid internships and work experience
create an inclusive workplace to support learning and enable young people to meet their potential

ScottishPower already has a range of successful apprenticeship schemes, scholarships, internships, summer placements and other opportunities to support people either entering the workplace for the first time, from school leavers to graduates, or those returning after career breaks.

Under Young Person’s Guarantee, it is committing to furthering its opportunities for young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds around the UK. This will include grassroots pre-employment schemes in local communities for young people in and around Glasgow.

Sheila Duncan, ScottishPower’s HR Director, said: “The theme for Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2021 is Business Backing Talent and what better way to show our commitment to the future of our young people than by committing to support Young Person’s Guarantee.

“Young people are quite simply the future of our business and we know how successful our apprenticeship and employability schemes can be in terms of attracting, training and retaining talent.

“The past year has been incredibly difficult for our young people and accessing opportunities to help energise their careers shouldn’t seem out of their reach.

“I’m delighted we’re supporting the Guarantee and we’re fully committed to ensuring there are a wide range of exciting opportunities available to them as we strive to deliver a better future, quicker.”

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Apprenticeships are a key part of our work to support our young people, who have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic.

“The Scottish Government is committed to helping our young people and we have dedicated £25 million to increase apprenticeship opportunities in response to Covid-19.

“Not only do these valuable opportunities provide essential experience to progress, they are also hugely beneficial to our employers and businesses.

“Apprenticeships are also a crucial aspect of our million Young Person’s Guarantee, which since November has created around 18,000 opportunities for people aged between 16 and 24 to help them into work, education or training.

“I want our young people and employers to know we support you and will continue to do all we can to build a strong economy recovery for Scotland.”

NHS Lothian launches new vaccination centre at the Gyle

NHS Lothian today opened the doors to a new mass vaccination centre which will help provide thousands more doses of the lifesaving vaccine. The new centre has been created in the former Royal Bank of Scotland Younger building at the Gyle.

The centre will open with eight stations, capable of providing 480 appointments every day, but will have the capability to double in size.

Pat Wynne, Director of Nursing for Primary and Community Care, NHS Lothian, said: “A significant amount of effort has gone into the preparation of the site to ensure that it runs as quickly and smoothly as possible.

“I am extremely proud of the work undertaken by our staff and our Royal Bank of Scotland partners to get this site up and running and ready to receive patients.

“We are moving through our vaccination programme as fast as the vaccine supply allows. When you do receive an appointment, we would urge you to keep it, even if it is at a centre that seems far away from your home.

“In order for the programme to be successful we need to vaccinate as many people as possible. This will help save lives and provide protection to all our communities across Lothian.”

NHS Lothian has been working with councils, health and social care partnerships and other partners in recent weeks to deliver the mass vaccination programme.

Smaller community clinics will deliver vaccinations in the local area for people with complex needs or who, for other reasons, absolutely cannot and would not be expected to travel to a mass centre.

The opening of the Younger building follows closely on the heels of other mass vaccination sites, following the EICC, Pyramids Business Park, the Royal Highland Centre and the drive-through at Queen Margaret University.

Malcolm Buchanan, chair, Scotland Board, Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “Throughout our 300-year history, Royal Bank of Scotland has been focused on supporting and helping our customers and communities through the challenges of everyday life.

“The last 12 months have been some of the most challenging in living memory and today we are proud to play our part in supporting the biggest mass vaccination programme our country has ever undertaken.

“This is just one of many ways in which Royal Bank of Scotland has been supporting the response to COVID-19. The generosity and care of colleagues and customers has helped us support charities helping individuals and families affected directly and indirectly by the pandemic.

“Covid-19 has been one of the worst things we have ever experienced but it has also brought out the best in the people we live with and work beside. Everyone wants to make life better.

“We are delighted at Royal Bank of Scotland to be able to partner with NHS Scotland and transform our Younger Building into a vaccination centre. These actions today will lead to a happier and more positive tomorrow for so many.”

Paul McGirk, Chief Executive of Hub South East, NHS Lothian’s Development Partner, said: “We are delighted to be working with NHS Lothian in the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination centres across the region – surely one of the most important infrastructure developments in recent times.

“Our contractor, Morrison Construction, our designers and the rest of our supply chain partners pulled out all the stops to ensure that the QMU site was handed over safely, to a high quality and on time for its first patients to receive vaccines today. Following the opening of the EICC Centre last week, and with more set to open in the coming weeks, this has been a fantastic partnership effort by everyone involved.”

If patients absolutely cannot keep the appointment they have been given, they are being asked to call the COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 or visit https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine to rearrange their appointment. If they are aged 75 and over, they should phone their GP practice to rearrange their appointment.

More details and information about the venues can be found on NHS Lothian’s website https://www.nhslothian.scot/Coronavirus/Vaccine/Pages/default.aspx

Or for more information about the vaccine and appointments on NHSInform.scot https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine

Revised schedule for City Plan

A report outlining a revised timetable for the City of Edinburgh Council’s City Plan 2030 will be now be considered by councillors on Wednesday, 10 March.

The report, which will be made public on Thursday (4 March), will say that the proposed plan will now be considered by councillors in the summer with the preference being for a committee in August.

The proposed plan was due to be considered by the Planning Committee this month but Scottish Environment Protection Agency was subject to a significant cyber attack just before Christmas which is still affecting its services.

This is having an impact on work on the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment required for the proposed plan as well as many other matters.

The proposed plan was originally due to be considered by councillors in December but disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic has led to some technical reports not being fully completed.

Cllr Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “The proposed plan will be ambitious and will help us build a more sustainable future as the Capital grows in the coming years. When complete, the proposed plan needs to be robust and not open to challenge on the credibility of the flood risk evidence, which is why we need to postpone its completion.

“I have every sympathy with SEPA and the challenges they are experiencing as a result of this incident and appreciate they are rightly focusing at the moment on immediate risks of flooding or significant breaches of the other regulatory responsibilities they have.”

Further £7.4 million to tackle child poverty

Action to tackle deep-rooted inequality and child poverty will be accelerated through £7.4 million of additional investment.

The funding will be made available to local authorities specifically to help disabled parents and enhance the support they get. The funding will also be allocated to the Social Innovation Partnership which invests in alternative approaches to tackling poverty and improving lives.

In addition to the £23.3 million committed in the 2021-22 Scottish Budget, this investment brings the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Fund to a cumulative total of £50 million from 2018–2022, helping towards our ambition to eradicate child poverty and to halve the disability employment gap in Scotland.

Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government Aileen Campbell said: “This increased funding delivers not only on our commitment to invest £50 million through our Tackling Child Poverty Fund, but also to target support to disabled parents to access employment.

“The impacts of COVID have been particularly damaging to disabled people’s employment prospects and it is right that we invest now to enhance the support available.

“Our long-standing Social Innovation Partnership is supporting life-changing and innovative work to tackle child poverty and this increased investment will help to accelerate action.

“We remain firmly committed to eradicating child poverty in Scotland and halving the disability employment gap, and this new investment takes us one step closer to realising these ambitions.”

The £7.4 million is made up of £2.4 million for the Social Innovation Partnership, with an extra £5 million provided through the Parental Employability Support Fund, targeted specifically at supporting disabled parents.

£4.5m to help central Scotland get gigabit speed broadband

More than 5,300 homes and businesses across central Scotland to get much faster gigabit broadband.
Includes premises in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Stirlingshire, Greater Glasgow and Lothian.

More than 5,300 homes and businesses in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Stirlingshire, Greater Glasgow and Lothian will get access to gigabit speeds thanks to the first £4.5 million to be awarded from the UK government’s nationwide gigabit programme.

These premises currently have slow speeds and were already due to benefit from superfast broadband through the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100 (R100) programme, which is scheduled to invest £83 million in central Scotland.

But now, thanks to an agreement between the UK and Scottish governments the properties will get gigabit-capable full fibre broadband built directly to their doorsteps.

While superfast provides minimum speeds of 30 megabits per second, gigabit broadband delivers lightning-fast speeds capable of reaching 1,000 megabits per second.

The move will future-proof people’s internet connections in these areas for the next thirty to forty years and allow them to take full advantage of cutting-edge technologies such as 8K TV and virtual reality streaming.

Matt Warman, UK Minister for Digital Infrastructure said: “The first pound to be spent from our £5 billion pot for gigabit broadband will be in Scotland.

“That’s because it is our mission to deliver lightning-fast next-generation internet connections to all parts of the UK as we build back better from the pandemic.

“And this is just the start. Other areas of Scotland and the rest of the UK will benefit from our record investment in this national broadband upgrade and we’ll announce more regions shortly.”

Scotland’s Connectivity Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “The past year has demonstrated beyond doubt just how vital digital connectivity is across all areas of our lives – from health, wellbeing and education to social and economic recovery.

“That’s why the Scottish Government is investing £579 million in funding towards the £600 million cost of our Reaching 100% programme, building the infrastructure which, together with commercially-driven work, will ensure access to superfast broadband speeds to 100% of homes and businesses across Scotland.

The vast majority of connections being delivered to more than 120,000 premises through our investment in the three R100 area contracts – 100% in South, 86% in North and, now, 95% in Central – will be through fibre directly to the premises, delivering gigabit capability, providing connection speeds 30 times faster than our superfast commitment, and resilient, future-proofed connectivity for decades to come.”

UK Government Minister for Scotland, Iain Stewart said: “It’s great news that Central Scotland has been announced as the first area to benefit from the UK Gigabit Programme, and pleasing to see the UK and Scottish governments working together in partnership to level up communities.

“The UK Government will spend more than £5 billion to help those in areas that need improved connectivity most. This will help us to build back better from coronavirus and create new jobs and economic opportunities.”

The Scottish Government’s R100 programme is in the process of ensuring that all homes and businesses across Scotland can access superfast broadband. The vast majority of connections will be gigabit-capable and delivered via full fibre cables built directly to premises – known as Fibre to the Premise (FTTP).

In Central Scotland there are some premises which were set to be delivered via Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology.

The UK Government has committed to delivering nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband through its £5 billion UK Gigabit Programme, with a minimum target of 85% coverage by 2025. The £5 billion will be used to subsidise building in hard-to-reach areas that aren’t set to benefit from planned industry rollout.

On the basis that the UK Gigabit Programme would have to revisit these 5,368 premises at some point in the future to convert them to FTTP, the Scottish and UK Governments have agreed a technology ‘flip’ from FTTC to FTTP. This offers the chance to reduce build costs, enabling delivery of the connections earlier and at greater value for money.

The UK government will shortly be announcing further areas of the UK that will be the first to receive a share of the £5 billion and be connected through the UK Gigabit Programme.

Free training courses for community councillors

The Improvement Service and the Open University (OU) in Scotland are working together to offer all community council volunteers the opportunity to upskill and reskill using OU courses.

Throughout the pandemic the Improvement Service’s Community Councils (CCs) project supported by Scottish Government has been trying to find ways to support CCs as they adapt to new ways of working and the OU was one of the organisations we reached out to and asked how they could help.

We asked Scotland’s CCs what skills they would find helpful to have or improve on and we are delighted to present these free online courses which the OU have tailored to suit the needs of Scottish CCs.

Many CCs have fully embraced the digital journey during the pandemic and there are courses here to help you continue that journey such as using Microsoft Teams and succeeding in a digital world. In addition to digital skills there are also courses on a range of other topics that community councillors have suggested including finance, fundraising, community and business skills.

These courses are totally free – all community councillors have to do is register for a free account and then you can begin your learning journey with the OU.

The OU has many courses to choose from but if you would like to suggest additional topics for training not covered that would benefit CCs in Scotland please let us know by e-mail: scottishccs@improvementservice.org.uk

So what are you waiting for? Brush up on your skills or learn some brand new ones with the OU, just click on the link below to begin your journey:

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/skills-supportOU-CC

EXCLUDED UK: Please sign our Open Letter to the Chancellor

We need your signature please!

Deadline Monday 1 March, 5pm

In our efforts to make as much noise as possible ahead of the Budget, we’ve drafted an open letter to send to the Chancellor urging him to do the right thing and provide support to those who have thus far been excluded from support through no fault of their own.

Please help us and sign this letter and share! The letter can be found at this link:

The letter can be found at this link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oo0zKEWqxxD8rmTsQg7LY8O-UhgiCq4Ij0fZqQSm4H0/edit?usp=sharing

You can simply add your name to the end of the letter by typing directly into it.

Please keep your signature to one line with your name and if you wish you can add profession/ organisation/ affiliation/ business name/ category for exclusion.

The letter will be published tomorrow evening.

Thank you!

Best wishes from the ExcludedUK Team.

#relentless #wearenotgoingaway #franticfebruary

PS: This is for anyone excluded from UK Government Covid-19 support OR wishing to show support … please sign!

Join our facebook community: www.facebook.com/groups/excludeduk

If you’re on Twitter – share our tweets here:@ExcludedUK

GMB seeks assurances as care home visiting resumes

Precarious balance between compassion and safety ahead of care home visit re-start, as GMB asks for worker assurances

Speaking ahead of the re-start of indoor visits to care homes across Scotland today (Monday 1 March), Rhea Wolfson of GMB Scotland’s Women’s Campaign Unit said: “The balance between compassion and safety is precarious at this moment. Confidence is fragile among care home workers and there can be no room for complacency.

“That’s why ahead of the return to care home visits GMB has asked the Scottish Government to ensure the delivery of three basic provisions:

Safe levels of staffing provision in homes.
A whistleblowing facility for worker safety.
Stringent enforcement of government safety guidelines.

“Everyone wants to see families reunited but government and employers owe a great debt to these key workers after the last year, and it’s important their voices are now being heard.”

The Scottish Government has published new guidance for care homes on visiting during the pandemic plus tools and resources on visiting and supporting residents in homes with COVID-19.

You can access this here: http://bit.ly/3fY3MFq

The guidance supports adult care home residents to resume meaningful contact with loved ones. This begins with up to two designated visitors, and a total of two visits a week.This will become normal practice in all but exceptional circumstances, such as a COVID-19 outbreak.

It is hoped to gradually increase the frequency and the number of people who can visit.

COVID: Brazilian strain reaches Scotland

Three cases of a COVID-19 Variant of Concern first identified in Manaus, Brazil, have been identified in Scotland.

Following their return to North East Scotland from Brazil, via Paris and London, three Scottish residents entered self-isolation and then subsequently tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19). These individuals then self-isolated for the required period of 10 days.

The tests were completed in early February and passed to the UK’s advanced sequencing capabilities programme which detected this new variant. Due to the potential concerns around this variant other passengers on the flight used by the three individuals from London to Aberdeen are being contacted. These three cases are not connected to three cases also identified in England.

Health protection teams, including local clinicians, have assessed each case and their contacts, and are arranging protective measures for this small number of potentially exposed individuals.

To provide an extra layer of safety, teams are ensuring people who could have been infected by these first line contacts are also isolated and tested. This is to ensure all possible precautions are taken as we learn more about this particular variant.

Clinical and trial data continues to be assessed to examine how this new variant may respond to current COVID-19 vaccines.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The identification of this new variant is a concern but we are taking every possible precaution. We have identified these cases thanks to our use of advanced sequencing capabilities which means we are finding more variants and mutations than many other countries and are therefore able to take action quickly.

“This new variant demonstrates how serious Covid is and reinforces the need to minimise the spread of the virus. We would encourage everyone across the country to adhere to the necessary public health restrictions by staying at home except for essential purposes as this is the single best way of staying safe and stopping the spread of this virus. It is now also illegal for anyone to travel to or from Scotland unless it is for an essential reason.

“The Covid vaccination programme is one of three key ways we are working to beat this virus, along with our expanded testing programme to identify cases and break chains of transmission, and the important lockdown restrictions everyone in Scotland must follow.

“These three strands – following expert advice and guidance to suppress the virus, using our expanded testing programme to identify cases and break chains of transmission and rolling out vaccination as fast as supplies allow – are the three critical actions that will see us move, step by step, to protect the public, save lives and a brighter year ahead.”

As a precautionary measure and to provide further insights, samples from any passenger on the London to Aberdeen flight who subsequently tested positive or was symptomatic are being urgently sequenced to determine whether any had acquired the new variant. Those on the flight from London to Aberdeen will be contacted.

Public Health England has also identified three cases of the variant in England but these are not linked to the three cases in Scotland. Scotland and England are working together to ensure that a consistent UK approach is taken to managing such incidents.

This variant has been designated ‘of concern’ as it shares some important mutations with the variant first identified in South Africa (B.1.351), such as E484K and N501Y. There is some data to suggest that this variant may be more likely to cause Covid-19 infections in people who have been vaccinated or who had been infected with one of the earlier strains of “wild-type” Covid-19.

The P1 “Brazilian” variant is a descendent of B.1.1.28 and was first detected in Japan but is most closely associated with the second wave epidemic in Manauas, Brazil. This variant has been designated ‘of concern’ as it shares some important mutations with the variant first identified in South Africa (B.1.351), such as E484K and N501Y.

It is possible that this variant may respond less well to current vaccines but at this time there is a high degree of uncertainty and we await clinical and trial data is awaited to understand this better.

Genomic sequencing of Scottish samples is undertaken as part of a UK programme. This programme continues to develop ensure faster turnaround times.

Dr Susan Hopkins, PHE strategic response director for COVID-19 and NHS Test and Trace Medical Advisor, said: “We have identified these cases thanks to the UK’s advanced sequencing capabilities which means we are finding more variants and mutations than many other countries and are therefore able to take action quickly.

“The important thing to remember is that COVID-19, no matter what variant it is, spreads in the same way. That means the measures to stop it spreading do not change. Stay at home and if you do need to go out for essential reasons, cover your nose and mouth, wash your hands thoroughly and keep your distance.”

Barclays and HSBC customers unwittingly funding companies linked to deforestation

“Barclays and HSBC customers will be shocked that their savings are being invested in companies implicated in the destruction of the Amazon and Cerrado”

Barclays and HSBC are in the top three banks in Europe investing in companies at high risk of being linked to the deforestation of the Amazon and Cerrado for cattle and soya production to feed factory farmed animals globally, according to a new report by World Animal Protection. International bank BNP Paribas was ranked number one.

The report, Big Meat. Big Bucks. Bigger Harm, found that Barclays and HSBC have financed and invested US$26.5bn (£19bn) to companies connected to the supply chains of beef and soy for animal feed in Brazil, meaning consumers are unknowingly fueling these unethical and carbon-intensive business practices with their savings and pensions.

For Barclays and HSBC, financial relationships were identified with 25 of the 60 researched high-risk companies. The main recipient is US food company Cargill – its loans total US$4.7bn (£3.3bn) plus underwritings totaling US$634m (£455m). The Brazilian meat processing company JBS follows with loans totaling $US3.3bn (£2.3bn) plus US$920m (£660m) in underwritings and US$3m (£2.1m) in stockholdings.

NatWest, Standard Chartered and Schroders also performed poorly with US$7.3bn (£5.2bn) of investments and relationships with 15 of the 60 researched high-risk companies, the main recipient being Cargill.

Lindsay Duncan, World Animal Protection farming campaign manager said:
“Customers of Barclays and HSBC will be devastated to learn that their pensions and savings are being invested in companies implicated in the destruction of the Amazon and Cerrado regions in Brazil.

“With the UK hosting COP26 this year UK banks should stop funding cruel factory farming and its dependence on unsustainable and carbon-intensive animal feed imports. They should do the right thing and support humane and sustainable food systems and help ensure factory farming becomes a thing of the past.”

Alarmingly, these financial institutions may be linked to the clearance of irreplaceable rainforest, which in some cases is even illegal and unregulated.

The Amazon, while being a major producer of the world’s oxygen, is also home to millions of species of sentient animals that suffer when their habitat is lost. An area the size of a football pitch is lost every single minute to agricultural uses.^[1]

Soya is planted in huge swathes in destroyed habitats before being exported to feed factory farmed animals around the world, completing the cycle of cruelty. Right now, more than 70 billion animals are globally farmed for food each year – two-thirds on factory farms in conditions that mean they can’t move freely or live naturally.

Cattle kept on deforested land are often taken to slaughter in dire conditions and many are not even guaranteed a humane death. They face overcrowding, extreme heat, a lack of food and water and are often transported miles across rugged terrain to be slaughtered – all contributing to unimaginable cruelty. These animals are treated as mere commodities without even the most basic of needs met.

While this is a major animal welfare and conservation concern, even many of the cattle and soya farmers themselves are exploited – worked hard, paid poorly, granted minimal rights – making this a human rights issue too.

World Animal Protection is calling on financial institutions to right this wrong, ensuring they have policies and systems in place such as:

Traceability to the point of origin within the supply chain, zero tolerance for deforestation, screening and engaging companies, excluding clear offenders and demonstrating transparency
Supporting the transition to a humane and sustainable food system by implementing FARMS farm animal welfare standards as a minimum, halving investments in animal protein by 2040, and phasing out support for monocrops like soya as feed for farm animals.

People can also help by eating higher welfare and less meat and calling on their banks to adopt strong and meaningful policies that protect animals and the environment.