BOYACK: ‘Delayed discharge is piling pressure on our hospitals’
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack has warned that delayed discharge in Lothian is “piling pressure on hospitals” as a new report reveals the issue cost NHS Lothian more that £28million in 2022/23.
Delayed discharge figures monitor the number of days patients spend in hospital despite being fit to leave, typically because of a lack of social care services in their area.
Over the course of the year, a total of 97,118 bed days in NHS Lothian were lost to delayed discharge, as rates across Scotland hit a record high.
This includes 70,208 bed days in the City of Edinburgh.
Analysis by Scottish Labour has revealed that the approximate cost of delayed discharge to NHS Lothian in 2022/23 was an eye-watering £28,368,168.
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “Delayed discharge in Edinburgh is piling pressure on our hospitals and threatening patients’ recovery.
“Our NHS is at breaking point and every penny matters, and it is a scandal that NHS Lothian has been forced to foot a £28million bill for SNP incompetence.
“Social care in Edinburgh and the Lothian is crying out for help, but the SNP’s botched National Care Service plans will do nothing but centralise local services.
“It is high time for the Scottish Government to step up and provide unwavering support for our social care services and increase pay for the sector’s dedicated workers, so no-one is left languishing in hospital waiting for a care package.”
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack has warned that SNP mismanagement has left policing in Edinburgh at breaking point as new figures reveal the majority of housebreakings go unsolved.
Latest recorded crime statistics show that in 2022-23 there were 1449 housebreakings recorded in the City of Edinburgh. In the same year a shocking 80 per cent of housebreakings were not cleared up.
A crime or offence is regarded as “cleared up” where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law to justify consideration of criminal proceedings – meaning the majority of housebreakings in Edinburgh have gone unsolved.
Labour MSP Sarah Boyack has said these figures expose the pressure policing in the City of Edinburgh is under, and warned the SNP-Green government against cuts in the area.
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “The revelation that 8 out of 10 housebreakings in Edinburgh remain unsolved is nothing short of a disgrace.
“These shocking figures reveal the pressure police in Edinburgh are under, with years of SNP mismanagement pushing services to breaking point.
“Housebreaking can cause its victims both financial loss and serious distress, and it will add insult to injury that so many perpetrators get off scot-free.
“It is high time for our government to prioritise public safety, allocate adequate funding, and ensure that police have the resources they need to tackle crime and keep our city safe.
The first panel included Brian Davey and Emma Swift from the Improvement Service (IS), which provides resources and support to community councillors and Community Council Liaison Officers (CCLOs), alongside Dr Oliver Escobar from the University of Edinburgh and Andrew Paterson from Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).
Jackie Weaver, who became a household name during the pandemic thanks to her firm handling of a contentious parish council meeting, was also on the panel to provide insight on the significant differences between Community Councils in Scotland and Town and Parish Councils in England, where she works for the Cheshire Association of Local Councils.
Community Councils vs Town and Parish Councils
Committee convener Arianne Burgess MSP got the ball rolling with a question about the strengths of Community Councils and what role they could play in democratic renewal at a local level.
Dr Escobar highlighted the important role that Community Councils can play at the heart of their communities, despite having to work in difficult circumstances, while Emma Swift from the IS mentioned the vital support that many Community Councils provided during the pandemic – and how that resilience work has continued to address other challenges.
The committee was particularly interested in the differences between Community Councils in Scotland and the Town and Parish Council system in England, and Jackie Weaver was able to explain in some detail how the system differs north and south of the border:
“Over my 25-year career, there has been an enormous change in England. Twenty-five years ago, our town and parish councils were very much like your community councils except that they had tax raising powers, although they did not do very much with them.
“We have seen central government funding for our principal authorities in England reduce dramatically and we have seen town and parish councils stepping up and filling the gaps.
“The assumption is that anybody trying to raise money by tax will be attacked: nobody likes paying tax. One of the unique points about a town or parish council, however, is that you can see that every penny that is raised is spent locally.
“The other thing that we are able to do is borrow money. We have a number of councils that take on large infrastructure projects. Clearly, if you are a parish council with perhaps 10,000 electors, you will not be able to raise half a million pounds just through your council tax without it having a serious impact on a household’s budget. We are able to borrow money and we are seeing an increase in the amount of money that our town and parish councils are borrowing to deliver serious infrastructure.
“One of the things that is absolutely essential for us to succeed as a movement is proper support. We have 10,000 parish councils and an army of about 7,500 clerks who manage those. We provide support, advice, guidance, help and so on to about 240 parish councils in Cheshire, and that costs our principal authorities £7,000 a year. We are talking peanuts, but what it delivers on the ground because of the way that we work is something really exceptional.”
Legal status of Community Councils
Ivan McKee MSP raised questions about how Community Councils are perceived, given the differences in how they operate across the country and even within local authority areas.
Dr Escobar spoke about how difficult it can be for Community Councils to operate effectively because they simply do not have the powers to carry out many of the activities which are needed in their local area. This can make it difficult to recruit new community councillors, which means that Community Councils are often not representative of the communities they serve.
There are, however, very clear legal reasons why Community Councils are unable to provide some of the same services as Town and Parish Councils, as Emma Swift explained:
“The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 created community councils as unincorporated bodies, which is why they cannot do community asset transfers. It also excludes them from some funding applications. The conditions of funding applications sometimes say, “You must be an incorporated body”.
“There are things such as local place plans that they can get involved in and use to create ideas about what they want in their local community, with the idea that the local authority can then take some of those ideas forward. However, they are always reliant on other people to take those ideas forward because of the restrictions that have been placed on them right from the start.”
Planning and Community Engagement
Willie Coffey MSP raised the issue of planning, and particularly whether Community Councils have access to the proper expertise and resources to help them navigate the planning system.
Dr Escobar highlighted the survey of community councillors from 2019, in which most respondents identified public and community engagement as the area in which they wanted more support.
Emma Swift spoke about the partnership between the Improvement Service and the Open University, which provides free access to online courses in a range of relevant skills for community councillors, as well as the partnerships we have developed with other organisations such as Sustrans, Scottish Tech Army and Geoxphere to share their existing resources and tools with Community Councils.
Parish and Town Councils also have a role in the planning process, but Jackie Weaver warned against creating “an army of new planners”; community councillors need to be able to navigate and understand the system, but don’t need to become experts in planning to do that.
Mark Griffin MSP asked about community engagement, and how Community Councils ensure that their views are representative and not just that of individual members.
Dr Escobar referred back to his point about Community Councils needing to be representative to give them legitimacy, and went on to speak about the difficult position that Community Councils find themselves in and how this could be resolved:
“We have had Community Councils for 50 years and, although we need to celebrate the achievement, I think that the time has come to either reform or rebuild.
“We could reform Community Councils so that we have one of the most decentralised systems of governance, as we should do if we want to tackle issues locally and nationally. Alternatively, we could rebuild them. We could just start again if people do not want to reform them as they are.
“However, that reform is not just about Community Councils. If you think carefully and place Community Councils on a map and see the connections that they have to community planning partnerships, local government, health and social care integration boards, third sector interfaces and the planning process, you realise that, if you had highly functioning, dynamic, participative and inclusive Community Councils, you could unlock a lot of potential in those systems of local government that do not work well at the moment.
“It is not a silver bullet, but it is not far from it if we bite the bullet and do that reform.”
Community Empowerment Act
Miles Briggs MSP asked about the impact of the Community Empowerment Act, which Emma Swift pointed out is a mixed bag for Community Councils because of their unincorporated status; some parts of the legislation apply to Community Councils, while other sections require the work to be taken forward by development trusts or SCIOs (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations).
The panel then made their concluding remarks, including the importance of involving Community Councils themselves in any local democracy discussions and consultation.
Dr Escobar summed up his thoughts on the way forward for Community Councils: “My main concluding point is to say that surely the time has come – we have got to do this.
“Some people might ask whether we should spend time on such reform and whether people care about it. People care about having better places to live in, having better local services, improving their life condition and addressing things such as the cost of living crisis. All those things require a vibrant combination of local institutions that can make things happen.
“Community councils have to be part of that, and they have been part of that in many places. We need to learn and to go for the reform. The problem is not about knowing what to do but about knowing how to do it.”
The second panel featured community councillors from across Scotland, with representatives from Moray, West Lothian, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Shetland and Aberdeenshire, as well as Debra Duke, Community Councils Liaison Officer in Moray, who has also worked as a parish clerk in England.
Individual Community Councils were represented as well as forums and associations of Community Councils in West Lothian, Moray, Shetland and Edinburgh.
This session provided a unique opportunity for community councillors to speak about the range of work they carry out across Scotland, including innovative projects like the Cambuslang Bank Hub, as well as raising concerns about the difficulties they face and making suggestions for how Community Councils can be improved in the future.
Community Councils and Local Authorities
Community councillors were asked about the relationship with their local authorities and the support provided by the Improvement Service through the Scottish Community Councils website and the Knowledge Hub group, where community councillors can share best practice and ask each other questions.
Bill Pitt, of New Aberdour, Tyrie and Pennan Community Council, highlighted the importance of the relationship between Community Councils and the local council: “As a Community Council, we do not work in a vacuum; we work very closely with Aberdeenshire Council and it is a two-way street.
“We need the council as much as possible and we appreciate and respect its assistance, including from individual departments and so forth.
“Aberdeenshire Council and other local authorities need Community Councils. We are the eyes and the ears for the local authority. It is very important for Community Councils to work with the local authority to identify particular funds that might be available and solutions that we can work together on.
“Working closely with the local authority is the most important thing that we can do, because it has the expertise to point us in certain directions in areas that we might need some guidance on.”
John Bachtler of Cambuslang Community Council spoke about the work South Lanarkshire Council has done to support community councillors to understand the planning system, including the creation of a toolkit to help Community Councils navigate issues around planning.
The Joint Forum of Community Councils in West Lothian, represented at this event by Donald Stavert, enjoys a very positive relationship with West Lothian Council, meeting the chief executive twice a year; though Donald was at pains to point out that this good working relationship doesn’t stop them from criticising West Lothian Council when they need to!
The Joint Forum has also worked closely with the Improvement Service over the last 18 months, including an ultimately unsuccessful joint bid for Scottish Government funding to support the use of the Consul software for community engagement.
In talking about the difficulties faced by Community Councils as a result of their unincorporated status under the 1973 legislation, Steve Kerr of Edinburgh Association of Community Councils was clear that there needs to be a change: “Frankly, I believe that we need to go back to the drawing board.
“We need to go back to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and free up some of those opportunities and to remove some of the restrictions that were placed on community councils in the act.
“We can be involved locally in agitating for a community asset transfer for a community centre—which we did, representing the community council—but we cannot be physically involved, which, quite honestly, is an inhibitor.
“That would be something that would be appreciated by the community because we could be at the forefront of things. We do play a co-ordinating role but I do not think that it is widely appreciated as it might be.”
CCLO support for Community Councils
Debra Duke, CCLO at Moray Council, was able to bring her unique perspective of both the Scottish and English systems, having previously worked as a parish clerk in England.
As well as many of the same points about clerk support and tax raising powers mentioned by Jackie Weaver, Debra also impressed on the committee the need for Community Councils to be supported by good governance through policies and working practices.
She highlighted that these are often shared between local authorities, as many CCLOs only work part-time or have other roles to perform: “I work 20 hours a week; I have 17 established community councils, but I could have 20. I am just firefighting and I am finding that I cannot put in place the proper support that the councils need.
“The Improvement Service delivered a brilliant session of social media training to the Northern Alliance of community council liaison officers last year; it was a train-the-trainer session, but I have not had the time to pass that training on to the Moray councils.
“Everyone is quite stretched and no one has enough time or resources. If Community Councils had more resources to, say, employ secretaries, that would really strengthen their ability to carry out the work that they need to do.”
Future of Community Councils
On the future of Community Councils, Donald Stavert spoke about a blueprint which had been developed by all the West Lothian Community Councils before the pandemic, and which was going to be the main subject for discussion at a national conference organised by the Joint Forum of Community Councils in West Lothian for 10 June.
The issue of funding for Community Councils was raised by Bill Pitt, who pointed out that Community Councils provide an excellent return on investment:
“Someone on the previous panel said that there are something in the neighbourhood of 1,200 community councils in Scotland; if you look at the budget numbers—that is, at the admin grants received by the Community Councils from the local authority—you will see that, at the high end, they might get £1,000.
“In other words, £1.2 million of public money funds community councils throughout Scotland, and we can see how much Scotland and its communities gain from that little bit of money and that very small investment.
“Clearly, if what we are looking at is Community Councils being given more powers—or whatever the future might hold for them—we can only imagine what return we might get if the councils had serious funding.”
Recruiting young people to Community Councils
All the panellists had something to say about the difficulties of recruiting young people to join Community Councils, as well as the various methods and initiatives that they have used to try and attract a younger demographic.
Alastair Kennedy, from the Joint Community Councils of Moray, highlighted an initiative where they gave a group of local youngsters £50,000 from the Investing in Communities Fund to run their own participatory budgeting exercise, to make sure that the money was being spent on something important to them.
Cambuslang Community Council has reached out to local youth groups and has involved students on the Community Development course at Glasgow University in individual projects, while Shayne McLeod from the Association of Shetland Community Councils spoke about their work with the local Scottish Youth Parliament member and a local project called OPEN, which has seen young people set up and run their own committee.
Barry Cathie, himself a relatively young community councillor from Rutherglen, was clear about the importance of involving young people in the process: “We need a voice of young people in the community.
“At the moment, there is not much for them to get involved in. They cannot really voice their concerns. If they come to meetings on subjects that they are interested in, their voices will be heard and they can bring their experience to us and tell us things that they know that we do not know.
“It will also give them training in how to become involved, and how to become a community councillor when the time comes—I think that people need to be over 18 to get elected. It is good to have that because, as I say, it gives them a voice and improves their image in the community as they become better people.”
The final words of the session came from John Bachtler, who urged the committee to be bold in their actions:“I wanted to personally encourage the committee to go for significant reform, because there is a real democratic deficit. I work on regional local development across Europe.
“We have virtually the poorest community empowerment and representation structures in Europe, given the absence of a community level of influence.
“We have towns of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 people that are without any form of self-government. I encourage the committee to think radically.”
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill will be the focus of a new public consultation launched today by the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in May 2023.
If passed, the legislation will give local authorities the ability to add an additional charge to overnight accommodation if they choose to do so. This will be based on a percentage of the cost, with the rate set by individual councils.
The Committee is seeking views from businesses, tourism organisations, community groups, individuals, and other key stakeholders over the summer ahead of its consideration of the general principles of the Bill.
Following the consultation period, the Committee will listen to the views of stakeholders before producing a report setting out its findings. MSPs will then debate the Bill in the Chamber and decide whether it should proceed.
The Committee is launching the call for views ahead of a meeting in Kirkwall later today with Destination Orkney to discuss their views on the Bill.
Commenting on the launch, Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said: “We’ve now launched a call for views on the Scottish Government’s Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill and want to hear from as wide a range of communities, tourism organisations, businesses, and individuals as possible to inform our scrutiny.
“Tourism is one of Scotland’s leading growth industries, contributing more than £4 billion to our economy each year, so ensuring these proposals work for those connected to the industry is essential.
“The Bill provides a framework for local authorities to decide how money raised should be spent within local communities, how flexible they can be with where and when the levy would apply and whether certain exemptions should apply, all of which we want to gather detailed views on from urban, rural and island communities across Scotland.”
The call for views will run from Monday 26th June 2023 to Friday 1 September.
Those wishing to respond can choose to provide a detailed response to the Committee about the Bill or make brief and general comments, joining the conversation about the Bill on the Committee’s engagement website.
The transition to a low carbon economy offers huge opportunities for the town of Grangemouth – but work must be done to ensure that local people and businesses aren’t left behind.
That’s the verdict of a Holyrood committee, which yesterday released the result of its inquiry into a Just Transition for the Grangemouth Area.
The Economy and Fair Work Committee took evidence from local residents, representatives from industry, trade unions and the Scottish and UK Governments as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into how the transition should be managed.
The report makes several key recommendations ahead of the Scottish Government’s own “dedicated and focused Grangemouth just transition plan.” These include a call for the plan to map the transition for the whole area rather than just the industrial site.
Committee Convener Claire Baker MSP said: “Scotland’s just transition to a low-carbon economy presents significant opportunities – not just for the economy, but also for our communities. Nowhere is that clearer than in relation to the Grangemouth Refinery.
“It is clear from the response from the local community that any just transition must maximise opportunities for the town itself, and ensure that the benefits are felt widely.
“The potential for significant regeneration and improvement is on the town’s doorstep, and it is now down to the UK and Scottish Governments, as well as INEOS, to make sure it is fully realised.”
The Committee wants the Government to meaningfully engage with the community and co-design its plans, allowing the community to have a direct impact in the future direction of their town.
The report also stresses the importance of the Acorn Project for carbon capture, which aims to capture and store up to one million tonnes of CO2 by 2027. The Acorn Project is a “critical enabler” for INEOS’ ambitions for the Grangemouth site, according to the report.
Funding for carbon capture lies with the UK Government. Minister Graham Stuart MP told the Committee that while the project was not selected to receive funding in the first round in October 2021, Grangemouth was in “pole position” for future rounds. An update is expected in the summer.
Claire Baker MSP continued: “While the Committee welcomes the sentiment that Grangemouth is well placed to receive funding for carbon capture, these warm words must now be backed up with a commitment. Funding the Acorn Project will truly unlock the potential of the site and must be a priority.”
TODAY – RALLY OUTSIDE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT from 12.30 – 1.30pm
The Abortion Rights Scotland campaign will be joined by Engender and representatives of other organisations to call for decriminalisation of abortion care in Scotland.
MSPs have been invited to come outside to talk with us.
Abortion healthcare has been in the headlines again. In Scotland, although the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 does not apply, our abortion services are framed by the 1967 Abortion Act.
Audrey Brown, retired NHS abortion care consultant said: “Abortion care in Scotland is delivered through the NHS. It is time for abortion care to be regulated by healthcare organisations and providers.
“No-one needing an abortion, or indeed the NHS staff providing abortion healthcare, should be at risk of imprisonment.’
The World Health Organisation, along with all the relevant professional health bodies in the UK, and other organisations such as the STUC, all support decriminalisation.
The removal of criminal sanctions and oversight for abortion will shift abortion care clearly into being managed and regulated within healthcare provisions more generally.
In Scotland the vast majority of these services are provided by the NHS. The WHO recommends that nurses and midwives oversee abortion care.
The 1967 legal requirements for signatures from two doctors for every termination carried out, can cause delay for both staff and patients.
The First Minister, Humza Yousaf MSP, indicated during the SNP leadership campaign that he supported decriminalisation and would bring forward proposals on this within a year.
It’s time to decriminalise abortion care in Scotland.
An inquiry seeking to find out the key issues facing healthcare services in Scotland’s remote and rural areas has been launched by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee.
The Committee wants to hear from members of the public and staff about their experiences of remote and rural healthcare services. They are keen to find out what specific challenges people in these areas face and what can be done to improve services in these areas.
National Records of Scotland data has revealed that the areas with the greatest population growth over the last decade were accessible rural areas. 10.6% more people lived in these areas in mid-2021 than in mid-2011.
Rural areas also tend to have specific demographic challenges when it comes to demand for healthcare, with often a lower proportion of people aged 16 to 44 but a higher proportion of people aged 45 and over (particularly those 65 and above).
Launching the inquiry, Clare Haughey MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said:“Scotland’s geography means much of its healthcare is accessed and delivered in remote and rural areas and that’s why the Committee is keen to hear of the specific issues impacting healthcare services in these locales.
“We want to hear the experiences’ of individuals and representatives from remote and rural areas, and from those who work or have worked in remote and rural healthcare, on what they think the particular challenges facing the sector are.
“Our inquiry aims to provide a platform for the views of those in remote and rural areas to be heard and our Committee is keen to hear from as wide a range of organisations and individuals as possible.
“Sharing your views will help the Committee better understand the varied and particular issues facing rural and remote healthcare services and help our scrutiny of the Scottish Government and other key stakeholders in their approach to delivering healthcare in these areas.”
A Bill which would see most 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland referred to the Children’s Hearing System, rather than the adult justice system, could help address underlying issues and stop young people from reoffending.
This is one of the findings from a report by Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill.
Stakeholders told the Committee they were broadly in favour of the changes the Bill would introduce, which include raising the age at which a young person can be referred to the Children’s Hearing System to 18.
This change would lead to more young people being referred to the Children’s Hearing System. To account for this, the Committee is urging the Scottish Government to work with Children’s Hearings Scotland to set clear targets and timescales to recruit and train more of the panel members who make legal decisions with and for children and young people.
The Committee also expressed concern that the Bill effectively establishes the age of 17-and-a-half as the cut-off date for referrals to the Children’s Hearing System. The Committee believes that this is not in the spirit of the Bill and needs to be addressed.
The Bill will still allow for a young person’s offending to be handled by the adult justice system for the most serious crimes and where it is assessed to be in the public interest to prosecute.
The Committee supported this, but has called on the Scottish Government to ensure safeguards and measures are put in place to help young people better understand and participate in proceedings, whether they are attending a Children’s Hearing or a court.
Furthermore, the Committee has insisted that updated and full costings are provided ahead of the Stage 1 vote. Social work teams in local authorities will play a key role in delivering the reforms in the Bill. However, the Committee repeatedly heard about the financial pressures that local authorities face, and the Bill does not have enough information about how the additional work they will need to do will be funded.
Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said:“We welcome the changes in this Bill that will ensure that 16 and 17 year olds would have access to the Children’s Hearing System.
“As we heard time and again, where a child has committed an offence it’s important to consider why this has happened and we believe, if properly resourced, this Bill will help. It will protect children from harm and help find solutions to the problems that may have led to them offending in the first place. But improvements are needed before the Bill becomes law.
“We are alarmed that referral to the Children’s Hearing System seems to have an effective cut-off at 17.5 years old. This cut-off seems to be based on the length of time it might take for a case to be processed. We want the Scottish Government to address the delays the system appears to face and ensure that support is provided up to 18 years old, as was intended.”
Another change the Bill introduces would ensure that under-18s are sent to a secure accommodation provider, instead of a Young Offenders Institution, or prison.
There was strong support from witnesses, including Gerry Michie, Governor of YOI Polmont, and Sue Brookes of the Scottish Prisons Service, who told the Committee that: “16 and 17-year-olds, as children, should not be with us. Even if the rest of the establishment was empty, those children should be somewhere else.”
However, the Committee also heard about concerns with the financial sustainability of secure care providers. Given how vital secure care is to the delivery of the reforms within the Bill, the Committee has called on the Scottish Government to urgently investigate how the changes will affect their finances ahead of the Government’s planned release of a report on secure care in 2024.
Changes ‘ensure policy plans of this Government can be pursued with vigour’
The Transport portfolio will be restored as a Cabinet position as First Minister Humza Yousaf changed Màiri McAllan’s Cabinet Secretary remit to ‘Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition’.
Alongside this change, experienced former Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop re-joins government as the new Minister for Transport. The range of experience Ms Hyslop brings to the role extends across the era of the Scottish Parliament, having held multiple ministerial roles, including responsibility for the economy.
The move will see Ms McAllan take a greater day-to-day role in the transport brief. Responsibility for the Green Economy will move from Ms McAllan to Richard Lochhead, who will report to her for these issues, freeing Ms McAllan to take on a greater role in transport. Mr Lochhead’s new title will be Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade.
In addition, the First Minster has also amended the role of Gillian Martin, adding responsibilities to her remit and changing her title to ‘Minister for Energy and the Environment’. She will report jointly to the Cabinet Secretary for the Wellbeing Economy and to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands.
Subject to agreement by Parliament and approval of His Majesty The King Ms Hyslop will, on appointment will be reporting to the revamped Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition.
The First Minister said: “I am pleased to announce that I am strengthening the ministerial team on transport.
“I have taken two steps: first, by changing Màiri McAllan’s remit, I am freeing her to take a direct day-to-day role in transport, effectively bringing transport explicitly back into Cabinet.
“Second, I am bringing one of the most experienced politicians in the Scottish Parliament – Fiona Hyslop – into the role of Minister for Transport. Her return to government means she can bring her decades of experience across government to bear on the challenges that exist, not least around ferry services.
“Finally, I am using this opportunity to also bring some extra support to the rural portfolio by expanding Gillian Martin’s role, and ensuring that Richard Lochhead’s title reflects his responsibilities supporting business across Scotland. This will ensure that the significant policy plans of this Government can be pursued with vigour.”
Glittering Ceremony Celebrates Success of UK’s Top Talent
Young people across Britain gathered at the Scottish Parliament (Tuesday 6th June) to attend the Inspire Awards which celebrate the talents of young people aged 5 to 17 who excel in whatever they love to do.
The local youngsters from Edinburgh are:
Taran Vignesh, aged 9, who attends Kirkliston Primary School, won the Young Trailblazer Award,
Anoushka Kinalekar, aged 10, who attends George Watsons College, won the Martial Arts Champ Award, and
Anaya Malpur, aged 10, who attends ESMS Junior School, who won the Energy Conservation Award.
The Inspire Awards 2023 is a new initiative from the British Youth International College (BYITC), which was founded in 2015 by Glasgow-based academic and educator Dr Rashmi Mantri to help young people learn and improve their abilities in maths.
In total, 37 awards were given out and after the awards, the winners, their families, judges and all other attendees, were treated to dinner at nearby German Donner Kebab, one of the sponsors of the event.
“I am so proud of all these marvellous young people and the range of abilities in the room is truly humbling. We had so many high-quality entrants that the judges had a very tricky job picking the winners.
“We wanted to create a special night to celebrate diversity and inclusion and recognise young people from all backgrounds who are making all of our futures’ brighter by learning and excelling in whatever they choose to do.
“We’ve had everything from solar powered fans to content creators on YouTube and outstanding singers and dancers, not to mention the STEM stars. Well done to everyone who won as you have set the bar very high for next year’s awards.”
A Rubik’s Cube ace as well as a talented young writer, Taran crafts short stories from his vivid imagination and narrates the stories to his friends in school and enacts them to his sister.
At just nine years old, he has mastered the Rubik puzzle and can solve it in record time. Not only that, but he has also shown a real talent for mathematics.
Anoushka participated in World ITF Taekwion-DO Council’s World Championship in Glasgow in 2022, where she won the Bronze Medal in Sparring under Blue Tag Belt. She also participated in her club – United Kingdom Taekwondo Club, winning Silver Medal in patterns for Blue tag belt and Bronze medal for Sparring under Blue tag Belt in 2023. She has also registered for participating in European Taekwon-Do Championship to be held in Dublin in June 2023. Anoushka would like to encourage girls to take up sports.
Anaya take parts in lots of environmental activities and regularly conducts small science projects in her free time. Her experiments include a solar cat, solar turbo air and an electric bell.
She recently made a solar fan using recyclable materials which works well and helps to conserve energy. Anya believes it’s every individual’s responsibility to save energy by turning off the lights when they are not needed, and putting solar panels around your house if you can.
Her mantra is: “Save Energy for a better future!”
The awards were overseen by a high-profile judging panel including Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE, Associate Principal of the University of Strathclyde, and entrepreneur Dr Poonam Gupta OBE, Chief Executive of PG Paper, an international paper company based in Inverclyde, Scotland.
Dr Mantri said: “I would like to thank all the judges for their time and commitment to the awards and also to the sponsors – Whitebridge Financial Limited, Poddar Care Homes, Dupont Associates and Solicitors, and German Donner Kebab who were kind enough to invite all attendees to its Leith restaurant for dinner afterwards.
“I have seen first-hand how achievement in learning and skills can fill young people with confidence and show them how amazing they really are. Through BYITC, we have helped thousands of students excel in maths, English, programming and cyber security.”
Leader of the Scottish Labour Party and Member of the Scottish Parliament, Anas Sarwar, said: “It is a great privilege to welcome all of these high-achieving young people to the Scottish Parliament on this special occasion.
“The Inspire Awards are in themselves an inspirational concept that highlight the outstanding achievements of young people in their chosen specialities across the United Kingdom and I congratulate each and every one of them on their awards.
“I would like to congratulate especially the work of Dr Rashmi Mantri and BYITC in conceiving, organising, and bringing to a magnificent conclusion the Inspire Awards 2023. Dr Rashmi’s is a wonderful achievement for which she deserves high praise.”
Inspired by the success of the College, the BYITC Inspire Awards recognises young ‘Super Achievers’ from all backgrounds who have excelled in fields including the environment, sports, media, art and creativity, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
There were nine categories and 37 prizes in total. The winners were:
ENVIRONMENT
Global Warming Crusader – Samarth Raghu Badoni, Linlithgow, aged 8, who attends Springfield Primary School, Linlithgow.
Planet Ranger – Varesh Karthik, Dudley, aged 7, who attends Russell’s Hall Primary School.
Energy Conservation – Anaya Malpur, Edinburgh, aged 10, who attends ESMS Junior School.
Young Philanthropist – Jevindu Senyuth, Newcastle Upon Tyne, aged 5 who attends Darras Hall Primary School.
Young Trailblazer – Taran Vignesh, Edinburgh, aged 9, who attends Kirkliston Primary School.
High Flier – Mitali Peecha, Glasgow, aged 11, who attends Kelvinside Academy.
Powerhouse Performer – Advik Mittal, Glasgow, aged 11, who attends St. Patricks Primary School.
Wonder Kid – Vishruth Sai Keshettivar, Basingstoke, aged 9, who attends Oakridge Junior School.
Young explorer – Eivaan S Lamba, Jersey, aged 7, who attends St. Saviour Primary School.
The other award judges were Professor Bill Buchanan OBE, Professor of Applied Cryptography at Edinburgh Napier University; Rohini Sharma Joshi OBE, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant; Derek Timpany, Education Management Consultant; Jai Aenugu, Founder of Aberdeen-based cyber security consultancy TechForce, and Harminder Berman, a former Arts Development Officer with culture and sports charity, Glasgow Life.
Dr Mantri set up BYITC after using an abacus to teach her son basic arithmetic. The college now runs global franchises, including Dubai and Sri Lanka, and recently launched its first UK franchise in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Further UK franchises are anticipated in the coming months.
