Tree-mendous! Kippford Leaning Tree takes national title
A defiant lone hawthorn guarding the Scottish coastline is the winner of the Woodland Trust’s Tree of The Year for 2021.
The tree at Kippford, Dalbeattie in Dumfries & Galloway is a fine example of a native, mature tree and while not spectacular in size, it cuts a striking presence as the only tree on the windswept cockle shell beach.
Now in its seventh year, the Woodland Trust’s Tree of The Year contest highlights the UK’s favourite trees to help show their value and need for protection.
The hawthorn took 38% of the vote, finishing above a Monterey cypress tree planted on a beach in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, Wales (19%) that was saved from felling this year after a passionate public campaign.
In third place with 13% was an exceptional parasol beech in Parkanaur Forest Park, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland – a rare specimen with knotted branches growing randomly back towards the ground.
The competition was held across social media, with a shortlist of 10 finalists selected from hundreds of nominations across The Woodland Trust’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts using #TreeoftheWeek
Tree surgeon Drew Patterson, who nominated the winning hawthorn, was thrilled to see such a “beautiful specimen” take the coveted prize. “I love this tree, it’s amazing,” said Drew, 57, whose father, grandfather and great grandfather all came from Dalbeattie.
“It is a superb hawthorn and it’s incredible it has survived this well having been climbed on, battered by the winds and even bumped into by cars turning.
“It’s in a wild place and has been blown over at an angle, but it is still standing strong and proud on the edge of the beach.
“It has been there as long as I can remember and I have so many fond memories going back through the generations. I have pictures of my grandfather and mum in front of the tree.
“It is at least 60 years and could be as many as 100. Seeing the tree win this award is special.”
Adam Cormack, Head of Campaigning for the Woodland Trust, said the tree which is also known as the ‘Kippford Leaning Tree’ is a worthy winner.
He said: “We’ve had winners of all shapes and sizes in previous years and this is a tree that stands out for different reasons, notably because of its striking presence in an unusual setting.
“It is also a special tree for Drew because of the family significance, which highlights the importance individual trees can have. Lots of trees are equally meaningful to someone, providing a connection and treasured memories.”
The winning hawthorn tree will now go on to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year 2022 contest.
The Woodland Trust’s Tree of The Year competition aims to highlight how vital trees are for our landscapes and our lives. Trees are essential in the fight against the climate and nature crisis we are facing, yet many of the UK’s oldest and most valuable trees have no form of legal protection.
New alcohol policy measures should be considered to reduce drink-related ambulance callouts, according to researchers studying data from Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Stirling-led team made the recommendation after their study found that ambulance callouts related to drinking in licensed premises fell significantly during the first lockdown – but were replaced relatively quickly by alcohol-related callouts to homes.
Professor Niamh Fitzgerald, Director of the Institute for Social Marketing and Health at Stirling, led the study and believes its findings present policymakers with an opportunity to reflect on how to sustain the positive outcomes of lockdown for the NHS and emergency services – including a reduction in what paramedics described as “mass public intoxication” over weekends – but also tackling other issues, such as the increase in problems caused by drinking at home.
Niamh Fitzgerald
Professor Fitzgerald said: “During the pandemic, both in the UK and abroad, licensed premises – including bars, restaurants and nightclubs – faced significant restrictions, including closures and curfews, which helped to reduce spread of the virus. However, we know that these restrictions also led to many people drinking more alcohol at home.
“By looking at data from the frontline of the NHS – the Scottish Ambulance Service – and adjusting for the fact that ambulance callouts fell during this period for other reasons, our study shows that there were disproportionately large short-term reductions in alcohol-related callouts in April and May 2020, when licensed premises were closed, compared to the previous year.
“This was a situation that paramedics described as a ‘welcome break’ from the hostile, alcohol-fuelled scenes experienced in towns and cities on weekend nights pre-pandemic.
“However, we also identified public health risks caused by increased home drinking during this period – with those night-time callouts quickly replaced by alcohol-related ambulance callouts on all days of the week, likely to be linked to home drinking.
“For example, in June 2020, when premises were still closed and weekend night-time callouts for alcohol incidents were still lower, the proportion of alcohol-related callouts had almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. Overall, there were 18,832 alcohol-related callouts at the height of the pandemic, in April to June 2020 – 16 percent of all callouts.
“Our findings suggest that policymakers here in Scotland, but also around the UK and abroad, need to consider how to build upon the lessons learned during the pandemic. As the night-time economy recovers, how can we avoid a return to pre-pandemic levels of alcohol-related callouts arising from the night-time economy, but also reduce callouts and harm from home drinking?”
Reduction in callouts
The research team – involving academics from ISMH and the University of Glasgow – analysed interviews with licensing stakeholders, to understand how COVID-19 has affected licensing and alcohol-related harms; explored the experiences of ambulance clinicians in further interviews; and conducted descriptive and time series analyses of alcohol-related ambulance callouts in Scotland, before and during the first lockdown.
Overall ambulance callouts for all causes between March and June 2020 – when lockdown was in place – decreased in comparison to the previous year. However, alcohol-related callouts fell much more sharply – with a 23% reduction in April 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. The drop was even more stark at weekends – down 31.8% – and at weekend night-times, down 48.9%.
After April, despite licensed premises remaining closed, the proportion of alcohol-related callouts gradually started to return to pre-lockdown levels. However, the resurgence in alcohol-related callouts was generated by calls spread throughout the week rather than concentrated at weekends, which still experienced substantially lower callouts in June 2020 than the previous year.
“Massive drop” in alcohol related incidents
Ambulance clinicians reported that the number of late-night callouts relating to alcohol “plummeted” when premises closed completely or operated under a curfew. However, there were perceived increases in domestic callouts and concerns raised about home drinking.
One paramedic said that during this time there had been “nowhere near the same amount of public intoxication or mass intoxication… there’s been much less in the way of assaults that involve alcohol, unconscious people outside that involve alcohol, falls that involve alcohol. All these things we’ve noticed a massive drop in.”
Another said: “It’s so nice to go to work on a Friday night knowing that you don’t have to go into pubs and clubs… it’s made a huge difference”
Several reported that the reduction in alcohol-related calls meant that they were spending more time on other calls.
Dr Jim Ward, Medical Director at the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), said: “We will always respond to people in need regardless of cause, location, or time.
“However, heavy drinking both at home and when on nights out, as well as through chronic alcohol problems, not only increases the risk of accidents but can also lead to a rise in assaults, including those against ambulance staff.
“By drinking in a way that avoids harm, the public can support our hard working staff and avoid putting unnecessary pressure on our service and A&E departments at an extremely busy time.”
Policy implications
Professor Fitzgerald said: “The views expressed by paramedics are powerful and give pause for thought about whether business recovery post-COVID has to mean a return to the ‘mass intoxication’ described.
“This is surely an opportunity for politicians and clinicians to show leadership in pushing for better alcohol policies that protect the NHS and frontline services. At a time when policymakers want to support the hospitality sector, but also wish to protect health services, there is an opportunity to put in place win-win policies that can do both.”
The research team suggest that one such policy could be to increase the minimum unit price of shop-purchased alcohol to reduce consumption within homes without affecting prices in bars. Other possibilities discussed are restrictions on online sales and licensing changes.
The research teams are analysing separately if and how the 50p minimum unit price, introduced in Scotland in 2018, has impacted alcohol-related ambulance callouts, as well as exploring expert and stakeholder views on this and other ‘win-win’ policies.
The researchers used data from the ‘Evaluating the impact of alcohol licensing in England and Scotland (ExILEnS)’ project, funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Public Health Research Programme; and the ‘Impact of minimum pricing for alcohol on ambulance callouts in Scotland (IMPAACT)’ and ‘Lockdown and Licensed Premises’ studies, both funded by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.
The new paper, Lockdown and Licensed Premises: COVID-19 Lessons for Alcohol Policy, is published in Drug and Alcohol Review.
Thousands of COVID-19 cases have been detected by the Asymptomatic Testing Programme, a Scottish Government evaluation has found.
More than 6.6 million LFD results reported by Scots were considered in the Asymptomatic Testing Programme Evaluation which looked at nine testing pathways including community testing, early learning and childcare settings and the Health and Social Care workforce.
The number of positive cases identified by LFD testing, then confirmed by PCR, was 7,271, according to the study which looked at the period between November last year and June 2021.
The data shows widespread uptake of testing among the general population through the pathways, including the universal offer.
https://youtu.be/Q92_ZJRWqiI
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Scotland’s Testing Strategy is a key part of our approach to controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and minimising transmission.
“This report shows the importance of regular asymptomatic testing in capturing cases of the Covid-19 often before symptoms emerge. These would otherwise go undetected or be found much later in the virus progression, once symptoms had developed.
“As we go into this holiday period, frequent testing with lateral flow devices is essential and I would urge people to make sure they report the results – whether positive, negative or void – which only takes a few minutes.
“Everyone should do a lateral flow test before mixing with people from other households. That means before going to a pub, to a restaurant, visiting someone’s house, or even going shopping.”
With 12 days until Christmas, St James Quarter has launched a brand-new gift-wrapping service, giving shoppers a helping hand this festive season.
Located on level one of the Galleria, the St James Quarter volunteers can expertly wrap gifts of all shapes and sizes, in exchange for a charity donation for the shopping destination’s charity partners, Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids and Deaf Action.
The festive service launched on Saturday where the volunteers were joined by The Rolling Hills and St Giles choirs who serenaded shoppers with Christmas tunes to help spread the Christmas cheer this year.
The gift-wrapping service will continue until Christmas eve and is available from Thursday to Sunday, 12 noon until 6pm. St James Quarter is also spreading the festive cheer to the lower levels, with unlimited parking for £5 after 5:30pm this festive season.
Are you planning to purchase an e-scooter this Christmas? Make sure you know the laws and implications beforehand – using an e-scooter in a public place in Scotland is ILLEGAL.
This includes roads, pavements, parks, town centres and promenades. E-scooters can only be used on privately owned spaces, with the land or property owner’s permission.
E-scooters are classified as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs). They are treated the same as motor vehicles and subject to the same legal requirements, such as insurance, a valid driving licence and compliance with manufacturing and use requirements.
Superintendent Simon Bradshaw, Deputy Head of Road Policing, Police Scotland said: “We understand that e-scooters are a tempting option for Christmas presents this year. It is important however, to make it clear, these are not toys and they are illegal to use in public.
“If an e-scooter is on your Christmas wish list, make sure you know how and where to use them safely.”
99% of Scotland’s designated bathing waters met the required environmental water quality standards for the 2021 bathing water season.
38% of bathing waters achieved ‘excellent’ status – the highest since tighter standards first came into force in 2015.
Significant improvement achieved at Ayr (South Beach) which achieved Good status.
Improvement measures and plans for Rockcliffe aim to sustain this year’s improved water quality.
Farmers and land managers have continued to show good compliance with environmental protection measures.
Management plans in place at Dhoon Bay designed to improve water quality in 2022 and beyond.
Scotland’s bathing water quality is the best it has been since 2015 when tighter standards first came into force, with almost all sites now classified as sufficient or better for next season. On top of that 32 out of 85 – (38%) are rated as ‘excellent’, the highest number since the annual classifications were reported from 2015.
Of particular note this year is the step change improvement at Ayr (South Beach) following collaborative work involving SEPA and Scottish Water, supported by Scottish Government, South Ayrshire Council, farmers and rural land managers, the National Farmers Union and Keep Scotland Beautiful.
Having been classified as ‘Poor’ for four years in a row, 2021 was a key season for Ayr (South Beach), as another poor classification would have resulted in the loss of its designated bathing water status.
Results from this season show that the planned pollution control measures and improvement projects, combined with a largely dry summer which also helped reduce pollution run-off, resulted in a significant improvement in water quality.
With further improvements continuing into future years and continued collaboration and partnership working moving forward on improvement actions, the bathing water will continue to be a valued bathing water location.
Rockcliffe on the Solway coast, which had been classified as Poor since 2017, has also seen a ‘step change’ after SEPA authorised temporary treatment operated by Scottish Water at nearby Kippford for the 2021 season.
The success this year is ahead of a permanent solution for sewage treatment which will sustain this improved status for the longer term.
Scotland’s results
2021/22
2020/21
2019/20
2018/19
2017/18
2016/17
2015/16
Excellent
32 (38%)
Results carried over from 2019/20
29 (34%)
28 (32%)
25 (29%)
26 (31%)
17 (20%)
Good
35 (41%)
31 (36%)
35 (41%)
34 (40%)
36 (43%)
38 (45%)
Sufficient
17 (20%)
20 (24%)
13 (15%)
16 (19%)
11 (13%)
12 (14%)
Poor
1 (1%)
5 (6%)
10 (12%)
11 (13%)
11 (13%)
17 (20%)
Total Bathing Waters
85
85
86
86
84
84
Terry A’Hearn, Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said: “Improving Scotland’s water environment is a key priority for SEPA, and that includes the bathing waters so many of us enjoy.
“Across Scotland, we work to protect watercourses through licensing, inspection and regulation of discharges, and pollution incident response. In addition, we provide advice and guidance to the public, industry, developers, and local authorities.
“The successes at Ayr (South Beach) and Rockcliffe demonstrate the bold and timely action that can come from partnership working. We’ll continue to work with our partners to raise or maintain the state of bathing waters throughout Scotland, with particular attention on Dhoon Bay in 2022.”
Minister for Environment and Land Reform Mairi McAllan said: “Scotland’s bathing waters are so important to our environment and to people’s health and well-being and it is great to see hard work and investment delivering results.
“This is great news for the people of Ayr and the thousands of people who visit its shores every year. Ayr beach is one of Scotland’s most popular visitor areas, with a long tradition of welcoming people from far and wide to enjoy its coastline.
“By investing in improving Ayr’s bathing waters along with others across Scotland, we have made sure many more people can continue to enjoy them and will potentially bring a boost to the local tourism economy.”
At Dhoon Bay, SEPA is working closely with the local community and the local authority to put in place improved private sewage treatment systems serving domestic homes in time for the 2022 Bathing Season, with funds made available by the Scottish Government.
South of Scotland Enterprise is also involved in plans to upgrade treatment at a caravan park in an area that is important for tourism. These actions are aimed at improving water quality in what will be a critical year for this location.
While season results are normally based on a four-year rolling average, when there is a significant improvement that is sustainable in the future, it is appropriate to use a “step-change” to classify using one season’s samples.
The improvements at Ayr (South Beach) and Rockcliffe are significant enough that, alongside continued beach management, on-going use of SEPA’s daily prediction signage and discounting systems and upgraded electronic signs for 2022, there is good confidence that similar classifications should be maintained in future years.
The Scottish Government funded “My Beach Your Beach” campaign which is delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful has also successfully helped people care for our beaches and bathing waters by raising public awareness to reduce beach pollution from dogs, gulls, and litter.
The campaign has focused its activities at Ayr, Troon, Irvine, Saltcoats/Ardrossan, Kinghorn, Portobello and Fisherrow beaches.
Significant Scottish Water investment
Ayr (South Beach)
Scottish Water’s investment of around £10 million, including increased storm storage capacity at two wastewater treatment works, has driven clear improvement in water quality at Ayr (South Beach), which now achieves a “Good” classification. Temporary chemical disinfection at Minishant septic tank also proved to be successful and this improvement will be made permanent with Scottish Water installing a new wastewater treatment works for this location.
Additional work in the coming years will include first-time provision for properties which currently discharge to the River Doon, with around £3 million of targeted Scottish Government funding as part of a programme of improvements.
Rockcliffe
A significant improvement in water quality was seen at Rockcliffe and the Bathing Water would achieve an “Excellent” classification if the classification was calculated on single year data.
During 2020/21, Scottish Water installed chemical dosing as a temporary measure at the septic tank at Kippford at a cost of around £220,000. Dosing is proposed to continue until a new wastewater treatment works is constructed, along with a new discharge point, by 2024.
Simon Parsons, Strategic Customer Services Planning Director at Scottish Water, said: “We’re delighted that our £10 million investment in wastewater infrastructure at Belleisle, Mauchline and Drongan has positively contributed towards protecting the bathing water status of Ayr (South).
“A collaborative approach with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, South Ayrshire Council and other key parties was instrumental to expediting this major investment and has ensured its successful delivery.
“In addition to the improved treatment capability that this investment brings, the continued operational diligence of our assets in the area is helping to ensure the best possible water quality is achieved. This is great news for local people, the local tourist industry and the environment.”
Farmers and land managers working together to improve Scotland’s rivers
SEPA has been working alongside NFUS over a number of years to help farmers and rural land managers reduce diffuse pollution affecting both Ayr (South Beach) and Rockcliffe catchments.
Inspections have shown that of 410 across the two areas only a small number in Ayrshire are still completing remedial measures.
All others are fully compliant, with many adopting new practices and spending significant sums of money to improve slurry storage, fence off water courses and install alternative water supplies for livestock.
Around £50 million has been spent on improvements, through self-funding and grants from Scottish Government, and in many cases farmers have gone even further than is legally required to help protect Scotland’s water environment from farming activities.
We are sorry to say, we will cancel any face-to-face groups until further notice after the latest Scottish Guidelines ask us to avoid unnecessary contact with other people, especially in crowded places.
While many of our groups are held outdoors, we don’t want to create a situation where we need to tell everyone to isolate for 10 days, due to being a close contact of a person from a group who has tested positive, and thus leave them having to isolate over Christmas.
We want to do everything to avoid that and allow people to see their family and loved ones this Christmas.
Chat Cafe – moved to online
Raising Children With Confidence – online
Baby Massage – online
Garden Cooking Club – postoponed until further notice in January
Community Lunch – postponed until further notice in January
Play Together Outdoor Adventures – postponed
Women’s Winter Wellbeing – continues online
Bookbug – postponed until further notice in January
UK Government and NHS announce ambition to recruit tens of thousands of volunteers to help get jabs into arms
All eligible adults will be offered the chance to get their jab before the New Year
PM: “We need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard have joined forces to issue a rallying cry for thousands of volunteers to come forward and support the NHS booster campaign.
The public will be urged to play a crucial role in the UK’s fight against Omicron by helping the NHS to get as many jabs into arms as quickly as possible. No task will be too small to contribute towards this national effort.
Yesterday the Prime Minister announced a new ambition for every eligible adult to have the chance to get their jab by the end of the year.
This follows new evidence that suggest the Omicron variant is extremely transmissible and two jabs are not enough to protect against infection.
The new target means the NHS will be massively ramping up its vaccine operations in the next few days, and it needs as many people as possible to play their part by volunteering their time to help.
Urging volunteers to sign up to the booster drive, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “As part of our Get Boosted Now vaccination drive we need to increase our jabbing capacity to unprecedented levels.
“But to achieve something on this scale, we need your help. So today I’m issuing a call for volunteers to join our national mission to get jabs in arms.
“We need tens of thousands of people to help out – everyone from trained vaccinators to stewards.
“Many thousands have already given their time – but we need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.
“So please come forward if you can.”
There are now almost 3,000 vaccine sites across the country, staffed by over 90,000 volunteers who have given up 1.1 million hours of time so far.
In the next week hundreds more sites, mobile units and pop ups will be springing up across the country. These will be in a range of locations that will make it as easy as possible for people to get boosted – such as at football stadia, shopping centres and racecourses.
This means volunteers are needed to perform tasks such as registering patients, managing queues and giving jabs.
Last week the NHS announced a recruitment drive for 10,000 paid vaccinators and support staff and that it will also work with the Royal Voluntary Service and St. John Ambulance to recruit a further 40,000 volunteers for roles such as admin and stewarding queues.
In the last week, 13,000 people have come forward as steward volunteers, and a further 4,500 people have registered their interest to take up one of the 10,000 paid vaccinator roles. The government and NHS now want to go even further.
NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: “In the face of the grave threat posed by the new Omicron strain of Covid, the NHS is seeking to offer vaccine booster protection to all eligible adults by the end of the month, a new national mission in which everyone can play their part.
“There is no doubt that our incredible NHS staff will rise to the challenge but we cannot do this alone – we need the support of the public and volunteers to once again support the Covid vaccination programme.
“Since we first issued a call to arms we have had an outstanding response but Omicron has shifted the goalposts and we are now renewing our plea to the nation – I would urge anyone who has volunteered in the past, or considered it but not taken up the opportunity, to come forward now – search ‘NHS vaccine team’ today and find out more about how you can help us save lives.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “To help us turbocharge our COVID-19 booster programme we need people across the country to join our national mission to get boosted now.
“We are so grateful to the volunteer vaccinators from organisations such as St John Ambulance and Royal Voluntary Service who have made an enormous contribution by administering millions of vaccinations since the start of this year.”
People interested in either a voluntary or paid role are urged to visit the Join Vaccine Team page or search ‘NHS vaccine team’. People who volunteered or were trained for paid roles previously are also being contacted to help out again.
Scotland’s First Minister will make a statement on the situation in Scotland this afternoon. It’s expected that restrictions will be strengthened here as Omicron variant cases continue to rise sharply across the UK.
Armed forces step up to support vaccination drive across UK
Over 100 personnel are currently supporting the vaccine rollout in Scotland. 600 Armed Forces personnel have been made available to NHS England to administer vaccines, working in small teams across the country.
In addition, around 50 personnel will provide planning support to NHS England. 41 planners will deploy to NHS trusts across England and 10 logistics experts will be based at NHS England’s headquarters in London.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “We have rapidly mobilised Service personnel to work alongside our dedicated health services to accelerate the vaccine booster programme.
“Our Armed Forces will help to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible as we continue our efforts to support the UK’s response to the pandemic.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We are turbocharging our COVID-19 booster programme to offer every adult in England a vaccine by the end of the year to protect people from the Omicron variant.
“Building our defences through boosters is a hugely important national mission and it’s brilliant to see the military supporting our NHS staff in our race against the virus.
“Please get boosted now to top-up your immunity and keep yourself and your loved ones safe this winter.”
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said: “I’m proud of our Armed Forces who are once again stepping up to help protect people and communities.
“We have a long history of working hand in hand with the NHS as two organisations with a common goal – to help keep our people safe.”
Planners based at NHS England headquarters will be led by Brigadier Phil Prosser who was previously deployed to support the delivery of the vaccine programme which began in December 2020. They will work alongside NHS England to maximise existing capacity and ensure the vaccine programme can be delivered at pace.
Since March 2020, Defence has supported over 430 tasks as part of Operation Rescript – Defence’s support to the UK’s response to the pandemic.
Defence is currently supporting ambulance services in Wales and Scotland and the vaccine rollout in Scotland among other tasks including testing.
Personnel supporting on Operation Rescript tasks have deployed from across the three services – Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force – and are a mixture of regulars and reservists.
Don’t give your festive guests the gift of penalty points this Christmas
With children heading back from university for Christmas or friends and family coming to stay, many hosts will be confronted with the same question: ‘Can I borrow your car?’
Such requests are likely to be even more common this year, with many guests trying to avoid public transport or staying for longer periods to make up for the time apart during the pandemic.
However, according to leading insurance comparison site Quotezone.co.uk, obliging hosts should be aware that depending on the insurance in place, they could face losing their no claims bonus – or even getting in trouble with the law.
According to research from the Office for National Statistics, almost two-thirds of UK students have moved out of their family home to study at university – meaning when they do flock home for the festive season they are unlikely to have a permanent insurance policy in place on the family car.
Greg Wilson, Founder of Quotezone.co.uk, comments: “Whether or not to let children or guests drive your vehicle is a seasonal dilemma for many hosts, and the pressure will be even greater this year. However vehicle owners need to be aware of the insurance options before handing over the keys.
“Perhaps the most obvious solution is to add the other person to your own insurance policy as a named driver, particularly if it’s your own children that are asking to borrow the car. However, if they are involved in an accident, you could lose your no claims bonus.
“An alternative is for them to take out a separate policy in their own name. Temporary policies can be arranged for anything from a few hours to a month, and could give you greater peace of mind, especially if you have a large no-claims bonus. It may also work out cheaper too because you aren’t insuring them for the full year.
“Either way, insurers will want details of your guests including their driving licence and details of any convictions.
“Whichever option you choose, the most important thing is to ensure that your guest does have insurance in place. There is still a common misconception that anyone with comprehensive insurance on their own vehicle is automatically insured to drive another car on a third-party basis. However, this isn’t always the case so it’s important to check whether their policy specifically includes ‘driving other cars’ (DOC) cover.
“Driving without insurance is a serious offence punishable by a minimum £300 fine and six penalty points. In more serious cases, the driver may be given an unlimited fine or disqualification and the police may have the right to seize and destroy the vehicle, even if it belongs to someone else. The vehicle owner could also be committing an offence and may be given points and a fine.”
Where children or other guests do stay for longer periods and hosts add them to their own policy, they should be wary of how much time they spend behind the wheel The main policyholder (known as the proposer) should still do the bulk of the driving, because if someone else is driving more often it could be regarded as ‘fronting’, a type of insurance fraud that could result in a large fine and a criminal record.
Amey, on behalf of Transport Scotland as part of the Traffic Scotland Operations and Infrastructure Service, are carrying out essential equipment repair works around the M90 north of the Queensferry Crossing in Fife on three nights this month.
This scheme will see slip road closures to allow for the repair and reinstatement of traffic detection loops, which allow for data to be captured on traffic volumes.
The work will be carried out using multiple closures of slip roads overnight from 2000 to 0600 to minimise disruption and to ensure the safety of roadworkers and the public:
Tomorrow (Tuesday) – 14/12/12 – M90 Northbound J2a Halbeath Off Slip – diversion to J3 and return Southbound
Wednesday – 15/12/21 – A92 Southbound link to M90 J2a Halbeath – diversion to M90 J3 and return
Monday – 20/12/21 – M90 Southbound J2 exit link at A823(M) – diversion to J1 and return Northbound
Our operatives will follow strict physical distancing and hygiene protocols throughout the programme, in line with the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 guidance.
Please note, all schemes are weather dependent and may be cancelled or rescheduled if weather conditions are not favourable.
Real-time journey information can be obtained by visiting:
