The National Museum of Scotland have been inundated with visitors over the weeks since their reopening. They say that they have now welcomed half a million people to the newly refurbished building. Have you been? What do you think is the best part?
OK now no laughing at the back, but The City of Edinburgh Council tell us that they are in the running for a public service award later today “as one of the top local authorities in the UK.”
They have been short listed from over 300 entries in ‘Council of the Year in Service Delivery’ awards from the Association for Public Sector Excellence (APSE).
In addition to the top nomination the council has also been short listed in four other categories:-
- Best Efficiency Initiative: Energy Management team for their energy improvement programme across the schools’ estate which resulted in reduced consumption
- Best Housing & Regeneration Initiative: 21st Century Homes for their programme redeveloping three sites with mixed tenure communities delivering up to 1,300 homes over the next eight years.
- Best Service Team Parks, Grounds and Horticultural Service: The Parks & Greenspace team for their improvements across the city’s open space estate.
- Best Service Team Sports, Leisure and Cultural Service: Library & Information Services Management Team for their work in performance improvement and customer service.
Councillor Jenny Dawe, leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said:- “It is a fantastic achievement for Edinburgh to be short listed for the UK Council of the Year award. I congratulate staff across the Council for their hard work and dedication to providing excellent services for residents that has led to these nominations. This builds on our success in the best efficiency initiative category at last year’s awards and demonstrates a culture of real continuous improvement.”
Lothian Buses have launched their new hybrid buses which will decrease emissions in the city on the number 10 route. The Herald report that this is part of the Green Bus Fund introduced by Transport Scotland. You can see the new buses on Castle Street this Saturday and they will be used from Sunday.
STV Local are running a Liveblog tonight from 6-9p.m. about the future of Inverleith. You can join in by using the hashtag #inverleithnp We are currently organising more liveblogs ourselves over coming weeks. If you have any suggestions as to who might be involved or what subjects you would like us to cover then get in touch!
We were disappointed to read on the BBC that Loopy Lorna’s in Morningside is closed and the premises are up for lease. It seems that the premises at Church Hill Theatre are still open so if you have not yet had the Loopy experience you should get along there – apart from the tea and cakes the tea cosies are divine. We interviewed the owner Gaynor Salisbury earlier this year.
