Drylaw Telford Community Council is to meet online via Zoom tomorrow evening.
CC members have been notified of login instructions and members of the public wishing to participate should contact DTCC secretary Pam Higgins via email at pamhigginsdtcc@gmail.com
Pam said: ” It was lovely to get back together as a group in August and I look forward to seeing as many people as possible in the coming months. I believe this way of meeting will be our new normal for the foreseeable future.”
Which? is calling for enforcement of tough penalties for firms that fail to prevent data breaches, as new research from the consumer champion reveals the shocking scale of data theft following cyberattacks.
When data breaches occur, opportunistic fraudsters can then go on to buy stolen information such as passwords or credit card and bank details, as well as using other personal details to pose more convincingly as victims’ banks and other trusted organisations.
Now worryingly a new Which? survey suggests that these problems are rampant – revealing that almost half (46%) of people whose data was stolen by hackers then went on to experience fraud.
This was out of around a quarter (23%) of 1,369 Which? members who said they’d had their data compromised following a breach involving a company or organisation.
Which? also heard from people who said that they’d not only lost money but seen their mental health impacted in the aftermath of being involved in a data breach. These victims have also struggled to get any form of redress from the companies that failed to protect their personal data.
Jamie, a British Airways customer, had his trip of a lifetime ruined when he became one of the 500,000 customers whose names, email addresses and card details were stolen by cybercriminals. When he arrived for his holiday in Thailand he found that RBS had frozen his account, saying there had been a lot of suspicious activity including someone attempting to take £15,000 from his account, and Nationwide had also blocked his debit card.
Jamie said he suffered immense stress at the time and two years on he is still fighting to get compensation back from BA for his ruined holiday, he has even joined a group action claim against the airline, but is yet to receive any redress.
BA told Which?: “At the time, we notified all potentially affected customers as quickly as possible, advising them to contact their bank or card provider as a precaution.
“We confirmed that any customers who suffered direct financial losses as a result of the attack would be reimbursed, and offered credit rating monitoring, provided by specialists in the field, to any affected customer who was concerned about an impact to their credit rating.
“This was a unique case which we investigated at the time and could find no evidence that the fraud was attributable to the cyber-attack. A response to the relevant customer’s concerns was provided at the time.
“To date, we have identified no verified cases of fraud as a result of the attack.”
Which? has also heard from an easyJet customer who was disappointed that even though the company became aware of a huge data breach in January 2020, the airline said that it was only able to start informing customers in April.
Brendan, an easyJet customer, told Which? that he received a suspicious looking email from the company in June. “It looked like a standard easyJet email, but the links wouldn’t work, which I found strange. It also said, ‘you’ve cancelled your holiday to Spain’, which wasn’t true.” EasyJet had in fact cancelled Brendan’s holiday prior to this email.
Unsure whether the email was fraudulent, particularly given the many scammers looking to take advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic, Brendan tweeted easyJet but didn’t receive a response.
EasyJet later confirmed to Which? the email was genuine. However, it did not make an effort to resolve this with Brendan at the time, who felt let down by the response given the huge data breach the airline had experienced. Even though easyJet became aware of the breach in January 2020, it didn’t start to inform customers until April.
Brendan said. “It’s taken no responsibility. I’m worried that my data is out there, possibly being passed around on the dark web.”
He would rather have asked for a refund, instead of rebooking, if he had known there was a data breach. He added: “I’ve become overly cautious and it’s caused a lot of disruption. Here’s a business we’ve freely given our information to and the security issues are really concerning.”
He feels the airline has taken no responsibility and is worried his data is out there, possibly being traded by criminals on the dark web.
This year has seen some huge data breaches take place. EasyJet told around 9 million customers that their data had been compromised in a breach. Marriott also hit the headlines for losing around 5.2 million people’s contact and personal information – announcing its second data breach in three years.
And more recently the cyberattack on software company Blackbaud has left students and charity donors concerned their records have fallen into the hands of criminals.
EasyJet responded: “We are sorry that the customer’s tweet about an email regarding their holiday was not responded to. This was as a result of human error and is not the level of service we expect for our customers.
“The email the customer tweeted about was an automatically generated email from easyJet holidays in response to the customer’s request to cancel their holiday. Our team has now been in touch with this customer to reassure them that the email he received was genuine and not fraudulent.
“At easyJet we take the safety and security of our customers’ information very seriously. As soon as we were able to do so, we notified and provided support to the small number of customers whose payment card data was compromised, offering them complimentary 12-month membership to an identity monitoring service.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we also sent phishing alert emails to approximately 9 million customers and have provided support to them via a dedicated customer service team. Our customer experience continues to be a key priority and our wider IT transformation strategy focuses on optimising that experience.
“The nature of the attack meant that it took time for easyJet to identify whether, and if so to what extent, personal data had been affected. We could only inform relevant customers once the investigation had progressed enough that we were able to identify whether any individuals potentially been affected, then who had been affected or potentially affected, and what information had been accessed or potentially accessed.
“It is, of course, regrettable that this cyber-attack took place, but it does not mean that easyJet was at fault or that customers are entitled to compensation under the compensation provisions set out in the General Data Protection Regulation.”
As part of its investigation, Which? also asked its members to submit their email addresses to haveibeenpwned.com, a website that tells you if your email address has been involved in a data breach.
Which? had 515 members take part, submitting a total of 610 email addresses. It was revealed that 79 per cent had experienced at least one breach. Of those, the average number of breaches per email address was 3.7. One address had been in 19 breaches.
Despite all of this, the ramifications for firms that fail to protect their customers’ data are limited. The ICO announced its intention to fine BA £183 million for its 2018 breach and Marriott just under £100 million for losing around 339 million guest records. However, the deadlines to issue the fines were extended and both companies are expected to appeal. The IAG Group, which owns BA, released a report in June, estimating the fine would be €22 million.
Currently victims have limited options to seek redress when data breaches occur. Although under GDPR consumers have a right to claim compensation if they have suffered damage as a result of an organisation breaking data protection law, doing so isn’t always easy. The ICO advises victims to take independent legal advice and to try to settle with the organisation first. If this fails, victims may be able to make a court claim – either independently or through a group action claim, where claimants join together to seek redress.
Which? is calling for the ICO to actually issue intended fines when organisations breach data protection law, otherwise firms may continue to treat customers, and their sensitive personal data, with disregard.
Which? also wants the government to implement provisions in the GDPR to allow not-for-profit organisations to bring collective redress action on behalf of consumers for breaches of data protection rules – without them having to opt-in to a group case or bring the case themselves.
This would help to support and enforce the rights of consumers, making it easier for victims of data breaches to secure adequate redress, and create further incentives for businesses to improve their data processing mechanisms.
Jenny Ross, Which? Money Editor, said: “Whether we’re shopping online, booking a holiday or signing up to a new mobile phone contract, we have to trust the companies we deal with to protect our details – and if things go wrong we need to know that businesses are held to account.
“We need the ICO to be a regulator with teeth that is prepared to step in and issue fines in the event of companies breaking data protection laws, to ensure more businesses better protect consumers from data breaches.
“Consumers should also have a much clearer route to redress when they suffer the financial and emotional toll of data breaches – and that’s why the government must allow for an opt-out collective redress regime that deals with mass data breaches.”
Further details on opt-out collective redress action
The government has the power to facilitate better redress by implementing Article 80(2) GDPR in its upcoming review of the Data Protection Act 2018. This would then allow not-for-profit organisations such as Which? to bring collective redress actions on behalf of people on an ‘opt- out’ basis, without those consumers each having to bring – or to appoint a representative body to bring – an individual case against the company involved.
A properly implemented redress system would ensure that people could trust that harm suffered as a result of data breaches would be remedied and would simultaneously act as an incentive for companies to improve their data handling processes – resulting in fewer breaches.
DCMS is consulting on the operation of the ‘representative’ action provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Which? advice to consumers on protecting their data
‘The Joint Biosecurity Centre has recommended that the COVID-19 alert level should move from level 3 (COVID-19 epidemic is in general circulation) to level 4 (COVID-19 epidemic is in general circulation, transmission is high or rising exponentially).
‘The CMOs for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have reviewed the evidence and recommend all 4 nations of the UK should move to level 4.
‘After a period of lower COVID cases and deaths, the number of cases are now rising rapidly and probably exponentially in significant parts of all 4 nations. If we are to avoid significant excess deaths and exceptional pressure in the NHS and other health services over the autumn and winter, everyone has to follow the social distancing guidance, wear face coverings correctly and wash their hands regularly.
‘We know this will be a concerning news for many people. Please follow the rules, look after each other and together we will get through this.’
Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty
Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland, Dr Michael McBride
Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, Dr Gregor Smith
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Chris Jones
Earlier yesterday the Prime Minister had calls with the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland about how coronavirus is spreading across the country.
During these calls, the Prime Minister made clear that the rising infection rates are a cause for great concern, which he is taking very seriously.
He reiterated his unwavering commitment to working with the devolved administrations as we continue to tackle the virus. They all agreed to act with a united approach, as much as possible, in the days and weeks ahead.
The Prime Minister invited the First Ministers and the deputy First Minister to attend a COBR this morning to discuss next steps for the country.
Further restrictions are expected to be announced later today.
Edinburgh Association of Community Councils will now meet in October
We are sorry to notify CC members that we have decided to cancel the next meeting due to be held on Thursday 24th September 2020.
Unfortunately, due to holidays and other issues, we have not been able to tie up with speakers nor obtain sufficient information on current issues to make a meeting worthwhile for those representatives who normally attend.
We are planning to hold a virtual meeting on Thursday 22nd October 2020 with a full agenda of items raised by representatives. It would still be helpful if issues of concern raised at CC meetings were notified to the Secretary in order that we can circulate relevant information to attendees.
We still proposed to hold an AGM on Thursday 19th November 2020.
We apologise for the late cancellation of next Thursday’s meeting.
Kind regards
John Tibbitt
Chair, Edinburgh Association of Community Councils
Police Scotland is acutely aware that the diversity of our communities is increasing all the time. We recognise the importance of our communities being able to relate to our police officers and we are therefore actively reaching out to our BME communities and encouraging you to consider a career in policing in Scotland.
During the 90 minute online recruitment event, users will learn about the recruitment process, the training, the role of a police officer and the endless opportunities which are available to you once you embark on this exciting career path.
The date of the event is: Thursday 24 September from 6.30pm – 8pm
In order to participate in the event, Microsoft Teams will be required.
For more information and to reserve a space please email:-
recruitmentpositiveactionteam@scotland.pnn.police.uk
providing your name, contact number and what event you would like to attend.
Please also send a request to join our closed Facebook page at:
‘Police Scotland Positive Action’
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, this afternoon:
Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. I am joined, as you can see, by the Chief Medical Officer and the National Clinical Director, and both of them will say a few words shortly.
I will start though with the usual run-through of the daily statistics in Scotland.
I can report that the total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 255. This represents 6.3% of people newly tested and takes the total number of cases now to 24,626.
The full regional breakdown will be published later, as it always is, but I can confirm now that 103 of the new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 47 in Lanarkshire, and 30 in Lothian.
The remaining 75 are spread across the remaining 8 mainland health boards, meaning that we have new cases again today in every mainland health board area.
I can also confirm that 73 people are in hospital – which is an increase of ten from yesterday.
And 8 people are in intensive care, which is one fewer than yesterday.
And finally, in the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of a patient who first tested positive over the previous 28 days. It is however worth remembering that registration offices just now are closed over the weekend, so that is not surprising.
And of course since the last briefing, three additional deaths were registered on Friday, and reported in Saturday’s figures.
That means that the total number of deaths, under our daily measurement, is now 2,505.
And that is again a very sharp reminder of the impact that this virus has had and the impact it is still capable of having. And I want again today to pass on my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one throughout this pandemic, including obviously those whose loved ones’ deaths have been registered in more recent days.
Now the figures I have just reported reinforce something that has been evident now over recent days. Covid is spreading again in Scotland.
Now, because of our collective efforts over the summer, which suppressed the virus to very low levels, we are in a much stronger position than we would otherwise be – and it’s important not to forget that.
Those collective efforts also meant that many people who might otherwise have succumbed to this virus didn’t get it and therefore we collectively saved a lot of lives.
However, with the virus on the spread again – in Scotland, across the UK, across Europe, and indeed still accelerating in much of the world – doing nothing in the face of this quite rapid spread now is not an option.
I know that the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Advisor for England have just given a televised briefing (above) and Gregor and Jason may touch more on the data later on, but we would endorse the overall message that was being conveyed by Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty.
In Scotland, as across the UK, the R number – which remember is the number of people who will on average be infected by one infectious person – is again above one, and when that happens we know that the virus will begin to spread again.
The percentage of tests which are returning positive results has been increasing. And you will have heard that through our daily reports for the last few days.
At the weekend it was above 5% across the country.
Today – with the usual caveat about single day figures – it is 6.3%, and in some health boards it is even higher than that.
In addition, new cases are not confined now to just specific clusters – they are happening cross Scotland, and in particular across mainland Scotland, and we must take all of this very seriously.
Of course, on the other side of this equation, the number of cases is not rising as quickly as it was in the spring, and the percentage of positive tests, while rising, is nowhere near as high as it was back then – back in those days it was 20% or thereabouts.
In addition, we are not yet seeing an increase in hospital admissions on anything like the same scale that we saw back in the spring.
And that is partly because the highest proportion of new cases in recent weeks has been in in people under the age of 40.
However, we know that transmission in the community cannot rise indefinitely, without it starting to increasingly affect older people too. And we are now an increase in the number of people admitted to hospital and in intensive care – albeit from a fairly low level. And if the number of new cases continues to rise, that rise will continue as well, and unfortunately we will also see the number of people dying increasing too.
In fact in many ways, as I indicated on Friday, the position Scotland is now in is similar to the position that for example France might have been in around 4 weeks ago.
And we don’t want to reach the position that France is in now – with case levels more than 4 times higher than in Scotland, and with significant numbers of people now in hospital, intensive care, and with deaths rising.
We have of course in the last couple of weeks already taken a significant step by reducing the maximum size of household gatherings to six people, from two households.
However in my view, further and urgent action will now be needed to stop the increase in the number of cases.
I and my advisors have spent the weekend immersed in discussion and analysis, looking at a variety of options and considering carefully the impact that we judge these would have. These discussions are continuing throughout today, but we are very close to a point of decision.
And, at the heart of this decision is a simple truth: the longer we wait to introduce new measures, the longer these measures are likely to be in place.
If we move sharply now to get the virus back under control, we can minimise the time we all spend under any new restrictions.
If we wait, it will take longer – potentially a lot longer – to come out of the other side.
For that reason, as I indicated on Friday, we are preparing to introduce a package of additional measures with the intention of bringing the R number back below 1.
Now ideally, at least some of these decisions will be taken on a four nations basis, across the UK.
We all of course have our individual responsibilities and we will perhaps take decisions that are not entirely identical. But given that the virus does not respect borders, alignment if possible does make sense. And of course it is the UK Government that holds the financial levers necessary to mitigate the economic impact of any measures.
That’s why I asked on Friday for an urgent Cobra meeting – and repeated that call over the weekend. That call has been echoed in Wales and London.
I am therefore pleased that in a four nations call with Michael Gove on Saturday he confirmed that a Cobra will take place, although it is frustrating that we still don’t have a precise time for that and indeed don’t even have confirmation yet of whether that will take place today or tomorrow (UPDATE – COBRA meeting has now been confirmed for tomorrow morning).
I am however talking directly to the Prime Minister immediately after this press conference, and hopefully we will have greater clarity from that discussion.
In that call I will impress upon the Prime Minister my view that we need decisive, urgent, and – as far as possible given our individual responsibilities – coordinated action across the UK.
And I will be clear that I am willing to allow a bit more time for four nations discussions to take place before reaching final decisions for Scotland, but I be equally clear that the urgency of this situation means that we cannot, must not and will not wait too long.
The Scottish Cabinet will meet tomorrow to take stock – and I am very clear that it must be in a position to decide the way ahead for Scotland within the next 48 hours.
And I need to be absolutely straight with people across Scotland that additional restrictions will almost certainly be put in place in Scotland over the next couple of days.
Hopefully this will be with four nations alignment, but if necessary it will have to happen without that.#
I intend to make a full statement to parliament later this week – tomorrow or Wednesday I hope – to outline the steps that the Government has decided are necessary and to set out the rational for them.
Whatever else we decide, one thing I want to confirm today is that our package of measures will include plans to better support people who are being advisd to self-isolate.
Self-isolation is a key tool in our fight against this this virus – it helps us break the chains of transmission – so we must make it as possible as we can for people to abide by that advice.
We have, and will continue to consider, whether the UK Government approach of imposing potentially large fines for non-compliance with self-isolation is appropriate. But, while we will keep enforcement options under review, we do have a concern about potential disincentives of fines and enforcement to people getting tested.
Our view is that it is better to remove barriers to self-isolation. I believe that people understand the need to keep others safe and may want to do so, but they need to be supported through these difficult circumstances.
So I can confirm today that we will be putting in place a financial support package to help people – particularly those on low incomes – who face a loss of income if they are required isolate.
Nobody should be forced to choose between self-isolating for the collective good, and paying their rent and feeding their families. If that’s the choice that people face, then it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that compliance levels will be lower than we need them to be.
Now, the details of that package are being worked through at present, and we also await information from the UK Government on additional Barnett consequentials as a result of announcements made by them over the weekend.
The last thing that I wanted to touch on briefly today, given that I mentioned this on Friday, is that on Friday I indicated that I would confirm today whether we were going to exempt children under 12 from the current two household rule – as you’ll recall children under 12 don’t count towards the limit of six but do count towards the two households.
However, given the more fundamental decisions may well be taken this week I’ve decided to consider this issue in that wider context and I will cover it in the statement I make to Parliament later in the week.
Now I’m going to hand over to the Chief Medical Officer and to the National Clinical Director in a moment. But I want to end by stressing two things.
First, this is a serious moment again for the country. We cannot allow cases to continue rising. Those who say that we should just allow this virus to do what it does – the so-called ‘herd immunity’ argument – I don’t agree with that.
We know this virus can take life, particularly of older and vulnerable people, but we also know this virus can have serious health implications for younger, healthier people. It’s not a virus we can be complacent about allowing people to get. So this is a moment for us to take action.
But secondly, and it’s a point I made earlier on, we must understand that we are in a different and better position than we were in March. Cases are not rising as fast, we have a better idea of the settings which pose the main risk of transmission, and Test and Protect – despite the volume of cases we’ve had recently – is managing well.
And because of this – and despite the temptations for shorthand – we shouldn’t frame the decisions we face this week in the language of lockdown or not lockdown. Implementing further measures now is very much, I hope, about controlling this virus while avoiding the need for another full-scale lockdown of the type that we had to impose in March.
And lastly, let’s not forget that all of us have the ability to make a difference now. None of us as individuals are powerless in the face of this virus. We can make choices and decisions which increase our own chances of staying safe, and which also help to keep people around us safe as well.
So please, I’m asking everybody to think carefully about what you can do as an individual to play your part in this collective action that we need to take – which Scotland is only one country of many across the globe that are having to consider these actions.
So please, work from home if you are able to do so. It has been and continues to be the Scottish Government advice to work from home if it is possible. We are not, and haven’t, been advising you to go back to the office if you are able to work from home.
Secondly, download the Protect Scotland app. That seems like a small thing to do but it is a really powerful thing to do because it helps us widen the net of people who can be contacted and advised to self-isolate if they have been exposed to this virus.
More than a million people have downloaded it already – it can make a difference at those levels, but it will make a bigger difference if more of us do it.
Thirdly, limit your travel and social interactions as much as you reasonably can.
The current rules on gatherings – six people, from two households – see that as a maximum. Limit how many people you see in one day or over a small number of days.
And of course, if you live in Glasgow; East or West Dunbartonshire; Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire; North or South Lanarkshire right now, please don’t visit other households at all.
And finally, when you are meeting and interacting with other people – which we all have to do to some extent notwithstanding that need to limit it – when you are interacting, please remember to follow the FACTS advice. If we all follow these five golden rules, we minimise and limit the opportunities the virus has to transmit from person to person, or household to household. So please, remember::
If we all do all of these things then we are all individually helping this collective effort to keep this virus under control, and allow us to retain as much normality in our lives, notwithstanding the restrictions all countries are having to operate in right now as we possibly can.
My thanks again to everybody for joining us, please spread the word that you hear at these briefings as widely as you possibly can.
I’m going to ask the Chief Medical Officer to say a few words now, then the National Clinical Director, and then as normal we will take questions but we wanted to make sure that you heard – not just from me today – but from the Government’s chief clinical advisors as well.
Details have been announced of the first two funds of a £3million Scottish Government emergency funding package designed to ensure creative opportunities for children and young people continue across Scotland in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of at least £1.2million in now available through the Access to Youth Arts Fund. Building on the successful Youth Music Initiative (YMI) Access to Music Making Fund, this is designed to support an increased range of music-making projects, as well as introducing projects delivering across wider art-form areas.
Fund guidelines including eligibility criteria and application forms can be accessed on the Creative Scotland website.
The roll out of the Youth Arts funds will continue on Thursday 24 September with the launch of a £700,000 Small Grants Scheme which will be open to organisations and local authorities and will provide funding directly to freelance artists to undertake artist led youth arts activities within communities. Full details will be announced on Thursday.
A further £50,000 is being assigned to the Time to Shine Nurturing Talent Fund which provides direct support to young people to develop and produce their own creative projects.
In addition, £1,050,000 is being allocated to support a number of targeted national and local area youth music and wider youth arts organisations with established track records and existing relationships with freelancers working with the fund’s priority groups to support the recovery and renewal of youth arts provision.
These organisations will be invited to apply for the Youth Arts Targeted Fund by Tuesday 13 October.
Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop said: “We are determined that our children and young people will not miss out on creative opportunities a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Art and music in particular have helped many people during lockdown, so the launch of these funds is very welcome. Our musicians, artists and other practitioners working in the youth arts sector are also highly skilled and often highly specialised, and this funding will provide jobs and opportunities within the sector.”
Iain Munro, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said: “I’m pleased to be able to announce today the roll out of additional funding support for Youth Arts, a vital part of Scotland’s cultural sector and an important part of the emergency funding package announced a few weeks ago by the First Minister.
“It’s right that part of that overall emergency package supports artists, freelancers and organisations working with young people and that creative opportunities for young people continue despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The Youth Arts funds are the latest of five new emergency funds from Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, announced by the First Minister on Friday 28 August, as follows:
Previously announced, the £2.2million Grassroots Music Venue Sustainability Fund closed for applications on Thursday 3 September. The fund has received 97 applications and awards will be announced on Tuesday (22 September).
And the £5million open call element of the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund closed for applications on Thursday 27 August. The fund received 42 applications and awards will be announced by Thursday (24 September).
Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on the Creative Scotland website and publicised through media and social media communications.
The City of Edinburgh Council plans to revise its Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan to further strengthen support for people facing homelessness.
Members of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee considered updates to the strategy at a special meeting on Friday before submittting it to the Scottish Government for consideration.
This is the second version of the Council’s plan which acts as a local route map for preventing homelessness, reducing rough sleeping, transforming temporary accommodation and supporting families into settled homes as quickly as possible.
Additions to the plan include exploring ways of intervening earlier and actively engaging with people before they are at risk of homelessness.
These ideas include:
Edinburgh is working to end rough sleeping and managed to move all families and pregnant women out of B&Bs during the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis. This involved the use of innovative accommodation options, including securing 590 additional bed spaces by turning to private sector leasing, hotels and short-term lets.
The updated Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) also proposes to build on the success of this joint Covid-19 response between the Council and third sector partners to create more and better accommodation options in the future.
Highlighted as important to progress include:
Edinburgh has one of the lowest proportions of social housing in Scotland with only 15% of homes in social rent compared to a Scottish average of 23%, and the RRTP will also require an acceleration in the delivery of new homes.
The Council has one of the most ambitious house-building programmes in the UK to help meet this challenge and a record number of new homes are being built.
Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “The RRTP is our annual plan for homelessness and our annual assessment of where we are. It’s an incredibly important document because it shows us, in very stark terms, the scale of the challenge that we face.
“But it is also an opportunity to focus on innovation and there are some incredibly exciting projects within it that show our steadfast intent to tackle homelessness at its root.
“We’ve got plans for more early intervention with a specialist, multi-skilled team which will intensively work with households at risk to prevent homelessness. Alongside this we are proposing investment in a youth homelessness hub and psychologists in hostels to give highly specialist support.
“We’re also asking for funding for ‘Seek, Keep and Treat’ so that we can recruit community recovery workers, with lived experience of homelessness and recovery, to support people with complex needs to move out of homelessness. And we’ve got plans to increase the number of temporary furnished flats and improve temporary accommodation.
“This is all in addition to extending and expanding some of the excellent practices we have developed in previous years.
“We know the challenges we face – only 15% social housing compared to a Scottish average of 24% alongside the most expensive private rents in Scotland. We have the largest Council house-building programme in the country which will address some of the housing need in Edinburgh. But we know we need to keep working to support people out of homelessness, and to prevent it in the first place.
“This plan will guide the decisions we make now and over the next five years as we support people through what is one of the most difficult and traumatic experiences. So we must set our sights high and never stop working to come up with new ideas and approaches to tackle one of the biggest challenges we face as a city.”
Councillor Mandy Watt, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Vice Convener, added: “The picture is improving but there is always more work to be done. For instance, we’ve committed to build 10,000 affordable homes by 2022 and we’ve introduced new ways of doing things like home shares, which allow like-minded individuals to live together until they find a home of their own.
“We’re also seeing fewer repeat presentations of homelessness, meaning our existing prevention services seem to be working but we are always looking for ways to improve them.
“That said, anybody who does become homeless should be found a suitable place to stay until they can move into a settled home. We know this will be financially challenging, so the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan needs to be ambitious and outline options for new investment.
“The plan explores some innovative ideas, like a special hub to support and protect young people from becoming homeless; and a pilot project to quickly and effectively help anyone in crisis by basing psychologists in hostels. Projects like these will strengthen our existing work and join up our services.
Carers Trust Scotland and College Development Network (CDN) have joined forces to help improve support to over 12,000 student carers in Scotland, who are studying alongside providing unpaid care for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.
Supporting Student Carers at College is a new innovative free digital training module which has been developed by Carers Trust Scotland and CDN from funding received by The Scottish Funding Council. The module will help college practitioners to better understand the challenges faced by many student carers and provides guidance on how to improve support for these students at college.
Research by Carers Trust found that student carers are four times more likely to drop out of college and university than those who are not carers. Together, Carers Trust Scotland and CDN are calling on all college practitioners working in Scotland’s colleges to use this free resource. Engaging with the digital training module will help college staff to better identify, support and report on their student carers.
This new resource compliments existing work being undertaken by both organisations to raise awareness, improve identification and ensure adequate support is in place to give student carers a fair chance to be successful in their own education. Last year Carers Trust Scotland launched Going Further for Student Carers Recognition Award, a scheme to assist and encourage all 27 of Scotland’s colleges to develop their policies and practices to improve support for student carers, and award good practice.
While the number of student carer enrolments at college across Scotland has increased from 3,413 in 2013-14 to 11,965 in 2018-19, many student carers continue to be unidentified and unsupported, and continue to be a hidden group.
There are student carers in every college trying to successfully complete their course to the best of their ability just like their peers, but they often experience additional challenges because of their unpaid caring responsibilities and do not always receive the support they need to successfully complete college; therefore, stopping students with caring responsibilities from reaching their full potential, maintaining good health and wellbeing, and having equal access to the opportunities open to other students.
Additionally, due to the impact of the current Coronavirus pandemic, we know that many student carers are taking on additional caring responsibilities, therefore increasing the need for support at college.
Student carers can greatly benefit from dedicated support from their college and the Supporting Student Carers at College digital training module should help improve outcomes for student carers to reach positive destinations after study.
Scott Lafferty, Development Manager for Carers Trust Scotland, said: “Carers Trust Scotland is delighted to have worked with College Development Network to launch Supporting Student Carers at College, a digital training module for college professionals.
“It aims to raise awareness to the challenges that many student carers face and offers guidance on how colleges in Scotland can provide improved support to the over 12,000 student carers in Scotland, so that they have a fair chance to be successful in their own education and achieve their true potential in all aspects of their lives.”
Andree Carruthers, Access and Inclusion Consultant for CDN, said: “The Supporting Carers module is the first of its kind in the UK. We know that there are over 12,000 declared student carers studying in our colleges, and that they are four times more likely to withdraw from their course.
“College offers carers a break from caring and new opportunities for the future, and we owe it to them to support them to make the most of their time at college. This new resource, developed in partnership with Carers Trust Scotland, offers colleges a flexible and engaging professional development tool.
“The module is brought to life by the voices of the carers that courageously and selflessly shared their experiences and the challenges of combining their caring duties and studying.”
Concerns are being raised that the coronavirus crisis may lead to a ‘ticking time-bomb’ of preventable sight loss if people neglect eye-treatment or regular check-ups.
A drive to emphasise the importance of maintaining eye-health and reassure the public it is safe to visit their local optometrist begins at the start of National Eye-Health Week today.
Eye examinations, which are NHS funded in Scotland, can not only detect early signs of sight problems, in time to arrest or reverse damage, but sometimes pick up the symptoms of other serious health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes to name just a few.
One woman visited an optometrist at an Emergency Eye Treatment Centre after experiencing blurred vision then sight loss in one eye, and was referred to hospital where she received potentially life-saving treatment for a brain aneurysm.
Another patient was referred to hospital after his optician investigated a shadow on his retina – he was found to have suffered a mini eye stroke, and by chance during his tests kidney cancer was also detected before it metastasised allowing him to be referred for vital treatment.
During National Eye-Health Week, Optometry Scotland and national sight loss charity RNIB Scotland are joining forces to boost the eye-health message.
David Quigley, chair of Optometry Scotland, said: “Community Optometrists and Opticians practices remain the first port of call for any eye problems and we want to reassure the public that a range of enhanced hygiene measures, including NHS-approved PPE, are in place across practices, enabling patients to seek effective care in a safe environment.
“If you have any concerns whatsoever about your eye health, or you’re due a routine eye examination, don’t delay in contacting your local optician. We are open and ready to help. It’s important not to turn up without an appointment so please make sure you call in advance.”
RNIB Scotland has produced a series of photographs of iconic Scottish landmarks distorted by the effects of common sight loss conditions.
“We want to illustrate the potential consequences of not maintaining good eye-health,” said its director James Adams. “Some people have expressed concern over attending optometrist or eye clinic appointments, or are worried about using public transport to get there. We’ve even heard some people say they don’t want to ‘bother’ optometrists during this crisis period.
“Every survey shows that sight is the sense people fear losing most. And yet we can be surprisingly complacent about our eyes. During National Eye Health Week, we want to remind everyone to take care one of the most precious things we have – our sight.”
During the awareness week optometrists will take part in question and answer sessions on RNIB’s Connect radio station, while Stuart McMillan MSP, chair of the Scottish Parliament’s cross party group on visual impairment, will table a parliamentary motion highlighting the message.
* PHOTOGRAPHS show Edinburgh Castle as seen by someone with age-related macular degeneration, and the Scottish Parliament as seen by someone with glaucoma.
