Chancellor unveils package to deliver new government’s agenda

  • 750 schools with primary aged pupils funded for breakfast club pilot to run from April 2025
  • New Industrial Strategy to be published in spring
  • Decision to write off over £640 million in written off Covid PPE contracts reversed
  • HMRC to consult on e-invoicing for businesses and government departments

The Chancellor yesterday unveiled a package of measures to deliver on the agenda of the new government including a breakfast club pilot for 750 schools with primary aged pupils, new powers for the Covid Corruption Commissioner, e-invoicing to support business and the next steps on the Labour government’s industrial strategy.

School Breakfast Club Pilot

The Chancellor announced that up to 750 schools with primary aged pupils will be invited to take part in a £7 million breakfast club pilot. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils in the summer term (April-July 2025).

The Department for Education will work with the schools selected as part of the pilot to understand how breakfast clubs can be delivered to meet the needs of schools, parents and pupils when the programme is rolled out nationally.

This will help reduce the number of students at schools with primary aged pupils starting the school day hungry and ensure children come to school ready to learn. It will also support the government’s aim to tackle child poverty by addressing rising food insecurity among children.

Covid Corruption Commissioner

Reeves also announced a block on any Covid-era PPE contract being abandoned or waived until it has been assessed by the new Covid Corruption Commissioner, whom will be appointed in October. 

The decision will affect £647 million of Covid PPE contracts where contract recovery was previously earmarked to be waived. 

It follows action already in motion to cut government waste and curb unnecessary spending. In her statement to Parliament in July, the Chancellor pledged to halve government consultancy spend from 2025-26, with savings targets of £550 million this financial year and a further £680 million in the next already announced.

Excessive use of ministerial travel by aeroplane and helicopter is also being cutdown, with confirmation that a military contract for a helicopter also used for VIP trips, is not being renewed at the end of the year as previously announced.

Industrial Strategy

The Chancellor also today announced that the Industrial Strategy will be at the heart of the government’s mission to grow the economy, unlock investment and make every part of the country better off. It will focus on delivering long-term change to the economy by making Britain a clean energy superpower and accelerating to net zero, breaking down barriers to regional growth, and building a secure and resilient economy.

A green paper will be published around Budget in October outlining the long-term sectoral growth and priority industries of the government, ahead of the final strategy published in the spring of 2025 following a consultation with business.

HMRC package

Chancellor Reeves also outlined a package of reforms to improve the UK’s tax system to help fix the foundations of the UK economy.

As part of the package, HMRC will soon launch a consultation on electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) to promote its wider use across UK businesses and government departments.

The introduction of e-invoicing can significantly reduce administrative tasks, improve cash flow, boost productivity, introduce automation, and reduce errors in tax returns – all helping to close the tax gap. The consultation will gather input from businesses on how HMRC can support investment in and encourage e-invoicing uptake.

The Chancellor also announced that Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray, the minister responsible for the UK’s tax system, has become the Chair of the HMRC Board. This is to help oversee the implementation of his three strategic priorities for HMRC; closing the tax gap, modernising and reforming, and improving customer service.

It was also announced that a new Digital Transformation Roadmap, aimed to be published in Spring 2025, will set out HMRC’s vision to be a digital first organisation underpinned by customer insight. The Roadmap will include measures to ensure digital inclusion and support for customers who cannot yet interact digitally.

There was a further update that new staff are expected to join HMRC’s training programme in November as 200 additional offer letters have been issued as part of the 450 letters already sent. This is part of HMRC’s plans to recruit an additional 5,000 compliance staff to help close the tax gap.

Edinburgh Association of Community Councils: Agenda for Thursday 27/10

1. EACC Meeting Thursday 27 October at 19.00 via Zoom
 

There are three agenda items:

a)

Tony Harris, Planning Lead at Grange Prestonfield CC, on

‘Caravan structures in residential gardens’;

b) 

Kenny Wright, Chair at Drumbrae CC, on

‘Local initiatives in the face of the cost-of-living crisis’;

c) 

EACC Chair, Steve Kerr, on building out EACC with the new Members’ Board structure;

plus

AOB.

The Zoom link details are set out at the end of this email.

2. The 24 November AGM

This will almost certainly be a screen meeting, with a CEC Governance official acting as the Returning Officer. Material covering AGM November 2021 Minutes, EGM February 2022 Report, a revision to Standing Orders, a Financial Report and of course an Agenda will be published in the coming weeks. 

I have already mailed out Nomination Forms for those who wish to stand for one of the four Office Bearer positions, or would otherwise wish to be elected to the Members’ Board alongside the Office Bearers (twelve seats available). I repeat the Nomination Form in the attachment to this email.

If you have any queries on this, please contact me. 

Could I ask that Community Council Secretaries, in particular, make their members aware of what is set to take place and that the opportunity is taken to consider nominations and nominee support for the elected positions. 

3. Update

The most important recent development is perhaps the opening of a CEC website to focus on the cost-of-living crisis and to offer information, guidance and support.

The link is here:

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/costofliving

 CEC has launched five consultations:

(i) Ending poverty-related hunger in Edinburgh – closes 2 November 2022.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/ce/ending-poverty-related-hunger/

(ii) A 2050 Thriving Green Spaces vision for Edinburgh – closes 15 November 2022.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/thriving-greenspaces-2050/

(iii) Additional protection for city parks within the Fields in Trust scheme – closes 16 December 2022.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/fields-in-trust-protection/

(iv) Proposed additional planning guidance on short-term lets – closes 22 December 2022.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/stl-guidance/

(v) A review of Licensing Board Policy – closes 20 December 2022.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/cg/licensing-board-policy-consultation/

Lots to be getting on with, then.

Remember to file the Zoom link below for 27 October. 

My contact details are below.

Many thanks

Ken Robertson

Acting-Secretary, Edinburgh Association of Community Councils

Inverleith Neighbourhood Network to meet online on 26 September

Inverleith Neighbourhood Network (NN)

Monday 26 September 2022 from 6-7.30pm, via teams

________________________________________________________________________________

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Learn More | Meeting options

________________________________________________________________________________

AGENDA

  1. Welcome and introductions
  2. Minute of meeting of 16 May 2022 – (attached)
  3. Getting to know you – Daisy Narayanan, 20 min Neighbourhoods
  4. NEP (Neighbourhood Environment Programme) updates:
    1. Housing Revenue Account (HRA) element
    1. Roads Element
  5. Local Community Planning Partnership (LCPP) (Rolling item) – Verbal update – Joan Beattie / Cllr Mitchell
  6. Progressing Inverleith NN priority (Rolling item) – Greenspace and community growing subgroup – verbal update Joan Beattie
  7. Community Grants Fund – update Elaine Lennon (current application for consideration attached)
  8. AOCB
  9. Date and format of next gathering – proposed quarterly dates, all 6pm:
    1. 21st November 2022

Voluntary Sector Forum to meet this afternoon

Forth and Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum will meet online via Zoom this afternoon (Tuesday 28 September) at 1:30pm.

We will use the below agenda to guide our discussion:

1.        Welcome and Introductions

2.        New online community portal for north Edinburgh

3.       Community Planning update

4.       LOG update

5.       Members update

6.     VSF attendance – are we making the most of the forum?            

7.       AOB and next meeting.

For Zoom login details contact Kate Barrett, EVOC Development Worker – Community Planning, by email at kate.barrett@evoc.org.uk

Community councils to set agenda for September EACC meeting

The next ordinary meeting of Edinburgh Association of Community Councils will be on 9th September.

What would you like to discuss? What issues do you want to raise?

Community councillors, send us a DM, or an email to the Secretary at Secretary@EdinburghCommunityCouncils.org.uk.

We’d like to hear from you!

Remember there’s free training available for community councillors too:

Free courses for community councillors from the Improvement Service and The Open University in Scotland are available in digital skills, business skills, finance and fundraising, and community and society.

Sign up online and complete them in your own time:

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/skills-supportOU-CC