Boundaries Scotland are reviewing Scottish Parliament boundaries to make them more fair.
The Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries started in September 2022. In early 2023 and again in April/May 2024 we consulted on proposals for constituency boundaries and names.
We are now consulting on Provisional Proposals for region boundaries and names.
The rules that govern Scottish Parliament region design are
a constituency must fall wholly within a region.
the electorate of a region must be as near the regional electorate of each of the other regions as is practicable, having regard (where appropriate) to special geographical considerations.
Why is this happening?
Boundaries Scotland undertakes reviews of Scottish Parliament boundaries every 8 -12 years to ensure each region or constituency has an equal number of electors.
What Boundaries Scotland says
We now want to hear the views of the public on our proposals, we will reflect on responses to the consultation and make changes where appropriate and where the legislation allows us to do so. We strongly encourage people to make their views heard.
Views are being sought on a new strategy Palliative Care Matters for All.
Palliative care is holistic care that prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, assessment and management of pain and other problems – whether physical, mental, social or spiritual.
An ageing population that is living longer, with more complex needs, means more people will need access to palliative care in the future. The draft strategy has been developed in collaboration with the palliative care community and people who have experience of palliative care.
The aim is to deliver the best possible standards of palliative care for adults and children, families, and carers wherever and whenever it is needed.
The public are being asked for their views on a palliative care strategy consultation published by Public Health Minister @Jenni_Minto.
Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: “Talking more openly about palliative care is the first step to understanding how and when it can benefit us – often at a much earlier stage and for longer than most people realise.
“We want to make sure that everyone who needs it can access well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care along with care around dying and bereavement support.
“This consultation is important as many of us at some point in our lives will need to have conversations with people close to us about serious illness, death and loss. We’re asking the public to share their views with us to help shape our new strategy, because palliative care matters to us all.”
Scottish Government Palliative Care Clinical Lead and Chair of the Palliative Care Strategic Steering Group Dr Kirsty Boyd said: “I have seen first hand how timely, high quality palliative care can really make a difference to people and their families in supporting them to live their life to the full.
“Palliative care focuses on what matters to each adult or child and how we help them live as well as possible for however long that is. What counts when someone is dying is that they are well cared for, comfortable and with the people closest to them wherever they are.”
Edinburgh Libraries are developing a new Future Libraries Strategy that will provide a framework for service delivery and development for public and school libraries over the next five years.
To help shape the new strategy and inform future proposals for change, Council Committee agreed to carry out an engagement and consultation process to gather feedback from individuals, groups, and stakeholders across the city.
The first stage of the engagement process was successfully carried out earlier this year, and I’m pleased to let you know that the next stage of our “Future Libraries” consultation is now live and will run until 18 December.
As a valued stakeholder, we would appreciate your involvement and to hear your views and ask that you complete the consultation questionnaire which can be accessed here https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/futurelibraries
Over 14,000 individuals, groups and organisations provided feedback in our initial engagement activity held between 26th January 2024 – 19th April 2024.
We have now considered the views and ideas that were gathered through this activity alongside our existing data on service use and knowledge of how the service operates and have used the information to shape our new draft Future Libraries Strategy 2024 – 2029.
The information has also helped to inform the identification of potential options for change to library opening hours and how the service manages events and activities. Both the draft Strategy and information about the potential options for change are available at the above Future Libraries website.
You can also find our Engagement Report there, which provides a summary of the findings from the engagement process. We hope you will find it of interest and that you might find some time to give us your views on the draft Future Libraries strategy and any proposals for change to opening hours and how the service manages events and activities by completing the consultation questionnaire.
We would also appreciate your support in ensuring the questionnaire is promoted widely and reaches as many people as possible including those who do not currently use library services. It would therefore be very helpful if you are able to let your service users, clients or group members know about the questionnaire and encourage them to provide us with a response.
Legislation to raise funds for fixing cladding issues
Proposals for a tax on developers, aiming to raise funds to fix building safety issues in Scotland, have been published for public consultation.
Views are being sought on the proposed Scottish Building Safety Levy, which will be introduced under powers due to be devolved by the UK Government later this year. The consultation will open on 23 September and run for eight weeks, closing on 18 November.
The levy would apply to the construction of new residential buildings, mirroring measures being introduced in England through the UK Building Safety Act. Funds raised would support the Scottish Government’s cladding remediation programme.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “We are keen to hear from people across Scotland about our proposals, which would raise funds from developers to help safeguard people living in buildings with unsafe cladding.
“I know that developers share our determination to keep people safe and have continued to make significant progress.This legislation will build on that momentum, ensuring developers make a fair contribution to address building safety defects in Scotland, just as the UK Government is asking them to do in England.
“We are continuing our work in partnership with developers, in line with our New Deal for Business and Framework for Tax, to ensure this levy best contributes to our mission of keeping people safe.”
WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER between 2pm and 7pmatDelta Hotels by Marriott, 111 Glasgow Road
The public are to be given the chance to view and comment on updated proposals for a sustainable residential-led development at Maybury Quarter Edinburgh, site of the former Saica packaging facility in West Edinburgh.
Promoted by regeneration specialists, Summix Capital, Maybury Quarter Edinburgh provides a unique opportunity to regenerate this former industrial location on Turnhouse Road, which covers 15.5-acre (6.3 hectares).
The flagship low-carbon neighbourhood aims to deliver a mix of uses, potentially comprising residential, senior living, hotel, commercial and retail uses. This brownfield site is allocated in the Council’s City Plan 2030 for residential-focused redevelopment.
The second public consultation event will be held on Wednesday 11th September 2024 at Delta Hotels by Marriott, 111 Glasgow Rd, Edinburgh EH12 8NF between 2pm and 7pm.
This will provide the local community with the opportunity to shape the proposals, prior to the submission of a planning application to City of Edinburgh Council later this year.
It follows an initial consultation event held on 27th March and will respond to feedback and comments from this first event and other stakeholder engagement. Further information will be made available at www.maybury-quarter.co.uk, which will host consultation materials from the day of the event.
The proposals for Maybury Quarter Edinburgh will aim to deliver a balanced mix of uses that promote health, wellbeing and sustainable lifestyles which are designed to encourage a strong sense of place and community.
It will aim to deliver:
1000 homes
Hotel – 120-150 rooms
Retail/potential local centre – 30,000 sq. ft. overall
Extensive green spaces will be created, with high-quality public realm and access arrangements
The housing proposed will include tenure blind affordable housing, addressing the city’s well-publicised housing emergency, and including the provision of accessible family homes and Build to Rent (BTR) accommodation.
BTR sees homes built specifically for rent, rather than sale.
Stuart Black, Development Director for Summix Capital, commented: “We are delighted to be giving the local community the chance to view and feedback on our updated proposals for Maybury Quarter Edinburgh.
“The public comments received so far, along with other stakeholder feedback received, have proved invaluable in shaping this development, and we would like to thank all those who have taken the time to input into this process to date.
“Our exciting proposals provide a unique opportunity to redevelop one of the last major pieces of brownfield land in the city into a brand-new, sustainable mixed-use community.
“This will ensure that Maybury Quarter Edinburgh fulfils our vision to be one of the most exciting and best-connected development sites in Scotland.”
Spain-based paper and cardboard company Saica has relocated to a purpose-built facility at Deans Road in Livingston. It is active in nine other European countries.
People across Scotland are being asked to have their say on a minimum charge for single-use cups to promote responsible consumption and cut waste.
The Scottish Government is consulting on the possible introduction of a 25p charge to all single-use drinks cups when a drink is bought, regardless of material. Exemptions would apply for specific locations and uses, such as in schools. Free drinks in hospital or care settings would not be included in the scope of the charge.
There are already similar charging schemes for cups established in Europe – with the Netherlands introducing a guideline charge of 25 cents on plastic, single-use cups in 2023. Legislation allowing the introduction of environmental levies on single- disposable cups in the Republic of Ireland was also passed in 2022 – although it has yet to come into force.
Under consultation proposals, retailers would be able to retain reasonable implementation costs from the charge – mirroring the approach taken for single-use carrier bags. It also seeks views whether the net proceeds from a charge should be kept by businesses and used for good causes or collected by local or national government.
An estimated 388 million single-use cups were used in Scotland in 2021-22 creating 5,400 tonnes of waste.
The use of single-use plastic carrier bags fell by 80% in the first year in Scotland, following the introduction of a 5p charge in 2014. The charge is widely believed to be a success with the Marine Conservation society annual litter survey reporting an 80% drop in plastic bags found on UK beaches since its implementation.
Acting Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin said: “The success of the single-use carrier bag charge shows how an environmental charge can be an effective tool to change people’s behaviour and encourage responsible consumption.
“While many businesses already have offers in place to encourage the use of reusable drinks cups, hundreds of millions of single-use cups are still being discarded, creating 5,400 tonnes of waste every year. Many of these cups end up littering our roadsides, town centres, beaches and parks.
“Introducing a national charge could provide consistency for consumers, provide a level playing field for retail and businesses and help to drive forward sustainable behaviours. Our proposed approach is similar to the charge for single-use carrier bags and will be familiar to both suppliers and the public. We hope this means that it will minimise any administrative burden on businesses and make it easy for individuals and organisations to adopt.
“I urge everyone to have their say so we ,can choose the most sustainable option for both people and businesses while helping to tackle litter, reduce waste and cut emissions.”
Calum Duncan, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “Our volunteers have consistently recorded single-use disposable cups on over half of UK beaches surveyed. We need to see charges on these kinds of items to reduce litter in our seas and prevent it from damaging our precious marine life.
“We know that policies like this work, with our data recently showing an 80% reduction in the average number of plastic carrier bags washing up on beaches since charges on them were introduced.
“We look forward to a similar decline in disposable cups once a charge is introduced, and need further measures from governments to move towards a society where refillable and reusable options are the norm.
PLANS for a Visitor Levy in Edinburgh took another significant step forward yesterday (22 August), as councillors agreed key details of the draft scheme.
It is anticipated that the levy will generate tens of millions of pounds a year to reinvest in the city’s infrastructure and sustainable tourism from summer 2026.
A formal 12-week public consultation seeking further input from residents, visitors and businesses, will commence in the coming weeks. This will inform the final scheme, which will be agreed in January 2025, allowing the 18-month implementation period to begin.
Edinburgh will become the first place in the UK to launch such a city-wide levy, which will drastically help the Council manage the demands of increased tourism while ensuring sustainable investment in the visitor economy, public services, city maintenance, affordable housing and preserving the Capital’s cultural heritage.
Edinburgh Council backed the Lib Dem proposal to split Transient Visitor Levy income, after a fixed Housing investment, between: 55% city operations 35% culture and 10% destination management.
Key highlights of the draft visitor levy scheme include:
Flat 5% charge per night: Visitors staying in accommodation will be required to pay a small, fixed fee per night of 5% of the accommodation cost, capped at seven consecutive nights.
Wide range of accommodation: The levy will apply to paid accommodation including hotels, short-term lets, hostels and bed and breakfasts, but will exclude stays in campsites.
Funding allocation: The levy is expected to raise £45-50 million a year by 2028/29. Revenue generated will be reinvested directly into initiatives that benefit residents and enhance visitor experiences, such as a ‘Well Kept City Fund’, affordable housing, city infrastructure, destination marketing and support for major events and festivals.
Shaped with industry input: The draft scheme has been shaped by many years of engagement with local businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders including hoteliers.
Expected to launch 2026: When the draft scheme is finalised, early in the new year, the Council will begin working with partners to implement the Visitor Levy and make it live by Summer 2026.
The decision is a victory for Edinburgh housing campaigners and trade unionists:
Council Leader, Cammy Day, said: “We can’t take Edinburgh’s incredible cultural offering and reputation as a fantastic place to visit for granted, and a visitor levy presents an innovative way of sustaining the sector and the city.
“It will significantly increase our ability to invest in the visitor experience and the tourism pressures we face, from keeping the city clean to responding to our housing emergency, so that everyone can continue to enjoy all that the city has to offer. By better supporting these services we can secure Edinburgh’s future as a top global destination.
“These proposals have been shaped by the views of residents, visitors and industry. We’re committed to making sure this is the best levy for Edinburgh and will begin our formal consultation as soon as the Scottish Government allow.
“This is a once in generation opportunity for Edinburgh and I look forward to the many benefits a visitor levy will bring, allowing us to reinvest tens of millions of pounds in sustaining and improving the things that make our city so special – for our visitors and residents who live here all year round.”
Neil Ellis, Chairman of the Edinburgh Hotels Association, said: “Edinburgh Hotels Association welcomes the introduction of the visitor levy for its intended use of improving the experience of all visitors, local, national or international, through additional spending.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to further enhance Edinburgh’s reputation on the world stage as a must-visit destination.”
Christina Sinclair, Director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said:“The visitor levy brings an opportunity to generate crucial funds to invest in our historic city, ensuring its heritage remains authentic and that the UNESCO-designated Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site are protected, enhanced and promoted for future generations.
Charlie Cumming, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust, said: “ELGT are in support of the funds raised from the proposed visitor levy to provide additional resource to make improvements to the city’s public spaces. It will be encouraging to see much needed funding for the upkeep of our much-valued greenspaces that provide many benefits to residents and visitors.
“The funding will also provide an opportunity to develop sustainable improvements to help mitigate against climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Roddy Smith, Chief Executive of Essential Edinburgh, said:“We welcome the next phase of the consultation by the City of Edinburgh Council.
“The key principle for the implementation of the visitor levy remains, that the money collected and then distributed should be additional to existing Council resources and not replacement funds and be used to finance projects that primarily support the tourism sector.
“We welcome the three potential funding pots which if used appropriately will have a significant impact on how our city looks, and how we can support our crucial heritage and arts/event sectors.
“Importantly, it will also invest in dedicated marketing and promotion, to ensure our successful tourism sector continues to grow sustainably. With an effective public and private partnership driving this work, we are excited that real progress can be made.
“Edinburgh must not take our tourism sector for granted, and if the finance generated through the levy goes towards supporting our tourism sector, then the city will see economic benefits for our business both directly and in the supply chain, employment growth and much needed large infrastructure projects being delivered. This will materially benefit all the residents in the city.
“Essential Edinburgh will continue our engagement with our members, the industry and Council to move forward towards the finalisation of the scheme.’
