Category: North Edinburgh News

Ambitious for Scotland?

Programme for Government 2026-2031

Patients will receive better care, with shorter waits, as a result of the most significant structural reform of our NHS in the devolution era, First Minister John Swinney announced yesterday, as he unveiled a major modernisation programme of Scotland’s public services.

Setting out his Programme for Government, the First Minister pledged that all the actions of his government would be focused on delivering lasting improvements to people’s lives as he presented a package of measures to help with the cost-of-living crisis.

The First Minister said the Scottish Government would also continue to drive improvements in the priority areas of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services and tackling the climate emergency as he outlined work to reduce NHS waiting times and action to tackle violence against women and girls.  

Key announcements include:

  • Replacing the current 14 territorial health boards with two strategic health boards which – alongside other measures – will free up more time and capacity for treatment
  • Delivering a national breakfast club for all primary schools from August 2027 and, by 2031, providing childcare support 52 weeks a year for children from nine months old to the end of primary school
  • Tackling poverty by increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week for eligible babies under 1 during 2027-28
  • Investing £205 million in winter heating payments for pensioners, families with disabled children and struggling households
  • Recognising that hostility to women and girls is a serious societal problem by defining misogyny as a distinct form of prejudice and abuse
  • Expanding the £2 bus fare cap beyond the Highlands and Islands to the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport area from Monday 7 September followed by a national roll-out by the end of this Parliament  
  • Improving public services by removing unnecessary duplication and overlap, getting resources more directly to the frontline services
  • Over the next three months, with partners, reach a clear shared direction on substantial reform to local governance, including social care
  • Bringing the national environment public bodies into a single overarching body to make environmental interventions more impactful
  • Supporting better jobs and higher incomes by making Scotland a better place to invest and do business

First Minister John Swinney said: “This ambitious Programme for Government has radical and widespread public service reform at its heart to deliver real, lasting improvements to people’s lives.

“By rewiring a system of services designed for the last century, we will simplify and reshape organisations on which everyone relies and ensure every pound of investment achieves maximum impact.

“As we do so, we will build on the most generous cost of living package anywhere in the UK while continuing to tackle inequality, poverty and division.

“This is a Programme for Government to deliver a fairer, healthier and more prosperous nation.”

The First Minister also stated that Scotland would only reach its full potential by becoming an independent nation.

“We will give the leadership for Scotland to decide her own future and advance our belief that Scotland will be better off with Independence.”

Programme for Government 2026 to 2031 – gov.scot

The First Minister also confirmed Scottish Government plans to introduce nine Bills over the course of 2026-27:

  • Budget Bill
  • Buildings (Heating and Energy Performance) and Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill
  • Council Tax (Scotland) Bill
  • Damages (Scotland) Bill
  • Food Prices (Scotland) Bill
  • Football Banning Orders (Scotland) Bill
  • Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill
  • Misogyny (Criminal Law) (Scotland Bill
  • Public Service Renewal (Scotland) Bill

REACTION:

Peter Kelly of Scotland’s Poverty Alliance commented: “It was good to hear a promise to eradicate child poverty – and we welcome the further development of the Whole Family Wellbeing approach.

“However, we know that secure, adequate incomes are the bedrock of efforts to eradicate poverty. That means progressively increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £55 a week by the end of this Parliament.

Without that scale of change, it’s hard to see how the First Minister will keep that promise to Scotland’s children.”

COSLA President, Councillor Shona Morrison, has responded to Scottish Government’s Programme for Government announcement: “Today’s Programme for Government is a significant statement of the Scottish Government’s priorities, and we will take time to consider its detail carefully.

“There are important implications for local government and council services, particularly the proposed NHS reforms and what they will mean for the future delivery of social care.

“Over the coming days, COSLA will engage closely with our member councils and with Scottish Ministers to ensure these proposals are focused on what is best for communities across Scotland and respect the democratic legitimacy of local government.

“Public services work best when decisions are taken as close to communities as possible. We look forward to meaningful engagement with the Scottish Government and believe that the dialogue on the future of local governance must be carried forward with councils and COSLA as the collective voice of local government.”

Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), said: “While we welcome the focus on reforming the public sector to make it work better for citizens, LGIU is concerned that two concurrent, three-month consultations on the restructuring of local government and the reform of social care mean the views and expertise of the local government sector will not be adequately represented.

“Local government reorganisation is a serious undertaking. And it will be impossible to achieve without an agenda to save local government finances, which is conspicuously absent from this Programme.

“The Scottish Government should enter this endeavour with the expectation that it will be hard, and that making a success of it will be impossible without buy-in from across the sector and clear aims about what the desired outcomes are.

“The same is true with social care. The last major social care reform attempt was the introduction of the National Care Service, the structural part of which failed in part because of limited engagement with local government.

“We appreciate the Government’s newfound urgency to tackle both the social care crisis and empower the regional and local tiers of government, but it is hard to see how a three-month sprint to round off decades-old debates will ensure that all relevant voices are heard.”

In response to the Programme for Government, Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children First said: “We are delighted that our calls for whole family support, investment in a national Bairns Hoose programme, a public health approach to online harm and a greater emphasis on prevention have been included in today’s Programme for Government.

“Prevention is rightly at the heart of the Scottish Government’s ambitions, but it’s been the goal for more than 15 years. The gap between policy intent and the reality of children’s lives has never been wider. The First Minister will understand why people are impatient for change.

“It is disappointing that the specific, funded commitments needed to put Scotland back on track to meet its child poverty targets have not been included. We do not need further reviews or consultations – the next budget must deliver the action and investment children and families need.

“Children First share the Scottish Government’s aim for every child to live free from poverty, safe from harm and for children’s rights to be protected at every stage.

“We look forward to working alongside the Scottish Government and hope that local government, partners and communities will make the same commitment, because it will take everybody to close the gap between what Scotland says and what Scotland does.”

Billy Alexander, Associate Director for the Stroke Association in Scotland, said: “We welcome today’s commitment from First Minister, to ensure every stroke patient in Scotland who needs a thrombectomy gets one – regardless of the time or day. Whilst long overdue, this way could herald a genuine turning point for stroke care in Scotland. 

“Thrombectomy is a lifechanging treatment that can mean the difference between someone returning to an independent life or living with significant long-term disability. Yet, all too often, the time or place someone has their stroke can determine whether they receive it. 

“The test now will be implementation. We need a clear, sustainable, robustly funded, and time-bound plan that delivers equitable access to thrombectomy around the clock and across the country.

“That same level of ambition is also needed to drive wider improvements across stroke care, from the point of emergency and treatment through to rehabilitation and long-term recovery. Only then will every stroke survivor in Scotland be properly supported to live well after stroke.”

Debbie Horne, Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager of older people’s charity Independent Age, said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling the cost of living crisis. 

“At Independent Age, we hear every day from older people being squeezed by rising costs. Action is urgently required to support the 130,000 pensioners currently in poverty in Scotland.

“We know that too often the social security system fails to reach the older people who need it most, with hundreds of millions of pounds going unpaid every year. Commitments today to maximise the take-up of social security payments hold real potential to boost incomes for older people in financial hardship and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government to progress this welcome and vital work.

 “Today’s announcement that the Heat in Buildings Bill will be introduced and the commitment to ongoing winter heating support for pensioners is also very important. Our research has shown that almost 4 in 5 older people on a low income have cut back on heating, so it’s clear that measures to improve the energy efficiency of homes and support older people with energy costs is urgently needed. 

“Despite these positive steps, to meaningfully tackle the range of issues facing the one in eight older people in Scotland who live in poverty, we need sustained strategic action to boost incomes and reduce costs through a national pensioner poverty strategy. In a wealthy and fair society, both the Scottish and UK Governments must do more to make sure every older person can live well.” 

The British Dental Association Scotland has expressed its profound scepticism that plans for wholesale reform of Scotland’s health boards represents a silver bullet and has called for forensic scrutiny from MSPs.

Today First Minister John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament that “to ensure more joined-up delivery, to improve access to care and to reduce inequality for some patients” the fourteen current health boards would be reduced to two. While the professional body is wholly supportive of these objectives, following publication of the Programme for Government it is unclear how any of them will be achieved via these proposals.

The BDA will be addressing the Health, Care and Sport Committee this week, stressing the risk of unintended consequences.

BDA Scotland Director Charlotte Waite said: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that top-down reorganisations of the NHS rarely deliver the goods for taxpayers, patients, or practitioners.

“These plans need to be subjected to forensic scrutiny. They only thing we can be sure of at this stage is unintended consequences.”

Responding to the Programme for Government, Anna Fowlie, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) Chief Executive, said:   ”I’m pleased to see that the Programme for Government recognises the essential role the voluntary sector plays in addressing some of Scotland’s biggest challenges, from child poverty and gender-based violence to community cohesion and public service reform. 

“We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Third Sector Partnership, founded on trust, collaboration and mutual respect. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to deliver the kind of partnership with government that voluntary organisations have long called for, one that brings meaningful change. 

“We also welcome commitments to multi-year funding in a number of areas, and the first public recognition that the voluntary sector, alongside communities, must play a significant part in shaping public service reform. I look forward to seeing these commitments delivering significant progress in delivering Fair Funding across government portfolios and public bodies. 

“Finally, I welcome the First Minister’s commitment to strengthen community cohesion and counter those who seek to divide Scotland. Voluntary organisations across Scotland are on the frontline of supporting people targeted by bigotry, racism and hatred, while bringing communities together in the face of division.

“Their work demonstrates the very best of Scotland: compassion, solidarity and a determination to ensure everyone belongs. Achieving that ambition will require sustained recognition, support and investment from the Scottish Government.”  

20 women, 12 hours of football, £2,000 target SMASHED!

A group of 20 women took on a 12-hour continuous football match on Sunday to raise money for St Columba’s Hospice Care.

Two teams played 7-a-side football from 8am until 8pm at South Queensferry Hub in an endurance challenge.

The women hoped to raise at least £2,000 for St Columba’s, who also kindly provided playing strips for the day, but organiser Amie Johnston has been in touch to report that the group has raised £3500, ‘playing all day in the rain!’

https://www.justgiving.com/page/amie-johnston-1

Help with food essentials

Views sought on food price controls on everyday items

Households struggling with food costs could benefit from price controls on essential items under proposals published for consultation.

Fulfilling one of the commitments made for the Scottish Government’s first 100 days, views are being sought on the proposals and accompanying draft Bill. These are intended to ease cost of living pressures, particularly for lower income households who spend a greater share of their budget on food.

The consultation seeks views on the proposals and how the mechanism would work in practice, including the retailers and foods that could be included in the scheme.

Minister for Business Tom Arthur said: “Helping people with the cost of living is a top priority of this government. Our aim is to make essential food items more affordable for households struggling to pay for their weekly shop, particularly those on lower incomes.

“The consultation covers the wide range of factors we need to consider to implement a food price cap. I am committed to taking action to address food affordability that works with retailers and protects farmers and food producers.

“I have spent the last three months engaging with bodies with an interest in this and encourage everyone to have their say.”

The consultation is live at www.gov.scot/isbn/9781807754938 and closes on 24 November 2026.

City Council: Clarification on Council Housing allocation following media misinformation

Last week, an article in the media and subsequent posts on social media channels, inaccurately reported details about how we prioritise and allocate council housing.

It is important that we address misinformation and set out the facts.

Status of those applying for council housing

  • We cannot house asylum seekers. This is a matter managed by the Home Office, not the Council. 
  • People who have been assessed and granted ‘Leave to Remain’ status by the Home Office have legal rights to services including access to housing and other public services. They are afforded the same process, support and respect as every other applicant.
  • It is entirely false to say people in this position have been prioritised for housing. 
  • We provide advice and assistance to any individual or household who declares themself homeless and this can, but does not always, include the provision of accommodation.

How we prioritise council housing

  • To address the housing emergency in Edinburgh and to reduce the number of people staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation, we temporarily paused the letting of council homes and accelerated our work to bring empty council housing back into use.
  • This has allowed us to prioritise temporary housing for people assessed as legally homeless and to reduce the number of people staying in unsuitable accommodation in accordance with Scottish and UK housing legislation. This does not mean that people in this position have a permanent council house.

Council by-elections this Thursday

By-elections in Southside/Newington (Ward 15) and Portobello/Craigmillar (Ward 17) take place this Thursday (3 September).

We’re urging residents in these wards to remember their polling cards and to cast their votes.

Residents in these wards who are aged 16 or over and have registered to vote can participate in Thursday’s by-elections.

One new councillor will be elected for each ward. The current electorate for Ward 15 is 24,666 and for Ward 17 it’s 28,062.

Returning Officer for Edinburgh, Paul Lawrence said: “With these by-elections fast approaching, I encourage residents in these wards to take this opportunity to have their say on Thursday. Please remember your polling cards and check your polling place. These new councillors will represent your communities on issues affecting your local area and Edinburgh as a whole.

“Our elections pages provide useful information on how the Single Transferable Vote system works – you can rank candidates in order of preference, choosing as many or few as you’d like.

“If you’re voting by post, please return your completed ballot as soon as possible to make sure your vote is counted.

Please check your polling place as this may have changed since the last time you voted. If you bring your polling card to vote this will help us and speed up the process, but this isn’t mandatory.

A full list of the candidates standing in both wards is available on the Council’s website.

Further information on voting in Ward 15 and Ward 17, including accessibility information and spoken ballot papers are also on the Council’s website.

Polling places will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 3 September.

Polling Places (Ward 15):

  • Nelson Hall Community Centre (New for 2026)
  • Blackford and Grange Parish Church Centre
  • St. Catherine’s Argyle Church
  • Newington Trinity Church
  • Reid Memorial Church Hall
  • 75th Braid Scouts’ Millar Hall
  • Cameron House Community Education Centre

Polling Places (Ward 17):

  • Portobello Library (New for 2026)
  • Branch Out Together
  • St Mark’s Episcopal Church (New for 2026)
  • Bingham Community Centre
  • St Martins Parish Church
  • Craigmillar Library
  • Hays Business Centre
  • Newcraighall Leith Victoria FC

The by-elections will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than using a single cross. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they like.

The electronic count will take place at Waverley Court, starting at the close of poll at 10pm on September 3. 

Sunday: Cramond Litter Pick

Dear friends and members of the Cramond Association,

Our September litter pick will be this Sunday, 6th September at Cramond Beach carpark (accessed from Cramond Glebe Road).

We’ll meet at the notice boards in the carpark for a 10am start, and will be finished at 11am. The carpark always benefits from a clear-up, and depending on attendance, we can spread out to the promenade and adjacent field.

All equipment is provided, although our gloves are size large so your own may be more comfortable. If you have a Hi Viz, please bring it along.

Everyone is welcome!

CRAMOND ASSOCIATION

Healthy Cooking at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre

FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 9am – 12pm

We are delighted to announce that Nadia, a qualified nutrionalist, will be here on Friday 11th September running an efficient, Healthy and Sustainable Cooking Class.

Learn how to:

Cook healthy, balanced meals

Eat well on a budget

Reduce food waste

Cook efficiently and sustainably

Limited spaces available book your place today!

Community book exchange reopens on 8 September following handcrafted rebuild by Mull boatbuilder

A much-loved community book exchange in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge will reopen on Monday 8 September, after being destroyed in the storms of January 2025 and rebuilt from scratch.

The Little Free Library was created by bookbinder and artist Rachel Hazell, aka The Travelling Bookbinder, who first installed it in Stockbridge in 2016. It quickly became a fixture for local readers, walkers and visitors – and during the Covid-19 lockdowns, a source of connection and comfort for residents cut off from much else.

When the library was blown down and damaged beyond repair last winter, Hazell set out to find someone who could build a replacement able to withstand Scotland’s weather while staying safe, accessible and welcoming to readers of all ages.

The job went to Yann Jameson, a boatbuilder based on Mull, who constructed the new library from locally sourced larch and finished it with three coats of marine-grade oil to protect it against rain, wind and damp.

The reopening lands during the National Year of Reading 2026, and continues a movement with an unlikely point of origin. When the Little Free Library movement began in 2009, its founders drew inspiration from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who around the turn of the 20th century funded the creation of 2,509 free public libraries across the English-speaking world – and set themselves the goal of surpassing that number, which they did within a few years.

Today there are more than 200,000 Little Free Libraries in 128 countries worldwide, and Little Free Library tourism – seeking them out while travelling – has become its own small pastime among book lovers.

Registered as Little Free Library #36444, the Stockbridge library is part of that worldwide network, used by locals and passers-by alike, and stocked with everything from romance and contemporary fiction to philosophy and Penguin Classics – all shared on the movement’s founding principle: “Take a book, share a Book.”

Rachel Hazell, founder and bookbinder, said: “When I first installed the library in 2016, the idea was simply to share books I’d loved and to support my belief that everyone has a book inside them. Over the years it became something much bigger than that, particularly during lockdown, when people told me it was a source of comfort, connection and escape.

“When it was destroyed in the storms, I was heartbroken. It’s taken longer than I’d hoped to find the right person to build a replacement, but Yann has created something truly special and robust.”

“I take my role as librarian very seriously, although admittedly the collection isn’t organised according to the Dewey Decimal System. I try to keep it well stocked, though sometimes the new titles that appear on the shelves are very tempting.

“I’m absolutely delighted to see it return. It belongs to the community as much as it does to me, and I can’t wait to see people using it again.”

Local resident Barbara said: “It’s been strange walking past the empty spot all year – the library was always a nice excuse to stop for a minute, get my bearings and see what’s new. Glad to have it back, and it looks better built than ever – very smart!”

The Stockbridge Little Free Library officially reopens on Tuesday 8 September and is free for everyone to use.

 

“IS EDINBURGH  POLITICS AS LEFT AS IT THINKS IT IS?”

 The Communist Party of Britain’s (CPB) candidates in Edinburgh’s two by-elections have called out political opinion in the city.

The party is standing candidates Richard Shillcock (Southside/Newington ward) and Peter Olech (Portobello/Craigmillar ward) in the September 3rd council by-elections.

The Communist candidates note Edinburgh’s reputation for liberal politics. Many voters—particularly young ones—across Labour, Greens and the SNP see themselves as voting for a much better, new kind of Scotland.

But Communists are presenting crucially different policies to what is on offer from the other parties.

Communists say particular policies of Edinburgh’s established parties might sound good in isolation but they are overshadowed by the liberal commitment to rejoining the EU and/or to Scottish “independence”.

The EU. Rejoining the EU means accepting the EU’s foundational principles of the free movement of capital, goods and services, and its restrictions on state funding of industry.

Communists say we need to trade extensively with Europe but we need to be able to control the movement of capital and we need to be able to direct state-led investment if working people are ever to own and control a rebuilt productive economy.

“Independence”. Similarly, we need to control our own currency. A separate Scotland, in or out of the EU, means losing our central bank. Greece’s debt crisis had its roots in adopting the euro and losing its central bank.

Communists say the Scottish people have the right to decide whether to secede from the UK, but that better prospects for working people lie in strengthening working class organisation across Britain to win deeper and deeper federal autonomy in which working people own and control the productive economy.

Housing. Few idealistic voters would say “just let the market sort out housing”. But that is exactly what is happening when other parties’ housing policy is for a mix of measures like “affordable housing” at the expense of council housing. Communists say only large-scale, permanent investment in council housing, owned and run by the local authority, can solve the housing problem.

Women’s rights. Communists say that we need to urgently implement the Supreme Court ruling on sex in the Equality Act 2010. Local government should fully uphold women’s rights and protections under the Act, including the right to single-sex services. The Scottish Government should enforce the Act.

Violence against women. Liberal activists have been arguing that prostitution is “sex work”, that it is a mutually consensual transaction, that it can be empowering and that it should be decriminalised and destigmatised.

Communists say prostitution is not work. A woman’s body is not a workplace. Prostitution is unique sexual exploitation, reflecting class and sex inequalities. We need to support women to exit prostitution, with zero tolerance towards the sexual exploitation of women by men. 

Caring for each other. There is strong liberal support—in the Greens, LibDems and SNP—favouring assisted dying.

Communists stand with disabled activists in opposing assisted dying. It cannot be made safe. It will disproportionately endanger disabled people. Communists call for adequate funding for end-of-life care.

The local by-elections were triggered following the resignation of two local SNP councillors who were recently elected as MSPs to Holyrood. 

The Communist Party urges voters across Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar to use their ballot papers to vote for the policies they believe in—ones that will defend and extend the rights and the quality of life of working people.

I SWEAR at North Edinburgh Arts

We’re delighted to be hosting a screening of I SWEAR on Thursday 24 September. Join us for an evening of food and powerful storytelling!

🍲 Doors open & food sharing from 5.30pm (soup & bread served)

🎥 Screening starts 6pm

🎟 £2 (NEA Members) | £4 (General Admission)

👉 Book tickets at: https://northedinburgharts.co.uk/…/i-swear-film…/

I SWEAR is a frank, funny and powerful film inspired by the life of John Davidson, MBE, charting his journey from a misunderstood teenager in 1980s Britain to a present-day advocate for the understanding and acceptance of Tourette Syndrome.

Diagnosed at 15, John navigates troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose. It’s a hilarious, moving and life-affirming story that shines a light on a condition still widely misunderstood.

This screening is part of the Local Cinema Network, supporting film screenings co-curated with and for local communities across a range of community venues in Edinburgh.