Our AGM is coming up: Wednesday 19th March 5.30-6.30 at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. (room F40, upstairs -there’s an accessible lift).
You’re all invited! As well as some formal business like the presentation of accounts and trustee election, we’ll do a wee review of the past year, and a look ahead to the coming one.
We’ll provide some light refreshments, so if you’re planning to come it’s helpful if you can message us so we know numbers.
If you’re a member you should already have an invite, but please note we’ve had to change the venue as PCHP will now be closed that week for electrical works.
If you’re not a member but would like to sign up, all the relevant info is here:
New era of global instability means Government must go further and faster in delivering missions.
PM to take on ‘cottage industry of checkers and blockers slowing down delivery for working people’.
Digital revolution underpins moves to a more agile, effective and active state – refocused on delivering Plan for Change.
Tech and AI teams will drive improvement and efficiency in public services with 2,000 new TechTrack apprentices.
Taxpayer’s money saved by slashing waste on pricey contractors.
Costs of regulation to be slashed for businesses to boost growth that puts more money in working people’s pockets.
The Prime Minister will today set out how he will “go further and faster in reshaping the state to make it work for working people.”
Reflecting on international events of the last few weeks, he will say that national security is economic security, and therefore “the fundamental task of politics right now is to take the decisions needed on national security, to deliver security for people at home.”
The Prime Minister will set out his belief in the power of “an active government that takes care of the big questions, so people can get on with their lives.”
He will share his diagnosis that the state has become bigger, but weaker and isn’t delivering on its core purpose, before outlining his mission to reshape it. He will say that the new global “era of instability” means that the Government must double down in delivering security for working people and renewing our nation.
The intervention follows the Government’s step change in approach to regulation and regulators, following the abolition of the Payments Systems Regulator as the Prime Minister commits to a government wide target to cut administrative costs of regulation by 25%.
New plans announced to support delivery will include new AI and tech teams sent into public sector departments to drive improvements and efficiency in public services. One in 10 civil servants will work in tech and digital roles within the next five years with 2,000 tech apprenticeships turbo charging the transformation.
The moves come as the Government slashes the costs of red tape by a quarter for businesses.
It is expected the Prime Minister will say: “The great forces buffeting the lives of working people, and an era of instability driving in their lives, the need for greater urgency now could not be any clearer. We must move further and faster on security and renewal.
“Every pound spent, every regulation, every decision must deliver for working people…If we push forward with the digitisation of government services. There are up to £45bn worth of savings and productivity benefits, ready to be realised.
“And that’s before we even consider the golden opportunity of artificial intelligence. An opportunity I am determined to seize.”
Fundamentally reshaping the way the British state delivers and serves working people by becoming more tech-driven, productive, agile and Mission focused will be set out alongside further detail on the digitalisation of public services and the wider British state.
The approach will be underpinned by the mantra that “No person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard.”
The digitisation will include the sweeping modernisations, a new apprenticeship scheme, TechTrack, will bring 2,000 apprentices into public sector departments by 2030, making sure the UK Government has the skills needed to overhaul public services using tech – creating new opportunities across the country and delivering on the Plan for Change.
DSIT unveiled this week that initial tests of an AI helper for call centre workers included in the bundle, built in partnership with Citizens’ Advice, showed that it could halve the amount of time it takes call handlers to give responses to complex questions on anything from consumer rights to legal support.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “There is a £45 billion jackpot to secure if we use technology properly across our public sector – but we can’t hope to come close to securing that if we don’t have the right technical talent with us in government.
“Not only will these changes help fix our public services, but it will save taxpayer cash by slashing the need for thousands of expensive contractors and create opportunities across the country across the country as part of our Plan for Change.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has announced new funding to support the world’s largest performing arts festival.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society will receive £300,000 from the Scottish Government in 2025-26 to help grow the significant benefits the Fringe delivers for Scotland’s economy, society and culture sector.
The funding will enable work in two areas agreed between the Scottish Government and the Fringe Society, firstly to develop the capabilities of the Society’s data and digital infrastructure to make it more accessible for artists, audiences and venues.
Secondly, it will fund work to explore how the Scottish Government and the Fringe Society can help Scottish artists and the sector as a whole capitalise on international opportunities, by targeting agreed priority countries and regions.
Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “The Fringe is one of Scotland’s signature events. From humble beginnings in 1947, it has grown to become the world’s largest performing arts festival, making it a significant economic contributor to Edinburgh, and Scotland as a whole.
“This agreement recognises firstly, that the Fringe Society does not neatly fit into the funding streams available to other culture organisations. Secondly, that there is ample opportunity for the Fringe Society to work more closely with all the other organisations who play an important role in making the Fringe the annual success that it is.
“The Scottish Government is committed to working with the Fringe Society and all partners who deliver, it to help safeguard the future of the Edinburgh Fringe as a world leading cultural asset, built on the principle of free access for all.”
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: “We welcome this new funding and thank the Scottish Government for recognising the unique position that the Fringe Society has.This will undoubtedly contribute greatly to Scotland’s economy, society and culture sector and we hope that this is a first step towards long-term funding for the Fringe Society.
“It is vital that the Fringe Society can continue to provide much needed core services to the thousands of artists who come to the festival every year and who recognise it as a global marketplace and expo. A sustainable Fringe Society can use its convening role to unlock support for the wider Fringe from the imminent visitor Levy.
“We look forward to working with Kate Forbes and the Scottish Government on developing a long-term sustainable funding model, and welcome this investment into both digital infrastructure and international opportunities.”
North Edinburgh Parents Action Group held their 3rd meeting with senior housing staff at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre at the end of last month.
The meeting was well attended by local people affected by housing issues but unfortunately there were fewer senior staff in attendance than previous meetings which the group felt was disappointing.
The meeting focused on a number of key issues which have been raised by local people including :
overcrowding and a shortage of larger houses in North Edinburgh,
poor standards of repairs,
issues with Edindex,
lack of support to tenants allocated PSL (Private Sector Leasing) properties, and
inaccurate information contained in progress reports on individual cases.
Local people presented each of these issues to the Director of Housing and his staff and pointed out that most of these issues had already been brought to their attention at the previous two meetings and in their publication ‘SOS – North Edinburgh’s Housing Emergency’ which was published last May.
It was also pointed out that since then the group have raised other issues which are affecting tenants who have been housed in temporary accommodation and nothing has been done to address these issues.
Commitment from Director of Housing
The Director of Housing acknowledged people’s frustrations and reassured the meeting that his team were working on these issues and were developing new ways of working which he hoped would improve the service.
Furthermore, he agreed to take the following action in response to the latest information people had shared about their experiences :
To meet with the Chief Executive of PSL to highlight all the complaints people have raised and to clarify how the system works
To invite a senior member of the new build team to the next meeting to provide information on the numbers of houses available for social rent, particularly larger properties and new properties which can be adapted.
To provide a written response to all the issues raised in the group’s report
To organise regular drop-in sessions locally to enable tenants to access housing staff who are able to provide support and information on a variety of housing-related issues.
Enough is Enough
Although the group welcomed these commitments, there was also a feeling of disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress in tackling the area’s housing problems.
People also felt disheartened that after all these meetings senior housing managers were unable to provide answers to things they should really know about.
Susan Rowand, chairperson of the parents group, said: “We were shocked at the fact that people in this position didn’t seem up to speed or familiar with their own systems.
“We need to have confidence that those at the top understand what is going wrong and have a plan to put it right.”
No more false promises
The meeting was also attended by representatives from Low Income Families Together (LIFT) who reported that they were dealing with the same issues in Muirhouse on a daily basis.
Pauline Bowie, Manager of LIFT said: “As well as changes to the system, there needs to be a commitment by Council Officers, local Councils and MSPs to ensure that the changes are enforced. We don’t want any more false promises.
“Many of the properties people are stuck in are uninhabitable and would never make it onto the Edindex housing bidding service. These properties are offered as PSL to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation and to reduce the level of support required by the CEC housing support services. This needs to change now.”
Junior school Children at @george_heriots_school once again chose ESUB to benefit from their Non-Uniform Day fundraiser which went ahead on Friday 7th February.
They raised an incredible £656.50 which will go a long way to support our work around Edinburgh.
Proposed regulations to support next phase of rollout
Families could get quicker access to free school meals under proposed new regulations laid at Holyrood.
If agreed by MSPs, the regulations would see Social Security Scotland given new powers, allowing them to share Scottish Child Payment data with local authorities. This would allow councils to ensure eligible pupils receive their free school meals.
The latest phase of the free school meals programme will include all pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment in Primaries 6 to 7 and S1-S3 in eight local authority areas.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “Free school meals are a crucial element of the Scottish Government’s ambition to eradicate child poverty, and the provision is currently available to over 273,000 pupils across Scotland, saving families who take up the offer around £400 per child per year.
“The next phase of the rollout will significantly build upon this, with an additional 25,000 pupils being able to benefit from this vital provision. Through further support for data sharing, local authorities will be able to more quickly identify those eligible for this next phase.
“That is why we have proposed these changes to streamline the process to help more families and remove any administrative burden for local authorities. I would encourage members of the Committee to back these proposals to ensure more families can easily access the support they need.”
Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee will vote on the regulations on Wednesday 2 April. If approved, they will come into effect from 19 May 2025.
Barchester’s Strachan House care home in Edinburgh is proud to provide a much-needed pit stop for all local emergency services.
At any time of the day or night, hard-working emergency workers can call into the care home to get a hot or cold drink and a tasty bite to eat either to have at the home or to take away with them if time is tight.
Everyone at Strachan House is delighted to be able to offer this service to our wonderful emergency crews to thank them for all that they do.
When crews come to Strachan House, they are always so glad of a drink and a rest if there is time so staff and residents decided to extend this offer to all emergency teams in the area and they want to spread the word that all blue light staff are always welcome to stop in for a rest and some refreshment.
The home has prepared snack bags to keep on hand should a crew have no time to rest and just need to grab a bag and go.
Frances Fisher, General Manager for Strachan House, said: “We all know how hard our emergency services work and how much we rely on them.
“We wanted to say thank you for all that they do to protect and support us and this is our way of giving back. We want our local emergency services to know they are always welcome here at Strachan House”.
Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care and specialist dementia care. For more information, please contact StrachanHousee@Barchester.com
Social Security Scotland has started the transfer of 169,000 benefit awards
Pension Age Disability Payment is replacing Attendance Allowance in Scotland.Social Security Scotland has begun transferring the awards of 169,000 people in Scotland who currently receive Attendance Allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions.
People do not need to take any action; the transfer will happen automatically in phases throughout 2025. Everyone will continue to receive their payments on time and in the right amount.
Social Security Scotland will notify people by letter when their benefit has been selected for transfer and it should take up to three months for the transfer from the Department for Work and Pensions. There will be no gaps in payments while people’s awards are being transferred.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that older people who have care needs because of a disability, long-term health condition or terminal illness get the financial support that they’re entitled to.
“As people’s awards start to transfer from Attendance Allowance, to Pension Age Disability Payment, they will be kept informed of this process and treated with dignity, fairness and respect.
“Pension Age Disability Payment is being rolled out across Scotland in phases. If the payment is currently open for new applications in your area and you think you could be eligible for support right now, I would encourage you to apply.
“If the payment is not yet available in your area, you can still apply for Attendance Allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions.”
Pension Age Disability Payment is currently open for new applications in Aberdeen City, Argyll and Bute, Highland, Orkney and Shetland. It will become available in more areas from 24 March before becoming available throughout Scotland from 22 April 2025.
The city council would like to hear from communities by 31 March about neighbourhoods they would like to be considered for firework control zones this November.
These zones can help reduce noise, stress and littering caused by fireworks.
Thank you all so much for your continued support
