Government set to act on pay day lenders

palliament

The Westminster government is to introduce legislation to cap the cost of payday loans. In a move that’s likely to be welcomed by campaigners, the Treasury says there is “growing evidence” in support of the move.

The cap will be included in the Banking Reform Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, and the level of the cap will be decided by the new regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Chancellor George Osborne told the BBC there will be controls on charges – things like arrangement and penalty fees – as well as on interest rates. “It will not just be an interest rate cap, you’ve got to cap the overall cost of credit,” he said.

Although the level of the cap is yet to be determined, the announcement will be welcomed by opposition and campaign groups who have been urging the government to take action against some pay-day lenders’ practices: eye-watering interest rates and hidden charges which hit the poorest hardest and drive desperate people deeper into debt.

payday loansJust last week, Citizens Advice Scotland claimed that many payday lenders in Scotland are breaking the promises they made last year to clean up their act. According to CAS research, lenders continued to break ‘most of the pledges in their own code.’

The main points were:

  • less than half of payday lenders in Scotland are telling people that loans should not be used for long-term financial problems;
  • only 1 in 3 are checking peoples’ financial background before giving them a loan;
  • only 14% of customers felt the lender was sympathetic when they got into difficulties repaying the loan; and
  • only a third of lenders are warning their customers about the dangers of roll-over loans.

CAS Chief Executive Margaret Lynch said: “When the payday lenders published this voluntary code last year we made clear we would be watching them like a hawk to make sure they kept to their word. Because there’s no point making promises if you don’t live up to them.

“Our survey results – together with the experience of other clients we see every day in the CAB – show very clearly that this Code of Conduct Is being ignored repeatedly.

“Across Scotland, CAB advisers are currently seeing over 100 cases every week of people who are in crisis debt to a payday lender. That’s a third higher than this time last year. Our evidence is that many lenders are operating in ways that result in people getting into debts they can’t handle.

“So the Payday Lenders have had their chance to clean up the industry, and they have failed. It’s time now for the regulators to step in and do it properly.”money

Child rescued after Royston wheelie bin blaze

A three year old girl escaped serious injury when she was rescued after a wheelie bin was pushed against the door of a house in Royston and set on fire yesterday morning.

The three-year-old girl was lowered from a window into the arms of bin men who were working in Royston Mains Crescent. Firefighters then arrived shortly after the alarm was raised at 7.30am, leading a 35-year-old woman to safety.

Neither the woman nor the child required hospital treatment, but the Fire Investigation Unit is now investigating the incident.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “A bin had been placed against the front door of the property and set on fire. We used two breathing apparatus and one hose reel to extinguish the fire.

“A three-year-old female was lowered from the window into the care of bin men who were nearby prior to the arrival of the fire service and a 35-year-old female was led to safety by firefighters. They were treated at the scene by the ambulance crew but they didn’t go to hospital.”

fire

Even more funders to meet on Thursday

The funders list just grows and grows! More names have been added to an already impressive list of organisations who will be participating in Thursday’s ‘Meet the Funders’ event in St Serf’s Church Hall between midday to 3pm.

The list now reads:

Big Lottery Fund

The Melting Pot

Community Sports Hubs

Community Grants Fund

General Enquiries

Youth Business Scotland

Pass It On

Edinburgh4Community

SCVO

Bank of Scotland Foundation

Royal Bank of Scotland Foundation

Waste Aware Grants

Recycling

Business Gateway

Climate Challenge Fund

Activcity

Tenants Grants

In Kind Direct

The Big Lunch

Prime

Sported

Sportscotland

Scottish Government 2014 Commonwealth Games Legacy

Edinburgh Airport Community Fund

CSV Action Earth Grab a Grant

Royal Bank of Scotland Inspiring Enterprise

Youth Employment Scotland Fund

Voluntary Action Fund

So if you are a small organisation looking for a grant to help your work, this drop-in event is not to be missed – it’s free, informal and no booking necessary.

You’ll find St Serf’s (pictured) at the junction of Ferry Road and Clark Road.

StSerfs

 

 

Celebrate Book Week

Scottish ChildrenÕs Book Awards 2013 ShortlistA host of events are being held in libraries across Edinburgh to celebrate Book Week Scotland 2013 (25 November – 1 December).

Now a major date in Scotland’s cultural calendar, Book Week Scotland is a national celebration of reading created to highlight Scotland’s exceptional cultural, creative and literary talent, and to remind everyone of the unique pleasure that can be gained from a good book.

Throughout the week Edinburgh Libraries will be holding author events, talks, workshops and even hosting a pop-up bookshop in Central Library in celebration of this national event.

Highlights include an event held specifically for prisoners at Saughton Prison Library, a talk by Saltire prize winner James Robertson at Blackhall Library, an event with broadcaster and journalist Lesley Riddoch and a coffee and cake morning at Oxgangs Library with Edinburgh crime writer Lin Anderson.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Book Week Scotland is a great opportunity for everyone to share their love of reading with others. I can think of no better place than Edinburgh, the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature, to get people excited about reading, writing and literature. The city’s libraries are hosting some fantastic events throughout the week and I hope everyone will join us to celebrate the love of a good book!”

Initiated by the Scottish Government, Book Week Scotland will be delivered on behalf of Creative Scotland by Scottish Book Trust, the leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland.

Scottish Book Trust work with a range of partners across Scotland to deliver a packed programme of free projects and events, bringing people of all ages and from all walks of life together to celebrate books and reading.

For more information about Book Week Scotland, visit

www.bookweekscotland.com.

Follow @Bookweekscot on Twitter

check out #bookweekscot

or like the Book Week Scotland Facebook page.

bookweek

Young mother robbed in her Pilton home

Police are appealing for witnesses after two men burst into the home of a young mother in West Pilton and made off with money on Friday night.

The 23-year-old woman was with her toddler son at an address in West Pilton Green when two men – one of whom was armed with a knife – entered her house at about 11pm on Friday.

Police Scotland said they fled with a small amount of money when the family dog started barking.

The pair were said to be about 16-19 years old and wearing hooded tops.

One was wearing a dark tracksuit with a hooded top and the other was wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, a grey hooded top with a dark band over the shoulders and three white stripes on the sleeves.

Det Sgt Gary Harrison said: “We are appealing for information to help trace the two men who were responsible for this. Neither the mother nor her child were injured during this incident but it was very frightening for them and they are shocked.”

police (2)

Don’t forget Forth’s Family Fun Day!

forth health

Forth Neighbourhood Partnership along with Edinburgh Leisure and Pilton Community Health Project is holding a Health Fair and Family Fun Day at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre tomorrow to showcase local health related services and activities and hear what local residents think are their priorities for improving health in the Forth ward.

The event will have a ‘market place’ format with people able to drop in at any time between 1.30pm and 3.30pm, with loads to see and do – see poster (above).

Don’t miss it – it’s what Saturdays are for!

Blooming marvellous! The end’s in sight – in a roundabout way

Drylaw Telford Community Council’s final meeting of the year takes place next Wednesday. The meeting could also see an end to one of the organisation’s longest-running sagas – the Groathill Road North roundabout.
The state of the roundabout has been making some local residents cross almost since the railings were removed there three years ago. Neighbourhood Partnership funding was allocated to Drylaw’s gardening group to undertake environmental improvements on the site, but a catalogue of problems with successive subcontractors has seen the roundabout become an untidy eyesore.
Drylaw Telford CC’s chair Alex Dale has had a series of meetings with North’s Environmental Manager Steven Cuthill to resolve the long-running issue, and a proposal to transform the troubled roundabout will be tabled at next week’s meeting.
Alex Dale said: “Steven produced the proposal at Inverleith Neighbourhood partnership’s last Clean, Green & Safe meeting and explained that this is a proposal and is still being  costed. Steven will be attending our community council meeting on the 27th to discuss this  proposal or listen to any other ideas the community would like to take forward  instead.
“We have the choice to accept this or offer Steven an alternative plan. It  will all be up for discussion on the night and if we can agree on something then it should bring the long ongoing saga to a conclusion!”
So there you have it – if the proposal is accepted Groathill Road roundabout will have ‘complete ground cover during summer within two seasons’ – blooming marvellous!
The meeting takes place in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on Wednesday 27 November at 7pm. All welcome.
that roundabout

Tenants urged to take up rent payment help

Nearly half the Council tenants in Edinburgh subject to the UK Government’s under-occupancy charge – better known as the ‘bedroom tax’ –  have not applied for extra help to pay their rent despite facing growing arrears and debt, it’s been revealed.

Almost 3,000 Council tenants are under-occupying their home and face paying between £14 and £25 per week as their housing benefit doesn’t pay for their extra room, but only around 1,500 of these tenants have applied for extra help available from the Council through Discretionary Housing Payments.

The Council was awarded extra funds from the Scottish Government in September this year, bringing the total available for Discretionary Housing Payments to over £3 million.

Recent figures from the Council’s housing service showed an estimated £1.25 million of arrears are attributable to people not paying the under-occupancy charge, which has been dubbed the ‘bedroom tax’.

City Housing Leader Councillor Cammy Day said yesterday: “It’s critical that hard-pressed tenants seek the extra help the Council is offering in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments, otherwise they face getting deeper into debt.

“Staff from the Council and advice agencies have been holding special surgeries and writing to, visiting and calling tenants over the last few months but ultimately tenants need to apply for the assistance available or they will lose out. I would urge any tenant who hasn’t yet applied for extra help to get in touch with their local housing office without delay.”

The under-occupancy charge was introduced to encourage tenants with a spare room to move to a smaller home. On average there is only ever one single bedroom property available to let for every 80 under-occupying households in the city.

Council tenants affected by the under-occupancy charge are encouraged to contact or call in to their local housing office for advice.cooncilhooses

 

Local group’s fury over ‘Bedroom Tax’ vote

North Edinburgh Women’s International Group has written to Labour leader Ed Miliband following a vote in the House of Commons last week:

Dear Mr Miliband

I am writing to you on behalf of North Edinburgh Women’s International Group  regarding reports in the  news that  46 Labour MPs failed to  turn up to the House of Commons  to vote for a motion  which  could have led to the scrapping of the bedroom tax.

We are unable to understand  how this situation could have come about.  We can only assume that the 10 Scottish MP’s who failed to vote were unaware of the 150% increase in people using foodbanks in Scotland during the last year as a result of the current programme of welfare reforms.    They  must also be unaware of  the warning from Shelter  that “for many, the safety and security of a home is under threat like never before.”

We understand that  Labour’s motion on  the scrapping of the bedroom tax was defeated by only 26 votes.  We would have thought that the  recommendation by the UN  Special Rapporteur  on Housing  calling for the bedroom tax to be suspended immediately would have had an impact on  members of the Labour Party.   This does not appear to have been the case.

We were under the impression that an important part of an MP’s job involves turning up to their workplace (ie the House of Commons) and  voting on issues  which affect the people  they represent.  We  believe that 46 of your Party’s MPs   have not been doing their job and we find this completely unacceptable.

The inaction of these MP’s demonstrates  that the Labour Party does not represent the interests of ordinary people.  It also suggests that the Labour Party does not care about the suffering and hardship experienced by many families as a result of the bedroom tax.

We are interested in finding out what the Trade Union Movement’s response is to the inaction of  the 46 MP’s who represent the Party which they fund.

We are disgusted, angry and disheartened at what has become of the Labour Party. It  is no longer the Party of  ordinary people.   Your Party has taken working class people’s votes for granted.  You  have insulted our intelligence by assuming that people would  forgive and forget  this terrible betrayal.  This is a serious error which will cost the Labour Party at election time. The excuse of Labour MPs having been paired will not be accepted.

We look forward to your reply

Your sincerely

Anna Hutchison

On behalf of North Edinburgh Women’s International Group 

One week on, the group is still awaiting a response.

Cammy Day Ward 4 Forth Ward

Forth Labour Councillor Cammy Day comments:

Responding to letter by the Edinburgh North International Women’s group

I agree with the Edinburgh North International Women’s Group in their letter dated 19th Nov in their deploring of the evil bedroom tax. As the deputy convenor of the Council’s Health, Social Care and Housing Committee I have seen first hand the damage it’s done,  but I think your letter unfairly puts the blame of the existence of the bedroom tax on the Labour Party. It was the Labour Party who voted against the introduction of the bedroom tax from the beginning. It was the Labour Party who has campaigned to bring an end to it and promised that a Labour government would scrap it right away. This policy was brought in by the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. They are the ones who made this unfair and pernicious tax, a law.
At Council level the Labour Party has prevented evictions in cases caused by the bedroom tax, something I was proud to be a part of in Edinburgh. At Holyrood they have voted against it and sought to bring in legislation to prevent it. I feel your letter leads people astray in their thinking, last week’s opposition debate by the Labour Party sought to highlight and reverse the government’s position. You are correct when you say that some Labour MPs did not vote for the motion. This was a result of pairing – where MPs from both opposition and government are paired when they cannot attend (either because they are ill, or because they have constituency or foreign business). This is part of our parliamentary system.
I hope you will reconsider your verdict on the Labour Party’s position on the bedroom tax. Only a Labour government in 2015 has committed to scrapping the bedroom tax and only a Labour government will continue the fight for the ordinary working class people you speak for. That’s why I am a member of the Labour Party and the trade union movement. We must stay together in this battle for a fairer society and show the coalition government of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives for what they damage the have done by legislating for the bedroom tax to exist in the first place and their wider attack of welfare reforms.
Cammy Day
Councillor – Forth Ward
Readers – it’s over to you!