Tag: Children and Families

April was busiest month ever for UK Food Banks

  • The Trussell Trust reports a soaring 89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, including a 107% rise in parcels given to children
  • The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year
  • Food banks in the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) report a 175 per cent  increase in need for the same period
  • A coalition of charities, including Child Poverty Action Group  (CPAG), The Children’s Society, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), StepChange and Turn2us, is calling for funding for local authorities in England to ensure grants are quickly distributedto help people stay afloat as part of a temporary Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme.

As the impact of coronavirus continues to unfold, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network are reporting their busiest month ever, with an 89 per cent  increase in emergency food parcels given to people across the UK in April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

The figures include a 107% increase in parcels going to children compared to last year. The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year.

Independent food banks are seeing similar increases, with IFAN reporting a 175% increase in need for emergency food parcels given out in the UK during April 2020 compared to the same month last year.

A coalition of charities, including the Trussell Trust, IFAN, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Children’s Society, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, StepChange and Turn2us, is urging the UK government to act quickly in providing a stronger lifeline to people to prevent many from being swept into destitution.

Measures brought in by the government, including the Coronavirus Jobs Retention scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and changes aimed specifically at people on low incomes, have helped some people stay afloat.

But these new figures warn far more people are needing  food banks’ help than at this time last year, with little sign of slowing. With these schemes set to wind down over the coming months and other measures proving to be insufficient, the charities say further action is urgently needed to ensure no one is left behind during this crisis.

The coalition says a first step should be to make sure local authorities in England have enough funding to provide emergency cash grants so money can be put directly into people’s pockets quickly. An increase in funding to local authorities in England would help bring the government response on this type of support closer to that of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This is one part of a temporary Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme proposed by the coalition to ensure everyone has enough money in their pockets for essentials during this crisis.

The scheme would include:

  • Increasing benefits that go to families to help with the costs of raising children
  • Extending the suspension of benefit deductions to include advance payments – the loans offered to cover the five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment
  • Lifting the benefit cap to ensure this support scheme benefits everyone

Chief executive of the Trussell Trust Emma Revie says: “We have been seeing rises in food bank need for the past five years but this 89% increase – with the number of families coming to food banks doubling – is completely unprecedented and not right.

“People need to be able to put food on their table. The government must put urgent support in place to ensure people already struggling to keep their heads above water can stay afloat. We have outlined what we need our government to do – it’s in our power to protect one another, we’ve seen it during this health crisis, and we need it to continue during this economic one.”

Coordinator of the Independent Food Aid Network Sabine Goodwin says:  “Our food bank figures paint a grim picture of what is unfolding across the UK and the numbers of people having to resort to emergency food parcels to survive.

“But the solution to the escalating food insecurity crisis has never been the provision of charitable food aid. Everyone needs to be able to afford to buy food and the bare essentials. Our joint call details how this can start to be achieved and we urge the Government to act swiftly and decisively to reverse this devastating trend.”

Child Poverty Action Group ‘s chief executive Alison Garnham says: “Today’s figures are grim.  No parent wants to depend on charity to feed their own child but it is clear that food banks are becoming the only option for a growing number of families whose finances have all but collapsed because of Covid-19. 

“Struggle is turning to real hardship. The Government has quickly put in place unprecedented and very welcome schemes to support family finances in the wake of Covid-19, but too many households are falling through the gaps.  An uplift in children’s benefits should be the priority now to shield children from poverty and its lifelong effects.”

Chief executive at The Children’s Society Mark Russell says: “It’s a tragedy that double the number of families are having to rely on foodbanks to feed their children, and a situation which could be prevented with more action to stop children from going hungry.

“The Children’s Society wants to see significant extra investment in local welfare assistance so councils can provide much needed emergency support. We recently found more than half of councils (63%) were forced to reduce spending on these schemes between 2015 and 2019 yet more people than ever need the help they can provide.

“No child should face destitution as a result of this pandemic. The Government must step up and protect vulnerable children and families.”

Policy and partnerships manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation JRF Iain Porter says: “It’s just not right that the number of families turning to food banks continues to climb so steeply.

“We all want to help each other weather this storm, but these figures show the government support provided so far is still not providing a lifeline to families in crisis who are not able to afford the essentials.

“As a rapid first step, increasing funding to councils for emergency cash grants would provide a lifeline to those most at risk of hardship. Alongside this, we need emergency investment in the social security system, such as targeted benefits to families with children, to prevent more families from reaching crisis point as we continue to weather the storm.”

Welfare benefit expert at Turn2us Anna Stevenson says: “Foodbanks do a fantastic job getting immediate practical support to people in their communities, however it shouldn’t be left to charities to do the job our social security safety net should be doing.

“The coronavirus has affected so many of us financially, this must be the catalyst for the government to build upon the steps it has already taken to make sure everyone can afford to put food on the table and not just survive, but be able to thrive.”

Lottery boost for local youth group

Pilton Youth & Children’s Project has received an award of £75,285 from the National Lottery Community Fund.

PYCP is one of twelve Scottish projects – and the only one in Edinburgh – to receive a share of £800,000 in dormant bank account money.

The local youth group, based at The Greenhouse in West Pilton, will use the Young Start funding over three years to run their Creative Mentoring Programme to help young people aged 15-20 years move away from participating in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity.

PYCP’s Lesley Ross said: “We are delighted to receive this award.

“The project will recruit 10 young people each year for a 6 month programme (two intakes), which includes peer mentoring, education, training, weekly sessions, 3 day residential course and an emphasis on improved mental health and well-being.

“We are looking forward to building on the experience and knowledge we already have built up, over a number of years when engaging with this target group of young people. The programme is due to start in September 2020.”

An employability project giving disabled young Scots newfound confidence, skills and qualifications is also celebrating today. 

Leonard Cheshire’s Can Do Dumfries project receive a two-year grant of £55,904. The funding will support young volunteers like 21-year-old Alastair, from Gretna, to learn new skills and achieve accredited qualifications that will boost their chances of future employment.

Alastair said: “I started coming along to the Can Do conservation project because I wanted to improve my knowledge of the outdoors, gain a certificate and better my CV. Before the project I was struggling to find work. I had difficulty socialising as I was feeling nervous and unsure all the time.

“Can Do helped me to feel more capable and boosted my confidence. It also helped build my knowledge and skills, particularly in sawing and working with wood. Now, I will get a new job or start more training.”

During the current lockdown period, Leonard Cheshire is delivering its Can Do Dumfries project through digital platforms to keep young people engaged and focused on developing their personal skills.

Welcoming today’s award, Stuart Robertson, Director for Leonard Cheshire in Scotland, said: “We are delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work this way.

“Now, thanks to this Young Start award, we will be able to continue empowering young people with additional support needs in Dumfries and Galloway to give back to the community.”

Young Start awards dormant bank and building society cash to youth-led projects across Scotland and is delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Announcing the funding, National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Director, Neil Ritch, said: “Young Start aims to help children and young people across Scotland realise their potential while also building invaluable skills and confidence for the future.

“By placing young people at the heart of project design, delivery and evaluation, these projects will empower young people to achieve whatever they set their mind to.”

Groups wanting to know more about Young Start, and how it can support them during these unprecedented times, should visit:

 https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/young-start

or contact 0141 846 0447.

Online child grooming offences rise in Scotland

  • NSPCC asks Boris Johnson to publicly commit to having world-leading online harms legislation on statute book within 18 months
  • Social media sites are ‘enabling offenders’ as recorded crimes, which include online grooming offences, rise above 2,500 in five years in Scotland

Crimes of communicating a sexual message to a child have increased by more than 80 per cent in five years in Scotland, the NSPCC has revealed.

New figures obtained via a freedom of information request show that 651 offences of Communicating Indecently with a Child were recorded by Police Scotland in the last year, compared to 354 crimes in 2014/15 – an increase of 84 per cent.

In the year to April 2020, the rise was 12 per cent but the NSPCC is warning there could be a sharper increase this year due to the unique threats caused by coronavirus that are being exacerbated by years of industry failure to design basic child protection into platforms.

The charity is now calling on the UK Prime Minister to urgently press ahead with legislation that would help prevent offenders from using social media to target children for sexual abuse.

An analysis by the NSPCC of data of an equivalent crime from police forces in England and Wales has revealed that Facebook-owned apps were used in 55% of cases, from April 2017 to October 2019, where police recorded information about how a child was groomed.1 This data was not available from Police Scotland.

Emily* was 13 when she exchanged messages and photos with a man she believed to be 15 on Facebook and Snapchat. The man turned out to be 24 and sexually abused her.

Emily’s mum, Wendy*, said: “It’s important for social media to be regulated and for Facebook and Instagram to take more responsibility to keep the people who use their platform safe. All other businesses have a Duty of Care to keep children safe, so why not them?”

In February, then UK Government Digital Minister Matt Warman promised to publish an Online Harms Bill during the current UK parliamentary session following proposals set out in a White Paper.

These proposals set out independent regulation of social networks with potential criminal sanctions if tech directors fail to keep children living in the UK safe on their platforms.

However, frustration is growing at delays to the legislation with a full response to consultation on the White Paper not now expected until the end of the year and concerns we might not see a regulator until 2023.

This has been expressed by the chairs of both the UK Parliament Home Affairs and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committees, which scrutinise the work of the UK Government departments responsible for online harms.

The NSPCC is calling on the UK Prime Minister to deliver an Online Harms Bill, that sets out a Duty of Care on tech firms to make their sites safer for children, within 18 months.

The charity wants his Government to publish a roadmap that sets out the timescales for a world-leading Bill to go through Westminster as a matter of urgency.

NSPCC Chief Executive Peter Wanless spoke to Boris Johnson at a hidden harms round table last week and highlighted how coronavirus had created a perfect storm for abusers because platforms hadn’t done enough to tackle safety risks going into the crisis. He urged the Prime Minister to ensure there is no unnecessary delay to legislation.

Mr Wanless said: “Child abuse is an inconvenient truth for tech bosses who have failed to make their sites safe and enabled offenders to use them as a playground in which to groom our kids.

“Last week the Prime Minister signalled to me his determination to stand up to Silicon Valley and make the UK the world leader in online safety. He can do this by committing to an Online Harms Bill that puts a legal Duty of Care on big tech to proactively identify and manage safety risks.

“Now is the time to get regulation done and create a watchdog with the teeth to hold tech directors criminally accountable if their platforms allow children to come to serious but avoidable harm.”

NSPCC says The Online Harms Bill should:

  • Enforce a Duty of Care on tech companies to identify and mitigate reasonably foreseeable risks on their platforms, including at the design stage, to proactively protect users from harm
  • Create a regulator that can hand out GDPR equivalent fines – up to 4% of global turnover – and hold named directors criminally accountable for the most serious breaches of their Duty of Care
  • Give the regulator robust powers to investigate companies and request information
  • Create a culture of transparency by legally compelling tech firms to disclose any breaches of the Duty of Care and major design changes to their platforms.

Outdoor learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Funding for Virtual Nature School

Children and families are to benefit from expert guidance on learning and play in an outdoor environment during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

Funding of £159,000 is being given to Living Classrooms to expand their Virtual Nature School programme, providing professional training and learning materials to early learning and childcare (ELC) practitioners. This will help them support the delivery of outdoor play sessions for children who usually attend their settings.

Up to 2,000 practitioners will receive training on the Virtual Nature School’s digital platform and about 20,000 families will benefit. The focus will initially be in areas of higher deprivation, where children will benefit most.

Children’s Minister Maree Todd said: “Playing, learning and having fun outdoors helps to improve children’s wellbeing and resilience, as well as their physical and mental health. It also gives children the opportunity to develop a life-long appreciation of the natural world.

“This is particularly important during the current circumstances, when we are all having to spend so much more time indoors.

“This programme will make a real difference to help families with their home learning, while maintaining a vital connection with the ELC settings and key workers that children are used to having contact with. That will help when the time comes for youngsters to return to those settings.”

The Virtual Nature School (VNS) is a non-profit programme created by Living Classrooms in response to the needs of children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The work is led by Dr Claire Warden, manager of Auchlone Nursery, Living Classrooms and Mind Stretchers Academy.

The programme currently provides home learning support to non-keyworker families, many of whom normally attend the Auchlone Nursery, where children are unable to attend settings. Sessions are delivered online, with families being supported to carry out outdoor play-based tasks and evaluate their learning.

The programme will be delivered across two eight-week cohorts.

Sustrans: Outside In activities

Videos, games, weekly challenges, themed activities and more

Weekly updates are packed with creative, active and interesting indoor and outdoor activities for all the family.

https://www.sustrans.org.uk/campaigns/outside-in

It’s not too late to join our #SustransOutsideIn feature in the parent newsletter.

It’s packed with activities for children to bring the outside in and enjoy at home 🏠🤸🎨

Designed by our knowledgeable, experienced and fun-loving Schools Officers. The four-week activity pack is full of cycling, walking and scooting themed fun 🚲🛴🚶

For more information and to sign up, visit: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/campaigns/outside-in/

More funding found for third party grants … but is it enough?

An additional £611,000 is being distributed to support voluntary organisations helping vulnerable and disadvantaged young people and their families across Edinburgh – but the funding announcement will still bring bad news for some city projects.

The decision was unanimously approved at the Policy and Sustainability Committee yesterday.

The groups, which include youth projects, children’s clubs, mental health charities and BAME groups, are being funded by the third party grant programme run by the Communities and Families service of the City of Edinburgh Council.

The extra money means this year’s annual grants will total nearly £4m. Initial funding of £3.37m was proposed at the Education, Children and Families Committee in March 2020 but was put on hold after deputations from community groups.

A short life working group was set up to review the grants process and report back this month. The conclusions it reached included agreeing the previous recommendations and restoring funding to groups in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 1 and 2 areas of the Capital and BAME organisations.

Although 80% of the recommended awards were being distributed to organisations tackling poverty, the integrated impact assessment identified an imbalance in funding being delivered for services across SIMD 1 and 2 areas and also significant impacts on organisations providing services for the BAME communities.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic were also taken into account by the working group as there will almost certainly be a rise in unemployment after lockdown which would adversely affect SIMD 1 and 2 areas.

As a result a cross party addendum agreeing funding for an extra £611k was approved at the Council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee yesterday, but for some youth organisations, following years of real-tems cuts, the extra funding won’t be enough.

Education Convener Ian Perry said: “The additional £611k that has been agreed by all political parties means we are meeting our primary objective for supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged young people and their families across the whole of Edinburgh especially in SIMD 1 and 2 areas.

“We need to ensure during this Covid-19 crisis that our most disadvantaged communities are well supported and that this support is equitable across the areas that need it most. These communities are likely to be hardest hit during the outbreak and more likely to experience the worst effects of the inevitable crisis.

“We’ve already seen countless examples in the past 10 weeks of communities coming together to support vulnerable families. Now more than ever we need to continue our partnership work with the third sector and voluntary organisations as we help people rebuild their lives again and this funding will help support this aim.”

Education Vice Convener Alison Dickie said: “Our Children’s Services Plan has been the driving force for our grants programme focussing on the outcomes that best support the children, young people and families most impacted by poverty and disadvantage.

“This has resulted in 85% of the awards now being distributed to organisations tackling poverty. We’re also supporting services that deliver for children, young people and families, particularly those with lived experience of the care system, disabilities, young carers, LGBT, and BAME young people.

“The organisations we are supporting are already working hard for people living in SIMD 1 and 2 communities and these grants and decisions will help to ensure there is no gap in provision and also an equity of investment.”

Nineteen organisations will benefit for the first time and the money will be distributed to all groups until 31 August 2023 with the first year’s funding starting on 1 September this year.

In total 186 applications were received from 129 different organisations who submitted bids of £26.4m for the £10.1m three-year fund.

Five priorities were identified to support Council objectives to improve the overall health and wellbeing of young people and their families. They are:

  • Improve learning and developmental outcomes for disadvantaged babies, infants, children, young people and their families including care experienced young people
  • Improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes
  • Support the personal and social development of young people through the delivery of effective universal youth work programmes
  • Improve the level of participation in learning opportunities for all secondary school age young people and continue to increase positive destinations
  • Ensure that children and young people’s health and wellbeing are not damaged by alcohol and drugs through the delivery of effective drugs and alcohol prevention work and substance misuse services

Outcome Report of the Short Life Working Group to Examine Communities and Families Third Party Grant

Supplement Version 3 – Motions and Amendments 28052020 1000 Policy and Sustainability Committee

Free School Meals: It’s not too late to claim

FREE SCHOOL MEALS 

information for parents and carers

from GRANTON INFORMATION CENTRE

Families of children from P4 to S6 who receive Free School Meals, and those in P1 to P3 who are entitled to clothing grants, will receive a fortnightly electronic payment during term time and the Easter Holidays equivalent to the cost of a school meal.

Payments are £22.50 per child every fortnight until further notice from 23 March.

All children in primary 1 to 3 receive free school meals if they are attending school, but not free milk or a clothing grant.   In the present circumstances, those families won’t receive the £22.50 fortnightly payment unless they are eligible to get the clothing grant and free milk due to low income.

The criteria is the same as for P4-7s.

IT’s NOT TOO LATE TO CLAIM

Parents may still apply for the current academic year and, if eligible, awards will be backdated to 23 March, the start of school closures. 

The eligibility for free school meals and/or substitute payment (including P1-3s) depends on the family’s income and they need to be in receipt of one of the following benefits:

  • Universal credit (with monthly earnings up to £610)
  • Income Support and Income Based Job seekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
  • Child Tax Credits only with gross income up to £16105
  • Child and Working Tax Credits with gross income up to £6900
  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Some families will get an automatic award for 2020-21 but others will have to apply when the time comes (they are not receiving applications yet).

Clothing grants applications closed on 31 March but will reopen for the next academic year later.

For more information and keep up to date with possible changes please visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/schoolgrants

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/food-clothing/free-school-meals-school-clothing-grants/1

At least 80 million children at risk as COVID-19 disrupts routine vaccination effort

Measles in India
A newborn receives a routine vaccination at an immunization site, in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh India.

COVID 19 is disrupting life-saving immunization services around the world, putting millions of children – in rich and poor countries alike – at risk of diseases like diphtheria, measles and polio.

This stark warning comes from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ahead of the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June, at which world leaders will come together to help maintain immunization programmes and mitigate the impact of the pandemic in lower-income countries.

According to data collected by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi and the Sabin Vaccine Institute, provision of routine immunization services is substantially hindered in at least 68 countries and is likely to affect approximately 80 million children under the age of 1 living in these countries.

Since March 2020, routine childhood immunization services have been disrupted on a global scale that may be unprecedented since the inception of expanded programs on immunization (EPI) in the 1970s. More than half (53%) of the 129 countries where data were available reported moderate-to-severe disruptions, or a total suspension of vaccination services during March-April 2020.

“Immunization is one of the most powerful and fundamental disease prevention tools in the history of public health,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“Disruption to immunization programmes from the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to unwind decades of progress against vaccine-preventable diseases like measles.

“At the 4 June Global Vaccine Summit in London, donors will pledge their support to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to sustain and accelerate this lifesaving work in some of the most vulnerable countries. From the bottom of my heart, I urge donors to fully fund the Alliance. These countries, these children especially, need vaccines, and they need Gavi.”

The reasons for disrupted services vary. Some parents are reluctant to leave home because of restrictions on movement, lack of information or because they fear infection with the COVID-19 virus. And many health workers are unavailable because of restrictions on travel, or redeployment to COVID response duties, as well as a lack of protective equipment.

“More children in more countries are now protected against more vaccine-preventable diseases than at any point in history,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, Gavi CEO.

“Due to COVID-19 this immense progress is now under threat, risking the resurgence of diseases like measles and polio. Not only will maintaining immunization programmes prevent more outbreaks, it will also ensure we have the infrastructure we need to roll out an eventual COVID-19 vaccine on a global scale.”

Transport delays of vaccines are exacerbating the situation. UNICEF has reported a substantial delay in planned vaccine deliveries due to the lockdown measures and the ensuing decline in commercial flights and limited availability of charters.

To help mitigate this, UNICEF is appealing to governments, the private sector, the airline industry, and others, to free up freight space at an affordable cost for these life-saving vaccines. Gavi recently signed an agreement with UNICEF to provide advance funding to cover increased freight costs for delivery of vaccines, in light of the reduced number of commercial flights available for transport.

“We cannot let our fight against one disease come at the expense of long-term progress in our fight against other diseases,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.

“We have effective vaccines against measles, polio and cholera. While circumstances may require us to temporarily pause some immunization efforts, these immunizations must restart as soon as possible, or we risk exchanging one deadly outbreak for another.”

Next week, WHO will issue new advice to countries on maintaining essential services during the pandemic, including recommendations on how to provide immunizations safely.

Mass immunization campaigns temporarily disrupted

Many countries have temporarily and justifiably suspended preventive mass vaccination campaigns against diseases like cholera, measles, meningitis, polio, tetanus, typhoid and yellow fever, due to risk of transmission and the need to maintain physical distancing during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measles and polio vaccination campaigns, in particular, have been badly hit, with measles campaigns suspended in 27 countries and polio campaigns put on hold in 38 countries.

At least 24 million people in 21 Gavi-supported lower-income countries are at risk of missing out on vaccines against polio, measles, typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, rotavirus, HPV, meningitis A and rubella due to postponed campaigns and introductions of new vaccines.

In late March, concerned that mass gatherings for vaccination campaigns would enflame transmission of COVID-19 WHO recommended countries to temporarily suspend preventive campaigns while assessments of risk, and effective measures for reducing COVID virus transmission were established.

WHO has since monitored the situation and has now issued advice to help countries determine how and when to resume mass vaccination campaigns. The guidance notes that countries will need to make specific risk assessments based on the local dynamics of COVID-19 transmission, the health system capacities, and the public health benefit of conducting preventive and outbreak response vaccination campaigns.

Based on this guidance, and following growing concerns about increasing transmission of polio, the  Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), is advising countries to start planning for the safe resumption of polio vaccination campaigns, especially in polio high-risk countries.

Despite the challenges, several countries are making special efforts to continue immunization. Uganda is ensuring that immunization services continue along with other essential health services, even funding transportation to ensure outreach activities. And in Lao PDR, despite a national lockdown imposed in March, routine immunization in fixed sites continued with physical distancing measures in place.

Pictures: WHO

Report reveals impact of coronavirus on poverty in Edinburgh

City council leader Adam McVey has outlined the measures the Council will take following a report from the Edinburgh Poverty Commission into the impact the Covid-19 pandemic is having on residents in the city.

The interim Poverty and Coronavirus in Edinburgh report has taken testimonies from people directly affected by the pandemic focussing on areas such as jobs, people’s incomes, housing, homelessness, the cost of living, health and social isolation.

Leader Adam McVey pledged the Council will do everything it can to support those most in need and welcomed the report which will inform the future direction the Council takes in tackling poverty in the city.

He said: “I welcome that this report recognises the work done by the Council, partners, third sector and volunteers across the city to respond positively and quickly to deliver lifeline services including vital food and medical supplies for citizens affected by the coronavirus measure that have been put in place.

“Today’s report contains important findings with vital and timely testimonies on the real impact that lockdown is having on people’s lives. While we have all been affected by the ongoing situation, it is clear from this report that this pandemic has been particularly challenging for those who were already in or at risk of poverty in the city.

“We’re absolutely committed to making sure this evidence shapes our continuing response to this emergency over the coming months, as well as the planning for how we will rebuild the city when this crisis has passed.

“It’s so important that while we look to address the additional hardship and pressures this crisis has brought, we also build on the renewed sense of community and collaboration we have witnessed across the city.

“As we plan for Edinburgh’s recovery, we will continue to be ambitious and make sure our responses are guided by our long-term commitment to boosting sustainability, tackling poverty and improving residents’ wellbeing.

“We will continue working with the Scottish and UK Governments to secure the right level of ongoing financial support to allow us to rebuild and create a fairer city for all going forward.”

In specific response to the actions the Commission has put forward, the Council will:

  • continue to deliver compassionate support directly to people in the most need during this period of emergency – this includes support for essential food supplies and medicine deliveries to people self-isolating and offering critical support to people in vulnerable situations through our Resilience Centres
  • make sure the support mechanisms set up by UK and Scottish Governments reach everyone in Edinburgh who needs them – we’ve already processed over 4,600 applications for Scottish Welfare Fund support, distributed nearly £600,000 in crisis payments to citizens and directed £61m in government grants to organisations in Edinburgh to help employers and the self-employed
  • make sure safe and secure housing options continue to be available for those people in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping who have been housed through emergency measures during this crisis, and
  • make sure that the city takes a co-ordinated and joined up approach to responding to and recovering from this crisis.

In the coming weeks the Council will publish its first plans for how the city will adapt and rebuild from this crisis throughout the rest of this year and beyond. A key element of this recovery programme will be ensuring that the twin targets of being fair and green for all lie at its heart.

The council will continue to encourage partners who are invested in the prosperity of the city work with them to achieve a ‘fair and green economic recovery’ which will include the work of both the Edinburgh Poverty Commission and the Edinburgh Climate Commission.

The final report by the Edinburgh Poverty Commission and their findings will be published in the autumn.

20200518_EPC_Interim_Coronavirus_Report

 

Children with ASN failed as specialist teacher ratio drops again

Access to additional support for learning specialist teachers has continued to drop in Scotland, the Scottish Greens have revealed. Figures from the Scottish Greens show that there is now only one specialist additional support needs teacher for every 76 ASN pupils.

The number of specialist additional support needs teachers in 2019 was 2,836 [1], while the number of pupils with additional needs rose to 215,897 [2].

The increasing number of children which each specialist teacher is responsible for is partly driven by the loss of hundreds of ASN teachers since 2010, whilst the number of pupils with identified needs has grown by almost 150,000.

The number of pupils with additional needs has increased from 69,587 in 2010 to 215,897 in 2019. By comparison, there were 3,887 ASN teachers in 2010, with just 2,836 now, or 3,462 if primary teachers in Scotland’s handful of special schools are included.

Ross Greer MSP, Scottish Green education spokesperson, said: “Thousands of children in Scotland with additional needs are being failed. I have raised this with the government time and again over a number of years, but the picture still is not improving.

“Specialist teachers are essential to supporting pupils with additional needs but they are gradually disappearing from our schools, at the same time as demand skyrockets.

“We know already that this lockdown is disproportionately hard for young people with additional needs and for their families, with a real risk that the attainment gap will be widened.

“As well as the need for urgent support, the Scottish Government must ensure that when schools do return to normal, it is a new normal where those with additional support needs are given a far fairer opportunity to learn than they have been this past decade.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition, which campaigns to improve services for vulnerable children and young people, commented: “The comments over a cut in specialist teachers reinforce concerns we have raised for some time now about a potential ‘lost generation’ of vulnerable children and young people.

“It is vital that those with ASN get the care and support they need, especially during and as we come out of the current COVID-19 crisis. This is also key if we are to genuinely close the educational attainment gap as we know that those with ASN disproportionately come from lower income families and areas of deprivation.

“Such a situation is clearly challenging during lockdown, when the educational attainment gap will inevitably widen, and with evidence of cuts in spending per pupil with ASN and in the number of specialist teachers supporting this group.

“The cost to society in the long term if adequate support is not provided will far outweigh any potential savings made today.

“Ensuring the adequate provision of educational support for children young people with ASN is critical and yet too many pupils are missing out on the specialist support they require because of cuts in specialist support at a time of increasing need.

“When children and young people with ASN return to school it is vital that we use this as an opportunity to give them the specialist support they need, ensuring that we can address increased inequalities that will have inevitably arisen due to lockdown.”