Category: North Edinburgh News

Circle website’s ‘scot’ to change!

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circle

What?

Our website will change from www.circlescotland.org to www.circle.scot and emails will change to firstname.lastname@circle.scot

Why?

We know that there is sometimes confusion with regard to the name of our organisation, due to our website and email addresses. The name of our organisation is Circle (not Circle Scotland). By changing our website and email addresses to circle.scot, our branding will be more consistent and recognisable.

When?

The change will be made on Thursday 2 April. There may be some disruption to the website and emails over that weekend. Following that, there will be a changeover period whereby the current website address will be redirected to the new one. Similarly, emails will be redirected from the old email addresses for a period of time, after which the old email addresses will become obsolete.

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Food bank fear factor: Holyrood committee ‘surprised and saddened’

‘It is a sad state of affairs when vulnerable people are frightened to engage with the very system that is supposed to offer them support and care.’ – Michael McMahon MSP

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Evidence that shows the link between the UK Government’s welfare reform and an increase in the use of food banks has been sent to Scotland Office Minister David Mundell MP by the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee.

This follows a call from Mr Mundell to show him evidence of the impact of these policies after he expressed doubt that an increase in food bank use was as a direct result of welfare reform.

Much of this evidence has now been forwarded to UK Ministers and the Department of Work and Pensions – but many benefit claimants declined to send in their cases  for fear that they might be subject to unfair treatment and reprisals from the DWP if their identity is revealed.

Committee Convener Michael McMahon MSP said: “The Welfare Reform Committee has amassed a growing volume of evidence documenting the impact of welfare reform on Scotland’s communities. We have now sent a further batch of evidence to Mr Mundell and the DWP. However, what we discovered during the course of our enquiries has surprised and saddened us. It is a sad state of affairs when vulnerable people are frightened to engage with the very system that is supposed to offer them support and care.”

Deputy Convener, Clare Adamson MSP said: “UK Government ministers continue to turn a blind eye to the appalling impact that their welfare policies are having on some of the most vulnerable members of society. We have now provided Mr Mundell and the DWP with irrefutable evidence that benefits cuts and sanctions are driving people in ever greater numbers to seek the assistance of food banks and other charities.”

The Background:

  • Committee’s letter to Rt Hon David Mundell MP.
  • David Mundell MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, gave evidence to the Committee on 3 February 2015 link to official report.
  • The Committee first evidenced the link between welfare reform and food bank use in its report, published in June 2014.
  • The Committee has submitted a file of evidence to Mr Mundell and the DWP. To protect identities, this information is not being published. The Committee received evidence from a number of housing and third sector organisations acting on behalf of their clients, and MSPs on the Committee also brought forward case studies involving their constituents. Evidence includes benefits recipients who have been sanctioned and individuals whose benefits payments has been subject to delay, all of which has led to an increased demand on food bank services.

 

Minimum wage to rise to £6.70

A pay packet

The government has announced that the National Minimum Wage will increase by 3% to a new rate of £6.70 per hour, effective from October – the largest real-terms increase in the National Minimum Wage since 2008. Over 1.4 million of Britain’s lowest-paid workers are set to benefit but critics say the increase doesn’t go far enough.

The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have also announced that the National Minimum Wage for apprentices will increase by 57p an hour to £3.30. This is the largest ever increase in the National Minimum Wage for apprentices and will halve the gap with the National Minimum Wage rate for 16 to 17 year olds, which will be £3.87 an hour from October 2015. The government will also launch a consultation with businesses on the future of the National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices.

The government is also putting employers in control of the funding for apprenticeships by introducing a new digital apprenticeship voucher.

Apprenticeship vouchers will further simplify things for employers and give them the purchasing power over the government contribution to apprenticeship funding. The employer would register their details on a system being developed by the Skills Funding Agency including their type of business, the details of the apprentice and the apprenticeship standard being signed up to.

The discounted rate, which could be up to 100% for 16 to 18 year olds, at which employers can purchase training would be calculated and the employer would be able to pass on the voucher code to the provider that is delivering the training for their apprentice. The provider would then reclaim the value of the voucher from the Skills Funding Agency.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “At the heart of our long-term economic plan for Britain is a simple idea – that those who put in, should get out; that hard work is really rewarded; that the benefits of recovery are truly national.

“That’s what today’s announcement is all about – saying to hardworking taxpayers: this is a government that is on your side. It will mean more financial security for Britain’s families; and a better future for our country.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: This is just one of the many ways in which we’ve created a fairer society whilst building a stronger economy. If you work hard, this government is behind you all the way. Whether you’re on low pay or starting your dream career through an apprenticeship, you will get more support to help you go further and faster.”

However some feel the help to Britain’s lowest paid doesn’t go far enough.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said minimum wage workers will be hit by the Chancellor’s cuts. “For the low paid to get a fair share of the recovery, this was a year in which we could have had a much bolder increase in the minimum wage,” he said.

“With one in five workers getting less than a living wage, this is nowhere near enough to end in-work poverty. Britain’s minimum wage workers should be very fearful of the billions of pounds of cuts to government help for the low paid that the Chancellor is planning if re-elected.

“Apprentices will welcome the increase to their minimum wage, which will reduce the shortfall in their minimum pay relative to 16 and 17 year-old employees. But there really shouldn’t be a gap at all. The TUC will continue to call on the Low Pay Commission to recommend a future increase that will match the apprentice rate to that for 16 and 17 year-olds.”

Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: “This 20p rise falls far short of the £7 minimum wage which George Osborne promised over a year ago. Ministers have misled working families who have been left worse off. Under David Cameron we’ve seen the value of the minimum wage eroded – we need a recovery for working people.”

Labour has promised the minimum wage would rise rise to £8 an hour over the course of the next parliament if it wins in May.

This latest announcement – coming on the back of positive news about pension annuities yesterday and before a likely rise in personal tax allowances is announced tomorrow – makes one thing pretty clear: the economy will be the government’s chosen battleground in May’s general election.

The Chancellor’s statement this week may not quite be a giveaway budget – but it certainly won’t be a takeaway one either. And if the economy really is the number one priority when voters go to the polls in May, the government is giving itself a fighting chance of re-election. ‘Not a political budget?’ – we’ll see!

The National Minimum Wage rates from 1 October 2015, as recommended by the Low Pay Commission. (LPC) will be:

  • a 20p (3%) increase in the adult rate (from £6.50 to £6.70 per hour)
  • a 17p (3%) increase in the rate for 18 to 20 year olds (from £5.13 to £5.30 per hour)
  • an 8p (2%) increase in the rate for 16 to 17 year olds (from £3.79 to £3.87 per hour)
  • The National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices will increase by 57p (20%) from £2.73 to £3.30 per hour. The LPC recommended an increase of 2.6% to £2.80 in the apprentice rate.

 

Meet Dionne: Edinburgh’s GIRFEC ambassador!

DionneSeventeen year old Dionne McFarlane is a leading light in the Scottish Government’s GIRFEC initiative. The local girl is in her final year at St Augustine’s High School but she’s also pretty busy delivering presentations and facilitating workshops around children and young people’s issues. Dionne’s been called Edinburgh’s GIRFEC ambassador. What’s GIRFEC? Read on …

GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child) is a consistent way for people to work with all children and young people. It’s the bedrock for all children’s services and can also be used by practitioners in adult services who work with parents or carers.

The approach helps practitioners focus on what makes a positive difference for children and young people – and how they can act to deliver these improvements. Getting it right for every child is being threaded through all existing policy, practice, strategy and legislation affecting children, young people and their families.

For children and their families GIRFEC means:

  • They understand what is happening and why
  • They have been listened to carefully and their wishes have been heard and understood
  • They will feel confident about the help they are getting
  • They are appropriately involved in discussions and decisions that affect them
  • They can rely on appropriate help being available as soon as possible
  • They will have experienced a more streamlined and co-ordinated response from practitioners

For professionals working with children GIRFEC means:

Putting the child or young person at the centre and developing a shared understanding within and across agencies

Using common tools, language and processes, considering the child or young person as a whole, and promoting closer working where necessary with other practitioners

Providing leadership and strategic support to implement the changes in culture, systems and practice required within and across agencies to implement Getting it right for every child

Planning for the transition as staff in agencies move from the current working processes to the new child-centred processes

The GIRFEC approach is based on solid foundations: there are ten core components and a set of values and principles which bring meaning and relevance at a practice level to single-agency, multi-agency and inter-agency working across the whole of children’s services. They can be applied in any setting and circumstance where people are working with children and young people.

The core components are:

A focus on improving outcomes for children, young people and their families based on a shared understanding of wellbeing

A common approach to the proportionate sharing of information where appropriate

An integral role for children, young people and families in assessment, planning and intervention

A co-ordinated and unified approach to identifying concerns, assessing needs, and agreeing actions and outcomes, based on the wellbeing Indicators

Streamlined planning, assessment and decision-making processes that lead to the right help at the right time

Consistent high standards of co-operation, joint working and communication where more than one agency needs to be involved, locally and across Scotland

A Named Person for every child and young person, and a Lead Professional (where necessary) to co-ordinate and monitor multi-agency activity

Maximising the skilled workforce within universal services to address needs and risks as early as possible

A confident and competent workforce across all services for children, young people and their families

The capacity, proportionately and appropriately, to share demographic, assessment, and planning information within and across agency boundaries.

That all sounds pretty complicated – how did a 17 year old girl from Crewe get involved in delivering the GIRFEC message?

“It might sound complicated, but it’s not really”, Dionne said. “It’s really just about making sure the support for the child is always there. IS the child safe? Is the child healthy? It’s about the whole wellbeing of the child – this is about emotional, not educational, support”.

Dionne first got involved almost two years ago, when Minister for Children and Young People, Aileen Campbell, wanted to find out what wellbeing means to Scotland’s young people. Ms Campbell invited young people to send in either a written piece or a drawing about what wellbeing meant to them.

There were over 300 entries from young people aged between 11 and 15.

“I read up about it and thought that this was something I would be interested in. I entered – my choice of subject was ‘bereavement’ – and I thought that was that. I was busy with other things and had pretty much forgotten all about it when the Scottish Government got in touch to say I was one of twelve winners”.

You can find Dionne’s entry here

http://www.wellbeingforyoungscots.org/about/winners/dionne

Dionne was the only young person from Edinburgh to be invited to Victoria Quay to participate in workshops with the Scottish Government to produce all the information on the www.wellbeingforyoungscots.org/ website. The idea is to tell other young people more about wellbeing and what the Scottish Government is doing to try and make Scotland the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up.

Since then, our Dionne’s been in constant demand – speaking at conferences, helping to formulate policy and delivering presentations all over the country. As a seventeen year old schoolgirl, isn’t it all too demanding? What about exams?

“I’m in sixth year and I have exams and I also have college interviews lined up but everything is okay; I’m able to manage fine. The school is very supportive and I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it. I really do love it and it’s a fascinating subject – the work I’ve done with GIRFEC has made me think seriously about a career in social work”.

While spreading the GIRFEC message Dionne has met many high-profile public figures. Who has impressed her most?

dionne-pres01

“Aileen Campbell (above, with Dionne) was really nice. She is very enthusiastic about the work we are doing and she is also passionate about her brief. I think her attitude rubs off on other people too. She’s just had a second baby so she’s on maternity leave just now.  If I had to choose just one person I would have to say Sue Bruce, who is the city council’s Chief Executive. She was really down to earth and showed genuine interest in the work I’ve been doing. She was very easy to talk to”.

And a final message to young people?

“If I could only get out one message, it would be to reassure young people that you don’t have to go through difficult things on your own – whatever problems you are facing there are people to help you. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness – that’s the most important message I would like to get out”.

Preparing and delivering presentations, speech-writing, participating in workshops, then there’s the school studies and college interviews … it’s a schedule that might floor some people, but not Dionne – Edinburgh’s very own GIRFEC ambassador!

For more information on GIRFEC go to:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright

One Scot in eleven now living in poverty

Having a job is no guarantee of escape from poverty –  half of children living in extreme poverty were in households where at least one adult was in full time employment

homeless piper

More than half a million people in Scotland are living in severe or extreme poverty , according to the latest data published today. Scotland’s poorest people lived on less than half the average income in 2012/13, according to a new government report.

Around 510,000 people, including 100,000 children and 80,000 pensioners, are living in severe poverty – households with an income under £11,500. A further 230,000 were classed as living in extreme poverty, which means the household had an income of lower than £9200.

A household is defined as living in relative poverty with an income below 60 per cent of the UK median income. Severe poverty is defined as living with an income lower than £11,500, or 50 per cent of UK median income, while extreme poverty is defined as lower than £9,200, 40 per cent of UK median income.

The scale of the country’s poverty levels has been exposed in the Scottish Government’s Severe Poverty in Scotland report, which shows working age adults and children are more likely to live in severe poverty than pensioners, particularly after housing costs.

Commenting on Severe Poverty in Scotland, Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil said: “It’s a disgrace that so many people live in such severe or extreme poverty, but it’s an unfortunate and inevitable result of the UK Government’s failed austerity agenda and welfare cuts that are slashing incomes for some of our poorest households.

“With employment increasing and unemployment down, Scotland is outperforming the rest of the UK, yet the statistics show that a job is no longer any guarantee against severe or extreme poverty.

“That’s why we opposed cutting in-work tax credits and why the Scottish Government and its agencies are paying the living wage, encouraging other employers to follow suit.

“We have put tackling poverty and inequality at the heart of Government, through policies like the council tax freeze, free prescriptions, expanding childcare provision, while we are mitigating the worst of the welfare cuts, by replacing income lost through the bedroom tax or council tax benefits cuts.

“That action is making a real difference and we will continue to make the argument for a fairer welfare system.”

ChildPoverty

The statistics also make clear that being in a job is not a guarantee against poverty. Being in employment does significantly reduce the risk of poverty, but 44% of working age adults in extreme poverty lived in households where at least one adult was in employment, as did 60% of children – half of children living in extreme poverty were in households where at least one adult was in full time employment.

In 2012/13, around 10% of working age adults and 10% of children were living in severe poverty, as were 8% of pensioners.

After housing costs, 16% of working age adults, 15% of children and 6% of pensioners in Scotland are living in severe poverty.

Over the last decade, while the rate of relative poverty has fallen, a greater proportion of households in poverty were in severe or extreme low income in 2012/13.

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SCDC asks: is your group as effective as it could be?

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Are citizens and community groups as effective as they could be? This is the question that is being asked by the Fred Edwards Trust and Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).

We want to find out if activists have access to the information, tools and skills they need, not just to tackle the issues that matter to them, but to challenge and address the root causes as well.

We would like to know to what extent citizens and community groups who are working on issues of social, economic and environmental justice find the space to help them critically analyse the policies, decisions and systems that affect them.

Our aim in doing this is to find out if more needs to be done to support active and effective citizenship in Scotland. We would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to respond to the questions in the link below.

Take the survey here

This survey will close on Friday 20 March 2015 

NEPAF: How is it for you?

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Hello all,

The North Edinburgh Physical Activity Forum (NEPAF) is nearly two years old already! PCHP has been leading NEPAF since it began in June 2013 and we are really keen to evaluate its usefulness. 

It would be very helpful if you could take 10 minutes to answer the following questions and get them back to me by Wednesday 18 March. We will bring the responses together to discuss at the next NEPAF meeting in April.

1. Is  NEPAF helpful, and if so how? 

2. What has the impact of the forum been for you and/or your group/organisation? 

3. Who have made connections with? 

4. Have you done anything differently? 

5. Have you started any new pieces of work as a result? 

6. Do you have more information, access to more resources? 

7. How often would you like to attend? 

8. When is the best times/days for you to attend? 

9. Do you think NEPAF should (Please tick as appropriate) 

–          Respond to consultations from local or national government

–          Hold networking meetings

–          Have meetings with speakers

–          Influence decision makers (have a collective voice locally and nationally)

–          Plan and deliver events together

Thank you very much for your time – we look forward to seeing you at the next meeting,

Lianne Pipskyj

Development Worker – Physical Activity, Pilton Community Health Project

Telephone: 0131 551 1671

liannepipskyj@pchp.org.uk

www.pchp.org.uk

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Adult literacies in Scotland review

In 2010, the Scottish Government set out  plans to improve the literacies capabilities of Scotland’s adults over a 10 year period called ‘Adult Literacies in Scotland 2020: Strategic Guidance’(ALIS 2020).

 

“By 2020 Scotland’s society and economy will be stronger because more of its adults are able to read, write and use numbers effectively in order to handle information, communicate with others, express ideas and opinions, make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners.”

 

On behalf of the ALIS 2020 Strategic Implementation Group, Education Scotland are launching a review of progress in adult literacies over the last five years as well as identifying on-going priorities and challenges for the next five years.  We are keen to seek the views of individuals and organisations.

The online survey can be accessed here, the closing date for responses is Thursday 30th April 2015.  A pdf list of questions contained within the survey is available to support organisations who wish to undertake discussion activities with partners, volunteers or staff.

For more information, please visit the CLD section of the Education Scotland website or contact the CLD team

Sparta seeks new space

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Sparta Boxing Club is a voluntary organisation working with young people. They are currently based at Baileyfield and are in desperate need of new premises to rent in the Edinburgh area. They need around 100sqm of lockable space that they can access evenings and weekends. Any help / ideas much appreciated.

Please contact George Forsyth on 07734 814 478 or email george.forsyth@castlerockedinvar.co.uk