The City of Edinburgh Council is asking tenants to give their feedback on how it invests in Council homes, neighbourhoods, and services.
With just six weeks to go until this year’s consultation closes on Friday 29 November, tenants across the capital are being reminded to share their views on how they’d like their rent to be spent.
In February this year, councillors agreed to increase rent by 7% every year, for five years, starting in April 2024. The longer-term strategy gives tenants more certainty about the rent they pay and helps the Council better plan spending to improve homes and services.
The Council also introduced the Tenant Hardship Fund which offers financial assistance for tenants struggling to make rent payments. This year, the fund was increased to a maximum award of two fortnightly rent charges per tenant per year.
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Jane Meagher said:“We’re determined to provide a better service to our tenants, improve their homes, and build more places for people to live because everyone deserves a suitable and affordable place to call home.
“That’s why we want to make sure as many people as possible have the opportunity to share their views on how we spend and invest in their homes, neighbourhoods, and services. I’d urge every tenant to visit our website and share their priorities for how they’d like their rent to be spent.
“I also want tenants and residents’ groups to know that they can come to us if they’re worried about being able to pay their rent or have already missed payments.”
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is undertaking its biggest feedback drive in years following the conclusion of the 2022 festival. With the return of artists and audiences on a scale not seen since before the pandemic, there was heightened interest across a range of areas last August.
As the festival joins other global cultural events on the road to recovery, the Society team are seeking input from a wide range of Fringe constituents as it looks to address the key challenges and opportunities ahead.
Seeking input from artists, audiences, venues, producers, workers, community groups arts industry delegates, and those with access needs; over the next fortnight the Fringe Society will be inviting insight and detail on a range of topics.
From the recent Fringe experience to accommodation costs, barriers to participation, and the work of the Fringe Society, the detailed surveys will provide data to support the team on convening the right partners to address these issues.
The results of this consultation process will feed into work being undertaken following the launch of the new Fringe development goals last June. In consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, the six goals set out to develop a Fringe which has thriving artists, supports fair work, removes barriers, creates a sense of good citizenship, supports net zero ambitions and ensures a world-class digital experience.
In taking the opportunity to learn from everyone’s experience of the 2022 Fringe, the Fringe Society will use this data to bring together the right people and partnerships to work towards solutions, and advocate for greater support to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Fringe.
Shona McCarthy, CEO of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: “This year’s Festival was the first step on the road to recovery and we know the biggest challenge is the next 3 years.
“It’s important that we gather evidence and case studies from our Fringe participants so that we can ensure the Society is armed with the facts and best equipped to make the case for where improvements can be made in advance of Fringe 2023.
“We encourage everyone to take time to complete the survey specific to them and to provide as much information as they can.”
The leading Scottish care home group is undertaking a full review of culture across the organisation after two years of care staff fighting at the front line against the pandemic
Leading Scottish care home group, Renaissance Care, has implemented a full review with its staff across each of its 16 homes to overhaul the traditional operations across the care home sector.
Following interviews with staff across all levels, the group, which employs 1,200 people across the country, is reviewing the culture, working practice, and its health and wellbeing offering across the board, as it responds to rising resignations of care staff across the industry on the back of the pandemic.
Staff across the homes will now be offered a range of new benefits including flexible working, a pay review across all roles, and a health and wellbeing package.
In response to feedback around long shifts within the care sector, which have historically been 12 hour shifts as industry standard, Renaissance Care will now offer staff a flexible working pattern based on their individual requirements.
The move means that those who want to change shifts around childcare commitments, or want to cut down on long shift times can do so, while office staff will have the option to move to a four-day working week.
The group will also implement a minimum 5% pay increase for all staff and has committed to becoming a Scottish Living Wage Employer.
In line with the review, the care group is also undergoing a project to promote inclusivity and security among its workforce.
It has committed to supplying sanitary items for female staff in all of its facilities, as well as becoming a menopause-friendly workplace with plans to roll out training for staff later this year, and is ensuring an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ staff and residents with an understanding that identities can be complex.
The home will also introduce a health and wellbeing package which includes free access to danceSing for all staff members – encouraging health and wellbeing through fitness classes with a saving of £400 per year for each individual. It is also to invest in upgrades to the staff rooms in each home to ensure its care teams have a space that promotes a positive culture throughout shifts.
In addition, the care home operator is currently investing £500k on its operational management and accounting systems to improve administrative processing for all staff as it responds to feedback about time spent on paperwork throughout shifts.
Louise Barnett, managing director at Renaissance Care, said:“It is absolutely clear that staff retention and recruitment across the care industry is a massive issue on the back of the pandemic. It comes as no shock that staff, who have had an incredibly difficult two years looking after our most vulnerable in society, would consider changing careers.
“For most organisations, people are at the heart of the business, but within the care sector it is no exaggeration that staff play the most crucial role in ensuring that elderly residents receive care that goes above and beyond, and we see time and time again the difference that our teams make to peoples’ lives.
“Operationally, the care sector has always functioned in a certain way but now, as we begin to recover from the pandemic, it is time to turn it on its head and set a high benchmark for what the industry will look like for years to come. We need to modernise the offering for care staff and ensure that they can remain dedicated to delivering the best quality care while having a work life balance that allows a career around family and personal life.”
Robert Kilgour, executive chairman of Renaissance Care, has been a consistent industry voice throughout the pandemic, calling for more support for care homes across the country.
Last year, he spearheaded a group of the country’s leading care home operators who joined forces to help uncover answers to the many questions around the handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland.
Robert Kilgour, executive chairman of Renaissance Care, said:“The last two years have been an incredibly tough time for residents, families and hard-working team members in care homes across the country and it is important to us that we provide the best possible care and facilities for our people.
“Despite all that we have been through since the start of the pandemic, we remain very positive about the direction of the business and at the heart of our plans for recovery is our people.
“We are investing, developing and working alongside our team, ensuring that we can attract and retain the very best of talent to perpetuate a person-centred approach across each of our homes for staff, as well as residents.”
Renaissance Care has a strong people service strategy which focuses on learning and development for individual staff members, as well as onus on creating a person-centred culture of inclusivity and care.
The latest version of the largest student feedback survey in the world revealed an overall satisfaction level of 86 per cent at the University – up seven per cent on last year and well above the UK benchmark of 81 per cent.
Satisfaction levels among students rose in all six of the University’s Schools; Applied Sciences (84 to 86 per cent), Arts & Creative Industries (84 to 94), Computing (81 to 85), Engineering & the Built Environment (78 to 79), Health & Social Care (67 to 81) and the Business School (84 to 87).
Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “I am delighted with this year’s student survey results, a clean sweep of improvement, and one that makes us the top university in Edinburgh for overall student satisfaction.
“These results are thanks to all the commitment, hard work and efforts made by staff over the last twelve months and I want to thank all the teams from across the University for playing their part. To have their work recognised in this way by our students is heart-warming.”
The survey revealed high levels of satisfaction with the quality of their course among students studying at Scottish universities.
This year’s results show that overall satisfaction with courses in Scotland has improved by one per cent since 2019 and now stands at 85 per cent for full-time students. 86 per cent of part-time students in Scotland are satisfied with their course. The figure is above the UK average of 83 per cent, which is the down from 84 per cent last year.
The NSS is carried out by the Office for Students (OfS) on behalf of the UK funding bodies. As well as capturing student views on the overall quality of their undergraduate degree, the survey gathers students’ responses to a series of questions relating to academic support, learning resources, teaching, management and assessment.
Every university in the UK participates in the survey, including some colleges and alternative providers. This year, the response rate was 68.6 per cent and a total of 311,432 students across the UK took part.
Organisers have revealed that the following projects will receive a funding award following the £eith Chooses 2019 participatory budgeting public vote event on 23 February:Continue reading £eith has chosen
