Welcome to my latest e-Magazine.

If you are having issues viewing this email you can read the e-Magazine via my website here.

This edition contains an update on the my COP26 engagement events, news from the winners of my Community Hero Awards as well as the usual articles and news from Westminster.  There are also a couple of excellent guest blogs from Transition Edinburgh South and Vineet Lal who is running the campaign to name the new primary school in Morningside after his late mother, Saroj Lal.

I am still receiving unprecedented levels of correspondence on a very wide range of issues. My team and I are working very hard to respond and will get to your correspondence as soon as we can but please do feel free to get in touch if there is anything I can assist with.

Email: ian.murray.mp@parliament.uk

Telephone: 0131 662 4520

Facebook: Ian Murray for Edinburgh South

Twitter: IanMurrayMP

Website: ianmurraymp.com

Casework

This month the most popular items in my mail bag were housing enquiries and EU nationals getting in touch about the EU Settlement Scheme.

Policy

For a full account of my voting please see the Public Whip website.

Every month hundreds of constituents get in touch on a whole host of policy issues ranging from bees to the nuclear deterrent. This month the most popular topics were the reduction in the UK’s aid budget, scrutiny of UK-Australia trade deal and agriculture standards, support for travel industry

Edinburgh South

Community Hero Award

Over the course of the pandemic many people and organisations have gone above and beyond to serve their community and look after those less fortunate.

COP26 Events

I have been running several COP26 events with local groups and organisations focused on climate change in Edinburgh. It is my intention to compile and present an Edinburgh South Climate Manifesto to COP26 in Glasgow to show the strength of feeling locally.

Meadows Update

Following the roundtable organised by Daniel Johnson MSP and I in April we were assured by the Council and Police Scotland that there would be an increased police presence, more public toilets and permanent CCTV installed at Meadows Place Lane.

Guest Blog: ‘Saroj Lal Primary School’: a proposal to name Morningside’s new primary school

Saroj Lal (1937-2020) was a pioneering teacher at South Morningside Primary, one of the early group of black and Asian teachers in Edinburgh. She began teaching there in August 1970, more than half a century ago. She went on to work for the YWCA, helping to improve life for many of the city’s ethnic minority communities, and then to Lothian Racial Equality Council (LREC).

Guest Blog: Transition Edinburgh South – Decarbonising the home

A short blog by Transtion Edinburgh South about tangible steps you can take to decarbonise your home and cut your bills.

Westminster

My video

Scottish Questions

We’ve all come together to defeat Covid, but from border closures and PPE to care home testing – both governments have failed the public at critical moments.

Brexit and EU Nationals

Many EU nationals in our area and across the country have endured incredible stress and anxiety over the uncertainty they have faced over the last few years.

Following the budget I updated businesses and workers on changes to Furlough, self employed support and business support packages.

Marine Protected Areas

Research by Greenpeace found supertrawlers spent almost 3,000 hours fishing within UK MPAs in 2019. More recently, Greenpeace has found that this activity has almost doubled, with supertrawlers spending some 5,590 hours fishing in UK MPAs in the first six months of 2020.

Grants and Funding

University of Edinburgh – Microgrants 

Edinburgh Uni have just opened a new round of grants for small charities and local organisation of up to £1,000 for work benefitting the environment. Please see more info here.

Funding for Charitable Initiatives in Financial and Digital Empowerment

Funding is available to UK charitable organisations for projects to improve people’s digital confidence, knowledge and skills to enable them to make more informed decisions about money and have access to financial services.

Applications will be accepted from charitable and social enterprise organisations with an annual income above £75,000.

Applicants must:

• Be based in the UK and working within one of the nations or regions.

• Be a UK registered charity or Community Interest Company.

• Have at least three unconnected Trustees, Directors or Management Committee members.

• Have a bank account in the organisation’s name with at least two unconnected signatories.

• Have been operating for at least 18 months and have at least one set of annual accounts.

Priority will be given to small and medium-sized organisations with an income of less than £2 million.

The programme will provide 12 grants of up to a total of £150,000 per organisation.

Grants are for a period of three years. Successful applicants may request differing amounts in each of the three years, with a minimum of £25,000 in any one year.

The deadline for applications is 13 August 2021

BBC Children in Need’s Main Grants 2021 Programme Opens for Applications

After a six-month break, the BBC Children in Need Main Grants programme has reopened for applications for grants of over £10,000 to support projects for up to three years.

Registered charities and not-for-profit organisations in the UK can apply if they are supporting children and young people of 18 years and under who are experiencing disadvantage through:

• Illness, distress, abuse or neglect.

• Any kind of disability.

• Behavioural or psychological difficulties.

• Living in poverty or situations of deprivation.

The funding is for projects that make differences in children’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Projects achieve these differences by either working directly with children or seeking to improve their social and physical environments.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the funder has temporarily broadened the types of applications it is accepting. Currently funding is being offered that can be used more flexibly than usual.

Applications are encouraged for:

• Project delivery (including staffing and salary costs)

• Creative solutions to deliver much needed services

• Organisational costs to support stability and adaptation. (Including the day-to-day running costs of an organisation as opposed to specific project costs)

All applications will have to show how this funding will make a difference to children and young people’s lives during this crisis.

Applications are not limited to one specific project and a request can be made for organisational running costs. The funder is committed to supporting voluntary groups with these types of grants.

The deadline for applications is 11:30 am on 23 August 2021 for decisions in late January 2022.

Bank of Scotland Foundation’s Reach Programme – Applications Next Accepted 26-29 July

Grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 over one year are available for work that addresses social exclusion or disadvantage to ensure that the most vulnerable people across Scotland are provided with opportunity and equality to make positive, sustainable changes to their lives.

Examples of:

• Disadvantage

• Charities addressing primary disadvantage such as homelessness, abuse, mental health or poverty, or secondary disadvantage such as debt issues, learning disabilities, illiteracy, lack of employability skills or health issues.

 

• Social Exclusion

• Charities addressing exclusionary challenges for minorities, people with disabilities, LGBT people, drug users, institutional care leavers, the elderly or the young.

 

There are two more rounds in 2021, one in July and another in September.

Note: each round has an application window of 72 hours.

Applications for the next round will only be accepted from 12 noon on 26 July 2021 until 12 noon on 29 July 2021.

Launch of £25,000 Business Boost Competition

Designed to help small businesses emerge successfully from the COVID-19 pandemic, and boost the chances of new start-ups, the Business Boost Competition has been launched. The scheme can help those wishing to start, grow or revive a small business.

The winner will be awarded a £25,000 grant.

The competition is open to UK resident entrepreneurs and businesspeople aged 18 and over. Entrants’ businesses must not have an annual turnover exceeding £500,000 or have received over £50,000 in private funding in the past two years (this does not include government grants).

Alan Thomas, UK CEO at Simply Business, said:

‘Small businesses are built on big dreams, and countless self-employed people have seen these dreams put to the test during this most challenging of periods.

‘We want to make a genuinely transformational impact to a small business owner’s life – with a cash injection that can put someone’s big dream back on track. And from our research we know £25,000 will do just that.’

The deadline to apply is 17 September 2021.

Short Deadline for Scotland’s Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund

Applications are invited for the second round of the Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund from organisations in Scotland that provide opportunities for audiences, as well as those that enable and deliver cultural activity. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Galleries

• Commercial theatres

• Performing arts spaces

• Comedy clubs and nightclubs

• Production facilities

• Music and dance companies.

Funding is available to for-profit and not-for-profit registered organisations including:

• Companies Limited by Shares

• Companies Limited by Guarantee

• SCIOs

• CICs

• Sole traders

• Charities.

To be eligible, organisations must:

• Derive their income from providing cultural activity to the public and organisations that play a critical role in enabling that activity.

• Be able to demonstrate that their existence is threatened due to the impacts of COVID-19.

• Have been providing cultural activity or services in Scotland since before 1 April 2019.

Previous recipients cannot apply for more than they were previously awarded. The following limits apply:

• If awarded up to £150,000 in the first round of the fund, applicants can apply for up to £75,000 this time.

• If awarded more than £150,000 in the first round of this fund, applicants can apply for up to £125,000 this time.

• New eligible applicants who have not previously applied or been awarded funding in the first round, can apply for between £10,000 and £75,000.

The deadline for applications is 24 June 2021 (12:00 BST).

 

SNP should listen to Labour’s plan to make Scottish education world-leading once again

Today’s generation of students have suffered massive disruption to their education as a result of the pandemic.

 

Here’s a lesson for James Dornan and his ridiculous Lothian Buses comments

The spirit of togetherness we have witnessed over the past year should not just to be celebrated but built upon. So how sad it was to see an SNP MSP continue his desperate attempts to create artificial grievance and division.

 

PM puts our reputation – and lives – at risk across the world

As part of the UK, we have a permanent seat at the top table and can help shape the future of our planet.

Dominic Cummings’ claims about Covid care home scandal in England shine spotlight on Scottish government’s mistakes 

There was a moment during Dominic Cummings’ extraordinary testimony to MPs when he claimed that disastrous government decisions were made while the Prime Minister was in hospital with Covid.

Noticeboard

I would like to also say congratulations to Laila Kjellstrom. Laila raised over £1600 for vascular dementia research, climbing up Ben Vrackie on her 81st birthday in June. Ben Vrackie reaches 2759ft This is an incredible achievement and will help to raise funds and awareness for a vital cause.

We all know how horrific a disease dementia is and thanks to people like Laila, we are getting closer and closer to finding an effective treatment and cure. I am so proud to represent constituents like Laila, who do extraordinary things for great causes.

Laila would like to thank all those who donated and is over the moon about the support she has had.

I am sure we all want to thank Laila for her efforts and wish her all the best for her 81st birthday.

 

I would like to also say congratulations to Laila Kjellstrom. Laila raised over £1600 for vascular dementia research, climbing up Ben Vrackie on her 81st birthday in June. Ben Vrackie reaches 2759ft This is an incredible achievement and will help to raise funds and awareness for a vital cause.

We all know how horrific a disease dementia is and thanks to people like Laila, we are getting closer and closer to finding an effective treatment and cure. I am so proud to represent constituents like Laila, who do extraordinary things for great causes.

Laila would like to thank all those who donated and is over the moon about the support she has had.

I am sure we all want to thank Laila for her efforts and wish her all the best for her 81st birthday.

 

Dear Stakeholder,

Consultation on ensuring the prosperity of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region

I am writing to draw your attention to a major consultation that launched on Monday 14th June with a view to informing the economic future of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region.

The Regional Prosperity Framework is a draft plan for building the economy of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region. It looks at everything from transport & housing to education & digital inclusion; to economic development & climate change. Background to the development of the Framework, together with the draft that will be consulted on, can be found at

https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s34517/5.5%20-%20RPF%20plus%20appendices.pdf

The consultation is available at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/ESESRegionalProsperity.  This website will outline a number of different ways to get involved over the course of the consultation period. I hope that you will consider taking part in the consultation.  I would draw your attention to the closing date for written responses, which is Monday 26th July.

The consultation is relevant to individuals, communities, businesses and other organisations, professional bodies and charities. We should therefore also be grateful for your assistance in helping to promote the consultation to relevant interests in your constituency.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Regional Prosperity Team atESESCR.CityDeal@edinburgh.gov.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Andy

Andy Nichol

Programme Manager

Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal

UPDATE ON WASTE AND CLEANSING SERVICES

Dear Mr Murray,

Thank you for your email.

At the moment we are dealing with increased volumes of waste and recycling citywide.  We recognise that there is additional household waste and packaging materials generated by changing work patterns and way of living  due to the pandemic and this is causing pressures on communal bin capacity and have made changes to mitigate these differences across the city:

• Additional resource being redirected to communal bin collection.

• Creation of a comprehensive multi-media campaign (social media, radio, outdoor and lamp wraps etc) which encourages residents to embrace ways of reducing waste. We are encouraging residents to dispose of their waste correctly including flattening of cardboard boxes and similar packaging.

In addition we are trying our best at the moment to add extra collections when and where we can.  This is being done on a adhoc basis utilising the spare vehicles.  We are moving them into the high volume areas, as needed to deal with the increase in recycling and general waste collections.  We are unable to increase frequencies on a regular basis or add in more bins as we just do not have the resources or capacity to do so.

I can understand your frustration as when we introduced the current collection system in this area we were restricted in what bins we could provide by the constraints of the street make up including parking and mix of housing type/bin service , but we are reviewing all communal waste collections across the city as part of our communal bin review project and you can find more information about this project at:https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/bins-recycling/communal-bin-review?documentId=12997&categoryId=20001.

Regards

Hema Herkes

Hema Herkes | Waste & Cleansing Project Officer  | The City of Edinburgh Council | Seafield depot Fillyside road Edinburgh EH7 6RD  | Hema.herkes@edinburgh.gov.uk | www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Dear Ian Murray MP,

I know you may be receiving a lot of correspondence about National Qualification results and appeals, and I would like to reassure you of the extended support available to young people, their parents and carers over the summer period from Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

• SDS Careers Advisers have returned to most secondary schools, and young people can contact their school guidance team to understand how to access support during term time

• www.myworldofwork.co.uk is available 24 hours a day

• The SDS Helpline number is 0800 917 8000 and is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. This is the number to call from now until 9 August to discuss provisional results and what they may mean.

 

In addition to this, the established SDS Results Helpline will open at 8am on Tuesday 10 August – I’ll send a reminder of this closer to this time.

Please see attached the postcard which we have sent to young people across Scotland, as well as some images designed for twitter and Facebook providing details of support available – please feel free to promote this to your constituents through your own social media channels.

We also have a local SDS Facebook page for Edinburgh where we post local news and opportunities, which may be useful to your constituents.

Please let me know if you need any further information or have any questions about careers information, advice and guidance.

Best wishes,

Sara

Sara Collier Parliamentary Liaison and FOI Team Leader

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