R2 SUMMER EVENT HELD AT GRANTON CASTLE WALLED GARDEN
R2 held our Summer Garden Party in Granton Castle’s Walled Garden last week.
Garden Parties are becoming something of an annual event for R2 – last year’s gathering at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre was a great success – and once again the event proved very popular with more than fifty local organisations represented.
Granton Castle’s Walled Garden is very much a hidden jewel, and for many participants it was a first opportunity to enjoy the wonderful green space that is tucked away between Caroline Park House and Social Bite Village.
Following a delicious buffet lunch provided by North Edinburgh’s very own Empty Kitchens Full Hearts, Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden chairperson Gillean Paterson treated visitors to a tour of the near three-acre site – and there was a delight around every corner.
From flowers beds and vegetable patches to an impressive orchard stocked with a great variety of apple, damson and plum trees, the garden is a natural wonder, teeming with life. The walled garden is ablaze with colour, and this despite the fact that there is no electricity supply and no running water on-site!
Tended by a team of enthusiastic volunteers – I was given my own wee personal tour by one volunteer who has put his handyman and building skills to good use all over the site – the garden really is an amazing local success story.
The Garden Party was an opportunity for R2 member projects to network and share information, and – maybe it was the sunshine! – there seemed to be more positive news to share than has sometimes been the case in the past. We even had music!
Connections have been made with a number of local organisations who now use the garden space regularly, and I have no doubt many more will now be making a beeline down to Granton Castle Walled Garden again following the R2 visit!
For further information about Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden, visit their website or email grantongarden@gmail.com.
For further information about R2, email Anita at hello@R2.org.uk
Change for the better happens when people stand together and demand it. Scotland Demands Better is the march and rally for all of us.
On Saturday 25 October thousands will come together in Edinburgh to demand that politicians make the changes we need for a society where every household can thrive and prosper.
We’re holding a series of public meetings across the country, and we’ve just got dates for the first three – in Glasgow on 4 Sep, Edinburgh on 9 Sep, and Dundee on 11 Sep. We’ll be sharing further details on the Scotland Demands Better website in the coming days.
On the updated Scotland Demands Better website, you can also download our new toolkit, with lots of inspiration and ideas about how you can get involved and mobilise people in your communites. You can also order a Promo Pack, with posters, leaflets, badges, and stickers.
On Thursday 14 August at 1pm and then again at 7pm we’re hosting free online events where activists can join to talk about how the campaign is going so far, and how we can best organise transport to get people to Edinburgh on the day.
The Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics returns this August with a three-day programme of over 30 events, taking place in Holyrood, the home of Scottish politics between Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 August 2025.
BBC journalist Clive Myrie will appear as part of the line-up this year, in conversation with the Deputy Presiding Officer Liam McArthur MSP where he will discuss his incredible 30-year broadcasting career.
Professor Danny Dorling, renowned social geographer, will explore the impact of politics on the UK’s housing, education, poverty and inequality levels, and will offer robust solutions on how to address these challenges of our age.
In addition, our Festival programme features leading experts from the worlds of politics, the arts, business, the media and the third sector. With events on topics tackling some of the big issues facing Scotland, the UK and the world such as the use of AI, peace in the Middle East, how we tackle misogyny and our use of technology.
The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament the Rt Hon Alison Johnstone MSP said: “This year’s Festival promises lively debates, thought-provoking panels and inspiring voices tackling some of the most pressing social, political and environmental issues of our time.”
In addition, there is a lively free programme of entertainment, exhibitions and even a robot in the Festival Café Bar.
Members of the local community are invited to Queen Margaret University’s upcoming Community Forum on Wednesday 18 June 2025, from 6:30pm to 7:45pm, where attendees can learn more about the University’s efforts to support innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic growth across East Lothian.
Held twice a year, the Community Forum is a valuable opportunity for local residents and East Lothian representatives to engage directly with the University, share ideas, and explore areas of mutual interest.
This summer’s forum will take place at QMU’s Start-Up Studio, a new hub dedicated to nurturing entrepreneurial ambition. The Studio, which combines business support from Business Gateway and the new Bright Red Triangle service, provides expert advice, resources, and funding for students, staff, graduates and the local community to turn ideas into impactful services and ventures.
The evening will feature a short presentation from Carolyn Low, QMU’s Knowledge Exchange Manager, and Angela Lamont, East Lothian Council’s Community Wealth Building Officer.
They will highlight collaborative projects designed to stimulate local innovation and economic development as part of the East Lothian Community Wealth Building Charter – an initiative which aims to harness the collective economic and social influence of key institutions to benefit local communities.
In addition to exploring recent developments at QMU, the event will also include an open discussion where attendees are encouraged to share their perspectives on the University’s role in the community and how these relationships can be strengthened.
Jane Scott, Director of Marketing and Communications at QMU, said: “The Community Forum is an important space for dialogue.
“We’re eager to hear from our neighbours and share updates on some exciting developments at the University that we believe will positively impact the region.”
Queen Margaret University always welcomes new members of the community to join the Forum. Anyone interested in attending the summer Community Forum on 18 June should register by emailing marketing@qmu.ac.uk.
The full schedule for the event can be found in the events section of the QMU website:
A new report published by a Scottish Parliament committee is calling for a world-leading pilot project, which puts people at the heart of politics, to be made permanent.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee wants to see the Scottish Parliament continue its cutting-edge approach to embedding deliberative democracy in its work.
It follows the success of a series of ‘People’s Panels’ which brought together groups of randomly selected people, who reflect the makeup of the Scottish population, to learn about and discuss an issue, before making recommendations about what action should happen and how things should change to tackle it.
The Committee has published a plan as to how People’s Panels could be rolled out from the start of the new parliamentary term in 2026.
Committee Convener, Jackson Carlaw, MSP, said: “The idea that the people of Scotland can and should play an important role in the work of the Scottish Parliament forms part of its founding principles.
Engaging better with communities, particularly when understanding whether laws and policies that affect them are working properly, is essential.
“We have seen how people’s panels have positively impacted the work of committees by supporting their role scrutinising Scottish Government policy and driving recommendations for change.
“By giving committees access to this innovative tool, Parliament can better connect with individuals, groups and communities from every part of Scotland, building trust between the public and politics, and involving the public directly in the important issues of the day.”
The plan sets out proposals for four people’s panels to operate in the next session of the Scottish Parliament, one a year from 2027 to 2030. It also provides clear guidance and criteria for how and when a panel can be used, what the selection process should be and how committees use and respond to their work.
Impact of People’s Panels
The most recent People’s Panels took place in 2024 – one on climate change and the other looking at reducing drug harm and deaths.
These brought together two groups of approximately 25 randomly selected citizens who broadly reflected Scotland’s demographics across gender, age, region, ethnicity, disability and educational level. Tasked by committees to answer a question, they spent two weekends learning about the given topic, hearing from and questioning subject experts, before debating, deliberating and making informed recommendations to the relevant Scottish Parliament committee involved.
The Panels’ recommendations had a direct impact on scrutinising legislation and have since influenced policy, informed debates, and been used by MSPs suggesting amendments to legislation.
Of the 19 recommendations that were made by the People’s Panel on reducing drug harm and deaths, the Scottish Government accepted, either in full or in principle, the 18 recommendations directed at them. One recommendation was for further Parliamentary scrutiny focused on drug supply in the prison sector, which is being taken forward by the Criminal Justice Committee.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee’s recommendations are set to be debated by the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 3rd June.
Panel member quotes
Caroline Bunce from Renfrewshire took part in a People’s Panel set up to make recommendations to answer the question: ‘What does Scotland need to do differently to reduce drug related harms?’
She said: “For me, it felt that maybe the Government would listen to our recommendations as we were the spokespeople for the public and more help could be made available.
“I would strongly recommend anyone who is selected to go on a People’s Panel in the future to participate as it is a great experience and a unique opportunity.”
Gillian Ruane, from Dumfries, took part in a panel on Public Participation.
She said: “I was given the opportunity to participate in discussions and listen to various perspectives from a diverse group representing all of Scotland. Together, we made our recommendations as a group and its fantastic to be part of shaping decisions on public participation.
“I now know there is a difference between the Parliament and the Government. As citizens we have a lot more power than we believe we have. Parliament is held accountable by the citizens, and the government is held accountable by the parliament. It’s up to the individual to make their voice heard and make an impact.”
Former panel member, Alan Currie, from Glasgow, said: “The most valuable thing about the panel was to see my input and other citizens ideas from our deliberations with experts lead to meaningful contributions.
“It enabled all attendees, irrespective of background, an opportunity to contribute to the workings of the Parliament.”
The Edinburgh Partnership is conducting a review of how it supports and works with third sector organisations in Edinburgh.
The review into the relationship between the public sector and third sector in Edinburgh seeks to improve funding certainty in future years. This includes how grant funding and commissioning is delivered, how third sector organisations monitor and report on their work, and what in-kind support is provided.
Third sector organisations of all types – voluntary, social enterprises and charities – are being asked to share their views through the City of Edinburgh Council’s Consultation Hub survey or by attending a workshop.
The results will be reported to the Policy and Sustainability Committee in August.
Council Leader and Chair of the Edinburgh Partnership, Jane Meagher, said: “The third sector provides vital support to local communities, with many giving direct support to the most vulnerable in our city.
“We know that they, like the Council, are under significant financial pressure and that there needs to be longer-term change in how they are supported by us and our partners.
“We want to hear about how we can make it simpler, provide more stability, and work better together to help vulnerable people. You can share your views through the council’s consultation hub webpage, or by attending one of the workshops.”
Workshops run from Monday 19 May until Thursday 5 June. Details are available on the Consultation Hub and booking is required.
As part of the city’s commitment to help the sector, the council has dedicated £3.5m this year to help organisations impacted by unexpected loss of grant funding or reduced commissioning.
In a new report, the Committee said that draft legislation in the Scottish Parliament should generally set out a high degree of detail on the face of a bill to allow for proper democratic engagement by both stakeholders and parliamentarians.
The report comes as the Committee concludes an inquiry into how framework legislation and so-called Henry VIII powers are used in Scotland and elsewhere.
There is not a single, precise definition for framework legislation. The Committee described it as legislation which sets out the principles for a policy, but without substantial detail as to how it will be given practical effect. Instead, broad powers are given to ministers or others to fill in this detail at a later stage.
While there was a lot of consensus around what this sort of legislation is in practice, the Committee recognised that, within this description, there will be a spectrum of framework provision, grey areas, and scope for reasonable disagreement.
The Committee recognised the need for framework legislation in appropriate and very limited circumstances, mainly to allow for flexibility. Although each bill needs to be considered on its own merits, flexibility is more likely to be needed in areas which need to be updated frequently, in ways which cannot reasonably be foreseen.
The Committee found that any framework provisions should be as clear and as narrow in scope as possible. Where a bill proposes the delegation of a broad power, the Scottish Government should think about using an appropriate super-affirmative procedure to improve parliamentary scrutiny of how the power is used.
Considering the balance of evidence across jurisdictions, the Committee concluded it is likely the occurrence of framework legislation has increased since 1932 when the Report of the Donoughmore Committee on Ministers’ Powers was published, and that the trend seems to be accelerating.
Framework powers that allow flexibility “just in case” are unlikely to be considered appropriate, the Committee also found, and consultation and “co-design” on a bill’s provisions should take place before it is introduced to enable sufficient policy detail to be provided.
Stuart McMillan MSP, Convener of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, said: “Proper scrutiny is vital to the work of the Scottish Parliament to improve the quality of legislation and ensure that laws are well considered and effective.
“Our Committee agreed that, where possible, parliamentarians and stakeholders should be able to engage with solid proposals to make it easier for them to consider the impact of legislation, set out views or advocate for a particular outcome.
“Where a framework approach is being taken, we see it as essential that a full justification is given at the bill’s introduction as to why the framework provision is appropriate in the circumstances.
“We hope our report is useful, by sharing our views on how to strengthen the scrutiny of primary legislation that delegates framework powers, and the secondary legislation made under them.
“We are keen to hear the Scottish Government’s response to our report.”
As part of its inquiry, the Committee was also interested in hearing views of how Henry VIII powers are used. These powers allow Ministers to amend primary legislation by secondary legislation
The Committee concluded that Henry VIII powers can be a necessary, efficient tool when used suitably but should be appropriately limited in scope.
The city council’s Governance Team has announced that the date for the second call for nominations for community councils who received insufficient elected member nominations has been amended.
Nominations will now open on 27 March 2025 and will close at 4pm on 17 April 2025. This is to avoid the nomination period being open over 2 public holidays and to ensure officers are available to support candidates with any enquiries.
The formal notice will be published on the Council’s website in due course.
The 8 community councils who did not receive sufficient valid nominations to establish were:
• Craigmillar
• Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes
• Firrhill
• Hutchison / Chesser
• Muirhouse/ Salvesen
• Old Town
• Portobello
• West Pilton/ West Granton.
The new dates have been updated on our CC webpages.
The Declaration of Results includes the names of all successful elected members who will be duly elected to community councils when the new term commences from 28 March 2025.
An update which includes details on the number of valid nominations received for each community council and the number of valid Local Interest Group nominations can be found below.
When nominations closed, 39 community councils received sufficient valid nominations to establish.
Insufficient nominations were received to establish 8 community councils:
Craigmillar
Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes
Firrhill
Hutchison / Chesser
Muirhouse/ Salvesen
Old Town
Portobello
West Pilton/ West Granton
A second call for nominations will be issued for the 8 community councils who did not achieve sufficient nominations to establish. Nominations will open on 31 March 2025 and will close at 4pm on 21 April 2025.
The city council’s webpages will be updated in due course with further information.
