Significant steps forward have been made to decide the future of the Gorgie City Farm site after a series of setbacks.
Dangerous buildings, frozen pipes, flooding, the barn roof being partially blown off and the collapse of a ceiling were events which all halted progress at various times. Structural damage to several of the Farm’s buildings was also discovered during a survey, and as a result the Farm site has had to remain closed to the public for safety reasons.
Despite unexpected events, a lot has been going on behind the scenes, and progress has really picked up pace.
Planning for the Farm site’s future is being supported by EVOC (Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council) alongside an advisory group.
A new Company Limited By Guarantee has been formed and the new company will apply for charitable status in the near future. The new company will lead on future development on the site, and local people will play an important role in progressing medium and long term ambitions for the Farm.
Local people have already contributed their thoughts and wishes for Gorgie Farm site’s future. An extensive community consultation exercise was led by Project partner Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, with hundreds of people contributing ideas.
Farm Site Manager Suzanne Campbell is pleased to see ideas for the site’s future taking shape: “The Farm has a very special place in the hearts of the people of Gorgie, Dalry and the wider city, and the input of local people to what the site might look like in the future has been outstanding.
“It’s taken longer than we hoped to start to put together options for its future, but we are now in the process of preparing a report which will be presented to the Council in August.”
The report will outline four fully costed options for the future of the Gorgie Farm site will be presented to City of Edinburgh’s Culture & Communities Committee on 24 August 2024.
Victoria Atkins aims to make health and social care system faster, simpler and fairer for patients
Health and Social Care Secretary sets out intention to make the system faster, simpler and fairer for patients
Victoria Atkins thanks staff for a week of delivery, in which two manifesto commitments were met
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins has thanked health, social care and research staff for delivering on patients’ priorities, as she set out her commitment to make the health and social care system faster, simpler and fairer for patients.
Her words came days after pharmacies across the country began offering new contraceptive services and additional blood pressure checks, and after a breakthrough in talks to end consultant strikes, which saw the British Medical Association Consultants committee agree to put an offer on contract reform to its members.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Victoria Atkins, said: “Since joining the department, I have been bowled over by the way health and social care staff just keep on delivering for patients. The important milestones we’ve reached this week – reaching 50,000 additional nurses and 50 million more GP appointments – demonstrate real progress.
“I have spent the past few weeks meeting doctors, nurses, GPs, pharmacists and other health workers and heard wonderful stories about how they have gone above and beyond to deliver outstanding care for patients and cut waiting lists.
“But I have also heard about their frustrations and where they feel they are not able to deliver the best possible care or where prevention or early intervention could have made a real difference. That is why I am committed to making health and social care services faster, simpler and fairer.
“We face a difficult winter ahead. And though our early winter planning is seeing some results we know there is much more to do. But having seen what our excellent staff can do I am confident that with the government’s support we can continue to deliver for patients over the coming months.”
The Health and Social Care Secretary has committed to making health and social care services:
Faster for patients, by making it easier to get treatment locally, improving A&E performance and cutting waiting lists
Simpler for patients, with joined up, integrated care, and simpler for staff, by reducing bureaucracy and giving them the latest technology to free up their time to care for patients
Fairer, ensuring children are protected from health harms, that health outcomes are not determined by where you live, that government supports older people to maintain their independence for longer, and that government delivers a more productive NHS that is fairer for taxpayers.
She added that she would continue to work with the NHS to manage the ongoing winter pressures. The government prepared for winter earlier than ever before and data released by the NHS on Thursday shows the government is making good progress.
Compared to the same time last year, ambulance handover delays have fallen by 28%, thousands more 111 calls are being answered within 60 seconds, and there were nearly 1,500 more hospital beds available.
The Secretary of State said: “We face a difficult winter ahead. And though our early winter planning is seeing some results we know there is much more to do.
“But having seen what our excellent staff can do I am confident that with the government’s support we can continue to deliver for patients over the coming months.”
The Health and Social Care Secretary was appointed on 13 November. She has now set out her priorities in a week in which the government and NHS hit a number of major delivery milestones:
NHS England data published on Thursday showed there were 51,245 additional nurses in September 2023 compared to 2019 – hitting the government’s manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 50,000 nurses six months early.
NHS England data also showed that for the year to October 2023, there were 51 million additional general practice appointments delivered when compared to October 2019, meeting another manifesto commitment.
On Monday the government announced that it had put forward an offer that will modernise the consultant contract and reform consultants’ pay structure, paving the way to end consultant strikes. The British Medical Association and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association will put the deal to their memberships in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday the Secretary of State announced funding for a research project to evaluate the rollout of the hugely successful HIV opt-out testing programme to 46 new sites across England.
On Friday 1 December pharmacies across England began offering the new contraceptive services announced recently as part of Pharmacy First. This is part of the NHS and government’s Primary Care Recovery Plan, announced by the head of the NHS and the Prime Minister in May, which committed to making it quicker and easier for millions of people to access healthcare on their high street.
Scotland continues to “set the pace” when it comes to students from deprived areas getting into university, the Commissioner for Fair Access has said.
The Commissioner’s latest annual report said the Scottish Government’s approach has been an “unambiguous success” and that “all the fair access indicators are flashing green”, despite the impact of COVID-19. It marks Sir Peter Scott’s last report as Commissioner for Fair Access before stepping down.
A record 16.7% of students from Scotland’s most deprived 20% of communities were entrants on full-time first-year degree courses in 2020/21, an increase of 545 students compared with the previous year. This represents an increase of around 1,550 entrants (39%), during Sir Peter’s time as Commissioner.
Higher Education minister Jamie Hepburn said: “The Commissioner for Fair Access makes it clear that Scotland continues to set the pace in the UK in terms of fair access to higher education, with a record number of Scottish students from deprived areas enrolling in university for the first time.
“I would like to thank Sir Peter Scott for his contribution as Scotland’s first Fair Access Commissioner and pay tribute to the lasting legacy he will leave. We will consider the recommendations of the report carefully.
“While excellent progress has been made by our institutions, we cannot let up on the momentum in the face of the challenges that lie ahead.
“We believe every young person should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, no matter their circumstances.”
UK and Scottish governments agree first stage of the Fiscal Framework Review
The UK Government and Scottish Government today agreed in principle the scope of the independent report that will inform the subsequent review of the Scottish Government’s Fiscal Framework.
During an in-person meeting in Westminster, Chief Secretary to HM Treasury Simon Clarke and the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy Kate Forbes agreed to commission an independent report on the Block Grant Adjustment arrangements, including a call for stakeholder input, prior to a broader review of the Fiscal Framework. The Ministers will confirm these arrangements in writing.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said: “After our first in-person meeting it’s great that we’ve been able to get an agreement and can now get on with the Fiscal Framework Review and ensure fair and sustainable funding for Scotland’s future.
“We’re continuing to work together to tackle the big issues we face as a United Kingdom, including climate change, levelling up opportunities and supporting jobs.”
Scottish Finance Minister Kate Forbes said: “Today’s meeting was positive and I am glad that we are finally making some progress on the fiscal framework.
“I have reached an agreement in principle with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury which enables us to move without further delay towards commissioning the independent report, with the Fiscal Framework review itself beginning as close to the beginning of 2022 as possible.
“While the report will look only at the Block Grant Adjustments, we agreed that the review should have a wider scope, and involve input from parliamentary committees and wider stakeholders.”
The Chief Secretary also chaired a quadrilateral meeting that included Cabinet Secretary Kate Forbes, and finance ministers from Wales and Northern Ireland where they discussed Net Zero, creating jobs across the UK and recovering from the pandemic.
The City of Edinburgh Council has delivered sustained improvements over the last 12 months and is continuing to fulfil its longer-term commitments, according to new bench-marking reports.
Demonstrating the Council’s continued focus on investing, delivering and improving the services that matter most to residents, the city’s annual performance report reveals good progress in a number of key areas while also recognising there is room for improvement still to be made.
Elected members will discuss achievements to date – including improvements in road and waste services, reducing carbon emissions and increasing educational attainment – and how we are working to improve more areas at a meeting of the Policy and Sustainability Committee on Thursday (20 August).
Council Leader Adam McVey said: We’ve made a huge amount of progress over the last 12 months and the results of many of the changes we’ve introduced are clear to see.
“Thousands of new homes are being built, our road condition is getting better and educational attainment across our communities is improving. We’ve seen another significant drop in waste complaints and carbon emissions showing we can continue to improve our basic services while working towards our long term ambitions for Edinburgh. These figures show we’re recording better performance in many areas we know are important to residents.
“We’ll continue to work hard for our citizens and prioritise the issues that matter to them. We face a number of challenges which weren’t foreseen and our plans on how the City adapts to COVID will help us sustain progress, prioritise investment to drive down carbon emissions further and support those residents most in need.
“Despite the challenges which still lie ahead, we remain committed to building on all of the achievements we’ve made to date. With nearly two years until the next Council election we’re well on our way to achieving 48 of our 52 Coalition Commitments, having delivered plans for more classroom assistants and smashed our target for new trees with a net increase of more than 12,000 delivered so far.
“Major infrastructure improvements like the new Meadowbank Sports Centre and Tram to Newhaven are crucial to our City’s wellbeing and sustainable future as are the thousands of new low-carbon homes being built. COVID has shown us how fragile progress can be but it’s also shown us how much we can do with the will to do it.”
Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “We deliver over 700 services every year for residents and visitors, from Council housing and care homes to making sure children receive the right start in life and the education they deserve.
“As we provide these services, our priority is to support our most vulnerable residents, focus on sustainable growth and address poverty – so I’m pleased to see a lot of improvements made in areas like health, the environment and education.
“While a great amount of progress has been made, there are still areas for improvement and we’re working to address these. The inequality gap still exists and we will continue to do all we can to make Edinburgh a more inclusive city, particularly as we recover from the COVID pandemic.
Alongside annual progress, we also need to look to the future. Our Coalition Commitments will put measures in place to make Edinburgh the fairer, greener City we are aspiring to.
The latest performance updates emerge from work the Council has carried out to focus improvements in line with the Council’s Change Strategy, Coalition Commitments and the results of the Edinburgh 2050 City Vision.
Amongst the highlights, the set of reports record:
ROADS AND WASTE • A drop in domestic missed bin collection requests, down >5,000 in just two years (17,690 vs 22,853 in 2017/18) • Almost all emergency road defects made safe within 24 hours (98% vs 95% in 2018/19) • Almost all priority road defects repaired within five days (94% vs 81% in 2018/19)
CARBON EMISSIONS • A reduction in Council and Edinburgh Leisure emissions (37% reduction to 2005 baseline)
SCHOOLS • More pupils achieving early level reading (84%) and school leaver literacy and numeracy (67.1%) targets • More school leavers heading into an initial positive destination (95.1%)
HOMES • A rise in new homes being built (3,006 projected for this year vs 1,832 in 2017/18) • A rise in new homes being approved (1,930 which is 230 above target vs 1,475 in 2017/18) • A decrease in repeat presentations of homelessness (5.5% vs 7.9% in 2017/18)
HEALTH • A downward trend in people delayed awaiting discharge from hospital (156 vs 267 in 2017/18) • A downward trend in the number of people waiting for a package of care in hospital (48 vs 151 in 2017/18)
CUSTOMER CARE • Increased customer satisfaction with the Council’s contact centre (76%) • Quicker processing of claims and grants, including half the time taken for benefit claims (16.75 days vs 30.9 in 2017/18)
COUNCIL COMMITMENTS Progress delivering Coalition Commitments (48 out of 52 fully or partially achieved), including successfully: • Increasing the number of classroom assistants and support staff for children with additional needs to improve attainment and wellbeing • Increasing allotment provision and support and expanding the network and the number of community gardens and food growing initiatives • Upgrading parks and planting an additional 1,000 trees in communities • Protecting Edinburgh World Heritage Status • Exploring the introduction of fair rent zones, a workplace parking levy and transient visitor levy (TVL) • Retaining Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Tram in public ownership • Continuing the Council’s policy of no compulsory redundancies.
