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City council to progress introduction of LEZ this week

The next stage in the plan to introduce a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in Edinburgh is expected to be approved by committee this week.

A finalised scheme was brought to October’s Transport and Environment Committee, when it was agreed that further analysis would be carried out on the LEZ’s role in reducing greenhouse gases, in particular carbon emissions, before final approval.

On Thursday (27 January) committee members will consider a report outlining analysis by SEPA via the National Modelling Framework. This notes that, while the LEZ will take significant steps towards tackling poor air quality caused by harmful NO2 and PM emissions, there are limits to how much the fossil-fuelled vehicles that are allowed within the zone will reduce carbon emissions.

Instead, the wider objectives of the LEZ scheme will help facilitate the Council’s actions toward achieving a net zero city. These include decarbonising transport and encouraging a shift away from private car use towards more sustainable choices of public transport or walking, wheeling and cycling.

It is recommended to proceed with the scheme with no changes to the boundary or grace period, meaning an LEZ would be introduced in the city centre this spring, with enforcement to begin in 2024.

A separate Air Quality Annual Progress report to committee shows a continued decline in air pollution across the city. As a result, one of Edinburgh’s five Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) declared for breaches of national NO2 objectives – Inverleith Row – is set to be revoked, after three consecutive years of compliance, which is a sign of progress.

There are, however, still areas of concern, especially the Central AQMA, though modelling predicts that actions such as introducing an LEZ will have a positive impact.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “The LEZ put forward for approval in October followed several years of planning, modelling and analysis, in line with national frameworks, as well as consideration of feedback received through a major public consultation.

“Additional work carried out since then to assess the scheme’s impact on carbon emissions, as well as the proposed boundaries and grace period, demonstrates that these proposals are appropriate for the city.

“The LEZ, alongside a range of ambitious projects to improve air quality, will encourage cleaner transport and support active travel, and is key to achieving cleaner air for everyone.”

Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, said: “It’s really encouraging to see a consistent fall in harmful air pollutants across the city, so much so that we’ll soon be able to revoke the Inverleith Row AQMA.

“Of course, there’s still work to be done and we’re confident that the LEZ, paired with companies committing to cleaner fleets, improved signalling and modal shift away from private car journeys, amongst other measures, will see the picture improve even further.”

Edinburgh’s city centre LEZ would apply to all motor vehicles, except motorcycles and mopeds, and with a two-year grace period.

An evidence-led approach was taken when developing the LEZ, adhering to the National Low Emission Framework and based on detailed traffic and air quality modelling and data. October’s proposals followed a major, 12-week consultation with the public.

The city centre boundary was selected based on various factors, including the expected limited impact of a larger zone and predictions that an alternative city centre zone would have longer lasting negative impacts on air quality at its boundary.

Once the LEZ is in place, vehicles must meet a minimum emissions standard to enter the zone freely, and those that don’t will be considered non-compliant and subject to penalties.

Penalty charges are set nationally at £60 for non-compliant vehicles (though halved if paid within 30 days), with the penalty rate roughly doubling for subsequent contraventions to a maximum level depending on the vehicle.

Read the full reports, Low Emission Zone – Carbon Impact and 2021 Air Quality Annual Progress Report, on the Council website. 

Watch the discussions live via webcast from 10am on Thursday, 27 January.

You can also find out more about the LEZ on CEC’s dedicated web pages.

Raise a dram! Morrisons has Burns Night covered with Scottish staples and deals on tipples

Morrisons is helping customers celebrate Burns Night on the 25th January, with a selection of Scottish staples, a special bouquet and deals on bottles to raise a dram.

Highlights include:

  • Glayva Liqueur – £12 down from £18 in Scotland until 25th Jan 
  • Laphroaig Islay Select Single Malt Whisky – £25 down from £33 until 25th Jan
  • Scotch Beef Lean Diced Steak – £8.50 per k/g
  • Burns Night Bouquet – £8

‘Bonfire of the Banalities’

Unnecessary train announcements to be binned

  • UK government to review and remove train announcements that add unnecessary noise and disruption to journeys
  • the Department for Transport will ensure train operating companies retain important safety messages and work with accessibility groups so that passengers receive the necessary information
  • announcement follows the publication of the government’s Plan for Rail, which puts passengers back at the heart of the railways

Quieter train journeys are set to become the norm after the government announced it will identify and remove repetitive and unnecessary onboard announcements on trains in England.

The changes mean that passengers will no longer be bombarded with unnecessary ‘tannoy spam’ that distracts from important safety-critical messaging.

Working closely with the Rail Delivery Group, passenger groups including Transport Focus, and train operators, the Department for Transport (DfT) will identify how the vast number of announcements can be cut or reduced while maintaining vital obligations to ensure train travel remains accessible for all. Messages that play a safety critical role, or that ensure the railways are accessible for all, will remain.

The review will take place over the course of this year, with redundant messages identified and starting to be removed in the coming months.

Banal announcements set to be culled include self-evident instructions, such as having your ticket ready when leaving the station and contradictory calls for passengers to keep volume levels low while onboard announcements blare out. There will also be new curbs on the maximum frequency at which remaining announcements will be heard. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:  “Train passengers are all too often plagued by an endless torrent of repeated and unnecessary announcements. 

“In line with the passenger improvements, we are rolling out with our Plan for Rail we want to see improvements to the railways for those who use them day in day out.  

“That’s why I’m calling for a bonfire of the banalities to bring down the number of announcements passengers are forced to sit through and make their journey that little bit more peaceful.”

As passengers come back to the railways, DfT will continue to ensure journeys are more comfortable to all users and that passengers continue to receive the important information they need about their journey.

Officials will work with accessibility groups to ensure that access for all is maintained.

The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, launched last year, ‘puts passengers at the heart of the railway’. To improve the comfort and enjoyment of train travel, customer service will be modernised and upgraded across all stations and, on trains, focused on providing passengers with better communication and a more personalised service. 

Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Passengers will welcome a review intended to cut out unnecessary announcements.

“Transport Focus looks forward to helping with the review so passengers get the information they want, including those with additional accessibility needs.

Jacqueline Starr, CEO of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We know people want the most relevant and timely messages on their journeys and to help with this, train operators are continuing their work to improve customer information, including cutting unnecessary onboard announcements.

“We’re also going further by asking customers what they want to know and using their responses to plan more useful and consistent announcements across the network, helping people have a better experience travelling by train.”

Aye, right! Boris Johnson is UK’s hardest working Prime Minister!

Boris Johnson: Work Hard, Party Hard?

With the revelations that staff inside Downing Street held two staff parties with alcohol and music the night before Prince Philip’s funeral last April – and while social contact remained banned – health and wellness store Eden’s Gate wanted to ascertain the hardest working Prime Ministers of all time.

Using Hansard, they looked into how many spoken parliamentary contributions each PM has made, as well as how many weeks they held office, and ranked them to reveal the hardest working Prime Minister of the 20th and 21st century. 

Key points:

  • Boris Johnson is the hardest working prime minister, making an average of 12.8 contributions in parliament per week.
  • James Callaghan and Theresa May come second and third, with an average of 11.3 and 6 contributions per week respectively. 
  • The Labour party is the hardest working party overall, with average weekly contributions per PM of 4.8 compared to the Conservative party’s 4. 
  • Tony Blair only made one contribution per week on average, making him the least hard-working Prime Minister of the past decade. 

Full data can be found below.

Tyler Woodward, CEO of Health and Wellness store Eden’s Gate, said: “It comes as no surprise to me that Boris Johnson has been named hardest working PM in terms of parliamentary contributions. After all, he has been in office throughout Brexit and a worldwide health crisis!

“I’d suggest he makes sure to make time for himself and ensure he’s sleeping and eating well to avoid burnout.”

Past Prime MinistersSpoken parliamentary contributionsWeeks in officeAv. Contributions per week
Boris Johnson1,40510912.8
James Callaghan1,82116111.3
Theresa May9601586
Gordon Brown8531505.7
Harold Wilson2,3264055.7
Sir Edward Heath1,0671935.5
Harold Macmillan1,2933533.6
Sir Anthony Eden328923.6
David Cameron6843222.1
Sir John Major KG CH6683352
Baroness Margaret Thatcher1,0196031.7
Sir Winston Churchill6964511.5
Neville Chamberlain1791591.1
Tony Blair5105301
Stanley Baldwin1983770.5
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman351220.3
Clement Attlee03260
James Ramsay MacDonald13540
Andrew Bonar Law0–0
David Lloyd George0–0
Herbert Henry Asquith0–0
Arthur James Balfour0–0
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil0–0

Methodology: Eden’s Gate used Hansard to find the number of spoken parliamentary contributions each prime minister made whilst in office. They then divided this by how many weeks each prime minister spent in office to get the average number of contributions each PM made per week. They then ranked these in order to find the most and least hard working prime ministers of the 20th and 21st century. 

Edinburgh loses out in library projects funding

Over 30 public and school libraries across Scotland have been awarded Scottish Government funding to deliver a range of innovative projects including initiatives to tackle climate change and promote sustainable development – but none of them are in Edinburgh.

The Public Library Improvement Fund and the School Library Improvement Fund are annual awards set up by the Scottish Government and administered by the Scottish Library and Information Council. This year nearly £400,000 has been awarded through the two funds.

Sustainable projects backed by the Public Library Improvement Fund include East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure’s The Root Cause Project, which received £14,240 to transform an outdoor space at Thornliebank library into a sustainable community allotment and multi-functional space.

Funds for school libraries were awarded to projects championing anti-racism and anti-discrimination.

These included Prestwick Academy Library and Ayr Academy Library’s project Read Woke Primaries to curate a wider range of contemporary fiction written by, and about, people from minority groups.

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “Libraries play a key role in our communities and our schools and projects funded through these awards will help to improve the services they can offer.

“Promoting sustainability is integral to our Net Zero ambitions to tackle climate change and our public libraries are an important focal point for conversations and taking action. 

“And as part of our wider approach to creating anti-racist environments in school, it is great to see school libraries engaging our young people on the importance of belonging, inclusion and social justice.”

Pamela Tulloch, Chief Executive at the Scottish Library and Information Council, said: “As we begin to rebuild our society following the pandemic, school and public libraries are an essential part of the recovery process to ensure our future social and economic well-being.

“We’re particularly proud to provide funding awards to projects that promote sustainable development in public libraries and champion anti-racism and anti-discrimination across school libraries as examples of how libraries can make a valuable contribution to Scotland’s social fabric.” 

The total amount for projects from the two funds comes to £398,142.

Public Library Improvement Fund awards

Leisure and Culture Dundee – Libraries Fintry Tool LibraryAmount awarded: £1,404
East Lothian Libraries Libraries at PlayAmount awarded: £5,500
East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure –  Libraries The Root Cause Project – Amount awarded: £14,240
High Life Highland – Libraries Books and Beats – Amount Awarded: £5,500
Inverclyde Libraries in partnership with Barnardo’sPlay Together – Amount awarded: £17,600
North Ayrshire Libraries What’s Your Story – 22 for 22Amount awarded: £29,800
Culture Perth & Kinross – Libraries Culture & Heritage ConnectionsAmount awarded: £14,800
South Ayrshire Libraries Jock Tamson’s BairnsAmount Awarded: £9,200
South Ayrshire LibrariesClimate for ChangeAmount Awarded: £26,610
Stirling Libraries in partnership with Stirling University Making a Difference – Amount Awarded: £46,568
West Dunbartonshire Libraries Towards a Sustainable Future – Amount Awarded: £21,435
West Lothian Libraries in partnership with Heriot Watt University Eco-Ableism – Amount Awarded: £6,000 Total: £198,657 

School Library Improvement Fund awards

  
Aberdeen School: Dyce AcademyProject: Hear a Story / Tell a Story – Award: £4,000  
School(s): Aberdeen City Libraries / Harlaw Academy with Holocaust Educational Trust Erika’s suitcase – Award: £8,000  
Angus School: Arbroath Academy plus othersProject: OPEN – a book, your eyes, your world – Award: £1,630 
Borders School: Arbroath Academy plus othersProject: OPEN – a book, your eyes, your world – Award: £1,630  
School: Eyemouth High Project: Get Woke – Award: £8,150  
Dumfries and Galloway School: North-West Community Campus NWCC Project: Bringing Diversity, Racial Equality to the NWCC Young adult Book Group – Award: £8,150 
East Lothian School: Musselburgh Grammar Project Award: Digital Storybag – Award: £4,900  
School: Lethams Mains Primary with EL Council – Project Award: The Borrowers Bus – Award: £9,000  
Falkirk School: Bonnybridge Primary – Project: Bonnybooks: For a’ Jock Tamson’s Bairns – Award: £24,940  
Fife School: Bell Baxter ClusterProject: Racial Equality Transition ProjectAward: £9,000  
School: Carleton PrimaryProject: The Same Page – connecting families to promote diversity and equality. – Award: £5,500  
Glasgow S -Award: £11,120 School: Barmulloch Primary & ALNProject: Digital and Family Learning HubAward: £13,000 School: Lourdes SecondaryProject: Inclusive Storytelling for Healthy Minds – Award: £15,870  
Moray School: Forres Academy Project: Equality, Inclusion, Diversity, and a Mentally Healthy School – Award: £3,750  
North Ayrshire School: Auchenharvie cluster and Strathclyde UniProject: Keep the Heid’n’Read Even Mair! – Award: £16,400  
Perth and Kinross School: Breadalbane Community Library/Breadalbane AcademyProject: Read It Racism – Award: £4,220  
South Ayrshire School(s): Prestwick Academy Library and Ayr Academy Library (in collaboration with 9 primary school libraries)Project: Read Woke Primaries – Award: £44,000  
South Lanarkshire Schools: St Andrew’s and St Bride’s HighProject: Equal Voices using anti-racist and diverse texts in extra-curricular group discussion – Award: £5,125 Total: £199,485 

Smart motorway rollout to be paused as Government responds to Transport Committee report

  • Rollout of new All Lane Running smart motorway schemes will be paused until five years of safety data available 
  • Current stretches of smart motorway to be further upgraded with best-in-class technology and resources 
  • £900 million commitment to ensure drivers feel safe and confident, including extra £390 million to install additional emergency areas

The rollout of new smart motorway schemes will be paused until a full five years’ worth of safety data is available, as the Department for Transport invests £900 million to improve safety on existing All Lane Running (ALR) motorways.

In line with the Transport Committee’s most recent recommendations, the rollout of new ALR smart motorways will be paused until a full five years’ worth of safety data becomes available for schemes introduced before 2020. After this point, the Government will assess the data and make an informed decision on next steps.

Although available data shows smart motorways are comparatively the safest roads in the country in terms of fatality rates, while their rollout is paused, the UK Government will go further by ensuring current smart motorways without a permanent hard shoulder are equipped with best-in-class technology and resources to make them as safe as possible.

This will include investing £390 million to install more than 150 additional Emergency Areas so drivers have more places to stop if they get into difficulty. This will represent around a 50% increase in places to stop by 2025, giving drivers added reassurance.

The Department for Transport has welcomed the Transport Committee’s report, which endorsed its focus on further upgrading the safety of existing ALR smart motorways rather than reinstating the hard shoulder.

As concluded by the Committee, evidence suggests hard shoulders do not always provide a safe place to stop, and by reducing motorway capacity, they could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury if they were to divert onto less safe local roads.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “One of my first actions as Transport Secretary was to order a stocktake of smart motorways and since then, I have worked consistently to raise the bar on their safety. I am grateful to the Transport Committee and to all those who provided evidence for its work.

“While our initial data shows that smart motorways are among the safest roads in the UK, it’s crucial that we go further to ensure people feel safer using them.

“Pausing schemes yet to start construction and making multi-million-pound improvements to existing schemes will give drivers confidence and provide the data we need to inform our next steps. I want thank safety campaigners, including those who have lost loved ones, for rightly striving for higher standards on our roads. I share their concerns.”

National Highways CEO Nick Harris said: “We have listened to public concerns about smart motorways and we are fully committed to taking forward the additional measures the Transport Committee has recommended.

“While we pause those all lane running schemes yet to start construction we will complete the schemes currently in construction, we will make existing sections as safe as they can possibly be and we will step up our advice to drivers so they have all the information they need.

“We are doing this because safety is our absolute priority and we want drivers to not just be safer, but also to feel safe on our busiest roads.” 

Independent road safety campaigner, Meera Naran, whose 8-year-old son Dev, died in a motorway crash on the M6 in 2018, said: “Conventional and smart motorways both have their risks and benefits. I welcome this pause in the rollout of smart motorways which will give us all a positive opportunity to assess the future of our motorway network.

“I’m encouraged by the commitment of £900 million to improve the safety of our motorways, following my campaigning since Dev died. However, I’ll continue to both challenge and work alongside the Department for Transport to ensure even more is done, including calling for legislation to be looked at for Autonomous Emergency Braking and further support for on-going driver education.”

The Government’s response to the Transport Committee builds on the significant progress already made against the Department’s 18-point Action Plan to improve smart motorway safety, announced in March 2020, including adding emergency areas and upgrading cameras to detect Red X offences. 

The measures in the Stocktake and Transport Committee response represent over £900m of improvements in total, including £390m of new money for extra emergency areas, with the remainder of the funding delivering other measures such as Stopped Vehicle Detection and concrete central reservation barriers.

National Highways will also ‘ramp up’ communications so drivers have better information about how to drive on smart motorways. 

While the Department for Transport will be taking forward all the recommendations set out in the Committee’s recommendations, it does not agree with the view that smart motorways were rolled out prematurely or unsafely. All ALR smart motorway schemes are, and will continue to be, subject to high standards of design, risk assessment and construction, followed by detailed monitoring and evaluation once opened to traffic. 

While further data is being collected, National Highways will continue work to complete schemes that are currently in construction, which will all open with technology in place to detect stopped vehicles.

These schemes are all more than 50% completed and halting progress on them now would cause significant disruption for drivers. Design work will also continue on those schemes already being planned, so they are ready to be constructed depending on the outcome of the pause. No preparatory construction work will take place.

Also, in line with the Committee’s recommendations, National Highways will pause the conversion of Dynamic Hard Shoulder (DHS) motorways – where the hard shoulder is open at busy times – into All Lane Running motorways, while it investigates alternative ways of operating them to make things simpler for drivers. National Highways will also install technology to detect stopped vehicles on these sections.

Shelter Scotland’s famous Stockbridge January launch raises thousands

Shelter Scotland’s Stockbridge shop has smashed fundraising records at its popular annual January launch.  

The shop raised over £20,000 across the week of the launch, which saw excited shoppers snap up designed bargains, rare collectibles and beautiful antiques.  

This beats the previous fundraising record of £18,600 set in 2019. 

Running since 2003, the event attracts shoppers from across Edinburgh and beyond. 

Peter Jew, manager of Shelter Scotland’s Stockbridge shop, said: “It’s been nearly 20 years since we held our first January event and I’m delighted that the range of exciting items we’ve been able to offer this year has proven more popular than ever.  

“I’d like to thank all of our customers and doners for their generosity and for helping to keep Shelter Scotland in the struggle against homelessness. 

“Too many people are denied their right to a safe, secure and affordable home and it’s Shelter Scotland’s mission to change that. 

“While our January event is a big day in the calendar, we’re here all year round. 

“So, if you have any unwanted Christmas gifts and or you’re just having a January clear out then feel free to donate to us and help us fight back against the housing emergency.”  

First Minister’s Omicron update: Reasons to be Cheerful?

  • Large outdoor events resume from 17 January
  • Measures covering indoor events and hospitality to be reviewed in one week

Large outdoor events can resume without physical distancing or capacity limits from 00:01 on Monday 17 January, following a review of all measures in place to limit the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

To support the lifting of capacity limits on outdoor events, COVID certification will remain for these where more than 4,000 standing or 10,000 seated are in attendance, and all other events and venues previously covered. Organisers of all events with more than 1,000 attendees will be expected to check a minimum of 50% of attendees for certification of vaccination, exemption, or negative test.

From Monday, a person will need to show they have had a booster to be considered ‘fully vaccinated’ if their last vaccine dose was more than four months ago. The NHS Scotland COVID Status app will be updated from this Thursday and will include booster jags on the QR code for domestic settings. Updated paper and PDF certificates are already available on request from the NHS Inform website or helpline.

Cabinet will next review the state of the epidemic on Tuesday 18 January and consider whether it may be possible to lift capacity caps on indoor live events, including theatre performances and concerts, from 24 January, by which time the impact of the return to schools and workplaces following the festive period should start to show. Cabinet will also consider whether COVID certification should be required in a broader range of settings.

Local authorities will receive up to £5 million of additional support to ensure ventilation in schools and early years settings meets the latest COVID-19 safety guidance.

The funding is to improve air flow, such as adjustments to windows and doors, use of fan systems and use of air cleaning devices in line with existing safety guidance. This is in addition to Scottish Government funding of £10 million provided local authorities for ventilation and CO2 monitoring last year.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “We remain in a highly challenging phase of the pandemic. Case numbers are high, and the impacts of that are severe, and the future trajectory does remain uncertain at this stage.

“But, because of the efforts we have all made, we are in a better position than I feared would be the case when additional measures were announced in December, and I do hope we are now seeing signs of improvement.

“That is allowing us to start the process from Monday of lifting the additional restrictions – and I hope that next week I will be able to confirm the further steps in that process.

“In the meantime, we can all continue to act in a way that keeps things moving in the right direction. Get fully vaccinated as soon as you can – if you haven’t done so already, please do that and do it this week. Try to limit your contacts for a further period, and prioritise the contacts that matter most to you.

“If you are meeting other people socially, test before you go, every time, as close as possible to the time you will be seeing other people and remember to record the result whether that is positive or negative, and take all the other precautions that make a difference.

“‘Living with the virus’, a phrase that we hear more and more right now, is what we all desperately want to do. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean waking up one morning soon and find that COVID has disappeared or that we no longer need to think at all about mitigating the harm it can do.

“Hopefully, we are on a path from COVID being an epidemic to it becoming endemic – in other words, existing at more manageable and consistent levels.

“These are important issues for not just government, but for all of us – so as we prepare the revised strategic framework in weeks to come, we will consult with Parliament, business organisations and other partners across society.

“Our aim is to publish the revised strategic framework within the next few weeks.”

Scottish Rugby responded:

It’s disappointing news for the arts, however:

IMPORTANT CUSTOMER UPDATE from EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

Following the Scottish Government announcement on Tuesday 11 January, in which it was confirmed that indoor seated events continue to be limited to 200, we regret to announce that the following performances scheduled to play at the Edinburgh Playhouse have been postponed:

Waitress: 18th January – 22nd January

If you have tickets to these performances, you do not need to do anything at this time. You will be contacted from your point of purchase in the next few days with next steps.

Performances from 25th January onwards are still scheduled to go ahead as planned and any changes to this will be communicated as soon as possible if restrictions should be extended by the Scottish Government.

We thank you for your continued patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Scottish Fans Ask for a 3 Day Shift

“3 days will Make a Huge Difference”

The Scottish Football Supporters Association thank the First Minister and welcome the news that the cabinet have green lighted a return of fans above the short term limit of 500 imposed on 26th December.

Next week’s Scottish Premier League card can now take place in front of full houses starting with Celtic vs Hibs on Monday 17th and it means the early winter breakdown decision by our top 12 clubs has been commercially justified.

But as it stands the clubs below the Premier League and their fans face another weekend with restricted crowds.

The SFSA are aware that there is no strict science stipulating the 17th as the key restart date and ask that the First Minister, the Sports Minister and Cabinet revisit the decision urgently on behalf of all Scotland’s smaller clubs and their fans.

We ask that the date is brought forward to 14th of January instead of the 17th.

This will allow Ayr United, Dunfermline Athletic, Caledonian Thistle, Raith Rovers, Airdrie, Dumbarton and many other smaller clubs to allow their full fan communities back on Saturday. It will also allow for the top of the table clash in the Championship between Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock to have fans in attendance.

This simple change will bring financial benefits to clubs and communities and is we have been advised low risk.

Andy Smith, Chairman of the SFSA said: “A reprieve will make a huge financial difference to many of our smaller clubs and allow all their fans back and a normal Saturday in many communities.

“Too often Scottish Football overlooks the smaller clubs and their supporters when making big decisions. This is a chance to make a statement that football in Scotland is more than just the Premier League”.

NASUWT: Action needed to protect UK schools from Omicron

Teaching union the NASUWT is calling on governments across the UK to take urgent measures to protect schools from the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

In England the Union has released a joint statement with the five other trade unions representing the majority of education staff prior to the return of schools and colleges for the spring term. 

And in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the NASUWT has called for urgent action from the Scottsh Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to protect schools now.



Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary said: “Teachers have been on the frontline throughout the pandemic to support pupils and students and provide them with the best education possible.

“However, the rising number of cases of the Omicron variant could cause significant disruption in the next academic term with many teachers being forced to self-isolate.

“We must see immediate action to ensure that schools can continue to operate safely and provide high quality education.”

The statement below is from NASUWT, ASCL, GMB, NAHT, NEU and UNISON:
 
“There has been much speculation about the possibility of more disruption to education over the next academic term as a result of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.  
   
“As trade unions representing the vast majority of education staff, we wish to emphasise that teachers, leaders and support staff desperately want to be able to conduct face-to-face teaching for all children and young people on a consistent basis and without further interruption caused by the pandemic.  
   
“Education staff have moved heaven and earth to support pupils and students throughout the course of the crisis and they remain committed to providing the best possible support for all children and young people.  
   
“They are acutely conscious that this is essential particularly in supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people who have often been most badly affected by the pandemic both educationally and in terms of their wellbeing.  
   
“But last term education staff were more likely than other workers to test positive and therefore to have to self-isolate, inevitably leading to disruption of education.  
   
“Schools and colleges cannot on their own reduce the threat posed by the virus and they need from the Westminster government more than rhetoric about the importance of education.   
 
“We need the minimum amount of educational disruption this term in order to avoid a third successive year where GCSEs, A-levels and other exams have to be cancelled, and thereby removing the uncertainty and additional workload for students and teachers.  
    
“It is essential therefore that the government takes immediate and urgent steps to mitigate the risk of Covid transmission and that it provides more support to minimise disruption in schools and colleges by such steps as:    

  • Providing government-funded air cleaning units to every school and college classroom that needs these devices. While we welcome the provision of a small number of these units to special educational needs and alternative provision settings, the government’s decision to signpost all other schools and colleges to purchase this equipment from an ‘online marketplace’ is simply not good enough. We also question why the Westminster government takes such a different line on face coverings in secondary schools to Scotland and Wales when they use the same evidence. 
  • Committing to providing schools with more resources in the event that on-site Covid testing is again required. Secondary schools have once again been left in the lurch at the beginning of the spring term by being asked to set up and staff testing stations with little support from the government.  
  • Providing improved financial support to schools and colleges for the costs of supply staff to cover for Covid-related absence. The current government scheme contains so many complex conditions that it is inaccessible in many circumstances.  
  • Making it clear that all schools or colleges due for an Ofsted inspection this term can request that the inspection is deferred, and that their request will be automatically granted. This will enable teachers and leaders to focus on the immediate and urgent task in hand – that of supporting their pupils and students – and remove the unnecessary pressure and distraction of unhelpful inspections at this time. 

“As a new year begins, we urge the government to work more collaboratively and constructively with education workforce representatives to keep schools and colleges open. By working side by side, we can remove unnecessary burdens and find solutions with government in the interests of all children and young people.”