EU citizens living and working in Scotland make an invaluable contribution to our society, culture and economy, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday.
At an event in Edinburgh to celebrate the positive impact of EU citizens the First Minister announced additional funding for the Stay in Scotland campaign. Continue reading EU citizens ‘vital to Scotland’
Trainee teachers and students in Africa will receive 1,000 used Scottish Government computers thanks to a partnership with the Turing Trust charity. Continue reading 1,000 computers for Africa
Applications will be taken in advance for Scottish Child Payment to help with expected high demand.
An estimated 170,000 children will be eligible for the new £10 weekly Scottish Child Payment when it goes live later this year.
To help manage demand, families will be invited to apply in advance of the benefit being introduced in the autumn. Parents will be able to apply by post, phone and online.
Applications will be assessed for eligibility in the autumn with the first payments made by Christmas.
In an additional move to assist families, Best Start Grant payments, Best Start Foods and the new Scottish Child Payment will all be available through a single application – making it more straightforward for people to access the money they are entitled to.
Social Security Secretary Shirley Anne Somerville said: “The Scottish Child Payment has rightly been described as game-changing in terms of the potential to reduce child poverty.
“That is why we are doing everything we can to introduce this as early as possible, whilst ensuring we do so in a way that is safe and secure and protects implementation plans for the other social security benefits.
“When we launched the Best Start Grant payments we experienced significant demand with 14,000 applications in the week that we opened the School Age Payment. With 170,000 children from approximately 140,000 households expected to qualify for Scottish Child Payment, eligibility is on a unprecedented scale and, as this is a recurring payment, it also brings additional complexity.
“We are gearing up to process applications carefully, accurately and efficiently. We are building capacity across our processes, systems, premises and people. And with the roll-out plan, we are asking families to help us by getting their applications in early so that we can process and start making payments as quickly as possible once this new benefit has been introduced.”
Efforts to eradicate homelessness will be stepped up in 2020 as all measures in the £50 million Ending Homelessness Action Plan are progressed.
Work to transform services and provide access to permanent, stable accommodation is already underway. This includes creating a new legal duty on public bodies to prevent homelessness and new legislation to prevent people facing homelessness living in unsuitable temporary accommodation for any longer than seven days.
The Scottish Government’s progress report shows that 39 out of 49 measures have been progressed in the first year of the action plan, with plans to start the remaining 10 this year.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “People facing homelessness in Scotland already have some of the strongest rights in the world. We are going even further and are determined to eradicate homelessness.
“Our report today shows significant progress has been made in the first year of our transition to a rapid rehousing approach, which prioritises permanent, settled accommodation as the first response. It also shows that our £50 million action plan is working to ensure the right support is in place for those who need it.
“The Housing First Pathfinder programme has seen 173 people with multiple, complex needs, such as mental health issues or drug and alcohol addiction, being given settled accommodation with the additional support they require since it began in April 2019.
“Our action plan also includes a commitment to tackling the causes of homelessness and changing the culture across the public sector. In 2020, we will work in partnership with local government, the third sector, people with lived experience of homelessness and frontline services to ensure our system does all it can to prevent homelessness – especially for those at higher risk, such as care leavers or survivors of domestic abuse.”
CEO of homelessness charity Crisis and Chair of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group Jon Sparkes said: “The Scottish Government has demonstrated in the first year of the action plan that it is determined to tackle and end homelessness. It is clearly following through on the commitments it made when the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group was created.
“There is no time to waste. Ending homelessness is urgent. It has a devastating impact on individuals and families, and is costly to society as a whole. It is going to take a concerted and lasting effort by the Scottish Government and many partner organisations to end it once and for all. We look forward to seeing urgent progress in the second year of the plan and beyond.”
Read the Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan Annual Report
The Scottish Government’s budget will be published on 6 February 2020, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has announced.
It comes after the UK Government confirmed their budget would be delayed until 11 March 2020. Continue reading Scottish budget date set for 6th February
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has warned the Scottish Government that it risks causing further suffering amongst Scotland’s communities if it does not adequately fund council services. Continue reading Councils need extra £1 BILLION ‘before it’s too late’
Families can now enrol children for funded places for August.
A nationwide public information campaign is encouraging families to enrol their children for funded early learning and childcare ahead of a major expansion this summer.
From August, all three and four-year-olds, and around a quarter of two-year-olds, will benefit from 1,140 hours of childcare a year – the most generous offer in the UK.
Parents or carers can register through their local authority and apply for the option that suits their needs, from the choices available locally – whether a local authority, private or third sector nursery, playgroup or childminder.
Backed by an unprecedented £2 billion investment, the increase in funded hours has required significant recruitment and infrastructure – more than 270 nurseries have been built, extended or refurbished since March 2018 and an additional 4,300 full time equivalent staff are already in post.
Due to the phasing in of the increased entitlement, almost 50,000 children are already benefitting from more than the current 600 hours they are entitled to, allowing parents and carers to explore work, education and training opportunities.
Children’s Minister Maree Todd said: “If you’ve got a child who will be two, three or four, now is the time to see what they could receive from this August.
“Tens of thousands of children are already benefitting from high-quality early learning and childcare, and I’ve heard first-hand how it’s helped to boost their confidence and communication skills, and given them access to more opportunities such as outdoor learning.
“I’ve also heard how it has made an enormous difference to families in terms of enabling mums and dads to get back into, or spend more time studying, working or training.
“I would encourage all parents with eligible children to get in touch with their local authority to identify the funded option that is best for their child from the great choices available, and find out when to apply.
“There is no cost to families who take up this offer so the 1,140 hours can save each family as much as £4,500, and we hope that this campaign will let as many families as possible know what they are entitled to.”
Councillor Stephen McCabe, COSLA Children and Young People’s spokesperson said: “Local Government is committed to getting the best outcomes for all our children, and that’s why we are working with our partners to almost double the number of funded Early learning and Childcare hours available to families from August 2020.
“It’s fantastic that over 50,000 children have already benefitted from these additional hours, which will give children new opportunities to play and learn, and give parents the opportunity to return to work, take up training or just have more flexibility in their childcare arrangements.
“With the launch of this new campaign, we are encouraging parents to get in touch with their Council to find out what their options are locally.”
The public information campaign will run for eight weeks from Monday 13 January 2020 across radio, outdoor advertising and social media.
Families should visit the Parent Club website to find out how to enrol for funded early learning and childcare places in their area.
Local authorities have individual application processes and deadlines. The Parent Club website will link to your local authority for more information.
All nurseries, playgroups and childminders providing funded places will be required to meet strict quality criteria as part of the new National Standard, including achieving good or better Care Inspectorate quality evaluations, and are also required to carry out continuous professional development.
Councils empowered to introduce safety and control measures
Continue reading Regulating short term lets: new powers for councils
New regulations will be developed to ensure all new homes use renewable or low carbon heating from 2024.
This move to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions for new build homes will run alongside a £30 million investment in renewable heat projects. Continue reading New build homes to be more energy efficient
Projects benefitting from over £138 million of funding have the potential to create more than 7,000 jobs across Scotland, according to analysis of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. Continue reading Fund supports community projects to create new jobs
