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
The Scottish Child Payment will be doubled to £20 per week per child from April 2022, the First Minister has announced. The decision has been welcomed by poverty camapigners.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that more than 105,000 children will immediately benefit from the increased payment, which supports low income families with children aged under 6.
First introduced in February 2021 as a £10 per week payment designed to tackle child poverty, it provides regular, additional financial support for eligible families.
The benefit, which is unique in the UK, will be fully rolled out to children under the age of 16 by the end of 2022, subject to data on qualifying benefits being received from the Department of Work and Pensions. It is expected over 400,000 children could be eligible for the doubled payment from that point.
From 2023/24 it will represent an annual investment in tackling child poverty of around £360 million a year. The increase to £20 per week further underlines the Scottish Government’s national mission to tackle child poverty.
The First Minister said: “The Scottish Government is determined to lift children out of poverty.
“Of the £2 billion a year that the Scottish Government invests to support people on low incomes, over £670 million is already targeted at children. Through the range of new payments delivered by Social Security Scotland, low income families receive, in the early years of each child’s life, £5,000 of additional financial support.
“At the heart of this is the Scottish Child Payment – the only payment of its kind anywhere in the UK, designed solely to lift children out of poverty and give them better lives. The £10 per week payment for eligible children under age 6 will be extended to all eligible children under 16 at the end of 2022; and we committed to doubling the payment to £20 per child per week within this Parliamentary term.
“I am proud that our budget will confirm that we will double the Scottish Child Payment from the start of the new financial year. This increase to £20 per child per week will reach over 105,000 children under age 6 in just four months’ time. When we extend the Scottish Child Payment to all under 16s at the end of next year, over 400,000 children and their families will be eligible.
“This is the boldest and most ambitious anti-poverty measure anywhere in the UK. Delivering it isn’t easy. It will involve hard choices elsewhere in our budget. But it is a choice we are opting to make.
“Eradicating child poverty is essential if we are to build the strongest foundation for Scotland’s future. And that is what we are determined to do.”
Scottish Government Minister and Scottish Green Party Co-Leader Patrick Harvie said: “With rising inflation, energy costs and the recent UK Government cuts to Universal Credit, further action to tackle child poverty could not have been more urgent.
“I’m therefore delighted that the Scottish Government has been able to double the Scottish Child Payment from April, just months after our policy of free bus travel for children and young people goes live.
“These bold actions deliver on key commitments made in the cooperation deal between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party, and will make a real difference to families across Scotland.”
Scottish Greens MSP Lorna Slater said the decision will be pivotal to tackling child poverty in Lothian.
Ms Slater said: “With a new Covid variant, rising energy costs, inflation and the catastrophic impact of a Tory Brexit being felt, it is more important than ever that we do everything we can to help people that are being hit by Westminster’s cuts and austerity.
“That is why I’m delighted that we will see the Scottish Child Payment doubled in the forthcoming Scottish budget. This will be pivotal to tackling child poverty and will be welcomed by families that are feeling stretched, particularly those that have been hit by Boris Johnson’s punishing Universal Credit cut.
“With Greens in government we are delivering for people and the planet and making a real difference to families in Lothian and beyond.”
“That is why we are introducing free bus travel for everyone under 22 from January, extending free school meals to all primary school pupils and ensuring that government contracts pay the real living wage. We will continue to work towards a fairer, greener Scotland.”
Social Security Scotland delivers a number of benefits for families. These include Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, Early Learning Payment, School Age Payment and Best Start Foods.
The newly doubled Scottish Child Payment, together with the three Best Start Grant payments and Best Start Foods, could give families up to £8,400 by the time their first child turns 6.
Campaigners have welcomed the announcement:
Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland at Joseph Rowntree Foundation said:“This is very welcome news that will provide vital support for families with young children following what is expected to be a challenging winter as the cost of living continues to rise. Doubling the payment for older children cannot come soon enough.
“As we noted in our Poverty in Scotland report, this investment alone will not be enough to meet the interim child poverty targets, but it is an important step in the right direction and will make a real difference to families.”
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.
All travellers returning to Scotland from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana will be required to self-isolate and take two PCR tests from 12:00 on Friday (26 November), regardless of their vaccination status.
Managed Quarantine accommodation will be stood up to cater for any arrivals from these countries. This will apply to all arrivals from 04:00 on Saturday (27 November).
The decision follows concerns about cases of the emerging B.1.1.529 variant cases in the south of Africa, given concerns over a high number of mutations and the effectiveness of vaccines against it.
Anyone who has arrived in Scotland from any of the six countries in the previous 10 days will need to enter Managed Quarantine hotel on arrival to Scotland and will need a day two and day eight coronavirus (COVID-19) PCR test regardless of their vaccination status.
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport Michael Matheson said: “International travel restrictions are necessary to protect the greater public health. While many restrictions have been significantly relaxed – largely thanks to the success of the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out – we have always said it may be necessary to quickly impose fresh measures to protect public health in Scotland.”
UKSecretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said: “As part of our close surveillance of variants across the world, we have become aware of the spread of a new potentially concerning variant, which UKHSA has designated a Variant under Investigation.
“We are taking precautionary action to protect public health and the progress of our vaccine rollout at a critical moment as we enter winter, and we are monitoring the situation closely.
“I want to pay tribute to our world-leading scientists who are working constantly to keep our country safe, and I urge everyone to keep doing their bit by the getting the jab and following public health guidance.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We’ve always maintained public safety is our number one priority, which is why we’ve kept in place measures which allow us to protect the UK from new variants.
“We’re taking this early precautionary action now to protect the progress made across the country, and will continue to keep a close eye on the situation as we continue into the winter.”
Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive, said: “Scientists at UKHSA are in constant close collaboration with colleagues around the world to identify and assess variants as soon as they emerge.
“This is the most significant variant we have encountered to date and urgent research is underway to learn more about its transmissibility, severity and vaccine-susceptibility. The results of these investigations will determine what public health actions may limit the impact of B.1.1.529. “
“This is a clear reminder to everyone that this pandemic is not over, and we all have a responsibility to do what we can to limit transmission and reduce the infection rate and prevent the emergence of new variants.
“This means coming forward for vaccination as soon as possible and following public health advice. Wear a face covering in crowded places where it’s difficult to avoid coming into close contact with others, try to meet people in well-ventilated areas and seek a test immediately if you have symptoms.”
The first genomes of this variant were uploaded to the international GISAID database on 22 November. Genomes have now been uploaded from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong but the extent of spread is not yet determined.
The UKHSA produces risk assessments of the spread of Variants of Concern or Variants under Investigation internationally.
These risk assessments cover a range of factors for each country including assessment of surveillance and sequencing capability, available surveillance and genome sequencing data, evidence of in-country community transmission of COVID-19 variants, evidence of exportation of new variants to the UK or other countries and travel connectivity with the UK.
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald, has welcomed the Scottish Government’s rollout of financial support for families of children with a disability.
The new payment, which provides money to help with the extra costs of caring for a child with a disability or ill-health condition, opens for applications across the country today.
For the first time anywhere in the UK, disability benefit applicants can apply for Child Disability Payment online, as well as by phone, post or face-to-face.
As the Child Disability Payment replaces the UK Government’s Disability Living Allowance for children, this is for new applications. Those already receiving Disability Living Allowance for children do not need to apply.
These approximately 52,000 current cases are being automatically transferred in phases from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland and will be completed by spring 2023.
This is the first of three complex disability benefits to be introduced by the Scottish Government, with Adult Disability Payment to start next year.
Commenting on the rollout Gordon MacDonald, said: “The Child Disability Payment is a significant milestone for Scotland’s new social security system.
“I’m extremely pleased that families across Edinburgh will benefit from a simplified and much less stressful system that allows them to apply for the payment online, by phone, by post or face to face. For too long families have faced an overly complicated process that feels like it’s been designed to keep them out.
“I’m glad that people both here in Edinburgh, and right across Scotland, are benefitting from an SNP Government that is putting dignity, fairness and respect at the heart of its social security system.”
Negative test becomes part of certification scheme
People attending venues covered by Scotland’s COVID certification scheme are to be given the option of providing a recent negative lateral flow test for the virus, as an alternative to proof of vaccination.
It means that individuals who received a vaccine not recognised by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), or have experienced difficulty accessing their vaccination record, will be able to attend venues covered by the scheme.
The change, which takes effect on December 6th, comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that there will not be an extension of the scheme to additional settings, such as cinemas and pubs. Instead, she told MSPs that whenever people intend to socialise or mix with people from other households – whether that is in a pub, restaurant, house or shopping centre – they should do an LFD test first.
The certification scheme will continue to apply to major events and late-night venues. Regulations and guidance for businesses affected by the change will be published in the coming days.
The First Minister said: “This change makes it possible for people who cannot be vaccinated, or who are not yet fully protected, to make use of the scheme. That will I know be welcomed.
“The new rule will also, we hope, encourage the greater use of regular lateral flow testing and it will still meet our aim of reducing the risk of transmission, within higher risk venues.
“We encourage everyone to continue to test themselves regularly and particularly before you meet up with people from outside your household, whether you are meeting in your home or public place. If you test positive stay home, isolate and take a PCR test.
“Certification continues to have a role in helping us to increase vaccine uptake to reduce the risk of transmission of Coronavirus, to alleviate pressure on our health and care services and to allow higher risk settings to continue to operate.
“Our NHS is still under pressure. We need to consider any proportionate measures we can take so that Covid case numbers start to fall, rather than levelling off.”
The Scottish Government continues to encourage people to take lateral flow tests twice a week, and whenever they plan to meet people, including through the current “Living Safely for Us All” public health campaign.
The First Minister’s Coronavirus update statement in full:
Thanks, Presiding Officer,
I will give an update on the latest COVID situation, and our best assessment of the current course of the pandemic.
I will also – following on from last week’s statement – set out a proposed change to the current COVID certification scheme and our rationale for all of the decisions reached this morning in relation to the scheme.
First, though, today’s statistics.
2,527 positive cases were reported yesterday – 11.6% of tests carried out.
743 people are currently in hospital with COVID – seven fewer than yesterday.
And 60 people are receiving intensive care – one more than yesterday.
Sadly, a further 17 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, which takes the total number of deaths registered under this daily definition, to 9,495.
And, once again, I send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.
More positively, the progress of the vaccination programme continues to be very good.
4,340,162 people have now had a first dose and 3,940,314 have had both doses.
In total, now, 88% of all those aged over 18 are double vaccinated.
In addition, 77% of 16 and 17 year olds, and 58% of 12 to 15 year olds, have had a first dose.
And in line with updated JCVI advice, we are now preparing to offer second doses to 16 and 17 year olds.
As of now, on first, second, third and booster doses, I’m pleased to say that Scotland is still the most vaccinated part of the UK.
And I want to again record my thanks to everyone involved in organising and delivering the vaccine programme. Presiding Officer,
Looking across Europe, we can see very clearly that the COVID situation is deteriorating again.
As a result, COVID measures are being tightened or re-introduced in many countries – for example, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Slovakia.
At the most severe end of the spectrum, Austria is back in full lockdown and also mandating compulsory vaccination.
All of this is a stark reminder that the threat of the pandemic unfortunately is not yet behind us.
COVID is continuing to force governments everywhere to take really difficult and invidious decisions.
And of course that is also true here in Scotland.
While, thankfully, we are not at this stage seeing the rapid rise in cases that others are experiencing, the situation does remain precarious.
Cases are on the rise, to a greater or lesser extent, in countries all around us – including here in the UK.
And we are also entering a period when – understandably – people will be socialising and mixing more than normal.
So even though our position now is relatively stable compared to some other countries, we must continue to take care and we must not allow ourselves to be lulled into any false sense of security.
So let me give some more detail on the recent trends we are seeing here.
Last week, I noted that cases had increased gradually over the previous fortnight from just over 2,500 new cases a day, to just over 3,000.
Since then, the situation appears to have stabilised again.
In the past seven days, the average number of new cases being recorded each day has fallen from just over 3,000 to just under 3,000 – it’s been a fall of around 3%.
However, there continues to be quite a marked variation between different age groups.
In the over 60s, cases fell by 19%. And this, at least in part, is very likely to reflect the good progress of the booster programme.
In the under 60s, though, there was only a very slight decline. A small fall in cases in those aged under 25, was almost balanced out by a very small increase in the other age bands under 60.
So in younger age groups, cases have been broadly static over the past week.
That said, a number of different factors will be at play over the next few weeks and the combination of these makes it quite difficult to be certain about the course the pandemic will take over the festive period and into January.
On the one hand, the booster programme will continue to gather pace; and more people in younger age groups will receive their primary vaccinations.
So we can expect the combined effects of vaccination to bear down on transmission and also, we hope, reduce the numbers who will become seriously unwell as a result of getting the virus.
On the other hand, we can also expect more indoor mixing to take place – as the weather gets colder, and of course as we head towards the festive season. In addition, there is likely to be some waning of vaccine immunity – which, of course, is why booster jags matter so much.
And these latter factors will increase risks of transmission.
And, of course, while the cases are broadly stable just now, it is also the case that infection rates remain too high and higher than we’d want them to be .
All of this is putting significant and sustained pressure on the NHS.
In the past week, the number of people in hospital with COVID has fallen only slightly – from 779 to 743.
And the number of people in intensive care has risen very slightly – from 57 to 60.
So the number of patients in hospital with COVID is still high.
The NHS is also dealing with the backlog of care created by earlier phases of the pandemic.
And of course, the peak of the winter flu season, coupled with other winter pressures, possibly still lies ahead of us.
Taking all of this into account and adding the fact that the R number is hovering at or slightly above 1 leads us to this conclusion; our situation is definitely more positive than we might have expected it to be at this point, but it is still precarious.
We need to get the R number back below 1.
And that means having in place a range of proportionate protections to keep the country as safe as possible while we continue to live as freely as possible.
That is why the Cabinet decided this morning to retain for a further period all of the remaining legal protections, such as the requirement to wear face coverings and – subject to a change I will set out shortly – to keep in place the COVID certification scheme, and also to intensify our public information campaign in the weeks ahead.
I want to now set out and really emphasise today the range of protections that we judge to be essential – and I want to stress that word, essential – if we are to navigate this winter as safely as possible and, crucially without the need to re-introduce more onerous restrictions.
And, Presiding Officer,
As we approach the festive season, I am appealing fresh to everyone across the country to comply with all of these protections with renewed care and commitment – to keep ourselves safe but also to show our solidarity to those around us.
Firstly, vaccination.
The duty of government is to deliver the vaccine programme – especially, at this stage, boosters – as rapidly as possible.
Right now, that is my government’s top priority.
More than 1.4 million people – just over 30% of the total over-12 population – have so far had a booster or third dose.
Within the most vulnerable groups, 87% of over 70s and 76% of those at highest clinical risk already have the protection of a booster or third dose.
As I mentioned earlier, we are already seeing the positive impact of boosters in the case numbers.
So the programme is going exceptionally well but we are doing everything possible – and will continue to do everything possible – to speed it up further.
Delivering the programme as quickly as possible is of course the government’s responsibility – although of course we are reliant on and eternally grateful for the commitment of NHS workers in delivering it.
The duty and responsibility though of all of us as citizens is to get vaccinated as soon as we are able.
So if you haven’t yet had a dose of vaccine that you are eligible for, please make arrangements to get it now.
This is even more vital if you are planning to socialise at all over the festive period.
If you are meeting up with loved ones and you are not as fully vaccinated as you could be, you are putting them at unnecessary risk.
To be blunt, you could be putting their lives in danger.
The most precious gift we can give anyone this Christmas is to be vaccinated – and also tested which I’ll say more about shortly – before we meet, hug or spend any time with them.
So, if you haven’t had a first or second dose yet, it’s not too late – so please do so now.
And please also get your booster as soon as you are able.
A booster jag reduces the risk of symptomatic infection by more than 80%. So – let me stress this – it’s not just a small top up – getting your booster is every bit as important as the initial vaccinations.
If you are aged over 50, or are in one of the higher risk groups – and are over 24 weeks from your second jag – you need to book an appointment online via NHS inform or via the helpline. The helpline number is 0800 030 8013.
If you live in many parts of the Highland area, or on one of the island areas which doesn’t use online booking, you will be contacted separately by your health board.
But for everyone else, please use NHS inform, or call the helpline. And please book the booster for as soon as you are eligible – which is 24 weeks after your second dose. Don’t, for example, wait until after the Christmas holiday period is over.
For those aged 40 to 49 who are next in line for boosters – and for 16 and 17 year olds who will now be offered a second dose – information on booking appointments will be available very soon.
Above all today, I want to reinforce this vital message to every person eligible for vaccination, including pregnant women – whether for a first, second, third or booster jag, please book an appointment without delay. And get your flu jag too if you are eligible for that.
Getting vaccinated does remain the single most important thing any of us can do to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.
You could well be saving your own life, and the lives of your loved ones.
You will be helping the NHS.
And you will be maximising our chances of getting through this winter, without the need for further restrictions.
Presiding Officer,
The vaccine programme is the bedrock of our fight against COVID.
But other protections are vitally important too.
The Scottish Government will be intensifying our public awareness and information campaigns over the winter period to make sure everyone knows what is being asked of us.
So when you see those ads, please take a moment to listen and remind yourself of the protections that will help keep you and others safe.
What are these other protections?
Firstly, as well as vaccination, we are asking everyone to take regular lateral flow tests.
We have been asking people to do this routinely twice a week.
However, over the festive period, we are asking for extra effort – and so this next request is vitally important.
On any occasion that you are socialising with others – whether that is going out for drinks or dinner, visiting someone at home, or even going shopping somewhere that might be crowded – please take an LFD test before you go.
And if it is positive, do not go. Instead get a PCR test and self-isolate while you wait for the result.
This way, you are minimising the risk of inadvertently passing the virus on even if you don’t have symptoms. Also, please continue to wear face coverings on public transport, in shops and when moving around in hospitality settings. This remains a legal requirement. But it is also a vital protection – a study published just last week suggested that face coverings may reduce the risk of transmission by over 50%.
And remember, good ventilation also reduces risks in indoor spaces. So please open windows if you have people round.
And lastly, please do continue to work from home whenever possible.
I know this isn’t always easy for workers – nor is it convenient always for employers. But it does make a difference and it will help us navigate our way through this difficult winter period.
The average number of contacts people are having in the workplace has doubled in recent weeks, and as we head deeper into winter, this will create an increased risk of transmission. The virus transmits, as we know, when people interact. And when people go to work they interact in a number of ways – including through travel, during lunch breaks, and after work. So support for homeworking, whenever possible, remains one of the most effective protections we have at our disposal just now.
Presiding Officer,
Let me turn now to the COVID certification scheme which Cabinet also discussed this morning, and set out the decisions we reached and the rationale for them.
For context, it is worth bearing in mind that COVID certification is far from unique to Scotland. Similar schemes are in in place in many other parts of the world.
In fact, in recent weeks, certification schemes have been announced, reintroduced or extended in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Northern Ireland and elsewhere. Many cover a wider range of premises than Scotland’s does.
However, we must reach decisions based on our own circumstances and so I can confirm that the judgments we arrived at this morning are as follows.
Firstly, for at least a further three week period, we will retain vaccine certification for the venues and events currently covered by the scheme – that is late night licensed premises with a designated area for dancing; unseated indoor events of 500 people or more; unseated outdoor events of 4,000 people or more; and any event with 10,000 people or more.
Given the current state of the pandemic, it is our judgement that it would not be appropriate at this stage to remove this protection against transmission.
Secondly, however, we have decided that from 6 December it will be possible to access venues or events covered by the scheme by showing either proof of vaccination, as now, or a recent negative lateral flow test result.
When we first launched the scheme, one of its primary objectives was to help drive up vaccination rates. This is still important, obviously, but actual and projected uptake rates mean we judge it possible now to include testing.
Doing so will also ensure that the scheme remains proportionate going forward, and also help our wider efforts to stem transmission through greater use of LFD tests more generally.
And, finally, as I indicated last week, Cabinet also considered the possible extension of the scheme to a much wider range of premises, including indoor theatres, cinemas and other hospitality venues.
Let me stress, this was a very, very finely balanced decision.
However, I can confirm that at this stage we have decided not to extend the scope of the scheme.
We have taken account of the fact that – although our situation is precarious – cases are currently stable and indeed slightly declining; and we have considered the inevitable impact vaccine certification has on the operation of businesses; and concluded that, at this stage, extension would not be proportionate.
We were also mindful of the need over the coming weeks, as I’ve already alluded to, of getting across the message that it is important to be vaccinated and tested ahead of socialising in any setting – including in homes and shopping centres, for example – not just in those that might be covered by a certification scheme.
Presiding Officer,
I said last week that we would take this decision with the utmost care and that is what we have done.
It is important to stress, however, that we must keep it – as we do all possible protections – under review.
If our situation does deteriorate, it may yet be that extending COVID certification is a more proportionate alternative to the re-introduction of more onerous restrictions on, for example, hospitality.
We will continue to liaise closely with businesses about this and about what they must do in the coming weeks to minimise that risk.
Presiding Officer,
To begin to conclude, it is an understatement I am sure to say that all of us are sick and tired of this virus and the impact it, although less than in previous months, it is nevertheless still having on our lives.
I understand that and indeed I share that sentiment.
I am also deeply grateful for all the sacrifices everyone has made and continues to make.
Thanks to those sacrifices, we are in a much stronger position now than I would have dared hope for just a few weeks ago.
But I can’t emphasise strongly enough that our position is still precarious.
The next few weeks do pose risks.
Cases are rising in countries around us. And the festive period will bring more travel and more socialising.
Of course, that is to be welcomed. We all desperately want a more normal Christmas than was possible last year.
But we must – all of us – take sensible, proportionate measures to reduce the risk of a new year hangover of surging cases, more pressure on the NHS, and an inevitability of renewed restrictions.
We can all play our part in avoiding this.
So to everyone watching, my request in a nutshell, is as follows – and please pass this on to your friends and family as well.
This is what all of us, government, businesses and individual citizens, must do together – as part of a social compact – to keep each other as safe as possible and allow us all to live as freely as possible.
So over these next crucial weeks, please wear your face coverings and follow all advice on hygiene and ventilation – wash your hands and surfaces and keep windows open when you have people round.
If you have eased up on this recently – as I know many of us will have – now is the time for all of us to tighten up again. Work from home if you can. If you think you could be working from home and you aren’t, raise this with your employer.
And to employers, please facilitate home working for a bit longer, as far as possible.
To all of you, make sure you get any and all vaccine doses you are eligible for, including flu.
For my part, I will continue to make sure that the government keeps rolling out the vaccination programme just as quickly as possible.
And, finally, on any occasion that you intend to socialise or mix with people from other households – whether that is in a pub, a restaurant, a house or a shopping centre – do an LFD test first.
If it is positive, do not go. Self-isolate and get a PCR test instead.
Government has made sure you can order these tests free through NHS Inform or get them at a local test site or pharmacy.
If you don’t have them already, now is the time to order some and keep your supply topped up over the next few weeks.
All of these precautions really matter. They are part of our social compact. They will help protect us and all of those around us. And they will help us protect our NHS and all of those working so hard on its frontline right now.
So please, I ask everybody across the country to stick with these protections – so that we can, I hope, have a more normal Christmas, but do so without jeopardising our prospect of a much brighter new year as well.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave this speech at the CBI conference yesterday:
Great to be here in Tyneside, the number one exporting region of the UK.
Great to be with the CBI.
And I want to begin with a massive thank you to British business.
For keeping going.
For looking after your employees.
For rising to the challenge.
For responding to the call for ventilators in those first dark days.
Dozens of you,
Kitchen appliance makers,
Hairdryer makers,
Formula one motor car manufacturers,
Turning your production lines over in days to try to save lives.
For making the masks and the gowns and the gloves at such speed.
Turning things round from that awful moment when we realised we simply didn’t have the domestic production.
So we have gone from being able to supply 1 per cent of our domestic needs to 80 per cent.
And thank you British industry, enterprise, commerce,
For producing not just one but perhaps half a dozen vaccines.
Because without you, let’s face it, we would simply not be here,
And nor would tens of thousands of people in our country and millions around the world,
Who owe their lives to your resourcefulness and inventiveness.
And while I’m on the subject, can I ask who has had your booster?
You all look far too young and thrusting to need a booster but get your booster as soon as you can.
Because it is by vaccinating our country that we have been able to get your staff back to their place of work, to open our theatres, our restaurants and to get back for longer now than any other comparator country to something like normal life.
Even if we are still bumping elbows and wearing masks.
I am not going to pretend that everything is going to be plain sailing.
We can see the state of the pandemic abroad.
The supply chain issues that we’re facing.
The pressure on energy prices that we’re all facing.
The skills shortages.
But don’t forget folks, my friends, it was only last year they were saying we would have an unemployment crisis now on the scale not seen since the 1980s or 1990s.They were forecasting 12 per cent unemployment.
And what have we got?
Thanks to you, thanks to the resilience of British business, we have employment back in work at pre-pandemic levels.
It was only last year that we experienced the biggest fall in output in a century.
As we were forced to lock down the economy.
Well look at us now.
Thanks to you and thanks to British business bouncebackability, we are forecast to have the fastest economic growth in the G7.
And I was there in the 70s and 80s and 90s.
And I remember mass unemployment.
And the misery and the drain of the human spirit.
And I would much rather have our problems today – which are fundamentally caused by a return in global confidence and a surge in demand.
Because now we have a massive opportunity to fix these supply-side problems.
To transform whole sectors of our economy and to tackle the chronic problems underlying the UK economy.
The woeful imbalance in productivity across the country.
But also the imbalance between British business.
Between the go-getting world-beaters represented by so many people in this room,
And the long comet tail whose potential is frankly yet to be realised.
That don’t have the skills – particularly the IT skills – as Rishi the Chancellor so often points out.
That don’t have the banks behind them, that don’t have the investment.
And that is the mission of this country – to unite and level up.
Of this government – to unite and level up across the whole country.
And I’ve got to be honest with you, it is a moral mission.
As you get older, the funny thing is you get more idealistic and less cynical.
It’s a moral thing, but it is also an economic imperative.
Because if this country could achieve the same kind of geographical balance and dispersion of growth and wealth that you find in most of our most successful economic comparators,
And if all our businesses could reach more balance in their levels of productivity,
Then there would be absolutely no stopping us.
And we would achieve what I believe we can.
And become the biggest and most successful economy in Europe.
And today fate has handed us an opportunity to do that.
When the first industrial revolution began 250 years ago it was British industry that had first-mover advantage.
For hundreds of years, we maintained that pace.
Right up until the beginning of the 20th century we were producing more coal, smelting more iron, building more ships and boilers and making more machines than virtually any other country on earth.
And today we are on the brink of another revolution.
A green industrial revolution.
And again there are many ways in which we have first-mover advantage.
And today I want to tell you in the CBI how Britain is going to win in the new green industrial revolution.
Provided we act and act now.
I have had some pretty wonderful jobs in my life, but among the most purely hedonistic I would rank motoring correspondent of GQ magazine.
I drove:
Ferraris
Maseratis
Nissan Skylines
Proton Sagas
You name it, I drove it.
And I learned to admire the incredible diversity of the UK specialist motor manufacturing sector, which is actually the biggest in the world.
And I have spent hours in the traffic, listening to the porridge-like burble and pop of the biggest and most sophisticated internal combustion engines ever made.
And I have heard that burble turn into an operatic roar as I have put my foot down and burned away from the lights at speeds I would not now confess to my protection officers.
In that time, that great era, I only tried two EVs – electric vehicles.
An extraordinary wheeled rabbit hutch that was so tiny you could park it sideways.
And I tried the first Tesla for sale in this country, for GQ, that expired in the fast lane of the M40.
They’ve got a lot better.
And when a few years later as Mayor of London I tried to get London motorists to go electric and we put in charging points around the city, I must confess that they were not then a soaraway success.
And they stood forlorn like some piece of unused outdoor gym equipment.
But ten years after that – the tipping point has come, hasn’t it?
UK sales of EVs are now increasing at 70 per cent a year.
And in 2030 we are ending the market for new hydrocarbon ICEs, ahead of other European countries.
And companies are responding.
Here in the north east, Nissan has decided to make an enormous bet on new electric vehicles and together with Envision there is now a massive new gigafactory for batteries.
And around the world, these cars are getting ever more affordable.
And at Glasgow two weeks ago the tipping point came, as motor manufacturers representing a third of the world market – including the EU and America – announced that they would go electric by 2035.
And of course, Glasgow was far bigger and more important than that.
250 years after we launched the first industrial revolution, we are showing the world how to power past coal.
When I was a kid, 80 per cent of our electricity came from coal.
And I remember those huge barges taking coal up the Thames to Battersea power station and those four chimneys belching fumes into the face and lungs of the city.
By the time I became mayor, Battersea was a wreck.
Closed for being simply too polluting.
And good for nothing except the final shoot out in gangster movies.
But in 2012, we were still 40 per cent dependent on coal.
Today – only ten years later – coal supplies less than 2 per cent of our power.
And by 2024 it will be down to zero
And Battersea of course is a great funkapolitan hive of cafes and restaurants and hotels and homes
Thanks to the vision of the former Mayor.
And every time I made that point to leaders in Glasgow,
About the speed of the switch that we’ve made from coal,
I could see them thinking about it and I could see them thinking: right, ok, maybe this is doable.
And when I was a kid literally zero per cent of our energy came from wind.
And it seemed faddish and ludicrous to imagine that we could light and heat our homes with a technology that dated from 9th century Persia, I think.
And yet today – look at the coast of the north east where we are today.
Row after row stretching out to the north sea, of beautiful white mills as we claim a new harvest,
Rich and green from the drowned meadows of doggerland.
And on some days we derive almost half this country’s energy needs,
With the biggest offshore wind production anywhere in the world – and growing the whole time.
And that tipping point having been reached, the pace of change is now going to accelerate like new a Tesla.
Because I can tell you as a former motoring correspondent, EVs may not burble like sucking doves, and they may not have that arum arum araaaaaagh that you love,
But they have so much torque that they move off the lights faster than a Ferrari.
And we are now embarked on a new epoch.
And in just a few years’ time, after almost a century of using roughly the same technology, we are going to change radically.
We are going to change radically:
our cars
our trucks
our buses
our ships
our boats
our planes
our trains
our domestic heating systems
our farming methods
our industrial processes
our power generation
And much else besides.
And I can tell you the force driving that change.
It won’t be government, and it won’t even be business – though business and government together will have a massive influence.
It will be the consumer.
It will be the young people of today,
The disciples of David Attenborough,
Not just in this country but around the world,
Who can see the consequences of climate change and who will be demanding better from us.
And I confidently predict that in just a few years’ time it will be as noisome, offensive to the global consumer to open a new coal fired power station as it is to get on a plane and light up a cigar.
And as the world reaches this pivotal moment, post Glasgow, it’s vital that we recognise not just the scale of the challenge, but the opportunity now for British business and industry.
Because in the end it is you, it is business people, who will fix this problem.
Governments don’t innovate.
Governments don’t produce new products and get out and sell them in the market place.
And though governments can sell, governments can spend tens if not hundreds of billions,
We know that the market has hundreds of trillions.
And yet we also know that government has a vital role in making that market, and in framing the right regulation.
And to ensure that you, the British business succeeds in this new world, we have set out a ten point plan for government leadership.
A new Decalogue that I produced exactly a year ago, when I came down from Sinai and I said to my officials the new ten commandments thou shalt develop:
Offshore wind.
Hydrogen.
Nuclear power.
Zero emission vehicles.
Green public transport, cycling and walking.
‘Jet zero’ and green ships
7: greener buildings
8: carbon capture and storage
9: nature and trees
10: green finance
And for each of those objectives we are producing a roadmap, so that you in the private sector can see the opportunities ahead and what you need to do.
And we are regulating so as to require new homes and buildings to have EV charging points – with another 145,000 charging points to be installed thanks to these regulations.
We are investing in new projects to turn wind power into hydrogen.
And the net zero strategy is expected to trigger about £90 billion of private sector investment, driving the creation of high wage high skill jobs across the UK, as part of our mission to unite and level up across the country.
Not just in the green industrial revolution of course, but in all sectors of the economy.
And to help you, and to build the platform, to give you the advantage you need, we are now waging a cross-Whitehall campaign to solve our productivity puzzle and to rebalance our lopsided economy.
Fixing our infrastructure with investment on a scale not seen since the Victorians.
And we must begin with energy and power generation,
if we are going to have, allow, our manufacturing industry to succeed, we must end the unfairness that UK, high energy-intensive manufacturing pays so much more than our competitors overseas.
And that’s why we are going to address the cost of our nuclear power and we are all now paying for the historic under under-investment in nuclear power.
Which country first split the atom?
Which country had the first civilian nuclear power plant?
It was this one.
And why have we allowed ourselves to be left behind?
Well, you tell me.
So we are investing not just in big new nuclear plants but in small nuclear reactors as well.
And we are consulting on classifying this essential technology as “green investment”, so that we can get more investment flowing in and ahead of the EU.
Lenin once said that the communist revolution was soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country.
Well, I hesitate to quote Lenin, Tony, before the CBI, but the coming industrial revolution is green power plus the electrification of the whole country.
We are electrifying our cars, we are electrifying our rail.
Last week we announced three vast new high speed lines.
Cutting the time from London to Manchester by an hour.
And creating a new Crossrail of the north
Cutting the time from Manchester to Leeds from 55 to 33 minutes.
A crossrail for the Midlands,
Cutting journey times from Birmingham to Nottingham from one hour and 14 minutes to 26 minutes.
But these plans are far richer and more ambitious than some of the coverage has perhaps suggested.
To solve this country’s transport problems, you can’t just endlessly carve your way through virgin countryside.
You have to upgrade, and to electrify.
You have to use the tracks that already exist and bring them back into service.
And we are doing the Beeching reversals – that’s putting in lines that were taken out sadly in the last century.
You have to put other transport networks as well.
You have to put in clean buses, you have to improve,
4000 new clean green buses we’re putting in.
And of course, you have to fix the roads as well.
We cannot be endlessly hostile to road improvements.
And we have to do it now, we have to fix it now.
I know that there are some people who think that working habits have been remade by the pandemic, and that everyone will be working only on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, in an acronym I won’t repeat.
I don’t want to be dogmatic about this, but I have my doubts.
And it is not just that young people need to be in the office to learn, and to compete, and to pick up social capital.
There are also sound evolutionary reasons why mother nature does not like working from home.
So I people prophesy that people will come back, Tony – they will come to the office.
And they will come back on the roads and the rail.
But people also want choice.
And that is why we must put in the gigabit broadband – as we are – which has gone up massively just in the last couple of years from 7 per cent when I became PM to 65 per cent at the beginning of next year.
And with safer streets,
With great local schools,
With fantastic broadband,
People will have the confidence to stay nearer the place they grew up.
To start business.
And business will have the confidence to invest.
And then of course there is one thing that business wants and that this country needs,
Far more than a hundred supersonic rail links,
Far more than broadband,
And that is skills.
And the people that you all need to staff your business.
It’s an astonishing fact that the 16-18 year olds in this country are getting 40% less time and instruction than our competitors in the OECD, and so we’re turning that round.
We are focusing on skills, skills, skills,
Investing in our FE colleges, our apprentices, in the knowhow and confidence of young people.
And since, as everybody knows, 80 per cent of the 2030 workforce are already in work,
We are giving every adult who needs it the chance to get a level three skill.
£3000 for a lifetime skills guarantee.
We are supporting bootcamps for everything from IT to entrepreneurship.
And at this pivotal moment in our economic history, we are taking advantage of our new freedoms.
To deliver freeports as well as free trade deals.
And to regulate differently and better,
To lengthen our lead in all the amazing new technologies of the 21st century:
AI
cyber
quantum computing
And all the rest and all the applications of those technologies to the areas in which we excel.
So you get fin tech, ed tech, bio tech, med tech, nano tech, ag tech, green tech,
So you sound basically like 15th century Mexico.
And that is what this country is doing
There are only 3 countries that have produced more than 100 tech unicorns
and they are, as you will know, well which are they? Let’s see who’s been paying attention to any of my speeches in the last few … which 3 nations have produced more than 100 tech unicorns?
Correct. They are the US, China and the UK
And the wonderful thing about the more than the 100 tech unicorns is they are dispersed now far more evenly across the whole of the UK than the tech unicorns of some of our rival competitor economies.
And that is a fantastic thing.
We want to see the dispersal of this growth and development across the UK. That’s why this government has doubled investment in scientific research – and again, we want to see the benefits of that research across the whole of the country
But in the end
And this is the most important message of all.
There are limits to what governments can do.
And I just want to be absolutely clear about this – because this has been an extraordinary period.
There has been the financial crisis of 2008, where government had to intervene on a massive scale.
Then Covid, when government had to intervene on a massive scale.
But government cannot fix everything and government sometimes should get out of your hair.
And government should make sure there is less regulation and indeed less taxation.
And the true driver of growth is not government, it is the energy and dynamism and originality of the private sector
And Tony, yesterday, I went as we all must to Peppa Pig World.
Hands up if you’ve been to Peppa Pig World – [not enough]
I was a bit hazy about what I would find at Peppa Pig World, but I loved it.
Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place.
It had very safe streets.
Discipline in schools.
Heavy emphasis on new mass transit systems, I noticed.
Even if they are a bit stereotypical about daddy pig.
But the real lesson for me about going to Peppa Pig World was about the power of UK creativity.
"Yesterday I went to Peppa Pig World… I loved it, it's very much my kind of place"
Who would have believed, Tony, that a pig that looks like a hairdryer, or possibly a sort of Picasso-like hairdryer,
A pig that was rejected by the BBC,
Would now be exported to 180 countries,
With theme parks both in America and in China as well as in the New Forest,
And a business that is worth at least £6bn to this country, £6bn and counting.
I think that it is pure genius, don’t you?
No government in the world, no Whitehall civil servant in the world, could conceivably have come up with Peppa.
So my final message to you.
As we stand on the brink of this green industrial revolution.
As we prepare to use our new regulatory freedoms in what I believe will be a very strong post-Covid rebound.
We are blessed,
We are blessed not just with capital markets and the world’s best universities and incredible pools of liquidity in London, the right time zone and the right language and opportunity across the whole country,
We are also blessed with the amazing inventive power and range of British business.
And that above all is what fills me with confidence, members of the CBI, for the days ahead.
Thank you very much for your kind attention this morning, thank you.
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.”
SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald has called on the Tory Westminster Government to make good on the money Scotland and Northern Ireland are owed as its share of the £20 billion from Boris Johnson’s ill-fated plan to build a bridge to Northern Ireland. Money which represents the equivalent of up to £1.4 billion for Edinburgh.
The project – promoted by Boris Johnson was costed at £20 billion, but since the plans for the bridge were canned the money has not been allocated for spending in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Now, Gordon Macdonald MSP is demanding that the money be allocated to Scotland to be spent on worthwhile transport projects that could transform connectivity in Edinburgh.
Gordon said: “Whilst the crossing was a daft idea, the SNP will engage with ideas of how funding can be distributed to ensure worthwhile investment in transport links across Scotland which will benefit communities like Edinburgh. £20 billion for a transport project in Scotland and Northern Ireland is worth up to £1.4 billion for Edinburgh.
“The Tories are up to their old tricks again as we saw last time they had control of Scotland’s money. When they diverted cash from the Highlands to try to boost dwindling Conservative support in south-east England.
“What the people of Edinburgh need is proper commitments that will make transformational changes to connectivity across the area. Edinburgh’s share of the cash would equal up to £1.4 billion and the Tories owe the community that money which would make a significant difference in how people get around.
“This also shows once again how out of touch Boris Johnson really is with people in Edinburgh and across Scotland as he has his priorities all wrong to bring about real change for people here.
“We cannot trust the Tories to act in the best interests of Scotland and that is why the people of Scotland should have the choice of a different path towards independence.”
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.”
