Manchester left out in the cold by Sturgeon
This week, the First Minister was accused of treating the north of England with ‘contempt’ by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham as the Scottish education system was delivered a damning appraisal
Monday, June 21 Glasgow’s culture operator reveals revenue projection
THE arms-length organisation which operates culture and leisure for Scotland’s largest city has predicted an estimated annual income of £6.4million for the coming year.
It comes after Glasgow Life lost £38m due to closures in lockdown.
The latest income prediction is contained in a report on the future of Glasgow Life and the city’s People Make Glasgow Communities programme to the Wellbeing, Empowerment, Community and Citizen Engagement City Policy Committee this week.
The £6.4million for 2021/22 is a projected target given the significant ongoing challenges that Covid continues to present.
Councillors will learn how Glasgow Life will be able to operate after reopening 93 of its venues, which range from museums and galleries to libraries and sports facilities.
Before the pandemic, Glasgow Life operated 171 venues with a budget of £115m and was involved in and led key strategies for the city including Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan, Sport and Active Legacy Plan and Glasgow’s Cultural Plan. However, with closures during lockdown, Glasgow Life lost £38m in revenue.
In March this year, Glasgow City Council agreed to cut Glasgow Life’s annual service fee by £4.7m, some 6 per cent, reducing it to £72.8m.
Burnham anger at Sturgeon over travel ban ‘hypocrisy’
GREATER Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has accused the Scottish Government of treating the north of England with “contempt”.
Mr Burnham said he would write to Nicola Sturgeon to demand compensation for those affected by a travel ban between Scotland and Manchester and Salford.
The First Minister announced on Friday that all non-essential travel to Manchester and Salford would be banned from today.
She pinpointed the areas as Covid hotspots, despite figures in the cities matching case rates in parts of Scotland.
Mr Burnham said his administration was not contacted before the announcement and accused the Scottish Government of “double standards” and “hypocrisy”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, the Labour mayor said: “I was really disappointed on Friday that the First Minister of Scotland just announced, out of the blue as far as we were concerned, a travel ban, saying that people couldn’t travel from Scotland to Manchester and Salford and couldn’t go the other way.”
Tuesday, June 22 Education faces overhaul in wake of ‘damning’ report
SCOTTISH education is set to be transformed under far-reaching ministerial plans – but critics have accused the SNP of “bloodymindedness” and say the move is “long overdue”.
Amid ongoing anger over this year’s alternative certification model, the Government has revealed it wants to scrap the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
Ministers are also preparing to break up school standards body Education Scotland, with inspection activity due to be split off and made independent.
The announcement comes after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its long-awaited report on the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).
It says Scotland should consider reforming what have been branded “19th century” assessment practices and highlights major weaknesses in the implementation of CfE that leave secondary pupils feeling ill-equipped for specialist study.
The document, which was described as “damning” by the Scottish Conservatives, proposes a raft of measures that would mark a decisive shift away from high-stakes exams while aligning qualifications with “21st-century curricula”.
Alex Salmond affair leads to new system for complaints
NICOLA Sturgeon has announced a shake-up of how complaints against former and serving ministers are handled to avoid a repeat of the Alex Salmond fiasco.
The First Minister said an “external, independent procedure” would in future deal with bullying and harassment complaints, rather than one run by the Scottish Government’s own officials.
A “propriety and ethics team” would also be established to ensure the highest standards on integrity across the civil service in Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon said complainers would be at the heart of the new system, and firm plans would be published later this year.
Wednesday, June 23 Gove used Covid research to test attitudes on Union
UK MINISTERS used a pandemic research contract deemed “unlawful” by the High Court to carry out work on attitudes to the Union in Scotland, The Herald can reveal.
Court documents show an urgent request to test attitudes to the Union was made by the office of Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove – under the cover of the Covid-19 contract given to Public First, which was meant to inform “vital” advice to shape the UK Government’s pandemic response.
It has emerged that in July last year, services provided by Public First under a £560,000 Covid pandemic contract were extended to cover what was described as “qualitative research into EU exit topics and themes, rebuilding the economy following the Covid-19 crisis and attitudes to the UK Union”.
The SNP has now called for an inquiry into what it called “misuse of public funds” by Conservative ministers on conducting “political research” through the Covid contract.
The UK Government said it maintains that it is allowed to undertake polling work on Government policy issues. Dominic Cummings last week defended the decision to appoint Public First which he had links to, insisting he was acting in the midst of a “once-in-a-century” health crisis.
The Prime Minister’s former aide said the decision to appoint firms such as Public First during the pandemic without a proper procurement process was done to focus on the “imminent threat” of Covid rather than create a “Potemkin paper trail”.
According to the judgment, the award of the contract was made by a letter from Mr Gove dated June 5. High Court judge Mrs Justice O’Farrell ruled that the June 5 decision to award the contract to Public First – run by close allies of Mr Gove and Mr Cummings – “gave rise to apparent bias and was unlawful”.
Relief as Sturgeon aims to lift all virus rules on August 9
NICOLA Sturgeon has announced plans to lift all major coronavirus restrictions on August 9.
It came as the First Minister confirmed all of Scotland is due to move to Level Zero from July 19, following a three-week delay.
Ms Sturgeon previously signalled the delay was likely in order to buy more time to vaccinate people.
Business leaders said firms “can finally breathe a sigh of relief” but warned continued financial support is essential. Speaking in Holyrood, Ms Sturgeon said the high number of new coronavirus cases was behind the pause in lockdown easing.
Scotland was initially due to move to Level Zero – the lowest level of restrictions under the five-tier system – on Monday. Yesterday, figures showed 2,167 cases were recorded in Scotland in the previous 24 hours – the highest daily figure since January 8. PM Boris Johnson previously announced England’s “freedom day” would be delayed.
A UNION representing nurses in Scotland’s NHS has taken the unprecedented step of lodging a formal trade dispute with the Scottish Government.
Bosses at the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland said they had “no choice” but to notify ministers of the dispute as a row over pay escalates.
They also raised “serious concerns” over recruitment and retention in the profession and claimed “worrying numbers” of nurses are now considering quitting.
Julie Lamberth, the chair of the RCN Scotland board, has written to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf.
It comes after the Scottish Government confirmed an NHS pay deal that will give most workers a rise of 4 per cent.
The wage rise – said by ministers to be the biggest pay uplift since devolution – applies to staff in the NHS apart from doctors, whose pay is negotiated separately.
But the RCN has been campaigning for a 12.5% hike in wages, claiming nursing pay has failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living in recent years.
In her letter to the Health Secretary, Ms Lamberth said: “You have left us with no choice but to notify you of this dispute. The Scottish Government has relied on the good will of nursing staff for too long.
“For years, we have been responding to the challenge of delivering safe and effective patient care, in the face of increasing demands, staff shortages and low pay. These issues have been exacerbated by the pandemic.”