New Chief Executive at the council
Scottish Apprenticeship Week
Edinburgh Festival of Cycling
Daisy Moll is running a half marathon!
Lease agreed on Customs House
The City of Edinburgh Council will be asked to ratify the decision, but it looks as though the new Chief Executive has been chosen. Andrew Kerr who began his local authority career in Falkirk District Council has been chosen after a rigorous interview process. Read more here.
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The SNP have welcomed the First Minister’s announcement of £3.8 million funding to boost youth employment.
The investment will fund an extra 500 Modern Apprenticeship places and create more opportunities for young people still at school through industry recognised work-based Foundation Apprenticeships for senior secondary pupils.
The SNP are also marking Scottish Apprenticeship Week by calling on the UK Government to raise the minimum wage for young people and apprentices.
Currently, apprentices are entitled to just £2.73 per hour. Raising the minimum wage for 18 to 20 year olds – and bringing the rate for apprentices into line with this in the process – would see apprentices benefit by £4.13 an hour by 2020.
As outlined in our General Election manifesto, the SNP supports a minimum wage increase for 18 to 20 years olds of over £1.70 by 2020.
SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald said:
“The Scottish Government has an excellent track record of supporting apprentices – and this funding boost of £3.8 million is further welcome investment for young learners.
“Work is already underway to deliver 30,000 Modern Apprenticeships a year by 2020. The SNP in government is also expanding entitlement to Educational Maintenance Allowance – scrapped south of the border – to support 57,000 school pupils and college students, making it easier for them continue their education.
“But the UK Government must also play their part in supporting learners. This Scottish Apprenticeship Week, the UK Government have the perfect opportunity to take action to support our young people by committing to raise the minimum wage for apprentices.
“Raising the minimum wage for apprentices would provide those learning their trade with the support they need to succeed.
“With the devolution of powers over the minimum wage we could take immediate action on this issue in Scotland. This is another clear example of the benefits of having these powers in Scotland’s hands.
“As the First Minister has said, we will argue for powers over employment and the minimum wage and welfare to be devolved as a priority because these are the levers we need to grow our economy, get people into work and lift people out of poverty.”
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Inspired by the case of Eilidh Cairns, who was killed by a lorry as she cycled to work, THE WHITE BIKE uses witness statements, personal recollections of family members and years of cycling experience on the streets of London to create a deeply personal portrait of a life cut short too soon.
Read more here.
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Daisy Moll, aged 12, who is running a half-marathon over a month in memory of her mum, has already smashed her fundraising target with ten days to go until her challenge starts with a 5k race at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival on Saturday 30th May.
The Edinburgh schoolgirl hoped to raise £1000 for Maggie’s Edinburgh, the charity which offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends. In fact, Daisy has already raised more than £1600 for the Centre but she wants to raise more.
Daisy’s mum, Tiny, died in 2010 at the age of 35. During her treatment for skin cancer, Tiny and her family found vital support at Maggie’s Edinburgh, and Daisy is delighted to be able to give something back to the charity which helped her mum.
Daisy said: “I am amazed and feel really proud that I have already broken my target. I have done fundraising before, things like bake sales, but then I only raised about £50 so it feels really good to be doing so well.
To donate to Daisy’s half-marathon challenge go to https://www.justgiving.com/Daisy-Moll.
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The doors of Custom House are one step closer to being opened to the public following negotiation of a lease arrangement between the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT).
A heads of agreement between the council and SHBT to lease the listed Leith building was confirmed last month, but received the official green light to proceed last week at a meeting of the Council’s Finance and Resources Committee.
The decision will allow SHBT to sublet the building on month by month basis, with cultural social enterprise group Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust the preferred tenant. The Council will remain landlord for the building, and will work with SHBT to develop a feasibility study into long-term plans for the building.
It is hoped local residents and businesses will be given a glimpse inside the building during an Open Day celebration later this year.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
