The Scottish Affairs Committee will hold a one-off session on the cash machine network in Scotland tomorrow (Tuesday 15 May). The session will examine the long-term future of the network, particularly in rural areas, in light of proposals to change the way it is funded. Continue reading Scottish Affairs Committee to investigate cash machine network
New research reveals that an anti-poverty scheme championed by Scottish Green MSPs is set to boost the incomes of pregnant women and vulnerable families by over £9 million a year when it is rolled-out across Scotland.
The Scottish Greens’ 2016 election manifesto called for the Healthier Wealthier Children scheme run by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to be replicated in other regions, and since then the party’s social security spokesperson Alison Johnstone has pressed Scottish Ministers to agree to this, and support the roll-out with funding.
Analysis published yesterday details the potential £9.3 million income boost, and shows how ready different health boards are to deliver the scheme, which sees NHS staff referring people to money and welfare rights advisers to access relevant benefits, help with housing and childcare costs, and debt reduction. For example, NHS Lothian has set up Healthy Start and Family Friendly Advice schemes.
However, health boards found to be lacking in clear schemes designed to boost incomes are Ayrshire & Arran, Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Grampian, Forth Valley, Orkney, Fife, Shetland and Tayside.
Ms Johnstone recently amended the Child Poverty Bill which means local authorities and health boards will soon have a duty to explain what they are doing to boost the incomes of pregnant women and families.
Scottish Greens social security spokesperson Alison Johnstone MSP said: “Poverty experts agree that boosting incomes can have an immediate impact on children’s quality of life. Making this part of NHS services as soon as possible will help thousands of families across Scotland, tackling child poverty and helping reduce health inequalities.
“Our research shows there are pockets of good practice throughout Scotland, but in some places work is needed to build strong links with the midwifery and early years services who come into contact with the women and families most in need.
“Greens are making Scotland fairer by championing ideas such as Healthier Wealthier Children. We’ll continue to keep up the pressure so that all new families get the financial support they’re entitled to.
“It’s over a year since the Scottish Government agreed to roll-out this scheme, and while they have pledged £500,000 towards this, the sooner it happens the better as pregnant mums and families are missing out on £9million they’re entitled to.”
Income Maximisation Report:
https://greens.scot/files/boostingfamilyincomesreport
Do some schools present university as the main path to take when college, training and work are equally valuable routes? This is just one question the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee will explore in a new inquiry that will also look at whether information about other pathways, such as work and training, is offered in school. Continue reading Young people set the agenda for Holyrood’s Education and Skills Committee
The closure of the Glasgow-to-Edinburgh canal link has resulted in dozens of cancelled boat trips and neglects one of Scotland’s “tourism treasures troves”, the Scottish Conservatives have said. Continue reading Canals in crisis as Edinburgh – Glasgow route shut
Refugees can now organise financial support for family members before they are reunited in Scotland. Up to £100,000 in Family Reunion Crisis Grants will smooth the path for new arrivals, bridging the gap before they can be assessed for benefits entitlement. Continue reading A welcoming country: support for refugee families ahead of arrival in Scotland
BANK ‘NOT LISTENING’ TO ANGER OF CUSTOMERS AND BUSINESSES
SNP MP Deidre Brock says RBS ‘failed to answer‘ many questions as three senior executives appeared before the Scottish Affairs Committee (SAC) at Westminster yesterday. Continue reading RBS ‘failed to answer’ questions, says local MP
The Scottish Greens will today outline distinct plans for the proposed Scottish National Investment Bank to have robust policies on ethical investments, a push towards a zero carbon economy and overall greater scrutiny.
Green MSP Andy Wightman will attempt to win backing from Holyrood’s parties for his amendment to provide the new bank with better “social and environmental outcomes”, including an obligation to deliver strategic housing investment.
Wightman is also expected to challenge Scottish Labour to ditch its proposals for a bank focussed on “increased growth” and to instead put forward a strategic programme in line with the left-wing ideology embraced by the party’s leadership.
Mr Wightman, a Lothian MSP, said: “As a national financial institution, we all have vested collective interests to ensure that this bank will invest in projects and programmes that deliver a sustainable future. With our proposals, the bank will be required to have a strategic focus on the future of the Scottish economy by investing in new low-carbon technologies to build energy resilience.
“It’s surprising to see Labour insist that the bank’s main focus should be for it to ‘drive increased growth’. It’s far from being even remotely socialist and their insistence on profit being the bank’s key goal is disheartening. No economy can be sustainable when growing numbers of its young people cannot afford basic, affordable and warm homes. With social renting off-limits to all but the most financially challenged and affordable housing not worthy of the descriptor, an investment bank has a key role to play in providing the kind of strategic housing investment that is desperately needed.
“We also want Holyrood to have a key role in establishing the bank’s ethical investment code, which in our view should be enshrined in the primary legislation establishing the bank. We also propose that the bank could provide a Scottish payments company to reduce the costs to small businesses of processing payments. This cost reduction will lower GDP, but increase productivity. Currently around 2% of the value of payments is lost to the Scottish economy – some £1 billion per year at a rough estimate.”
The Scottish Affairs Committee will take evidence from Ross McEwan, CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday (8 May). The session will examine the reasons behind the decision to close 62 branches of RBS in Scotland, subsequent temporary reprieve for ten branches, and the long term future of local banking in Scotland. The Committee will also hear from the Lending Standards Board, the self-regulatory body for the financial services sector. Continue reading Scottish Affairs Committee to quiz RBS chief on branch closures
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has met with former nominees and winners of the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards to encourage other people from Lothian to make a nomination. Continue reading Briggs backs Young Scot Awards
The life expectancy gulf in Scotland’s capital city is now 21 years, experts have said, DOUBLE the previous estimates. Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs says he is “staggered” by Edinburgh’s inequality gap and has urged the SNP government to take action to address poor health in deprived communities. Continue reading Mind the Gap: poor in Edinburgh die 21 years earlier than rich neighbours
