The City of Edinburgh Council is being ripped off to the tune of £42 million as they continue to pay for wretched PFI contracts – eating in to vital council education spending.
Research from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has found that the amount being forked out by City of Edinburgh Council is 11% of its education resource funding, meaning millions are being wasted on the contracts.
PFI contracts were introduced by the Tories and adopted by Labour during their time at the helm of the Scottish Government.
Gordon Macdonald MSP said: “The rotten PFI contracts were introduced by the Tories but supercharged by the Labour-led Scottish Government and unnecessarily cost councils across Scotland, including Edinburgh.
“It is incredible that the lasting legacy of Labour governments continues to be felt as schools’ budgets are eaten up significantly by these shameful contracts.
“The SNP scrapped PFI contracts, meaning that money can be spent on Scotland’s young people and not on absurdly expensive contracts.
“This demonstrates how we still cannot trust Labour with the public purse in Scotland as we continue to pay for their disastrous decisions in government.”
Net revenue expenditure on education services and schools PFI unitary charges (£m) in 2019/20
Education Services (£m)
PFI unitary charges (£m)
PFI unitary charges as a % of education expenditure
Hot on the heels of COP26, the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy & Transport Committee has launched an inquiry that will explore the role of local government and its partners – private and voluntary sectors, social enterprises, and local communities – in both financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland.
MSPs will consider what councils and partners are doing practically to help reach the targets, what skillsets are being used, and what barriers are in their way. They will also probe how councils leverage in capacity and finance from the private sector and look for examples of effective partnership working that is delivering net zero.
The inquiry will focus particularly on the ambitious target of 75% overall reduction in carbon emissions to be met by 2030 (against baselines set in 1990 and 1995).
Speaking as the inquiry was launched, Committee Convener, Dean Lockhart MSP, said: “COP 26 has underlined that government at every level has a role to play in addressing climate change. In Scotland, local government powers span everything from encouraging active travel, to deciding what sort of homes get built in communities, to promoting recycling and a circular economy.
“To get results, local government must partner effectively with business, the voluntary sector and local communities themselves. This is why we want this to be a hands-on inquiry, focusing on the strengths of those relationships and practical steps being taken.
“We need to understand how council budgets are being used to drive action on net zero and how well they are leveraging in skills and private finance. And we need to understand what role the Scottish Government can play to support and – where necessary – to challenge local government to play a full role in the flight against climate change. ”
The Committee has launched a survey looking for views which closes on Friday 21 January 2022.
Councils will be given powers to ensure short-term lets are safe and meet the needs of their local communities under legislation laid before the Scottish Parliament.
Under the legislation, all local authorities will be required to establish a short-term lets licensing scheme by October 2022. Existing hosts and operators will have until 1 April 2023 to apply for a licence for each property that they operate as a short-term let. All short-term lets in Scotland will have to be licensed by 1 July 2024.
The legislation was developed after residents across Scotland raised significant concerns about the impact of short-term lets on their communities, including noise, antisocial behaviour and the impact on the supply on housing in some areas.
It will ensure the needs and concerns of communities are balanced with wider economic and tourism interests.
Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: “We have already introduced legislation allowing councils to establish short-term let control areas and manage numbers of short-term lets. This is the next significant step to delivering a licensing scheme that will ensure short-term lets are safe and the people providing them are suitable.
“We want short term lets to continue making a positive impact on Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies while meeting the needs of local communities.
“Short-term lets can offer people a flexible travel option. However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hotspots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in.
“The licensing scheme and control area legislation give councils the powers to take action where they need to.
“We appreciate the input from tourism bodies, local government, community organisations and others in reaching this point, and look forward to delivering a short-term lets licensing scheme that works for Scotland.”
Further information on the Scottish Government’s short-term lets legislation is available online.
The Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee is calling for comprehensive reforms to be made in the justice system, as well as more money for the sector, ahead of the Scottish Government’s budget next month.
After considering the financial position of the sector, the Committee has concluded that many of the budget challenges in the justice system are symptoms of wider problems that have not been significantly addressed over many years.
While it believes there is a need for greater investment, connected problems such as court backlogs, high numbers of remand prisoners, and overcrowded, outdated jails with ‘revolving doors’ and issues with drugs deaths need to be tackled together with policy-based solutions, as well as adequate funding.
The Committee is calling for joined-up, long-term plans, led by the Scottish Government, and incorporating all the main justice partners to try to address issues including:
• The huge court backlog of around 50,000 cases made worse by the pandemic; • The size of the prison population, including the number of women in jail and remand prisoners; • Improving the prison estate; • Issues in prison such as drug misuse, prisoner and staff welfare, and managing serious organised crime groups inside; • The need for investment in police and fire services; • Issues in the legal aid system; • Support for victims and community justice schemes.
The Committee has suggested that spending on areas such as:
• effective diversion from prosecution or diversion from incarceration schemes for cases where those are appropriate, • drug recovery cafés in prisons, and • Throughcare for those leaving prison,
may all help ease pressures in the system, and in time reduce the overall budgetary challenges for the justice sector.
Speaking as the report was launched, Committee Convener, Audrey Nicoll MSP, said:“We believe that there is a case for further spending to support the justice system to meet the many challenges it is facing.
“However, we recognise that money is not unlimited, and that some of the seemingly intractable issues faced by our courts, prisons and other justice partners will not be fixed simply by loosening the purse strings.
“We believe joined up actions, achieving long term goals such as reducing reoffending, could prove transformational. This would improve outcomes for society as well as the budget for the sector.”
The Scottish Parliament’s Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee is beginning an inquiry looking at the Scottish Government’s use of emergency regulation making powers.
The regulation making power, known as the ‘made affirmative procedure’, has been used over 100 times by the Scottish Government since the start of the pandemic. While the legal mechanism existed before, it was only used a handful of times in a year.
The made affirmative procedure means that legal changes come into force before MSPs have a chance to look at or vote on them, allowing the Government to act quickly. The Parliament does however need to approve the changes within 28 days for the law to stay in force.
The Parliament gave the Scottish Government more ability to use these powers in the Coronavirus Acts, originally passed in April and May 2020. The UK Coronavirus Act also allows for the procedure to be used in the UK Parliament and devolved legislatures.
The committee hopes to help the Parliament ensure an appropriate balance between flexibility for the Government in responding to an emergency situation while still ensuring proper parliamentary scrutiny and oversight.
Committee Convener, Stuart McMillan MSP, said:“There are good public health reasons to ensure the Scottish Government can act quickly to keep people safe. The Committee recognises that use of the made affirmative procedure has allowed the Scottish Government to respond quickly to the many challenges presented by the pandemic.
“But our Committee wants to ensure the power to do so is used appropriately and necessarily.
“Whenever possible, MSPs should have proper opportunities for oversight, and the public have opportunities to engage and comment on proposals before they come into force. This is a cornerstone of our democracy in Scotland.
“We will consider how the power is currently being used by the Scottish Government and make any recommendations for changes we find necessary.”
Soaring rents across Lothian demonstrate the need for a system of rent controls to be introduced, according to Scottish Greens Lothian MSP, Lorna Slater.
New government statistics published this week show that between 2010 and 2021 the average rent for a 2 bedroom property in Lothian increased by 41.7%. This is the biggest increase anywhere in Scotland.
The cooperation agreement between the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Government includes a commitment to introduce a new national system of rent controls. This will be part of a package of enhanced rights for tenants.
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Commenting, Lorna Slater MSP said:“Over the past decade, far too many tenants in Lothian and across the country have faced extreme rent rises.
“We simply cannot leave something as fundamental as people’s homes to market forces. I’m proud that with Greens in Government we will bring rent controls to Scotland as part of a fair deal for renters.”
Policies governing the development of Scotland’s cities, towns and rural areas until 2045 are to be scrutinised across several Scottish Parliament committees.
The fourth National Planning Framework sets out the Scottish Government’s strategy for Scotland’s long-term development and a series of national planning policies, which will guide decisions on every application for planning permission submitted in Scotland. It also identifies 18 “national developments”, intended to support the delivery of the strategy.
Now, for the first time this session of Parliament, a number of Parliament committees will work together to scrutinise the proposals. They want to hear from you about how communities should be planned, with a view to tackling major issues such as the climate emergency and nature crisis, while supporting community wealth building and wider sustainable economic growth.
This includes hearing about what your ideal community would look like, how public and open space can be used to stay healthy, and how we can future proof our places while supporting recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Ariane Burgess MSP – Green
Speaking as the Committees launched their scrutiny, the Convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, Ariane Burgess MSP said: “The National Planning Framework aims to have a huge impact on the way we live in Scotland.
“This ambition is clearly to be welcomed. But it is important we take the time to ensure these bold claims can be realised and that the people of Scotland have the opportunity to get involved in the proposed transformational change in how we live and work.”
The Convener continued: “The Framework is wide ranging and detailed and it is important that the Parliament has the chance to scrutinise this fully.
“To do this, this work will take place across a number of Parliament committees. Each of these committees will use their expertise and knowledge to assess the practical impacts of the Framework as well as how this could be improved to ensure real, lasting and meaningful change.”
The next steps in creating a circular economy in Scotland have been announced today, as Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater provided an update to parliament.
Actions include the appointment of waste and sustainability expert Dr Colin Church as the independent chair of the review into the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy in Scotland.
To support the review, which forms part of the cooperation deal with the Scottish Green Party, the Minister announced that planning authorities must now notify Scottish Ministers of any applications or decisions involving incineration facilities, until the end of the review period.
The Minister also announced the first round of funding through the Scottish Government’s £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund.
Over £7 million has been awarded to seven local authorities to increase recycling, while preparing for future developments, including Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.
The Minister provided an update on the delivery of the scheme, noting the challenges posed by Brexit, the pandemic, and a lack of clarity from UK Government on the VAT treatment of deposits.
Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said: “A circular economy is at the heart of Scotland’s response to the climate emergency and will help dramatically reduce the amount of waste generated in Scotland.
“We must also find better ways to deal with the waste our economy is currently creating. That’s why I’m pleased that Dr Colin Church will bring his wealth of experience from across the waste and environmental sectors to our review on the role of incineration.
“To make sure that any plans are closely monitored while the review is ongoing, we have issued a temporary notification direction today. This will ensure that Ministers are abreast of any new planning applications or planning decisions relating to incinerators. It is temporary and does not in any way pre-empt the outcome of the review.
“We’re also taking action to transform recycling in Scotland. Our Recycling Improvement Fund will deliver one of the biggest investments in recycling in Scotland in a generation. It will make it easier for households to recycle more, and help to deliver the rates of recycling needed to meet Scotland’s ambitious climate targets.
“We are committed to introducing the UK’s first deposit return scheme, helping to increase recycling, reduce littering, and meet our climate targets. While the scheme has been impacted by Brexit and a global pandemic, we are working intensively with Circularity Scotland and industry to make sure it is delivered effectively.”
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the 16th November in the Scottish Parliament:
Presiding Officer,
On Saturday, COP26 concluded with 197 countries adopting the Glasgow Climate Pact.
Today, I will report briefly on the Scottish Government’s activities during COP and offer our preliminary view on the agreement.
Firstly though, I want to record my gratitude to all those who helped ensure that the hosting of the summit was a success.
COP26 was one of the most important events ever held in Scotland – and also one of the largest.
More than 40,000 people registered to attend – a higher number than for any of the previous 25 COPs.
In addition, tens of thousands of activists visited the city.
Some inconvenience was inevitable from an event of that scale and I know the city did experience disruption.
But the warmth and the enthusiasm of Glasgow’s welcome was praised by every international visitor I met.
So my first and very heartfelt thank you today is to the people of Glasgow.
I also want to thank the Scottish Events Campus, Glasgow City Council, all volunteers, and partners across the public and private sectors whose hard work made the event possible.
My thanks go also to the United Nations and in particular to the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa.
The UK COP president, Alok Sharma, also deserves huge credit. He and his team worked tirelessly to secure the best possible outcome. I am also grateful to them for keeping me well briefed throughout the negotiations.
Finally, peaceful protest is vital at any COP.
It keeps pressure on negotiators and reminds those inside the blue zone of the vital job they are there to do.
Over the course of the two week event, more than 400 protests were staged across Glasgow.
That there were fewer than 100 arrests in total is a real credit to protestors, but also to Police Scotland.
COP 26 has been the biggest policing operation ever undertaken in the UK and I want to pay tribute to the Chief Constable and to all officers, from forces across the UK, who worked under his command, for the highly professional manner in which that operation was conducted.
Over these past two weeks, the eyes of the world have been firmly on Scotland and we have shown the best of our country to the world.
Amongst the almost 500 meetings, events and other engagements undertaken by Ministers – including almost 100 that I undertook personally – many were with businesses and potential investors in green innovation.
We also took the opportunity to strengthen our bilateral relationships with a number of countries and regions across the world.
As well as showcasing the country, of course the Scottish Government also set clear objectives for our participation in COP itself.
Firstly, we aimed to amplify voices that are too rarely heard in discussions of these type – for example, of young people, women and those from the global south – and we sought to be a bridge between these groups and the decision makers around the negotiating table.
To that end, we funded the Conference of Youth when the UK government opted not to.
We supported the Glasgow Climate Dialogues to give a platform to voices from developing and vulnerable countries.
And, in partnership with UN Women, we launched the Glasgow Women’s Leadership Statement on gender equality and climate change.
I was joined for the launch of that statement by the leaders of Bangladesh, Tanzania and Estonia, and the statement has now already been signed by more than 20 countries.
We also endorsed the UNICEF declaration on children, youth and climate action.
Second, we worked hard to ensure that cities, states, regions and devolved governments played our full part in securing progress.
Scotland is currently the European co-chair of the Under2 Coalition, which held its General Assembly during COP.
More than 200 state, regional and devolved governments are now members of the Under 2 Coalition.
Collectively, and very significantly we represent almost 2 billion people and account for half of global GDP.
In the run up to COP, the Coalition sought to maximize that influence by launching a new memorandum of understanding, committing members to reach net zero by 2050 at the latest and for individual members to reach it earlier if possible. 28 governments have already signed up and we are actively encouraging others to do so.
Finally, more than 200 cities and states have now signed up to the Edinburgh declaration on biodiversity. That represents really welcome progress as we look ahead to the biodiversity COP next year.
Our third objective was to use COP to challenge ourselves to go further and faster in our own journey to net zero.
That is why I chose – as my first engagement at COP – to meet with climate activists Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg.
It is also why we have moved away from our previous commitment to maximum economic recovery of oil and gas and have embarked on discussions with the new Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.
We also published additional detail on our policy ambitions for onshore and offshore wind, and launched a new Hydrogen strategy, and a £55 million Nature Restoration Fund.
We published a new planning framework with climate action at its heart.
And we promoted our Green Investment portfolio to a range of businesses and investors.
We also launched the Blue Carbon International Policy Challenge; supported international agreements on low carbon transportation and reducing agricultural emissions; and signed new Memorandums of Understanding on heat with Denmark, and on peatlands with Chile. A full list of these initiatives and of the ten international agreements we signed will be placed in SPICE later this week.
Of course, our most important objective was to use our engagement, influence and interaction to push for an international agreement that would live up to the urgency of the climate emergency.
We wanted to see action to limit global warning to 1.5°C – and, as a minimum, a tangible mechanism to keep 1.5 alive.
We wanted the $100 billion of finance, promised by the global north to developing nations 12 years ago, to be delivered.
And we wanted to see the developed world recognise its obligation to help developing countries pay for loss and damage they are already suffering as a result of the climate change they have done so little to cause.
The Glasgow Climate Pact does represent progress on many of these issues – but it must now be built on and built on quickly if climate catastrophe is to be avoided.
It is important that the necessity of capping temperature increases at 1.5 degrees is no longer questioned.
However, the world is still on a path to temperature increases of well over 2 degrees – a death sentence for many parts of the world. To keep 1.5 degrees in reach, global emissions must be almost halved by the end of this decade.
So the requirement for countries to come back next year with substantially increased nationally determined contributions is vital.
Finance is crucial to faster progress.
I welcome the aim of doubling finance for adaptation by 2025, and the commitment to a longer term finance goal. But it is utterly shameful that the developed world could not deliver the $100bn of funding promised in 2009, by the 2020 deadline – or even by 2021.
This COP also delivered significant commitments on methane and deforestation. And for the first time – albeit in language watered down in the final moments – a COP cover text has agreed the need to move away from fossil fuels.
In the run up to COP – and as a result of what we heard during the Glasgow Climate Dialogues – the Scottish Government decided to champion the issue of loss and damage.
Two weeks ago we became the first developed country in the world to make a commitment to support countries experiencing loss and damage. I’m delighted that our commitment has since been supplemented by Wallonia, and by a contribution from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.
The final position agreed at Glasgow represents progress in recognizing the loss and damage that the climate crisis created by developed nations, is already causing in developing nations – but it does not go nearly far enough.
I particularly regret the decision by some developed nations to block the establishment of a Glasgow Financial Facility on Loss and Damage.
Over the weekend I met with Dr Saleemul Huq, one of the leading campaigners on this issue and pledged that the Scottish Government will continue to work with him and others to build the case on loss and damage ahead of COP27 in Egypt.
Loss and damage was an example of Scotland’s leadership during this COP.
But ultimately Scotland can only lead and speak with credibility, if we deliver our own net zero targets.
As I reflect on the past two weeks, I feel pride in the leadership that Scotland has shown and been recognised for widely.
However, I also feel a renewed sense of responsibility to go further and faster, to face up to tough challenges as well as the relatively easy options, and to help raise the bar of world leadership more generally.
And so our focus in the months and years ahead will be firmly on delivery.
Presiding Officer,
This decade will be the most important in human history.
The actions we take between now and 2030 that will determine whether or not we bequeath a sustainable and habitable planet to those who come after us.
The stakes could not be higher – and so I absolutely understand why many are angry and frustrated that more progress was not made in Glasgow.
However the Glasgow Climate Pact does provide a basis for further action. The key test will be whether it is implemented fully and with the required urgency.
That is what all of us must focus our efforts on between now and COP27 and then beyond.
Scotland will continue, I’m sure, to play our full part.
While we can be proud of the part we played at COP26, our responsibility now is to ensure that future generations will look back and be proud of the actions we take in the months and years ahead.
An inquiry has been launched into the health and wellbeing of children and young people by a Scottish Parliament Committee.
The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is seeking to find out the key issues around health and wellbeing for children and young people in Scotland. They will investigate what the challenges and opportunities are for improving their health and wellbeing, and how addressing poverty can lead to improved health and social care outcomes.
The inquiry will focus on 4 key areas:
• Child poverty (including the Scottish Government’s current child poverty delivery plan), inequality and adverse childhood experiences; • Issues affecting care experienced young people; • Mental health, access to Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the importance of early intervention; • Health and wellbeing in schools
Speaking as the inquiry launched, Gillian Martin MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said: “There are a whole host of factors which impact the health and wellbeing of our children and young people, and our Committee will consider these in detail.
“The physical and mental toll of the pandemic on children and young people cannot be overstated and we know that prior to this pandemic there was already a high and increasing demand for youth mental health services in Scotland.
“As we emerge from the pandemic and with the Scottish Government’s current child poverty delivery plan due to run until 2022, our inquiry comes at a pivotal time. We are determined to find out how children and young people can best be supported to live healthy and flourishing lives.”
