Successful projects that have helped people cope with issues such as debt, mortgage worries and benefit problems will continue thanks to £6 million of funding. Among those succesful projects is Granton Information Centre, who increased one client’s household income by a staggering £15,000. Continue reading Easing the burden: funding extension for ‘crucial’ advice services
Police Scotland to strengthen community focus – and North Edinburgh calls for action on joyriders
Scotland needs an increasingly resilient, flexible, responsive and locally-focused police service to help keep communities safe. This is the message at the heart of the new Strategic Police Priorities set by the Scottish Government, which also recognise the need to tackle new and developing threats to the public, including cybercrime.
Localism, inclusion, prevention, responsiveness, collaborative working, accountability and adaptability are the seven themes that will inform policing priorities in Scotland in the years to come, launched earlier this week.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson launched the priorities in West Lothian with Chief Constable Phil Gormley, Chair of the Scottish Police Authority Andrew Flanagan and COSLA’s Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, Councillor Harry McGuigan.
Mr Matheson said: “With recorded crime in Scotland at a 42 year low, I am confident that policing in Scotland is on the right track. We have a world class police system in Scotland, supported by a hugely dedicated and professional workforce who work each and every day to secure the safety and wellbeing of people and communities across the country.
“I believe that the new Strategic Police Priorities, developed following extensive consultation with people from across Scotland and key partners, will be key to shaping the future of policing in this country and will ensure Police Scotland remain a progressive and forward-looking service.”
Andrew Flanagan, Chair of the Scottish Police Authority, said: “In line with the new Strategic Police Priorities published today, the SPA have initiated work which will deliver a clear long-term vision and strategy for policing now and over the next 10 years. It will have a strong focus on the quality of service that Scotland needs from its policing, how we develop new capabilities, and deliver improved benefits for our communities.
“Through that we are committed to ensuring that the police have a workforce which has the skills and capability to meet the changing demands they face, within a shared direction and purpose for the single service that unites police professional and citizen alike.”
Chief Constable Phil Gormley added: “We welcome the publication of these strategic priorities for policing as we move forward with the transformation of the service in Scotland. Policing in Scotland, which is built on a really solid foundation and traditions that are the envy of many, needs to be locally relevant and have the confidence of our communities.
“We also need to ensure that the protection communities require to tackle emerging threats and risks is available where and when required. The majority of what officers and staff deal with on a daily basis, around the clock, every day of the year relates to calls for service – people calling us at a time of crisis and need and we need to make sure we respond by having the strategic priorities set out today at the heart of what we do and how we do it.”
Cllr McGuigan said: “The priorities set out by the Scottish Government are to be welcomed by all and COSLA is particularly pleased to see the clear emphasis on localism. It also gives us great encouragement to know that Police Scotland’s work will incorporate prevention, collaborative working and accountability.
“The police do not simply respond to crime, they are also there to help prevent crime and keep our communities safe along with other partners at a local level. The Strategic Police Priorities reflect that message and set a solid foundation for Police Scotland to continue their good work within our communities.”
On the day the prominent politicians and police officiers were launching their new priorities, school pupils on lunch break were watching a teenage joyrider playing cat and mouse with police in and around Muirhouse Shopping Centre. And if crime’s at a 42 year low, it certainly doesn’t feel like it to some local residents who fear letting their children out to play in case they are struck by dangerously driven motorbikes.
There’s little doubt about the most pressing crime issue in North Edinburgh just now: youths recklessly riding motor bikes. Local politicians and Police Scotland will meet community representatives next Wednesday to discuss the issue, which is causing increasing anger and concern across the area.
Stolen motorbikes being driven recklessly has been a longstanding problem in North Edinburgh and has spiked again over recent weeks. Back in June 14- year old Brad Williamson died when a motorbike he was riding collided with a car in Silverknowes, last month a stolen car driven by youths plunged into a garden on Graothill Road North in Drylaw and there have been numerous near-misses over recent weeks in West Pilton and Pennywell. In a new twist, there have been reports of pedestrians being assaulted by passing motorcyclists.
Five arrests were made yesterday but arrests alone, however welcome, will not make the problem go away.
It’s a real concern and there’s universal agreeement that something must be done to address the joyriding issue before someone else is killed or seriously injured. The problem is: just what?
The Scottish Government will not support underground coal gasification (UCG) developments in Scotland following the publication of an independent report that highlights serious environmental concerns. The announcement comes on the same day the Westminster government gave the green light to fracking at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.
UCG should not be confused with hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, or coal-bed methane both of which are Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) technologies. Today’s announcement has no bearing on the policy on either of these technologies, which remain covered by the Scottish Government’s moratorium on UOG technologies.
The Scottish Government put in place a moratorium on UCG in October last year so that evidence on the practice could be gathered and considered.
Professor Campbell Gemmell of University of Glasgow was tasked to undertake an independent examination of UCG. Having received his report, Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Paul Wheelhouse today [Thursday, October 6] updated Parliament on the Scottish Government’s response to the findings.
The report finds that it would appear logical “to progress toward a ban” of UCG, based on a variety of reasons, including:
• the UCG industry having a history of incidents of pollution and losses of containment and;
• UCG presenting a serious issue to face in reducing Scotland’s carbon/greenhouse gas emissions without an operational storage method, such as carbon capture.
Mr Wheelhouse said: “Having considered the report in detail, it is the Scottish Government’s view that UCG poses numerous and serious environmental risks and, on that basis, the Scottish Government cannot support this technology. Accordingly, UCG will have no place in Scotland’s energy mix at this time.
“In Professor Gemmell’s report he recommends it would be wise to consider an approach to UCG based upon a precautionary presumption against the technology, and that it would appear logical to progress toward a ban.
“I cannot predict what kind of clean energy technologies may be available in the decades to come, but what is certain is that this this resource will still be there. As a result of today’s announcement, our Energy Strategy for Scotland will set out an energy mix for the future that does not include UCG. The position I have announced on UCG is a clear validation of the evidence-based approach this government is taking and I thank Professor Gemmell for his work in preparing the report.”
Mr Wheelhouse has written to the UK Government, requesting that it issues no further UCG licences in Scotland and that existing licences are revoked. The Scottish Government will continue to use planning powers available to it to ensure UCG applications do not receive planning or environmental permission.
Professor Campbell Gemmell, Professor of Environment Research, Policy, Regulation and Governance at the University of Glasgow, said: “I have consulted widely, including with industry, communities, regulators, academic specialists and NGOs, and studied the available evidence on the technologies and impacts involved in Underground Coal Gasification, including the variety of international experience. It is extremely difficult to conceive of UCG progressing into use at this time. Despite there being few longer-term operations at scale to consider, and no directly comparable operations in siting, regulatory and policy terms, there is both a history of incidents of pollution and losses of containment.
“In my view, the Scottish Government has responded appropriately to the available evidence on this technology.
“Should industry wish to progress this technology at scale here or overseas at some future date, several key factors would need to be addressed, including managing the potential impact of the greenhouse gases produced. The onus would also clearly be with the industry to demonstrate and provide evidence that it can operate to the high environmental standards that the government and public should expect.”
North and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson has welcomed the announcement. He said: “Based on the evidence presented, it is absolutely right that the Scottish Government has blocked Underground Coal Gasification from taking place in Scotland.
“There are very few examples of UCG operating commercially, and where the technology has been used there has been serious environmental impacts including soil contamination and exposure to toxins. Mistakes in Australia were so bad that a number of prosecutions have been brought.
“This expert report also states that, if UCG was operated at scale, the resulting carbon and greenhouse gas emissions would make meeting our climate change targets much more difficult if not impossible.
“Carbon emissions would be particularly problematic without accompanying storage technology to mitigate its affects – while the Tories might be happy to bang the drum for UCG they should remember the utter betrayal of the UK Government who u-turned on their plans to invest in Carbon Capture in Scotland.”
£29 million programme for innovative poverty measures part of Fairer Scotland Action Plan
Fifty ‘bold and ambitious’ actions to achieve a fairer Scotland for everyone have been outlined in a landmark plan published yesterday by Communities Secretary Angela Constance. Continue reading Fifty actions for a fairer Scotland
A multi-million pound fund to develop green spaces in some of Scotland’s most deprived areas has been announced by Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown. The money – which comes from EU funding – will support projects like new nature reserves and parks and green spaces in urban areas, benefiting communities across Scotland. Continue reading Green space funding up for grabs
Community cash for participatory budgeting initiatives
Communities across Scotland are to benefit from £1.5 million funding which will give people more power to make decisions directly on spending in their local areas.
The Community Choices Fund is targeted at work in deprived areas, and for the first time community groups as well as public authorities, including local authorities, were able to apply for funding to organise their own Community Choices budgeting events.
The fund received well over 100 applications with 16 successful community projects and 12 public authorities spanning the breadth of Scotland. A full list of successful applicants is provided below.
The projects include:
Leith Links Community Council was among the community projects to receive funding. The community council was awarded £20,869 to support their ‘CommUNITY links: Brightening Local Lives’ initiative.
Local Government and Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “It’s the commitment of this government to give communities more control to shape their futures. I am delighted to see communities applying for Community Choices funding and to read about the innovative and creative ways communities are working to address the issues that are important to the people in their community. It is also pleasing to see that we have engagement with Community Choices right across the country from Shetland to the Scottish Borders.
“The Community Choices Fund offers an opportunity for decisions to be made by people in their local communities who are best placed to know what their community needs.”
The Community Choices Fund builds on the Scottish Government investment in participatory budgeting over the last two years. More information about participatory budgeting is available at: http://pbscotland.scot
Greens say Damhead is wrong location for new film studio
Scottish Green MSPs joined campaigners who handed in a petition to the Scottish Parliament in protest at the imminent eviction of a farmer from his family’s home of 100 years.
82-year-old tenant farmer Jim Telfer faces from eviction from Old Pentland Farm near Straiton in Midlothian as the landowners want to sell to developers behind a proposed film studio. Planning permission rests with the Scottish Government after Midlothian Council failed to make a ruling on the application within a 16-week deadline.
Midlothian Green councillor Ian Baxter has previously proposed Shawfair as a better location for such a development.
Alison Johnstone and Andy Wightman, Green MSPs for Lothian, were joined at Thursday’s protest by Green co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP.
Andy Wightman MSP said: “The film studio may be a good idea but it’s the wrong location, and the stress this is placing on Jim, his family and the wider community is simply unacceptable. The site is good-quality farmland and should be protected, especially when there are other locations more appropriate for commercial developments.
“The residents of Damhead and Old Pentland are due credit for galvanising support in this campaign, and the Green MSPs were delighted to welcome them to Parliament today. Let’s hope Scottish Ministers heed the strength of local feeling on this issue.”
Over £9 million to improve energy efficiency
Homes and businesses across 11 local authority areas will be warmer and cheaper to heat thanks to over £9 million of Scottish Government funding. Edinburgh will receive over £1 million.
A consultation seeking views on the future expansion of free Early Learning and Childcare will start next week. The announcement was made by Mark McDonald, Minister for Childcare and Early Years, during a parliamentary debate on the expansion of early learning and childcare.
The consultation will set out the Scottish Government’s vision for transforming early learning and childcare. This will be underpinned by four principles of quality, flexibility, accessibility and affordability.
Views are being sought on areas including future funding options and models of delivery. Providers, practitioners, delivery partners and, parents and families are being asked to take part.
Mr McDonald said: “High quality early learning and childcare plays a vital role in narrowing the attainment gap which is why this Government has gone further than any other in our commitment to expanding free entitlement.
“Increasing the number of funded hours for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds from 600 hours to 1,140 hours is our most transformative infrastructure project. No other policy has such potential to change the lives of children and their families while improving the prospects of Scotland’s economy in the short and long term.
“The financial review of early learning and childcare provision published earlier this week provided a comprehensive picture of the current landscape in Scotland. We have made substantial progress in recent years but we must do more.
“It is vital we keep up momentum, working closely with all interested parties to ensure we continue to improve and adapt the way free childcare provision is delivered in Scotland.”
Financial review of early learning and childcare in Scotland: the current landscape is available here.
Respondents will be able to submit their views through an online survey, via email or post.
Trace your family tree and find those long-lost ancestors
ScotlandsPeople – the website which helps people search for their Scottish ancestors online – has been revamped and relaunched with a new look and a number of new features. It’s an invaluable online resource for genealogists – and searches are free. Continue reading ScotlandsPeople website revamp
