14 arrests have now been made in connection with fireworks-related offences over the Halloween and Bonfire Night period
A male has been charged in connection with several serious offences including mobbing and rioting in Edinburgh on Bonfire Night.
This year’s national policing operation saw a near 37 per cent reduction in fireworks calls compared with last year, but pockets of criminality still occurred in various parts of the country, including the Sighthill area in Edinburgh.
As a result of evidence gathered during the evening of 5 November and follow-up enquiries over the last week, a 17-year-old male was arrested on Wednesday, 12 November.
He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday, 13 November.
To date, 14 arrests have been made in connection with fireworks-related offences over the Halloween and Bonfire Night period by the dedicated investigation team within Edinburgh.
Please join us for a community walk along the coast from Wardie Bay to Granton / Royston (the ‘Brick’) Beach to search for flat oyster shells on Remembrance Day for Lost Species.
Meet on November 30th 2025 at 2pm to walk together and find out about the restoration of seagrass habitats and European flat oyster populations in the Firth of Forth – a species which used to be abundant and was fished to local extinction around 100 years ago.
Together, we will search for evidence of these flat oysters, and there will be talking and sharing about our concerns for the health of the sea and the species who live in, and depend on, it.
We anticipate the event lasting 1.5 hours. It may be cold, so please bring a flask of something hot and wear warm clothes and suitable footwear. We will end at The Pitt where a variety of drinks and food will be on sale.
This event has been thought up by Katie Smith from Granton Community Gardeners who is working to gather local knowledge about our wildlife and build a Granton nature restoration plan, and Tamsin Grainger, local walking artist with an interest in local history and community wellbeing.
Free (you can make a donation to cover costs if you like).
Everyone is welcome including children and dogs. This walk will be manageable on wheels. We aim to be inclusive and open.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland yesterday (Thursday 13 November) published a report relating to a Safe Delivery of Care inspection of Acute Adult In patient services at Royal Edinburgh Hospital, NHS Lothian. The inspection took place between 17 – 19 June, 2025.
Our safe delivery of care inspections of adult mental health services aim to take account of the changing risk considerations and sustained service pressures currently across NHS Scotland.
During our inspection of Royal Edinburgh Hospital, we inspected wards, spoke to staff and patients and reviewed policies and procedures. Throughout July and August we held several discussion sessions with key members of NHS Lothian staff to discuss the evidence provided and findings of the inspection.
Speaking of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital report, Donna Maclean, Chief Inspector, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: “During our inspection we saw good multidisciplinary team working to provide person-centred care and treatment and kind and respectful interactions between staff and patients.
“Staff were open and transparent about the current challenges they face in relation to the use of non-standard care areas throughout the hospital. During our inspection we raised several concerns with senior managers relating to the care of patients within non-standard care areas.
“We also raised concerns with senior managers around risk assessments, a lack of approved process to support staff decision making and lack of privacy for patients in non-standard care areas. Issues around unassessed ligature points, environmental challenges and the ability of staff to be able to carry out continuous observations were also highlighted.
“We also raised concerns relating to the fire risk assessments and the lack of appropriate fire doors.
“Several requirements have been given in relation to a lack of effective systems in place to support the delivery of safe care within non-standard care areas. We will return to carry out a follow-up inspection to assess and monitor improvement in response to these concerns.
“Other areas identified for improvement include staff training in areas such as life support and fire safety as well as improving communication with patients and families.”
Eddie Docherty, Director of Quality Assurance and Regulation at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: “Our previous mental health inspection programme was focused on infection prevention and control.
“It was agreed with Scottish Government to widen the inspection focus from infection prevention and control to a broader assurance function, creating a new and revised ‘safe delivery of care’ assurance model in NHS adult mental health units.
“We believe it is important to provide public assurance that adult mental health units in Scotland are safe for patients and staff, provide quality person-centred care, with clear leadership and a focus on improvement.”
The Royal Edinburgh Hospital inspection resulted in six areas of good practice, four recommendations and 21 requirements.
An improvement action plan has been developed by NHS Lothian to meet the requirements.
NHS Lothian says it is continuing work to improve Adult Mental Health services after accepting a report published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) yesterday (Thursday 13 November).
Significant work has been ongoing since March 2025 to meet the considerable increase in demand for beds, which regularly exceeded capacity, and address system pressures.
A detailed improvement plan to address the requirements from the HIS report is also well underway, with many of the actions already complete or in progress.
The HIS inspection took place in June during efforts to meet demand. While it identified many areas of good practice within teams and the care provided, it highlighted more needs to be done.
Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Lothian said: “We take patient safety extremely seriously and took immediate action to address many of the concerns raised in the report.
“A structured plan to reconfigure wards to add extra permanent beds where needed is almost complete. This will end the use of temporary, non-standard areas and the divert suite, which were set up in response to demand.
“Additional leadership oversight and staff training are in place to improve the quality and consistency of ligature inspections, assessments and observations to further reduce the risk of patient self-harm or suicide.
“We have also recently recruited 97 newly qualified nurses, and 30 healthcare support workers. This will allow us to meet increasing service demand and provide more resilience, while significantly reducing the use of bank and agency staff.
“We are committed to providing safe, effective care for patients and ensuring staff are well supported. We are grateful to HIS for their guidance and will continue to work with them and other professional bodies to improve our services.”
Since the initial improvement work began, considerable progress has also been made in reducing delayed discharges. This includes working closely with the health and social care partnerships and other specialist care providers to ensure patients can return to the community with appropriate support.
Improvements are also underway to enhance patient and carer communications, building on the positive work noted in the report of proactively obtaining their feedback. More widely, an ongoing programme of work to transform mental health services to meet the changing needs of mental health care and future proof services also continues.
We carried out an unannounced inspection to Royal Edinburgh Hospital, NHS Lothian, on Tuesday 17 June to Thursday 19 June 2025 using our safe delivery of care inspection methodology. We inspected the following areas:
Balcarres
Braids
Caanan
Craiglockheart
Cramond
Divert suite
Fairmile
Harlaw
Hawthorn
Hermitage
Margaret Duguid unit
Meadows
Merchiston
Myreside
Orchard
During our inspection, we:
inspected the ward and hospital environment.
observed staff practice and interactions with patients, such as during patient mealtimes.
spoke with patients, visitors and ward staff.
accessed patients’ health records, monitoring reports, policies and procedures.
This inspection resulted in six areas of good practice, four recommendations and 21 requirements.
“Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.
“BBC Chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the Corporation are sorry for the edit of the President’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.
“The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ on any BBC platforms.
“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
Social Justice Secretary urges Chancellor to remove two-child limit and benefit cap
Ahead of a series of meetings in London today with child poverty charities, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has urged the UK Government to take action to tackle child poverty in its forthcoming Budget, including immediately scrapping the two-child limit and the benefit cap.
Ms Somerville has called on the UK Government to fully scrap the two-child limit on benefits, which pulls 109 children into poverty every day, while also removing the benefit cap at the same time, which limits the total amount of benefit a person can receive.
Subject to parliamentary approval, the Scottish Government plans to mitigate the two-child limit from March next year, through a new Two-Child Limit Payment worth £292.81 a month for eligible recipients. Estimates show this will keep 20,000 children out of relative poverty next year.
The Scottish Government is spending £100 million this financial year, through the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme, to mitigate the benefits cap as far as possible within devolved powers.
Ms Somerville said: “Once again, I am making it clear that the UK Government must fully scrap the two-child limit and the benefit cap as soon as possible. These policies should be confined to the darkest days of austerity and the UK Budget must bring this period to an end.
“In a country as rich as ours, no child should have to live in poverty. The UK social security system is supposed to be there to ensure a basic standard of living, reduce poverty and inequality and help people through the toughest of times.
“That is why the Scottish Government has made bold decisions – like introducing the Scottish Child Payment and investing in our devolved social security system. Child poverty rates are now lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK and relative child poverty rates in Scotland are at their lowest level in almost a decade.
“I call on the Chancellor to follow our example by scrapping the caps, match the Scottish Child Payment and introduce an essentials guarantee, which would ensure Universal Credit actually covers the costs of life’s essentials, such as food and fuel.”
There have been strong indications that the Chancellor will indeed scrap the Two Child Linit when she announces her Budget later this month.
Police are appealing for information following a robbery in Edinburgh.
Around 4.10am on Wednesday, 12 November, 2025, a woman approached another woman on Crichton Street and threatened her with a knife before making off with the victim’s handbag.
Further CCTV enquiry traced the female suspect with a man on Nicolson Street. The pair are then seen to approach a couple on Nicolson Street, where it’s believed an attempted robbery occurred.
The second incident has not yet been reported to police and officers are appealing for the couple, and a member of the public who intervened, to come forward.
Detective Sergeant Mike Campbell said: “Although the victim of the robbery on Crichton Street was not injured, this was a frightening incident and we’re following a positive line of enquiry in identifying the suspects.
“We’re aware from enquiries carried out, the suspect met with a man and may have gone on to commit a further attempted robbery. I’d appeal to the victims of that incident to come forward. I’d also ask the member of the public who stepped in to help to contact police, as they may have vital information.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference 0320 of 12 November 2025.
A 34-year-old man has been convicted of murder following the death of Marc Webley in Edinburgh on New Year’s Eve, 2023.
Grant Hunter (pictured below) pleaded guilty to murdering the 38-year-old and the attempted murder of a second man, aged 39, subsequently named as Stuart Pearson, at the High Court in Edinburgh today, (Thursday, 13 November, 2025).
Two other people, Emma McVie, 35, and Gary Robertson, 22, both also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to the incident.
Robertson admitted supplying cash in the build-up to the murder, as well as helping to dispose of a firearm afterwards, while McVie (pictured below) admitted attempting to destroy evidence.
Emergency services were called around 11.50pm on Hogmanay (Sunday, 31 December, 2023), after a firearm was discharged outside the Anchor Inn on West Granton Road.
Mr Webley and the 39-year-old man were taken to hospital, where Marc Webley was pronounced dead a short time later.
Detective Superintendent Graham Grant, senior investigating officer, said: “The violence involved in this case, which resulted in the death of a young man, is absolutely senseless.
“Our thoughts are with the family of Marc Webley today following these convictions.
“Although this was a targeted attack, there was absolutely no regard for the safety of the local community by discharging a firearm outside a busy pub on New Year’s Eve.
“One man lost his life and another was seriously injured but this incident could also have left other people seriously injured – or worse – and I want to make it clear this behaviour will not be tolerated.
“Violence and the carrying of firearms is completely unacceptable.
“I believe these convictions sends a message to those involved in serious criminality that we remain determined to bring you to justice.
“This was a complex investigation involving a range of specialist officers working closely with our partners.
“I would also like to thank the public for their support throughout the investigation.”
Hunter, McVie, and Robertson are all due to be sentenced at a later date.
TOMORROW (Friday 14 November 2025), the prestigious National Care Home Awards will return to the Hilton in Glasgow, shining a spotlight on the outstanding achievements of Scotland’s independent care home sector.
Organised by Scottish Care, the event is a vital opportunity to recognise the unwavering dedication and compassion of care home staff who support residents every day.
This year’s ceremony will once again be hosted by Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus, who will announce the winners across thirteen unique categories, including Ancillary & Support Staff; Nutrition & Eating Well; Meaningful Activity; Training & Staff Development; Emerging Talent; Outstanding Achievement; Leadership; Palliative & End of Life Care Practice; Nurse of the Year; Care Worker of the Year; Specialist Service/Unit of the Year; Care Home Service of the Year; and Care Innovation.
Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care and co-host of the Awards, said: “Care home services, and the remarkable individuals who deliver and lead them, are the heart of safe, supportive communities where residents can truly thrive.
“Every day, these professionals bring compassion, expertise, and resilience to their roles, enriching lives, fostering independence, and building meaningful connections for thousands across Scotland. Recognising their dedication is more important than ever.
“The National Care Home Awards are our opportunity to shine a light on their extraordinary impact and to celebrate the difference they make in people’s lives, day in and day out.”
Each year, the awards receive a growing number of nominations from care home staff, service users, relatives, and employers, reflecting the sector’s strong commitment to recognising excellence.
The Awards Ceremony follows the National Care Home Conference, themed ‘Raising the Roof – Redefining Residential Care and Support’.
The conference brings together sector professionals to discuss the future of care homes, digital innovation, workforce inclusion, brain health, and the impact of new legislation such as the Employee Rights Bill. Attendees will engage in sessions designed to inspire, inform, and drive positive change across the sector.
Together, the National Care Home Awards and Conference represent the largest annual gathering of Scotland’s care home sector, showcasing best practice and celebrating the people and innovations shaping the future of care.
Ten years ago, the MS Society launched the Stop MS Appeal – a campaign to raise £100 million for life-changing multiple sclerosis research.
This came at a time when I was coming to terms with my own MS diagnosis , and hearing about their ambitious goal gave me much-needed hope. Now they have just two months of the appeal to go – and £1.5 million left to raise.
I was lucky to be able to start on a treatment that helps me manage my MS, but for thousands of people there are still no treatments that work for them. This winter people with MS across the country are writing letters to their younger selves and loved ones about the unpredictability of life with MS. And about hope for the future. These letters show how important is it that we reach the £100 million target, so I wanted to write my own.
So far, the money raised by generous supporters has funded the world’s largest ever academic-led trial for progressive MS, and shown that repairing myelin – a potential gateway to slow, stop, or even reverse disability – can be achieved.
I hope your readers will consider helping us write an end to MS, for everyone.
Kadeena Cox OBE – Paralympic gold medallist and MS Society Ambassador
