The First Minister has announced her intention to appoint Maree Todd as Minister for Childcare and Early Years. Subject to approval by the Parliament and Her Majesty the Queen, Ms Todd will begin to undertake some Ministerial duties immediately. Continue reading Maree Todd is new Minister for Childcare and Early Years
New bill will give more power to Head Teachers
Consultation on a bill to introduce radical reforms to the education system has opened. Education Secretary John Swinney launched the consultation at the Royal High School in Barnton today. Continue reading Swinney launches education consultation at Royal High School
Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work Keith Brown welcomed the new Living Wage rate and has urged more Scottish employers to become accredited. The 30 pence uplift to £8.75p will see thousands of people benefit from higher wages to help meet the increasing cost of living. Continue reading Living Wage rate rises to £8.75
More than 265,000 households have received £140 million since the creation of the Scottish Welfare Fund in April 2013. Figures published yesterday show that between April and June of this year councils received 42,005 applications for Crisis Grants, an increase of 11% on the same quarter the previous year. Continue reading Families in crisis: 265,000 Scottish households cry out for help
A partnership between Port of Leith Housing Association,the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government has delivered a new community of affordable homes in Leith. An opening ceremony will take place today at the site of the 18th century Leith Fort, which was the original home of Edinburgh Castle’s world famous One o’clock gun. Continue reading Starting gun sounds for historic Leith Fort site
Aspiring Communities Fund support for local project CAN
Community and third sector projects have been allocated a share of £29 million, to find new ways to tackle poverty and improve people’s lives. Among them is North Edinburgh’s Community Action North (CAN), awarded over £200,000 from the Aspiring Communities Fund. Continue reading Can we tackle poverty? Yes, we CAN!
Consultation on new strategy for a healthier future
The promotion of unhealthy food and drink is to be restricted as part of Scotland’s new diet and obesity strategy, Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell has announced. The news has been enthusiastically welcomed by celebrity chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver, who said the action is ‘trailblazing’.
Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell was at Tynecastle Stadium yesterday to launch a consultation on ambitious plans to help people lose weight, including:
Ms Campbell said: “Obesity significantly increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cancer cardiovascular disease and depression. Simply put, it’s harming the people of Scotland. It also puts pressure on the NHS, other public services and our economy.
“That is why we need commitment and action from everyone across all sectors and at all levels including government, citizens, the public sector and businesses right across the country.
“We are putting forward a package of bold measures designed to help people make healthier choices, empower personal change and show real leadership. Now we need people who live, work and consume food and drink in Scotland to tell us what they think.
“As with our ground-breaking strategies on alcohol and tobacco, this is the start of a progressive plan of action, learning from our experience in Scotland and further afield, that will make a real, lasting difference to the country’s health.”
The Minister launched the consultation at Tynecastle stadium, where she met participants in the SPFL Trust’s Football Fans in Training (FFIT) weight management programme.
Wattie Buchan, who lost four stone after suffering five heart attacks, said: “I was miserable before. I’ve had five heart attacks, I’ve had a quadruple bypass. My life was terrible. This is the best I’ve felt in four years, I feel better within myself being fitter.
“Twelve weeks ago I could hardly walk. I’ve been doing this for five weeks and now I walk a lot – even my dog has lost weight. It’s totally changed my life around. It’s made a massive difference to how I feel; I feel better mentally as well. It’s like night and day; I am loving it.”
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver said: “This is an amazing step towards making sure the healthiest choice is the easiest choice – for everyone. Today, Scotland has set an example to the rest of the world. It has picked up the baton that Westminster dropped last year. So, now the ball is back in the UK government’s court.
“We need to ensure everyone in Britain has a chance to raise their children in a healthy environment.”
The consultation is now live and will run to 31 January.
The Scottish Government has announced the successful applicants for the latest Community Choices Fund. Sixteen community organisations and 17 local councils will share the £1.5 million fund, with more than 90 applications submitted for 2017/18. Among the successful applicants are Leith Links Community Council, who receive £82,800 for their Local Democracy at Work initiative, while the City of Edinburgh Council receives £44,000 to support it’s participatory budgeting programme. Continue reading Community Choices Fund success for local Community Council
A new campaign to recruit up to 11,000 people into the childcare profession is underway. The campaign – ‘Shape their worlds. Shape your career.’ – aims to encourage more school leavers into the profession to deliver the expansion of funded early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours a year, or 30 hours per week, by 2020. Continue reading Wanted: 11,000 childcare workers!
Work to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank took a step forward today with the launch of a public consultation on the details of the Bank’s operation. Continue reading First Minister launches consultation on Scottish National Investment Bank
