Bullying in Schools: New guidance

New guidance focuses on ‘prevention, response and inclusivity’

The Scottish Government has published new guidance to support schools and organisations working with children and young people to develop comprehensive anti-bullying policies and improve behaviour and relationships.

‘Respect for all’ includes updates for staff on how to deal with specific incidents of bullying, including online bullying. The guidance sets out that online bullying should be seen as related to where the bullying occurs, rather than as a different behaviour type – and that online bullying must be responded to with the same level of seriousness as any other form of bullying.

It also highlights the responsibility of schools and organisations to support the wellbeing of children and young people, even when there is not a responsibility to investigate the incident itself.

The definition of bullying on which the guidance is focused has also been strengthened following feedback from children and young people, parents and practitioners. This has a renewed focus on the emotional, social and physical impacts caused by bullying, recognising that not all bullying is an intentional act and that it does not need to be repeated for it to have an impact.

The guidance has been published as Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth visited Cowie Primary School, in Stirling, to learn more about its inclusive approach to tackling bullying during Anti-Bullying Week 2024.  

All local authorities, schools and organisations that work with children and young people will now be tasked with developing and implementing anti-bullying policies in line with Respect for All.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “Bullying of any kind is never acceptable and can have a lasting impact on a child or young person’s life. It is vital that incidents of bullying, both online and offline, are addressed promptly and robustly. 

“The Scottish Government has worked with schools, organisations and local authorities to introduce a range of measures over the last year to improve behaviour and relationships in schools.

“I am pleased to build on this work with the launch of Respect for All, which focuses on prevention, response and inclusivity. It reflects the pressures facing young people, including the increase in social media use, and we expect all stakeholders in Scotland delivering services for children and young people to develop and implement an anti-bullying policy in line with the new guidance.”

Lorraine Glass, Director of respectme, said: “”respectme welcomes the publication of this vital guidance, perfectly timed to coincide with Anti-Bullying Week 2024.  We look forward to working with colleagues across Scotland to further embed the policy and practice necessary for the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. 

“This week, over 700 schools from every Scottish local authority area have engaged with our annual campaign on what ‘respect’ means to them.  It’s been a phenomenal response and a testament to the commitment and energy of teachers, parents and youth workers to bring safety and happiness to young lives.”

Respect for All has been developed in conjunction with Scotland’s national anti-bullying service, respectme, local authorities, teaching unions, children’s organisations and a parents’ representative.

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Four more arrests following Bonfire Night disorder in Edinburgh

Four more people have been arrested following disorder in Edinburgh during Bonfire Night.

A full criminal investigation into the incidents that arose during the evening of 5 November began the following day and as a result of these inquiries three further individuals were charged in connection with the disturbances on Calder Road that saw fireworks and projectiles thrown at the public, police officers and various busses.

A 16-year-old male was charged on Tuesday, 12 November, while two 17-year-old males were charged on Wednesday, 13 November.

All three will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, 3 December.

A 15-year-old male was also arrested on Wednesday following incidents that took place on Captain’s Road, where projectiles were thrown at Public Order Officers. He will appear in court on an undertaking at a later date.

To date, 13 people have been charged, five homes searched, and two vehicles seized following the offences that took place between Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Further arrests are expected as inquiries continue.

Chief Superintendent David Robertson, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh, said: “We want the arrests made so far to provide reassurance to our communities that we are committed to bringing all those responsible for the crimes that took place to justice.

“Equally, they should serve as a very real reminder to everyone who was involved that we are actively pursuing them, and they can expect a visit from us imminently.

“We still have lots of excellent CCTV footage and other evidence gathered on Halloween and Bonfire Night to go through and we are confident this will help us identify and charge more offenders in due course.

“Members of the public who have video or photographic evidence can still submit it to https://mipp.police.uk/operation/SCOT24S16-PO1.”

Rent controls welcomed, but more clarity needed

The introduction of rent controls has received support from the majority of the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill aims to improve housing outcomes for people who live in private rented accommodation and ensure a fair balance between protection for tenants and the rights of landlords. It comes as the Scottish Government and an increasing number of councils have declared housing emergencies.

In its report, the majority of the Committee welcomes the ambition in the provisions to re-balance the private rental sector and improve affordability for tenants. However, despite recent announcements from the Scottish Government about how the rent cap would operate in practice, the Committee has called for further clarity noting that continued uncertainty could impact investment within the sector, in turn impacting on choice and affordability for tenants.

The report also recognises that, in isolation, the Bill in itself is not the answer to the housing emergency, which has been caused by a range of factors, including the shortage of affordable and social housing, increased rents in the private sector, high inflation, freeze of housing allowance rates, labour shortages linked to Brexit, and cuts in Scotland’s capital funding settlement from the UK Government.

However, the Bill does have a role to play in better balancing tenants’ rights with landlords’ needs.

Speaking as the report launched yesterday, Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said: “We are currently in the midst of a housing emergency and this Bill is an important part of the solution to address that by redressing the imbalance in the relationship between tenants and landlords.

“For rent controls to be effective, however, there is a need for certainty for both tenants and landlords about measures within the Bill and how the proposals will work. It’s disappointing that it was only last week that the Housing Minister made an announcement about how rent controls might work.

“The Bill before us does not provide detail on many aspects of how the legislation will operate, and with consultation on some aspects of the Bill continuing until 2025, there will be little room for parliamentary scrutiny in an area which is critical to get right for the long-term sustainability of the private rental sector.”

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The Bill also puts in place requirements for the collection of data from private landlords in order to make a case for the creation of local rent control area . But with the onus on local authorities to collect and monitor the data, the Committee is concerned that there is a lack of resource to deliver that requirement which could hinder the effective use of rent control areas.

The Convener continued: “For rent controls to work, there must be accurate data but the Bill before us has no clear plans for robust data collection. This is why our report recommends that there is a national approach to data collection to help assess rental markets.

“We would also like to see the onus put on landlords by creating a requirement for them to routinely provide data rather than only respond to requests from local authorities.”

The Committee also welcomed measures within the Bill which support tenants’ rights to personalise their homes and their right to own pets.

It also makes recommendations for there to be more support for tenants in exercising their rights, and for landlords too to help them better understand their duties, saying that legislation is not enough on its own to achieve the necessary balance between tenants and landlords’ rights.

Tonight: Youth Arts Collective

NORTH EDINBURGH ARTS at WEST PILTON NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

The NEA Youth Arts Collective meets up weekly to do creative tasks (think Taskmaster!), play games, hang out, eat tasty snacks and chat about children and young people’s rights.

This term, the YAC are working with artists to select and develop a new performance to be showcased at the 2025 Edinburgh Children’s Festival family day and the North Edinburgh Community Festival.

New members welcome, so come along and bring a friend, too!

📆When: Every Thursday, 5.30pm – 7pm

Drop in any time from 4.30pm for toasties and hang out before the group starts at 5.30pm

📍Where: West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

🙋Who: Local young people (ages 11 -13) living in areas of Muirhouse, Pilton, Telford and Drylaw

🎟Cost: Free but registration required:

King’s Award for Spartans volunteers

Congratulations to our volunteers who been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service!

Thank you for your time, effort and energy that helps us continue to be #hereforgood

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We’re thrilled to share that the amazing volunteers from Spartans Community Foundation have been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2024! This is the UK’s top honour for local volunteer groups – the equivalent of an MBE.

Spartans Community Foundation is one of 281 local charities, social enterprises, and volunteer groups to receive this award this year. The King’s Award for Voluntary Service was set up in 2002 to mark the late Queen’s Golden Jubilee and continues now in King Charles’ reign, recognising volunteer groups doing incredible work to support their communities.

Next summer, Spartans Community Foundation representatives will accept the award from the Lord-Lieutenant of Edinburgh, and two of our volunteers will also be invited to a garden party at Holyroodhouse.

Debbi McCulloch, CEO of Spartans Community Foundation, shared: “We’re absolutely thrilled and honoured that our volunteers have received The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

“This award is a tribute to their dedication, passion and hard work that makes a positive difference in our community every day.

“We couldn’t be prouder of this achievement and can’t wait to keep building a better future together.”

Social Security Scotland paid £1.9 billion in support to people across Scotland in 2023-2024

More than 329,000 children receive vital support from Scottish Child Payment   

Social Security Scotland has published its Annual Report and Accounts, which shows that it made £1.9 billion in payments to people in Scotland from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The payments were made across 14 Scottish benefits, seven of which are not available anywhere else in the UK. 

This includes £942 million for Adult Disability Payment which now supports more than 300,000 disabled people in Scotland. Social Security Scotland also paid £463 million to help families on low incomes with their living costs through five family payments, which includes Scottish Child Payment, which was benefitting more than 329,000 children and young people by the end of March 2024.   

Winter Heating Payment was paid to 400,000 people by February this year to help towards the cost of heating homes and Carer Support Payment which offers help to people who do so much for others began a phased rollout in the Western Isles, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross last year and is now available across Scotland.  Eligible people who get benefits include carers, disabled people and families, pensioners, young people starting jobs and people who need help paying for a funeral.  

The results of the organisation’s annual Client Survey have also been published, showing that 90% of respondents who received a payment from Social Security Scotland say their overall experience was ‘very good’ or ‘good’.    

Among those who responded to the survey, 85% said their experience with staff was also ‘very good’ or ‘good’, 89% said they were treated with kindness while 85% of people surveyed felt they were listened to.    

95% of people with experience of Scottish Child Payment rated their overall experience as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. 

In total, the combination of direct payments made by Social Security Scotland and those paid through Agency Agreements with the Department for Work and Pensions saw the Scottish Government invest over £5.2 billion in benefits across Scotland.    

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said:  “We are committed to tackling poverty and supporting people throughout Scotland. At a time when families are struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, we have been delivering 14 benefits, seven of which are only available in Scotland.    

“Winter Heating Payment is a reliable annual payment to people on low incomes in Scotland, including pensioners receiving Pension Credit. We continue to offer vital support to families through our five family payments, including Scottish Child Payment which was helping to support more than 329,000 children and young people by the end of financial year 2023-24.” 

“We are focused on ensuring people get the money they are entitled to and that we deliver these payments while treating people with dignity, fairness and respect.” 

Social Security Scotland Chief Executive, David Wallace, said:  “While our service has continued to expand significantly, our clients remain at the heart of everything we do.  

“We have focused on delivering new payments to people across Scotland including Carer Support Payment, while ensuring we give our clients an improved experience. This year, we have reduced call waiting and processing times and made it easier for people to submit supporting information for disability benefit applications.  

“As the number of people we serve grows, I am delighted we have maintained high client satisfaction rates with our annual Client Survey showing 90% of people who received a payment from us saying their overall experience was ‘very good’ or ‘good’.”  

Pension ‘megafunds’ could unlock £80 billion of investment

Chancellor takes radical action to drive economic growth

  • Biggest pension reforms in decades will merge Local Government Pension Scheme assets and consolidate defined contribution schemes into megafunds
  • Changes could unlock around £80 billion of investment for infrastructure projects and businesses of the future  
  • Local Government Pension Scheme changes will free up money for local public services in the long-term and secure more than £20 billion for investment in local communities

Pension megafunds will be created as part of the biggest set of pension reforms in decades, unlocking billions of pounds of investment in exciting new businesses and infrastructure and local projects.   

After her inaugural Budget that ‘fixed the foundations to deliver stability’, Rachel Reeves will use her first Mansion House speech as Chancellor to announce bold action to tackle the fragmented pensions landscape, deliver investment and drive economic growth – which is the only way to make people better off.  

The radical reforms, which will be introduced through a new Pension Schemes Bill next year, will create megafunds through consolidating defined contribution schemes and pooling assets from the 86 separate Local Government Pension Scheme authorities.  

These megafunds mirror set-ups in Australia and Canada, where pension funds take advantage of size to invest in assets that have higher growth potential, which could deliver around £80 billion of investment in exciting new businesses and critical infrastructure while boosting defined contribution savers’ pension pots.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said: “Last month’s Budget fixed the foundations to restore economic stability and put our public services on a firmer footing. Now we’re going for growth.   

“That starts with the biggest set of reforms to the pensions market in decades to unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment in business and infrastructure, boost people’s savings in retirement and drive economic growth so we can make every part of Britain better off.”

Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said: “We’ve all seen the fantastic work carried out day in, day out, by our frontline workers and it’s about time their pension started working just as hard by driving investment in their communities. 

“This is about harnessing the untapped potential of the pensions belonging to millions of people, and using it as a force for good in boosting our economy.”

Pensions Minister, Emma Reynolds said: “Harnessing the power of this multi-billion-pound industry is a win-win, benefiting future pensioners, and our wider economy.  

“These reforms could unlock £80 billion of investment into exciting new businesses and critical infrastructure.”

The UK pension system is one of the largest in the world – with the Local Government Pension Scheme and Defined Contribution market set to manage £1.3 trillion in assets by the end of the decade.

However, our pension landscape is fragmented and lacks the size needed to invest in exciting new businesses or expensive projects like infrastructure.  

The government’s analysis – published today in the interim report of the Pensions Investment Review at Mansion House – shows that pension funds begin to return much greater productive investment levels once the size of assets they manage reaches between £25-50 billion.

At this point they are better placed to invest in a wider range of assets, such as exciting new businesses and expensive infrastructure projects. Even larger pensions funds of greater than £50 billion in assets can harness further benefits including the ability to invest directly in large scale projects such as infrastructure at lower cost.  

This is supported by evidence from Canada and Australia. Canada’s pension schemes invest around four times more in infrastructure, while Australia pension schemes invest around three times more in infrastructure and 10 times more in private equity, such as businesses, compared to Defined Contribution schemes in the UK.

Benchmarking against domestic and international examples show how consolidation of the Local Government Pension Scheme and defined contribution schemes into megafunds could unlock around £80 billion of investment in productive investments like infrastructure and fast-growing companies.  

The government is therefore consulting on proposals to take advantage of pension fund size and improve their governance. 

Local Government Pension Scheme

The Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales will manage assets worth around £500 billion by 2030. These assets are currently split across 86 different administering authorities, managing assets between £300 million and £30 billion, with local government officials and councillors managing each fund.  

Consolidating the assets into a handful of megafunds run by professional fund managers will allow them to invest more in assets like infrastructure, supporting economic growth and local investment on behalf of the 6.7 million public servants – most of whom are low-paid women – whose savings are managed.  

These megafunds will need to meet rigorous standards to ensure they deliver for savers, such as needing to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Governance of the Local Government Pension Scheme will also be overhauled to deliver better value from investment decisions, which independent research suggests could free up money in the long-term to support local public services. 

Local economies will be boosted by the changes as each Administering Authority will be required to specify a target for the pool’s investment in their local economy, working in partnership with Local and Mayoral Combined Authorities to identify the best opportunities to support local growth. If each Administering Authority were to set a 5% target, that would secure £20 billion of investment in local communities.  

A new independent review process will be established to ensure each of the 86 Administering Authorities is fit for purpose.   

Defined contribution schemes

Defined contribution pension schemes are set to manage £800 billion worth of assets by the end of the decade.  

There are currently around 60 different multi-employer schemes, each investing savers’ money into one or more funds. The Government will consult on setting a minimum size requirement for these funds to ensure they deliver on their investment potential.  

The government will also consult on measures to facilitate this consolidation into megafunds, including legislating to allow fund managers to more easily move savers from underperforming schemes to ones that deliver higher returns for them.

13 years for ‘prolific’ sex offender

A 37-year-old man will spend the next 13 years in prison after he was sentenced for serious sexual offences, violence and abusive behaviour.

Anthony Gibson came to the attention of police in November 2020 when it was discovered he had abused two women.

Following initial inquiries, it was apparent Gibson had subjected other women to his abusive behaviour. His offences occurred in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Lanarkshire and Fife.

As a result of the ongoing enquiries, Gibson was arrested and charged in connection with serious sexual assaults, violence and abusive and controlling behaviour.

He was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday, 11 November, 2024.

Detective Inspector Frank Keegan : “Gibson is a prolific offender. I can only hope that the women he harmed take some solace in knowing he can no longer inflict his violent and abusive behaviour on them or any other women.

“It is incredibly difficult for anyone to stand up and confront an abuser and I would like to thank the women for their strength and resilience in speaking with us. I would encourage anyone who has been or is being subjected to violence and abuse to report it to us.”

Hanover CEO calls for UK budget windfall to fund housing and care

Scottish Government urged to prioritise investment in essential services for older people

HANOVER Scotland’s CEO, Angela Currie, is urging the Scottish Government to allocate part of the new £3.4 billion funding from the UK Budget towards critical investments in social care and housing.

The budget announcement from Chancellor Rachel Reeves marked a significant increase in devolved funds, and Angela emphasises that a strategic portion of this must be directed towards empowering older adults to live safely and independently.

With a rapidly aging population, Angela warns that overlooking these essential services will only exacerbate existing pressures on Scotland’s healthcare and social systems.

Angela said: “Our first priority must be restoring the adaptation budget to its previous levels. This funding is essential for making homes safer and accessible for older adults.

“Secondly is to close the gap in subsidies for new-build social housing, enabling us to construct more affordable homes.

“Lastly, we need robust investment in social care, which is crucial for supporting our aging communities and preventing undue strain on health services.

“Investing wisely in these areas is not just beneficial but essential for a sustainable and compassionate future.”

Angela highlights that this comprehensive approach will have a long-term impact, reducing the costly burden on the NHS and enhancing the quality of life for older adults.

The need for investment is underscored by recent budget cuts that have severely impacted housing adaptation funding. The Scottish Government slashed this budget by 25%, from £11 million to £8.245 million, leaving housing associations like Hanover Scotland in a difficult position.

This reduction means older and disabled residents risk being trapped in unsafe homes or hospital beds, contributing to bed-blocking and intensifying pressure on healthcare services.

Angela said: “The modest investment required to make homes safe pales in comparison to the enormous cost of hospital stays and long-term care.

“Without adequate funding, we risk further overwhelming our health and social care systems.

“Our mission is to empower older adults to live with dignity and independence, but the current funding situation is making that increasingly difficult.

“We are calling on the Scottish Government to act now and prioritise social care and housing. This isn’t just about housing; it’s about health, safety, and the wellbeing of our communities.”

Hanover Scotland, which manages more than 4,500 homes, has been a trusted provider of housing for older adults since 1979. The organisation has been at the forefront of innovation, from pioneering sheltered accommodation to participating in urban renewal projects that promote independent living.