Lothian MSP Miles Briggs is encouraging Edinburgh residents to get involved with Covid-19 vaccination trials.
Miles Briggs said: “Phase 3 of Valneva Covid-19 vaccination trials are pivotal for getting the new vaccinations into production.
“Two thirds of adults have had their first dose of a vaccine and a third their first dose, but booster doses will likely be required later in the year.
“The distribution of vaccines to other countries across Europe and globally will also be important, with most countries being behind Scotland and the UK in their vaccine rollout.
“I would encourage anyone over 18 who is interested in being involved with the Valneva vaccine trial to sign up at ukcovid19study.com”
In January 2021 we started commercial manufacturing of our COVID-19 vaccine at our site in Livingston, which is a globally qualified manufacturing site for viral vaccines.
The #Valneva vaccine being manufactured in Livingston is the only inactivated #COVID19 vaccine in development in Europe and it’s now being trialled in #Edinburgh.
To find out about the #vaccine and getting vaccinated, take a look at: ukcovid19study.com
As we roll out existing #COVID19 vaccines, experts are working on new ones & boosters to protect us over time. Crucially, volunteers are still needed for trials.
To find out about the Valneva #vaccine trial, taking place in Edinburgh, visit: ukcovid19study.com
An NHS pay deal which offers an average increase of 4% will be immediately implemented after the majority of NHS unions voted to accept the biggest pay uplift since devolution.
The increase covers 16 months, having been backdated to 1 December 2020 in recognition of an exceptional year of significant pressure for staff. This comes on top of the £500 thank you payment for health and social care workers.
Benefiting around 154,000 employees covered by the ‘Agenda for Change’ NHS pay and grading system – including nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals, as well as domestic staff, porters and healthcare support staff plus other front line health workers – this is the most generous increase anywhere in the UK. Staff should expect to receive payments, including the backdated uplift, this summer.
Staff on pay bands 1 to 7, almost 95% of Agenda for Change staff, will receive at least a 4% pay rise compared to 2020/21. This means those on the lowest Agenda for Change pay point will get a 5.4% increase and those on the highest pay points will receive uplifts of £800.
The UK Government’s submission to the NHS Pay Review body (PRB) provided for a £250 uplift for staff earning less than £24,000 and 1% for all other NHS Agenda for Change staff. Assuming the Department of Health in England maintains its current position, staff in Scotland will be considerably better off in 2021-22.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am delighted that unions representing a majority of NHS staff have voted to accept our offer of a pay rise of 4% on average.
“We all rely on the hard work and dedication of NHS Scotland, and never more so than during this pandemic. This pay rise, the biggest pay uplift for NHS staff since devolution recognises the unwavering commitment of NHS Scotland staff.
“If the Department of Health sticks with the offer it has proposed, staff in Scotland will be considerably better off in 2021-22 than their counterparts in England.
“This has been an exceptionally challenging year for our health service and I am delighted that the Scottish Government has been able to recognise the service and dedication of our healthcare staff. On behalf of us all, thank you for all you have done and for all you continue to do.”
On 24 March the Scottish Government announced a pay offer for Action for Change employees which unions agreed to take to staff. The pay offer is:
Bands 1 – 4: a flat uplift of £1,009
Bands 5 – 7: a 4% uplift
Bands 8a – 8c: a 2% uplift
Bands 8D – 9: a flat uplift of £800
NHS staff side met on May 12th following the closure of the staff ballot on the Agenda for Change pay deal. Seven of the nine unions representing AfC staff have voted to accept the deal. While support for the deal was not unanimous, a clear majority of staff who voted wish to accept it.
British Dietetic Association
Accept
College of Podiatrists
Accept
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Accept
GMB
Reject
RCM
Accept
RCN
Reject
Society of Radiographers
Accept
UNISON
Accept
Unite
Accept
Assuming the Department of Health in England maintains its current position, staff in Scotland will be considerably better off in 2021-22:
Pay for a porter at the top of Band 2 will be over £2,028 more
Pay for a healthcare assistant at the top of Band 3 will be over £2,211 more
Pay for a healthcare support worker at the top of Band 4 will be over £1,583 more
Pay for a ward nurse at the top of Band 5 will be over £1,994 more
Pay for a paramedic at the top of Band 6 will be nearly £2,467 more
Pay for an advanced nurse practitioner at the top of Band 7 will be over £2,898 more.
Agenda for Change is the NHS pay system for all staff directly employed by NHS Health Boards with the exception of Medical and Dental staff who are within the remit of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body, and Executive and Senior Management staff. Across the UK, the system applies to over one million NHS staff and in NHS Scotland approximately 154,000 NHS Staff are on these terms and conditions of service.
180 posts to include first ever apprentices in onshore wind business
ScottishPower today announced its highest trainee recruitment drive since 2016 as it welcomed COP26 President Alok Sharma to the UK’s largest onshore wind farm on the outskirts of Glasgow.
Today’s announcement will see 180 separate opportunities for young people to join the company’s operations in Scotland, England and Wales. For the first time in the company’s history, apprenticeships in its ScottishPower Renewables’ onshore wind arm are on offer.
A Principal Partner for the United Nations climate change conference (COP26) to be held in the city later this year, ScottishPower is investing £10billion in the UK over five years – £6 million every working day – to double its renewable generation capacity and drive forward decarbonisation.
Its plans include new solar, wind and battery infrastructure, green hydrogen facilities and undertaking the mammoth task of upgrading parts of the country’s energy network to accommodate the expected rapid increase in demand for electricity.
The posts, which range from renewables to networks; procurement and IT, vary from graduate apprenticeships to pre-apprenticeship programmes for school leavers as well as opportunities for those looking to retrain from other industries.
They include:
· Graduates across Engineering, Procurement & IT
· Apprenticeships across Craft & Project Management
· Trainees programmes for Adult Craft & Engineers
· Graduate Apprenticeships
COP26 President Designate Alok Sharma said:“Growing our economy while becoming greener provides fantastic opportunities and I am pleased to see ScottishPower, a Principal Partner of COP26, will be adding so many new green jobs to its current workforce.
“As we move towards our net zero 2050 target, it shows we don’t need to choose between cleaning up our environment and growing our economy. I look forward to continuing to work with ScottishPower and others as we move towards COP26.”
Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of ScottishPower, said:“Roles like these will sit at the very heart of delivering the UK’s net zero ambition as well as the wider green economic recovery. With COP26 coming to the UK this year, there couldn’t be a better time to join us and be part of the green industrial revolution.
“Increasingly people want to work for an organisation that shares their values and strives towards a clear and common purpose they can get behind. Everything we do at ScottishPower is about helping tackle the climate emergency and build a better future, quicker for everyone. It’s a big challenge, but it also makes ScottishPower a hugely inspiring place to work with opportunities to innovate and challenge yourself at every turn.”
Sheila Duncan, ScottishPower HR Director, added:“There are so many opportunities within an energy company that people might not think of, from project managers to quantity surveyors.
“They all share one thing in common, and that’s helping us play our part in decarbonising the UK’s energy. Whether someone is starting out on their career or looking to retrain from elsewhere, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.”
ScottishPower is one of the largest employers in Scotland and currently has around 5,500 staff at sites across the UK, including 1650 at its Glasgow-based HQ. is the first integrated energy company in the UK to switch to 100% clean energy generation and produces all its electricity from offshore and onshore wind.
Earlier this year, ScottishPower signed up to the new Young Person’s Guarantee and committed to furthering opportunities for young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds around the UK. This includes grassroots pre-employment schemes in local communities for young people in and around Glasgow.
It is a Principal Partner for the COP26 conference and is developing an energy model that will play a significant role in reaching the UK’s world-leading climate change targets.
Concerns as Indian variant gains a foothold across UK
Glasgow and Moray will remain in Level 3 from Monday 17 May and travel to and from these areas will be prohibited other than for permitted purposes, due to a high rate of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.
The tougher restrictions mean that fans cannot attend next Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final.
Cases in both Moray and in Glasgow have remained high with the most recent data up to 11 May showing the weekly case rate in Moray was 69 cases per 100,000 people and in Glasgow was 80 per 100,000. This compares to 30 cases per 100,000 across the whole of Scotland.
The Scottish Government will review the position in a week and continue to work closely with Glasgow City and Moray Councils and the local Health Boards to reduce case numbers with measures including enhanced testing and vaccination, and provide targeted support for businesses which have to remain closed or continue to operate under Level 3 restrictions.
Universal testing is now available Scotland-wide. Everyone in Moray and Glasgow is encouraged to get tested to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by finding cases that might be missed, as around 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 don’t have symptoms. Testing is free and results are available in around 30 minutes.
All other council areas will move out of Level 3 on Monday as planned, with most of mainland Scotland moving to Level 2 and some island communities moving straight to Level 1, and changes to restrictions around international travel will go ahead as outlined on Tuesday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “There are now grounds for cautious optimism that the situation in Moray is improving as a result of the public health interventions that have been taken.
“However, case numbers remain more than double the Scottish average and so the judgment of the local Incident Management Team – which has informed this decision – is that it is prudent for Moray to remain at Level 3 for a further week so that we can be more confident that the situation is firmly under control.
“We are applying similar reasoning to the situation in Glasgow City, which is causing even more concern at this stage as the latest available data shows that both cases and test positivity have increased.
Both of these measures suggest an increasing level of infection in the City of Glasgow, and accordingly and very reluctantly, we have decided to err on the side of caution and also keep Glasgow City in Level 3 for a further week.
“An additional and very significant factor in Glasgow is evidence suggesting that the outbreak – which is heavily centered at the moment in the Southside of the city – is being driven by the so-called Indian variant.
We do not yet have a full understanding of the impact of this variant, including on the protection afforded by the vaccines, however I do want to stress that nothing at this stage suggests that it is causing severe illness.
“Public health teams are optimistic that enhanced testing and vaccination will be capable of getting this situation under control. However, the advice given to me by the Chief Medical Officer, and which has informed this decision, is that we need a few more days to assess the data and build confidence that the situation can be brought under control.
“To help contain spread and ensure a quick return to a positive track for both areas, we are asking people not to travel to or from Glasgow and Moray for the next week, except for permitted purposes.
“In both Glasgow and Moray, affected businesses will receive additional financial support – Moray and Glasgow Councils will receive an extra £375,000 and £1.05 million per week respectively, to allow businesses in hospitality and leisure to be given up to £750 per week.
“Both situations will be reviewed again at the end of next week, when I hope the news will be more positive.”
The Scottish government’s decision means that no fans will now attend next Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final.
Hibs were due to hold a ballot of season ticket holders to distribute the remainder of their allocation of 300 tickets on Monday, but the imposition of tougher travel restrictions means that there will now be no fans at Hampden.
The club issued a statement last night: ‘Hibernian FC this evening received clarification from the Scottish FA that – owing to the Scottish Government’s decision that Glasgow should remain in Level 3 lockdown for at least the next ten days as a precaution against higher levels of covid 19 infections – the Cup Final on May 22nd must now be played behind closed doors, with no fans present.
‘Consequently, the Club is unable to provide any tickets other than for those essential to the playing of the match.‘
The fast-spreading Indian variant of the virus is also causing concerns in England, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday that Monday’s planned easing of restrictions will going ahead.
London remains one of the hotspots – surge testing is now being deployed in Hackney – but twenty thousand fans will still attend today’s FA Cup Final at Wembley.
Prime Minister told yesterday’s media briefing: “Throughout this pandemic we’ve tried to keep people abreast of the last information as soon as we get it.
And since I spoke to you last Monday, we’ve seen further clusters of the B.1.617.2, the variant first observed in India; we’ve seen it especially in Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen and some other parts of the country.
At this stage there are some important unknowns.
We believe this variant is more transmissible than the previous one – in other words it passes more easily from person to person – but we don’t know by how much.
I am told that if it’s only marginally more transmissible, we can continue more or less as planned. But if the virus is significantly more transmissible, we are likely to face some hard choices.
We are going to be learning a lot more in the coming days and weeks about that.
The good news is that so far we have no evidence to suggest our vaccines will be less effective in protecting people against severe illness and hospitalisation. So that means we are in a different position from the last time we face a new variant before Christmas because of the scale of our vaccine roll-out, which PHE estimates has already saved almost 12,000 lives and prevented over 33,000 people from being hospitalised.
So I believe we should trust in our vaccines to protect the public whilst monitoring the situation very closely.
Because the race between our vaccination programme and the virus may be about to become a great deal tighter.
And it’s more important than ever therefore that people get the additional protection of a second dose.
So following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation we will accelerate remaining second doses to the over 50s and those clinically vulnerable right across the country so they are just eight weeks after the first dose, and if you are in this group the NHS will be in touch with you.
We will also prioritise first doses for anyone eligible who has not yet come forward, including the over 40s, and I urge anyone in those groups to come forwards as soon as you can.
At this stage, there is no evidence of increased cases translating into unmanageable pressures on the NHS, even in Bolton – and infections, deaths and hospitalisations nationally remain at their lowest levels since last Summer.
So – and this is a balanced decision – I do not believe on present evidence that we need to delay our roadmap, and we will proceed with our plan to move to step 3 in England from Monday.
But I have to level with you that this could be a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step 4 in June, and I must again stress we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe.
Our surveillance and data gathering is now so advanced, that if there was a danger of the NHS coming under unsustainable pressure, we would see the signs in the data very early on and could react in good time, and that gives us the confidence to continue moving forwards for now.
But I urge everyone to exercise the greatest caution because the choices we each make in the coming days will have a material effect on the road ahead.
To those living in Bolton and Blackburn, I am very sorry that you are once again suffering from this virus.
I know how hard it has been for you, having been in a form of national or local lockdown for longer than almost everywhere else.
But now it is more vital than ever that you play your part in stopping the spread.
We will not be preventing businesses from reopening on Monday, but we will be asking you to do your bit. Take the vaccine when you can. Get your free, twice-weekly rapid tests.
If you do test positive, you must self-isolate – and we’ll provide financial support, to help to those on low incomes to help them do so.
And as we move away from living our lives by government rules and as we learn to live with this virus, then, as I said on Monday, we need to make our own decisions about how best to protect ourselves and our loved ones – informed by the risks.
And for those living in Bolton and other affected areas, there is now a greater risk from this new variant so I urge you to be extra cautious.
Our best chance of suppressing this variant is to clamp down on it where it is and we will be throwing everything we can at this task.
Colonel Russ Miller – Commander of the North West Region – will be deployed to support local leaders in managing the response on the ground.
There will be surge testing, with mobile testing units, and the army will be on the streets handing out tests.
And there will targeted new activity in Bolton and Blackburn to accelerate vaccine take-up among eligible cohorts – including longer opening hours at vaccination sites.
And to everyone across the whole country, wherever you live, please get tested twice a week for free, get a jab if you are eligible, remember hands, face, space and fresh air.
Observe social distancing from those you do not know, and if you are seeing loved ones think really carefully about the risk to them especially if they have not had that second dose – or it hasn’t yet had the time to take full effect.
I want us to trust people to be responsible and to do the right thing.
That’s the way to live with this virus, while protecting our NHS and restoring our freedoms.
And it’s very clear now we are going to have to live with this new variant of the virus as well for some time.
So let’s work together – and let’s exercise caution and common sense.
All of our grounds, shop, takeaway coffee Kiosk, and restaurant The Lookout will also be open so make some plans and let us welcome you back to Calton Hill. Opening hours are 10am-4pm Thurs-Sun throughout May, and 10am-5pm Tues-Sun from 1 June.
Collective’s events programme also resumes this month.
We’re really looking forward to fully opening our doors to visitors again.
Social distancing measures will be in place to keep you safe – if you have any concerns or questions about visiting Collective drop us a line at mail@collective-edinburgh.art
UPDATE: FANS MAY NOT NOW BE ABLE TO TRAVEL THROUGH TO GLASGOW FOR NEXT WEEK’S CUP FINAL DUE TO COVID SPIKE
240 TICKETS WILL BE ALLOCATED BY BALLOT TO HIBS SEASON TICKET HOLDERS
Hibernian FC has confirmed its decision on the allocation of 300 tickets for the Scottish Cup Final next Saturday (May 22nd).
There will be an allocation of 60 tickets for players and staff so that their families can be in attendance to watch them participate in a National Cup Final.
All of the remaining tickets (240) will all be distributed to Season Ticket Holders by ballot. A proportion of these will be for hospitality season ticket members, and these will also be distributed by ballot.
Greg McEwan, Interim Chief Executive of Hibernian FC said: “We wish all of our supporters, and in particular the season ticket holders who have given us such amazing backing this season, could be with us on May 22nd.
“Unfortunately, the allocation agreed is small.
“We felt it fair to allocate tickets to the playing squad who have performed throughout the season, for family members to see them play in the final, and all of the rest are going to season ticket holders.
“We know that many will feel disappointed, and for that we are sorry, however we are sure supporters will understand the situation.
“Everyone at the Club, Jack and his staff, the players, all of us, will be doing our best to bring the Cup back to Easter Road as the best way to reward the amazing loyalty and support we have been shown.
“Good luck to everyone in the ballot.”
Season ticket holders will be invited to apply for a ticket through the ballot and more information on this process will be issued by email to season ticket holders as well as posted on the club website.
Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay 22 May – 3 October 2021 Free admission, pre-booking essential
Edinburgh’s City Art Centre presents Marine, a two-floor exhibition of artworks by Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006).
Finlay was an internationally renowned Scottish artist and Britain’s most significant concrete poet of the 20th century. Opening on 22 May, this major exhibition focuses on the maritime theme in his work. It was a central element of Finlay’s art, and one to which he returned throughout his life.
Drawn from the artist’s estate and the City Art Centre’s collection, and including loans from the National Galleries of Scotland, Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay showcases artworks from across several decades, ranging from stone, wood and neon sculptures to tapestry.
The show also features prints, postcards and booklets from Finlay’s Wild Hawthorn Press, capturing Finlay’s interest in nautical themes across a variety of media.
On show, alongside Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay, will be photographs from the series Ian’s Fleet by Robin Gillanders, which the City Art Centre has recently acquired for its collection.
This sequence of seven black and white photographs capture a fleet of wooden model boats made by Finlay, floating on Lochan Eck, the pond at Little Sparta. Little Sparta is the garden at Stonypath, in the Pentland Hills, where Finlay lived and worked for 40 years and is now considered one of Scotland’s greatest 20th century artworks.
The show is accompanied by an exciting events programme and a catalogue with an insightful essay by Stephen Bann, CBE, Emeritus Professor of History of Art, and Senior Research Fellow at Bristol University.
Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay has been co-curated with Pia Maria Simig, Executor of the Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay, and is presented as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2021 and Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21.
To coincide with the City Art Centre’s exhibition, the Scottish Poetry Library presents a small display of works by Finlay, drawn from its archive. From Sea to City: Ian Hamilton Finlay runs from 25 May to 9 October 2021.
City Art Centre Curator Maeve Toal said: “The marine theme was an early source of inspiration for Finlay and continued to be a recurring influence throughout his life.
“Indeed, boats proved to be an inexhaustible subject. Taking its title from the earliest work in the exhibition, Marine (1968), this show brings together artworks which span Finlay’s entire artistic output, stretching from the 1960s through to the 2000s.”
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Communities said: “We are delighted that the City Art Centre is able to showcase this extensive exhibition of works by Ian Hamilton Finlay.
“Finlay was one of the most versatile artists of his generation. With the assistance of collaborators, Finlay translated his ideas into artworks in a wide range of media. I am sure visitors will be inspired by this diverse body of work.
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Edinburgh’s Vice Convener of Culture and Communities said: “We’re all very much looking forward to welcoming visitors back when we reopen this weekend and this is another fantastic exhibition to look forward to.
“Marine promises to be a fascinating exhibition and visitors can also enjoy the accompanying programme of events which includes special tours, family craft sessions and talks by Findlay’s collaborators.”
· This is the first time MRI-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) will be available in Scotland
· The surgery is currently only available at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London or in Houston, Texas
· The current surgery choice in Edinburgh is open brain surgery, which is around seven hours and leaves an ear to ear scar. LITT will reduce this to two hours and is much less invasive
· Children and young people who will be referred for this surgery have refractory (medication resistant) epilepsy and can have up to 100 ‘drop down’ seizures a day
· In appropriately selected cases, LITT surgery can stop seizures entirely and cure the child’s epilepsy
Children and young people living with severe epilepsy in Scotland will have the life-changing chance to be seizure free, thanks to the funding of a world class laser coming to Edinburgh’s new children’s hospital.
A partnership between the Welch Trust, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) and NHS Lothian is bringing MRI-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) for Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) – the first time this laser technology will be available in Scotland.
LITT is a new and proven, minimally invasive treatment which uses a laser to remove brain tissue that is causing seizures. Children and young people who will be referred for laser surgery are diagnosed with refractory (medication resistant) epilepsy; they may experience severe and frequent ‘drop down’ seizures, up to 100 in one day. In appropriately selected cases, laser surgery can stop seizures entirely and cure the child’s epilepsy.
LITT surgery treatment is currently only available at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and in Houston, Texas. The laser equipment will be part of the Scottish National Paediatric Epilepsy Surgery Service, based at the RHCYP in Edinburgh, meaning children will come to the capital from all over Scotland to have the surgery.
The current surgery choice practiced in Edinburgh is open brain surgery, which lasts around seven hours, has a longer recovery time and results in a scar across the top of the child’s head.
The LITT precision technology will reduce this surgery time to around two hours, is much less invasive and has a shorter recovery time. It is expected that up to six children a year could benefit from the laser surgery, aged from infants to adolescents, with a similar number of adults also benefitting annually.
Following a request from the National Epilepsy Surgery Service to ECHC to support this initiative, the charity identified the Welch Trust as the ideal funder and agreed a partnership to make this project a reality.
Victoria Welch, Trustee of the Welch Trust, said: “We are very proud to be able to gift this LITT technology to the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. As a Paediatric Nurse, I understand the importance of having the best equipment in the hospital to expedite the curing of patients with complicated conditions and ultimately save lives.
“When we were made aware of this need, we didn’t have to think too long about it. Our focus continues to be to invest in high impact programmes that save lives or significantly improve the quality of life for very sick or terminally ill children. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity and expanding our support across other areas of critical care.”
Roslyn Neely, CEO of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “With the new children’s hospital now open, we are thrilled to have partnered with the Welch Trust to bring the world-class LITT equipment to Scotland for the first time.
“It is always very satisfying for us to be able to join with another funder who have a similar desire to support the hospital with projects that will transform children’s health.
“Having the laser surgery available in Edinburgh gives families more choice in their place of care and means they will no longer need to endure the financial and emotional cost of national or international travel and separation at a very stressful time. It will also place Edinburgh and NHS Lothian on the map as a world-leading provider of epilepsy surgery and treatment.”
Dr Edward Doyle, Associate Medical Director, Women and Children’s Services, NHS Lothian said: “Across NHS Lothian, we continually look at new and emerging technology and treatments to see how they could benefit our patients.
“We are delighted that through the support of both the Welch Trust and Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, we will be the first in Scotland and only the second location in the whole of the UK to offer LITT surgery.
“Severe epilepsy can be very difficult to live with and puts an enormous strain on families. Having a world-class cutting edge treatment option available here in Lothian, which is both less invasive and which reduces recovery time, will make a huge difference to lives of children and their families across Scotland.
“This treatment really does have the potential to transform lives and our teams at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People are delighted that they will soon be able to offer it as a treatment option.”
The new laser equipment is compatible with the intra-operative MRI suite at the RHCYP. It is expected to arrive in summer 2021, followed by a period of intensive training prior to the first surgery taking place.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is accepting tax relief claims for working from home due to coronavirus during 2021/22. More than 550,000 employed workers have already claimed and are benefitting from the tax relief.
If employed workers were told to work at home by their employer because of coronavirus and, as a result, their household costs have increased, they are eligible to claim the working from home tax relief. It is quick and easy to claim via HMRC’s online portal.
HMRC received more than three million claims across the UK for the tax relief for the 2020/21 tax year.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “Half a million people have already reduced their Income Tax this year by up to £125, by claiming tax relief on their working from home expenses.
“We want everyone who’s eligible to benefit, so we’ve made it quick and easy to do online. Check if you’re eligible and apply at GOV.UK by searching ‘working from home tax relief’.
“HMRC is continuing to help and support people affected by the pandemic.”
From 6 April 2020, the amount employers have been able to pay tax-free without employees having to provide evidence of an increased bill is up to £6 a week.
Employees who have not received the working from home expenses payment direct from their employer can apply to receive the tax relief from HMRC.
Eligible customers can claim tax relief based on the rate at which they pay tax. For example, if an employed worker in Scotland pays the 21% intermediate rate of tax and claims tax relief on £6 a week, they would receive £1.26 a week in tax relief (21% of £6 a week) towards the cost of their household bills.
Higher rate taxpayers would therefore receive £2.46 a week (41% of £6 a week). Over the course of the year, this could mean customers can reduce the tax they pay by £65.52 or £127.92 respectively.
To claim for tax relief for working from home, employees can apply directly via GOV.UK for free. Once their application has been approved, the online portal will adjust their tax code for the 2021/22 tax year. They will receive the tax relief directly through their salary until March 2022.
If employees were required to work from home last year but did not claim for the tax relief, they have not missed out; HMRC will accept backdated claims for up to four years. They will receive a lump sum payment for any successful backdated claims.
Using an agent to apply for the working from home tax relief, and other similar schemes, could result in customers paying unnecessary fees or commission.
Using the GOV.UK service is free, and customers will receive 100% of the tax relief that is due. Agents will not be able to use the online portal to apply for the relief on a customer’s behalf.
Renowned talent management and theatre training programme, Stagebox, will be hosting its Edinburgh auditions at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, on Sunday (16th May 2021).
If you know a young performer aged 8-18 years old who is looking to take their talent to the next level, Stagebox is inviting auditionees to take to the stage at this weekend’s in-person audition workshops.
Successful talent will enjoy the exclusive award-winning performance training programme during the school holidays, as well as benefitting from the talent management at Stagebox.
For the first time, auditions are free of charge, with Stagebox founders keen to encourage everyone with a love of theatre to come along and audition.
Stagebox recently released a video featuring its Edinburgh cast performing an original medley from Disney’s The Little Mermaid on YouTube, so hopeful auditionees can envision just what it’s like to be part of the Stagebox world. The video has already amassed an impressive 5,000 views in less than a week.
With Stagebox alumni starring on stage and screen, many securing lead roles for Disney, Netflix, in the West End and beyond, Stagebox offers rising stars the chance to train smart, build industry connections and gain unrivalled opportunities in theatre, television and film.
Stagebox’s General Manager, Jasmine Quinlan Gardner, said: “It’s been a turbulent period for the performing arts industry to say the least, and we’re so delighted to be holding the free auditions in Edinburgh.
“Stagebox is about opportunity, and we’re thrilled to be celebrating the country’s budding talent.”
Kirsti Bagger, Head Agent at Stagebox said: “We’re looking to meet new performers with passion, ambition and star quality.
“We’re very passionate about accessibility and inclusivity which is why we’re removing audition fees this May – we welcome children from all backgrounds, from newcomers all the way up to advanced level and we can’t wait to see what the young people of Edinburgh have to offer!”
These auditions are guaranteed to fill up fast and limited spaces apply. To register your spot for the Edinburgh audition date, please visit Eventbrite.
