You’ll be surprised at the range of ways the Council supports Edinburgh’s businesses to help them succeed.
Join us at the Assembly Rooms on 3 February 2026 to talk with our teams and some of our partner organisations that support businesses. It’s your chance to ask questions, share your thoughts, and learn more about how we work for, and with, businesses to make our city a better place.
Get answers to practical questions – from business rates and what licences you may need for new businesses and much, much more.
A glamorous, never-before-exhibited portrait ofQueen Maryand a miniature sleigh made of rock crystal will be among highlights on show in Scotland for the first time in a major exhibition opening this spring.
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance will explore the glitzy world of two of Britain’s most fashionable royal couples – King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary – through their family connections, royal events, global travels and art collecting.
The exhibition will open in Edinburgh following a successful run in London and is the first Royal Collection Trust exhibition to explore the Edwardian era. It will bring together more than 150 items including fashion, paintings and books, as well as personal items such as jewellery, photographs and chinaware, more than half of which are on show in Scotland for the first time. Visitors will see works from the Royal Collection by many of the period’s most celebrated names, including Fabergé, Tiffany & Co,and Edward Burne-Jones, and depictions of famous faces including composer Sir Edward Elgar.
Curator Kathryn Jones said: ‘The Edwardian era was a golden age of glamour and parties, but it was so much more than that; it was a fast-paced period making great advances in technology.
Our royal couples wanted to make the most of it all, living lavishly and embracing new trends, before the sobering arrival of war. Throughout, they were collecting art as a way to hold onto tradition and capture the rapidly changing world around them. We hope that visitors to the exhibition will enjoy stepping back in time to this exciting period.’
In 1863, Queen Victoria’s eldest son Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The marriage of the fashionable young couple – the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra – initiated a glamorous new era for the royal family, with Queen Victoria still in mourning and away from public life. Edward and Alexandra established a new, vibrant court filled with opulent balls, society events and contemporary art – a lifestyle continued by their son, the future King George V, and his wife Queen Mary.
Full-length portraits of the two Queens will open the exhibition, showcasing the spectacular fashions of the era. The portraits of Queen Alexandra by François Flameng, and Queen Mary by William Samuel HenryLlewellyn (which has never before been on public display) will be shown alongside marble busts of their husbands, Kings Edward and George. Both couples were fond of Scotland, with Edward having studied at the University of Edinburgh and George and Mary making regular visits and devotedly modernising the Palace of Holyroodhouse to make it once again suitable for royal entertaining.
Displays will evoke the interiors of the royal couples’ private residences, Marlborough House and Sandringham House, where the Edwardian fashion of filling every cabinet and covering every surface with small decorative objects or family photographs reigned.
A star object on display for the first time in Scotland is a paperweight shaped like a tiny 10cm-tall sledgewith a figure lying on it by Robert Colquhon. Thought to have been Scottish, Colquhon was agoldsmith based in Russia who made small-scale decorative objects from rock crystal and silver of snowy subjects like sleighs and bears on ice floes. Edward and Alexandra collected several of his works – with one of his sleighs appearing in a photograph of Alexandra’s desk in Marlborough House in the 1890s.
Visitors will also learn of the relationships linking the family to the rest of Europe. Fabergé was introduced to the British royal family through Alexandra’s sister Dagmar, who had married Alexander III, Tsar of Russia. The royal patronage caused the popularity of Fabergé to soar in the UK, and on show will be 21 items from the firm, including an ornate picture frame holding a photograph of Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife; a cigarette case famously given to Edward by his official mistress Mrs Keppel; and six miniature figures of the royal couple’s favourite animals on the Sandringham estate.
As enthusiastic patrons of the arts, the Edwardians embraced new artistic movements including Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts, and the burgeoning medium of photography.
Alexandra was particularly taken with the drawings of the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Edward Burne-Jones, whose study for a larger painting inspired by Sleeping Beauty will be on display. A soft-focus photograph of Alexandrabyphotographer Alice Hughes was typical of her pioneering yet delicate style, and both are on display in Scotland for the first time.
Garden parties formed an essential part of the Edwardian social calendar, with the first taking place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse during the much-anticipated visit of George and Mary in 1911. Danish painter Laurits Tuxen had been introduced to Queen Victoria through her daughter-in-law Alexandra, and his painting of a garden party at Buckingham Palace captures the spirit of the joyous occasion.
Contributions to society were also celebrated through the founding of the Order of Merit in 1902 to recognise prominent figures in cultural, scientific or military life. George commissioned a portrait of each recipient – a tradition that continues to this day – and drawings of Sir Edward Elgar and the physicist Sir J.J. Thomson by Scottish artist William Strang will be on display for the first time in Scotland.
The turn of the century saw great improvements to methods of travel, and the Edwardian royals travelled further than any previous members of the royal family – collecting and receiving gifts as they went. In February 1901, George and Mary set sail for 10 months on HMS Ophir to open the new federal parliament in Melbourne, Australia. To mark the occasion, the ‘Ladies of Adelaide’ gave Mary a richly embroidered silk hanging featuring a eucalyptus tree and local varieties of irises and orchids.
George and Mary visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse in July 1914, only a few weeks before the outbreak of the First World War. The glamour of the Edwardian era was being eclipsed by a serious atmosphere of duty – a sentiment led by the King, as Herbert Arnould Olivier’s study of King George V and Frank O. Salisbury’s painting The Passing of the Unknown Warrior, King George V as Chief Mourner, Whitehall attest. Collecting had now become a way to honour the many sacrifices made in the Great War; a more restrained and dutiful monarchy had emerged.
The King’s Gallery will continue to offer £1 tickets for visitors receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits. Other concessionary rates are available, including discounted tickets for Young People, half-price entry for children (with under-fives free), and the option to convert standard tickets bought directly from Royal Collection Trust into a 1-Year Pass for unlimited re-entry for 12 months.
Average house prices in Edinburgh have risen to almost £355,000, according to a firm of independent solicitors and estate agents.
Lindsays says its average sale price in the capital during 2025 was £354,522 – up 2.6% on the previous 12 months (£345,310).
Its property market experts expect 2026 to be another year of similar price increases, with demand from homebuyers continuing to outstrip supply across the city.
Edinburgh-headquartered Lindsays believes the current city market remains strong, with properties generally selling at about their home report valuation level.
Maurice Allan, Managing Director of Residential Property at Lindsays,said: “There’s a good balance to the market right now. There’s no reason to suspect that’s going to change.
“The big issue that we always have in Edinburgh is lack of supply. There are always people moving here – it’s a place people want to be – but there are very few places to build new homes within the city itself. That creates a very particular dynamic to the local market.
“We expect 2026 to be much in line with the past 12 months. There are certainly no signs of a downturn.
“A market without extremes is always the healthiest. We want to see fluidity in the market, where it’s relatively easy to buy and relatively easy to sell. That’s what we have right now.”
Lindsays reported a busy end to the market in 2025, with a good number of prospects in the pipeline moving into this year (2026).
The firm also operates an estate agency in Dundee, where its average house price sale during 2025 was £217,751.
Chris Todd, Partner and Head of Residential Property at Lindsays,said: “One of the most significant factors that we’re going to see during 2026 will be around the cost of borrowing.
“We can expect a degree of certainty around interest rates. We do not expect any significant change in those.
“That provides a level of certainty, with mortgage lending fairly readily available. That all points towards a balanced, steady market for the next 12 months.”
According to the latest statistics from the UK House Price Index, the average price of a property in Scotland is £194,000, up 5.3% on the year.
“One old battered brown box was my life story of residential care – that was all I was worth.”
Survey reveals nine in 10 people left with questions or concerns after receiving their care records.
ICO launches ‘Better Records Together’ campaign with new resources to support both people with care experience and the organisations handling their records.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has called for further improvements across local authorities in Scotland after warning that many people trying to access their own care records are being let down.
Research from the ICO found that people are facing systemic and demoralising challenges when it comes to their care records.
Over two thirds (71%) of people struggled with poor communication from the local authority and 69% said the process took longer than expected – with one person still waiting sixteen years later.
When care records were received, over half (59%) did not receive enough information and nearly nine in 10 (87%) were left with questions or concerns.
John Edwards, Information Commissioner, said: “This is so much more than a request for personal information. These are people fighting to access their own biography – their own identity – that is in the custody of an organisation.
“It is a brave and emotional step, especially from people who have already been let down by the care system in Scotland. But these requests are too often met with cold bureaucracy, long delays and pages of unexplained redactions, which can have devastating consequences.
“This current picture is unacceptable – but there are many people who play a role in creating better records and better access. As the data protection regulator, we can bring clarity to how these roles work together to thread people’s stories.
“We can build a clear pathway by ensuring everyone has the tools they need – equipping organisations with the certainty and skills to handle requests with care and compassion, and empowering people with the confidence and support to advocate for their own rights.
“Real change must come from the top – so today I am calling on local authority leaders across Scotland to take action. We know frontline staff want to get this right but are struggling with lack of resource and guidance. Improving this process starts at the beginning – when a child enters the care system, their information should be recorded with their rights in mind, knowing that they may request it later. This will reduce the administrative burden and keep the person at the very heart of the process, so future generations do not face the same struggle.”
Jackie McCartney, care experienced campaigner and Ambassador for the Rees Foundation, said: “I can remember the social worker arriving with my care records – she carried one old battered brown box. That was all I was worth. That box was my life story of residential care, with sixteen years of my life inside.
“She told me not to worry – ‘there’s not a lot in there’ – but I wanted to talk to her. Because this total stranger knew more about my life than I did. She had read my story before I had, and decided what I could or could not see. These were my puzzle pieces of how and why I had become a child in care.
“I opened my box and looked inside. I can still feel the pain and disappointment. My records were not even in date order, with whole years of my life missing and no medical records. There were so many blank pages with nothing on, and so much information redacted.
“The whole process must have more compassion and care. I want organisations to see this is more than data, files and words on a page – this is real people’s lives and stories.”
John-george Nicholson said: “We understand who we are through stories. The ones we tell ourselves and the ones others think and write about us. Growing up in care, the state became my storyteller, taking on the role most people’s families play. My files hold many of those stories, yet for years they seemed to forget who I was.
“I first accessed my records at 22 – 126 pages. Almost 25 years later, I asked again and received more than 800. They are tough and often traumatic to read (when I first received them in the post, they came without warning), but they are also a kind of treasure chest: fragments of memory, windows into a past I’d tried to forget. At first, they broke me. But over time, they became maps, continually changing as I age – helping me understand, make sense of the damage, navigate the past and future, and see that it wasn’t my fault. I was just a kid in a broken system.
“But the system is still broken, and record-keeping is a critical element of this – our storytelling. Too often the whole child is lost in forms and reports, their voice minimised or unheard. That has to change. Every child in care deserves records that see them, protect them, and help them heal and thrive.”
Better Records Together
The ICO has launched its ‘Better Records Together’ campaign by publishing a suite of practical resources to help tackle the current issues. The campaign includes:
new standards for organisations providing clarity on how to handle requests with care, as well as good practice measures to better support people from the moment they enter the care system.
clear advice for people requesting their records to help them to navigate the process and access support.
UK-wide supervision pilot running across 2025/26, monitoring the performance of 19 organisations to drive improvements.
In a letter sent to senior leaders, the Information Commissioner has made clear that if improvements are not made, organisations may face regulatory action.
The ICO has been proactively engaging with all 32 local authorities in Scotland after receiving complaints of long delays when care records were requested. Many local authorities have seen increases in requests over the last few years in relation to Scotland’s Redress Scheme, where people who suffered abuse while in care can apply for redress using supporting documents such as care records.
Some improvements have already been made across many local authorities in Scotland following the ICO’s engagement, but these must be sustained and further improvements made.
The regulator is working with charities, advocacy groups and other third parties to ensure their support reaches those who need them most.
Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, said: “The Information Commissioner’s Office’s campaign to support improved access to records by people with care experience is an important one. It is vital that children with care experience have access to their own records, in a way that is straightforward and easy for them to navigate.
“Children who have care experience have the same rights as every other child under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), but they also have extra safeguards. If a child can’t live with their family, this includes having the right to special protection and help.
“Care experienced children and young people have been clear over many years about the importance of proper recording of their time in care. It can help them come to terms with their experience, understand why decisions may have been made, and give them a sense of agency over their own lives. It supports children’s rights to identity, rights to a fair hearing and due process, and rights to respect for private and family life.”
Flora Henderson, Director, In Care Survivors Alliance, said: “In Care Survivors Alliance is heartened to see the publication of Information Commissioner’s Office latest guidance around care records.
This work is vital work in ensuring that people who are care experienced can access their records in a timely, supported and transparent way. We are aware how difficult information access requests can be for individuals, especially when lack of support can create a significant negative impact.
“As such, ICO’s guidance is of considerable value. We encourage all those who hold, create or respond to requests for care records to join the collective effort in empowering people to exercise their rights and access their records.”
Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive, Children First, said: “Children First supports the ‘Better Records Together’ campaign because people must be able to understand their past in a way that feels meaningful.
“For many care experienced people records are the only way to fill the gaps in their history and make sense of who they are. That’s why we prioritise recording children and families’ hopes and dreams, as well as meetings and support.
“We make sure that our historical records are as easy to access as possible. Records aren’t just paperwork, they are the threads that weave together the story of your life.”
A spokesperson for Who Cares? Scotland, said: “We welcome the Better Records Together project and are excited for the improvements to accessing records for Care Experienced people it will bring.
“We often hear from our members about the difficult and sometimes traumatic experience it can be to get access to their records and then read them. That’s why we’re proud to support the Information Commissioner’s Office with this new phase of their project.”
Visit the ICO’s Better Records Together webpage to access the resources and find out more about its work to support both people with care experience and the organisations that handle their records.
We are overwhelmed & humbled by messages of thanks, support & solidarity following our CEO’s decision to decline her MBE nomination.
As an organisation run by disabled people for disabled people it’s important we speak up & speak out about issues affecting us.
We’re on leave till 5th Jan & will respond to questions/requests asap.
Meantime, please check out our website, FB & Insta accounts which may answer queries on what we do, how to become a member, how we can help you, & how to support our work. https://gda.scot
Our latest ebulletin https://mailchi.mp/…/un-international-day-of-disabled… celebrates International Day of Disabled People and provides info about the Disability Equality Plan for Scotland & related Improving Access Fund (deadline 19.01.26)
“I am writing this letter to thank you for the proposed award of Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year 2026 Honours List for services to disabled people and to let you know that regrettably, I must decline at this time…” read Tressa Burke’s letterbelow:
This Midwinter, something remarkable is stirring on the banks of the River Nith. The Stove Network has announced the launch of Phanto Spectra, a brand-new immersive installation forming part of the Northern Lights Dumfries trail at the 2026 Big Burns Supper.
Running from 15th – 17th January 2026, Phanto Spectra will transform the banks of the River Nith into an immersive, auditory exploration of Dumfries’ deep cultural connection with Scotland’s Travelling Showpeople.
Created as part of the Stove’s Hear Here initiative and created by artist Martin Joseph O’Neill, the work invites audiences to step into an evocative blend of sound, scenic design, storytelling and place-based memory.
Phanto Spectra appears in the festival programme as one of the highlighted installations within the Northern Lights trail, described as “An odyssey of the fair. A ghost in the town. A ride through memory, presence, and what is yet to come.”
A Living Landscape of Memory and Light
Drawing on centuries of Showpeople heritage dating back to the 1500s, Phanto Spectra uses binaural sound and theatrical sleight of hand to reveal hidden stories and celebrate the remarkable cultural contributions of travelling fairs. Audiences are invited to listen to spectral voices and rediscover the town’s deep connection to these traditions, as the surrounding environment subtly shifts in response to movement.
The installation has been developed through collaboration with Showpeople, local artists, historians and community groups. It reimagines the riverbank as a dreamlike landscape where past and present overlap in a fluid and immersive experience. The work also reflects on the changing future of Dumfries’ waterfront and the social questions raised by ongoing flood defence developments.
A Major New Work for Northern Lights Dumfries
Phanto Spectra joins the expanded 2026 Northern Lights programme, which features 16 free light and sound installations across Dumfries. This forms part of a large-scale creative reimagining of public space during the festival period.
Big Burns Supper’s refreshed 2026 format introduces new collaborations between artists, cultural partners and community organisations throughout the town. These include installations such as Burns Light, Washing Line, Birds on a Wire and Divided
The work is supported by £20,000 of Experiment funding from Immersive Arts UK, enabling the project to explore innovative approaches to immersive storytelling, accessibility, public engagement and the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
The Stove Network has emphasised the importance of this moment for the town and the relevance of immersive storytelling in shaping local conversations – “The Stove is thrilled and honoured to be part of this important national project.
“This funding will allow us to use immersive technologies to bring to life the compelling stories of less-represented groups in our town, at a moment of significant decision-making about Dumfries’ future.”
Most events in the Northern Lights trail are free to attend. Optional VIP tickets are available to support event sustainability and to provide queue-skipping options during Big Burns Supper 2026.
Event Details
Phanto Spectra
Dates: 15 to 17 January 2026
Location: River Nith, Dumfries.
Presenting
Partners: Northern Lights and Big Burns Supper Festival
Created by: Martin Joseph O’Neill for The Stove Network
Supported by: Immersive Arts UK and Hear Here initiative
Hogmanay and the first few days of 2026 will be very busy for the 111 service, which may mean a prolonged wait for calls to be answered. Here’s what you can do to help yourself, save time, and help us care for those in the most need first.
NHS inform has a range of symptom checkers for common illnesses and conditions you can use to help you decide what to do next: https://nhs24.info/symptom-checkers
Check out the winter illness hub on NHS inform if you need help with colds, flu, coughs, sickness bugs, etc: https://nhs24.info/winter-illness
If you are using a mobile phone to call please switch to WiFi calling and ensure your device is charged. This will help to prevent your call being disconnected. Some mobile providers disconnect calls due to network capacity demand. NHS 24 does not cut calls.
NHS 24’s staff are working exceptionally hard to answer as many calls as we can, quickly and safely. Please be patient and we will answer. If you can try the above options first, it could save you time.
We want to help you get the right care, in the right place.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION – PLEASE READ AND SHARE
NHS inform has a range of symptom checkers for common illnesses and conditions you can use to help you decide what to do next: 
Check out the winter illness hub on NHS inform if you need help with colds, flu, coughs, sickness bugs, etc: 
If your call is related to medicines please visit 
By using NHS resources wisely, we can keep well and get the care we need quickly, safely and as close to home as possible.
