Entrepreneur aims to Keep Edinburgh Thriving

Pioneering venture Keep Edinburgh Thriving will allow residents to continue to ‘shop local’ whilst simultaneously supporting businesses across Edinburgh to survive COVID-19 and beyond

Three weeks ago, everything changed overnight for small businesses across the city of Edinburgh. Social distancing measures forced them to close their doors indefinitely and the future for each of them, became somewhat uncertain.

In an attempt to provide these independent vendors with a much-needed lifeline, local entrepreneur, Robbie Allen has launched Keep Edinburgh Thriving, a service that will see a selection of local high-quality products packaged up into gift boxes and delivered to households across Scotland’s capital.

The pioneering venture will allow local residents to continue to ‘shop local’ whilst simultaneously providing a critical lifeline to these businesses, helping them with cash flow and financial sustainability during COVID-19 and beyond.

Robbie Allen, founder of Keep Edinburgh Thriving comments: “It is a really simple idea. Our aim is to Keep Edinburgh Thriving.

“We are partnering with a bunch of amazing local businesses in Edinburgh and taking these high-quality products and handling all the logistics and e-commerce side of things for them so that they can continue to grow and sustain their company and livelihood.

“This is a really tough time for our beloved high street, and we want to help as many local Edinburgh businesses as possible. As soon as you place an order this instantly benefits our local partners providing the products in each gift box.”

There are two box sizes of gift box available – a small box contains 4-5 items (£39) and a large contains 6-7 items (£55). Customers will receive a variety of products including artisan food and snacks, local art, drinks, craft coffee, beer, spirits, lifestyle products (candles, coasters, notebooks, mugs/tumblers) and local skin care products, all of which will be high-quality and local to Edinburgh.

To help support the local community further during this epidemic, £2 from each gift box sale will be donated to the Edinburgh Food Project.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has caused a sudden, steep decline in business for cafes, restaurants, boutiques, artisans, creators and local retailers.

For more information about how to support your local high street and keep Edinburgh Thriving, visit www.keepedinburghthriving.com

More important than ever to look after ourselves, says walking charity

Scotland’s walking charity is urging the public to stay active and take a walk everyday amidst the Coronavirus outbreak.

Paths for All says it’s more important than ever that people who feel well should walk alone or with those they live with to protect their physical and mental health.

Exercising once a day is one of only four reasons why people are allowed to leave their home. The charity believes that those not experiencing symptoms and not in the high-risk groups should go out for short, local walks as long as they minimise social contact.

Paths for All has also launched new online guidance and links to resources which can help people stay active indoors, connect with nature outside and encourage those working from home to move more.

Ian Findlay CBE, Chief Officer at Paths for All, said: “Now more than ever it’s important for people to look after their physical and mental health.

“Fresh air, being outdoors and connecting with nature is not only positive for your physical health, but it can help your mental health by improving your mood and reducing stress and anxiety. We believe it’s important for people to continue to enjoy short, local walks provided you are well and where it’s safe and appropriate to do so.

“The official advice is to stay local. Choose routes right from your own front door if you can, to avoid non-essential travel. You should try to visit places you know will be quiet, away from hotspots, and remember to keep a distance of at least two metres from other people.

“If you are unable to go outside for a walk, then there are many ways you can keep moving at home. Browse online for demonstration videos and resources and remember to take regular breaks from sitting down to get up and move around.”

Walking provides many benefits, including increased fitness and enhanced mood on top of reducing the risk of depression, anxiety, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, dementia and diabetes.

The charity’s campaigns and events showcase how walking can bring significant benefits to the nation’s health and environment, aiming to encourage everyone in Scotland to walk every day and everywhere.

Paths for All works with Scottish Government and 30 partners to support and deliver national policies, such as the National Walking Strategy and other ‘active travel’ initiatives.

For more information on Paths for All, visit: pathsforall.org.uk

What are the rules if you’re temporarily laid off?

If you’re one of the workers who’ve been asked to go on furlough, make sure you know your rights.

The coronavirus outbreak has put the UK economy under immense strain, with businesses across the country shutting down to prevent the spread.

After discussions with trade unions, the government is to plough billions of pounds into a furlough scheme that will see the taxpayer give businesses 80 per cent of the wages of those employees who are temporarily laid off.

This should stop those business suffering a drop-off from making workers permanently redundant. It will ensure that more workers have enough money to cover their bills and leave businesses well-placed to ramp up activity once demand picks up again.

But while measures to protect jobs are welcome, it’s important that employers follow the rules when sending staff on furlough.

And if you’re one of the workers who’ve been asked to go on furlough, make sure you know your rights.

Despite the government having recently published guidance on how the scheme will operate, there are still a number of unanswered questions about the scheme. But this is what we know right now:

Bosses must follow the rules

Bosses can’t just stick workers on furlough or shorter hours.

An employee is regarded to have been laid off during a particular week if the employer does not have sufficient work for the employee and the employee is not paid as a result. (s.147(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996).

What does your contract say?

If your contract contains the right for the employer to impose a lay-off, they can simply do so.

But it needs to be for a reasonable period of time, not indefinite.

Collective agreements between employers and unions will normally include provision for minimum payments if employees are laid off for a period.

If it’s not in the contract, then the employer needs your written, informed consent. And they have to make it clear how long the lay-off will be.

The lay-off has to be kept under review and the employer must seek further consent if it lasts longer than expected.

What happens if this isn’t in your contract and you say “no”?

If an employee or their union objects to the lay-offs, the employer cannot simply impose it.

If workers say “no” and the employer attempts to press ahead, employees can resign and claim unfair constructive dismissal, and possibly also claim a statutory redundancy payment.

Or they can continue in employment but claim any shortfall in pay under the unauthorised deduction of wages laws.

This is especially helpful if you haven’t got the two years’ service needed to claim unfair constructive dismissal.

How much will I get paid?

The government will stump up 80 per cent of the wage costs of those laid off. It will also cover employer costs such as their National Insurance and pension payments at the minimum legal level.

It will only cover basic salary and not commission payments and is capped at £2.500 a month. This means that, as it stands, those who currently receive piece work “bonuses” would see their income fall substantially.

Employers can, and we believe should where they can afford it, top up wages to 100 per cent.

If your pay varies, your employer can claim for the higher of either the same month’s earnings from the previous year or average monthly earnings from the 2019-20 tax year.

Who does it cover?

Employees who are paid via Pay as You Earn payroll, which is likely to include a number of agency workers as well as those working via zero hours arrangements. They must have been on the organisation’s payroll as of 28 February 2020.

The scheme also covers employees who were made redundant since 28 February 2020, if they are rehired by their employer.

But, as it currently stands, those workers who have gone onto short-time working will not be covered by the scheme. Those workers will not have their wages topped up to normal levels.

What about the self-employed?

The self-employed (or at least most of them) are covered by a separate Self Employed Income Support Scheme.

Am I entitled to redundancy payments?

An employee who has agreed to furlough (or to short-time working) either for four consecutive weeks or for a total of six weeks (no more than three being consecutive) in any period of 13 weeks can resign and claim a redundancy payment.

How do employers decide who goes on furlough?

Employers must use a fair process for selecting employees for furlough and be very clear about why they are making certain decisions.

They must be careful not to discriminate against particular groups of workers who are protected by equality law, either directly or indirectly.

For example, they must not choose to furlough a worker because their race or because they are pregnant, to do so would be direct discrimination.

Similarly, they should not ask disabled workers to agree to a temporary lay-off to avoid putting in place reasonable adjustments that would allow them to continue working during the current outbreak.

Examples of indirect discrimination would be selecting workers for furlough because of their caring commitments, a group of workers in which women are overrepresented.

I have two jobs. If I am furloughed from one, what happens to the other?

Each furlough arrangement applies to a single job you do. So you can continue working in one job while furloughed from another. The pay cap applies to each employer individually.

Can my employer give me work to do during furlough?

No. A furloughed employee can take part in volunteer work or training, as long as it does not provide services to or generate revenue for their employer.

But if you are asked to do training you must be paid at least the minimum wage/National Living Wage, even if this is more than the 80 per cent of wage that will be subsidised by the government.

Tim Sharp, TUC

Letters: Dogs Trust thanks loyal supporters during Coronavirus outbreak

Dear Editor,

As the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust is so lucky to have the support of all of our dog loving friends. We want to say how thankful we are to each and every supporter all year round, but especially with the recent events and the uncertain circumstances we all find ourselves in.

Dogs Trust West Calder has been inundated with offers to foster our dogs, to drop off donations and even offers of cakes and chocolates for our hard-working staff who continue to show up for the dogs who need them in these difficult times.

We appreciate these kind gestures and although for the moment we can’t accept them due to the need to limit social interactions, please be assured, your support is very much at the forefront of our minds.

The staff at the centre will continue to care for the dogs, give them all the love, attention and training they need, while also making sure they’re working at a safe distance from each other.

It will certainly be quieter without visits from the dog loving public, but we promise we will open our doors again as soon as we can and are looking into ways we can do this as a matter of urgency.

We are coping well at the moment, but know it is likely that there may be an increase in demand for our services in the coming weeks.

Although we are unsure how long our centre will be closed for, if anyone does want to support our work caring for dogs in the current crisis, please go to our website and help with a donation; it would make a big difference.

Susan Tonner,

Rehoming Centre Manager at Dogs Trust West Calder

Edinburgh Napier University commended

The UK’s independent higher education quality body has commended Edinburgh Napier University for a range of good practice, including its ‘strategic approach to widening participation and direct entry’ and its ‘support for developing students’ skills in employability, enterprise and entrepreneurship’.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) appointed a team of five independent experts to review the University in October and December last year.

In particular, the team commended the University in seven areas:

Its strategic approach to widening participation
Its support for developing students’ skills in employability, enterprise and entrepreneurship;
Its approach to monitoring postgraduate student academic progress
The systematic enhancement of leadership in learning, teaching and research;
Its clear partnership working between academic and professional services staff;
The effective development available for academic and support services staff; and
The developing institutional approach to the use of data.

Professor Alyson Tobin, Vice Principal of Learning and Teaching, Edinburgh Napier University, said: “I am delighted that Edinburgh Napier University has been commended for our approach to widening access and for the support we give to our students to develop their employability skills.

“The report also highlights the opportunities our students have to engage in entrepreneurial and professional development opportunities to enable them to be successful in their future careers.”

QAA’s report also makes a number of recommendations, asking Edinburgh Napier University to:

Ensure there are clear student representative structures in place at all levels and make sure there are effective arrangements in place for the recruitment, training and support for student representatives;
Continue to develop mechanisms to enhance student engagement and respond to the student voice;
Continue to develop support mechanisms for online learners, graduate apprentices, transnational education students and other groups studying off campus;
Consider introducing a structured and longitudinal institution-wide induction for postgraduate research students;
Ensure that all postgraduates who teach complete the mandatory course prior to commencing teaching;
Progress implementation of revisions to the institution-led review process;
Make external examiners’ reports accessible to all students; and
Review the English language entry criteria and the proficiency of students on all transnational education programmes.

Edinburgh Napier University’s full QAA review outcome, with further details on all the above, can be found on the QAA Scotland website here.

Police Scotland: ‘vast majority complying with Coronavirus measures’

Police Scotland has thanked members of the public and businesses for complying with a new law designed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Officers were given the power on Friday, 27 March, to fine people who refuse to stay at home and only go outside if they have a ‘reasonable excuse’.

Initial indications show that officers had to issue penalty notices on only 25 occasions across the country.

Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said: “We’ve had high visibility patrols in place right across the country since we were given these enforcement powers.

“But it’s clear that the vast majority of people are complying with the measures. They know the message is to stay at home, and by and large, they’re doing that.

“Where our officers have encountered people outside, they’ve been able to engage with them or educate them on why it’s so important to follow the guidance from our public health experts in order to save lives and protect the NHS.

“There will always be people who refuse to comply, but the low number of penalty notices shows they are in the minority and in those cases we’ve had to use enforcement as a last resort. This is a big change to the way people live their lives and they need to adjust to that.

“There were issues with people driving to some outdoor spaces such as parks and we will address this, working with our partners in local authorities where appropriate.

“We have been given extraordinary powers in an extraordinary situation, powers we would not normally wish to have, but I’d like to thank the public for helping and supporting us. We police with the consent of the communities we serve, so a positive relationship with those communities is of huge importance to us.”

To enforce social distancing, people in Scotland are being asked to stay at home and only go outside if they have a ‘reasonable excuse’. These include shopping for necessary food, household and medical supplies, travelling to and from work where working from home is not an option, and daily exercise that adheres to social distancing guidance.

Full details of the measures are available here.

Police Scotland can issue penalty notices of £30, rising to £60 if not paid within 28 days, where they have reason to believe there has been an offence under the regulations. These penalties are doubled for each repeat offence up to a £960 cap, with no reduction for early payment. Due to the exceptional nature of these powers, the regulations will be reviewed at least every 21 days to ensure they are still necessary.

Scotland Cares: tens of thousands sign up to volunteer

More than 23,000 people have signed up to volunteer during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through the new ‘Scotland Cares’ campaign. This number is in addition to the thousands who are already delivering vital support to vulnerable people in their local communities.

The volunteers offered their support through the Ready Scotland website which launched this morning. Over 8,000 people have offered to support local public services through the Red Cross and over 11,000 more through working with existing charities and groups via Volunteer Scotland.

Another 2,000 people have used the recruitment portal – also accessible through Ready Scotland – to indicate that they have the relevant skills and qualifications to work in our NHS. This takes the total numbers of students and retired health and social care workers who have expressed an interest to nearly 6,000.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I want to thank each and every person who has registered an interest in the Scotland Cares campaign – the offer of support at this critical time is invaluable. As well as enabling medical students and former health staff to help the NHS, it also encourages people to help their communities across Scotland.

“The response we have had to this call for applications is indicative I think of a wider point – many people across Scotland are responding to this difficult period by showing a sense of community and solidarity.”

Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People Shirley-Anne Somerville said last night: “The response to the Scotland Cares campaign, which has recorded over 21,000 new volunteers in just one day, has been tremendous.

“This is in addition to the thousands of student and retired health and social care workers who have expressed an interest in or applied for posts to help support the NHS during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Thank you to everyone who has already registered to volunteer or who have signed up to support our NHS. Your support at this critical time is invaluable.”

Volunteers who want to support their communities should visit www.ReadyScotland.org to find out how they can help.

GIC still providing support and advice

Due to the Coronavirus restrictions our office currently remains closed to the public – but Granton Information Centre is still operating!

Please call us Mon – Fri, 9.30am – 4pm on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:

• You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt

• You wish to discuss an existing case

• You require a foodbank referral

All messages will be returned as long as you clearly leave a telephone number for us to reach you on.

Emails are being checked daily – our email address is info@gic.org.uk

GIC Covid19 advice

Granton Information Centre – here for you

Dominic Raab: Stranded travellers are coming home

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab gave the 30 March 2020 daily press briefing on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Good afternoon, welcome to Downing Street for today’s coronavirus press briefing. I’m joined by our Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England.

Before Sir Patrick provides an update on the latest data from our COBR coronavirus dashboard, I just want to give you an update on the steps that we as a government are taking to defeat coronavirus.

Our step-by-step action plan is aiming to slow the spread of the virus, so fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time, thereby protecting the NHS’ capacity. At each point we have been following the scientific and medical advice and we’ve been very deliberate in our actions – taking the right steps at the right moment.

We are also taking unprecedented action to increase NHS capacity by dramatically expanding the numbers of beds, key staff, life-saving equipment on the frontline so that we give people the care they need when they need it most.

That’s why we are instructing people to stay at home, so we can protect our NHS and save lives.

I can report that through the government’s ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today:

134,946 people have now been tested for the virus
112,805 have tested negative
22,141 have tested positive

Of those who have contracted the virus, 1,408 have, very sadly, died. We express our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who have passed away and I think those figures are a powerful reminder to us all of the importance of following the government’s guidelines.

We must stay at home to protect our NHS and save lives.

I would like to thank all those involved on the frontline and in particular all of those in the NHS for their battle against the virus, the amazing doctors, the amazing nurses and all the support staff working day and night.

The thousands of other key workers – from our teachers to supermarket workers to our fantastic diplomatic network – who are all as a team working around the clock to get us through this unprecedented coronavirus challenge.

This is a united national effort and the spirit of selflessness shown by so many is an inspiration.

I now want to turn to what we’ve been doing to support British people travelling around the world.

Coronavirus hasn’t just challenged us at home, it is the greatest global challenge in a generation. And as countries work to secure their borders and stop the further spread of this deadly virus, we appreciate that an unprecedented number of UK travellers are trying to get home, and we’re not talking a few hundred or even a few thousand. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people travelling around the world.

So with that in mind, on 17 March, we advised people against all non-essential travel around the world.

And since 23 March, we have advised that all UK residents who were currently travelling abroad should return home. Hundreds of thousands have already done so.

But many travellers haven’t yet managed to get home. From young back-packers to retired couples on cruises. We appreciate the difficult predicament that they find themselves in.

We also recognise the anxiety of families here in the UK, who are concerned to get their loved ones home. It is a worrying time for all those who have been affected.

And I want to reassure them that this government, their government is working around the clock to support, advise and help British travellers get home.

I have spoken to more than 20 foreign ministers around the world in the last week or so to support this effort, to keep airports and ports open, and to facilitate access to them by British travellers.

Over the weekend, I spoke to foreign ministers from Australia, New Zealand, India and Brazil and Pakistan, and I also spoke to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, and in all of those cases urged them to work with us and keep commercial routes flying.

Given the scale and the complexity of this challenge, it inevitably requires a team effort. So the Foreign Office is working with other governments, and there is a particular focus on transit hubs, and we’re also working with the airlines to keep as many flights running as possible.

We have a lot more to do, but we have already helped hundreds of thousands of Britons get home.

The first priority has been to keep as many commercial flights running as we can, and that’s based on just purely the scale and the number of people who want to come home.

As a result of those efforts, and the cooperation we received from the Spanish government, we’ve enabled an estimated 150,000 UK nationals to get back from Spain. On other commercial routes that have come under pressure, we’ve worked with partner governments and airlines to get back 8,500 UK travellers back from Morocco and around 5,000 UK nationals from Cyprus.

That gives you a sense of the scale of the challenge and the numbers of British travellers abroad.

Now in circumstances where commercial flights can’t operate, we have already chartered flights, which proved necessary to return 1,400 UK nationals on flights, for example, from China at the outset of this crisis and more recently from Peru.

We’ve not faced challenges in getting people home from abroad, on this scale, in recent memory. Airports are closing down or preventing airlines from operating on a commercial basis. Local authorities have placed restrictions on movement that prevent people from getting to the airport. And the critical transit hubs that we rely on for long-haul flights are also shutting down, or in some cases, limiting their flights.

Some of these restrictions have been done with very little notice, some with no notice at all which makes it very difficult to respond. So, international collaboration is absolutely vital.

As I said, it is a team effort, in it involves government working with other governments and also with the airlines.

So with that in mind, I can today announce a new arrangement between the government and airlines to fly home tens of thousands of stranded British travellers, where commercial flights are no longer possible. Partner airlines include British Airways, Virgin, Easyjet, Jet2 and Titan, and this list can be expanded.

Under the arrangements that we are putting in place, we will target flights from a range of priority countries, starting this week.

Let me explain a little bit about how this will work in practise.

Where commercial routes remain an option, airlines will be responsible for getting passengers home. That means offering alternative flights at little to no cost where routes have been cancelled. And it means allowing passengers to change tickets, including between carriers.

So for those still in those in countries where commercial options are still available, don’t wait. Don’t run the risk of getting stranded. The airlines are standing by to help you. Please book your tickets as soon as possible.

Where commercial flights are no longer running, the government will provide the necessary financial support for special charter flights to bring UK nationals back home. Once special charter flights have been arranged, we will promote flights them through the government’s travel advice and by the British Embassy or High Commission in the relevant country.

British travellers who want a seat on those flight will book and pay directly through a dedicated travel management company.

We designated £75 million to support those flights and airlines to keep costs down and affordable for those seeking to return to the UK.

In arranging these flights, our priority will be the most vulnerable, including the elderly or those with particularly pressing medical needs, and also looking in particular at countries where large numbers of UK tourists struggling to get home.

UK travellers, if they haven’t already done so, should check Foreign Office Travel Advice and that advice is under constant review, and it can help travellers to find out more details of how to access the flights under this arrangement.

They should also follow the social media of the UK embassy or high commission in the country where they find themselves, so that they can be directed to accurate real time information, including from the local authorities.

For any questions that can’t be answered in that travel advice, or by the UK Embassies or High Commission, we also have our call centre working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I know that it has been difficult for some travellers to get through. Just to give you a sense of volume: on average, we normally receive 1,000 calls a day to that call centre. Last Tuesday, we had nearly 15,000 – the highest on record.

So we’ve boosted our resources, we’ve redeployed people to assist in the call centre and we’ve tripled our capacity.

Yesterday, the call centre answered 99% of calls, and helped thousands of British travellers to get the answers they need.

So, for those stranded, or for families nervously waiting news and wanting to see their loved ones return home, we are doing everything we can. We have improved our advice and boosted the call centre, so travellers get better and swifter information.

We have put in place this arrangement with the airlines so that we can reach British citizens in vulnerable circumstances abroad where commercial flights aren’t running. And we’re working intensively round the clock with all of our partner countries and governments around the world to keep open the airports, the ports and the flights to bring people home.

We’ve not faced an international challenge quite like this before, but together we are going to rise to it.

And, of course here at home, we can all support our NHS by continuing to follow the guidance to:

stay at home
protect our NHS
and save lives

Plans in place to support vulnerable pupils

Plans to ensure learning continues for Edinburgh’s vulnerable young people are being put in place across the Capital.

Two dedicated hub schools opened today for identified children with complex additional support needs, including those of key workers.

A programme of activities, planned in conjunction with the pupils’ own class teachers, will be delivered by staff from special schools and supported by teams from the Additional Support for Learning service (ASL). Both schools will continue to be open over the Easter holidays.

Other children and young people with additional support needs are being supported by their schools through a combination of video conferencing, online learning activities and learning packs which have been sent home by their schools.

Class teams are in regular contact with these pupils to support their wellbeing and ensure their learning continues with 250 iPads being allocated to allow face to face contact for vulnerable children.

Our schools are teaming up with psychological services and other partners to provide further family support, advice and remote learning for vulnerable pupils. The ASL service has shared a list of recommended resources and contact details with schools, early years settings and families to support children with complex needs.

The ASL teams have also put in place bespoke one to one support for our children, young people and families with the highest need with a large focus being on the outdoors. To achieve this they will be using the hubs they have set up at Urban Nature and our own Seaview Centre.

Th council is currently working with partners to ensure that provision is available for children with complex additional support needs whose parents are key workers, and our children with the most complex needs, over the Easter holidays.

Information about this will be shared directly with parents next week.

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Our special schools and the Additional Support for Learning service have been working extremely hard to make sure parents and carers for children with additional support needs have been supplied with online and digital resources along with home learning materials.

This is clearly a very worrying time for everyone in the city but even more so for those families with children who have additional support needs. The team have pulled out all the stops to ensure learning can continue for these young people and support for keyworker families continues.

Depute Leader Cammy Day said ‘Opening the two schools means that those young people with the most complex needs will continue to receive learning and their parents and carers are being supported.

This is very much a team effort and I would like to thank all partners for their support for our vulnerable learners during this challenging time.