Home News Five things you need to know today

Five things you need to know today

February 27, 2013 8:32 am

Are Leith Shops Better? – Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee meets today -Film and TV training course – Supreme Court appointment – Fundraising Ceilidh

Greener Leith tell us that Leith shops have been judged better than shops elsewhere in Edinburgh, and that the recent Edinburgh People’s Survey has also produced the result that Leith Parks are better than others in the city. According to the charitable organisation, this follows the improvements to the Leith to Portobello cycle link.

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The Edinburgh People Survey will be discussed at the Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee this morning. Also on the agenda is the decision to either fund or not fund some organisations. Here is an extract from the report:-

Awards which are affordable are identified totalling around £22.9m applications for 220 organisations. A small number of applicants are to receive no award.

The grants are made to third sector, cultural and sporting bodies across the city, and the report proposes what is really a status quo position.

The whole report can be viewed here:-

Item No 7.1 – Council Grants to Third Parties 2013-14 – Proposals for Expenditure by

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If you want to break into film and television drama...then here is the course for you. This one day intensive training course consists of a series of practical exercises which will equip you with the knowledge, tools and experience to help you break into the industry according to the organisers, a partnership of Screen Academy Scotland, a Creative Skillset Film and Media Academy and Edinburgh Film Focus supported by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund. Deadline is 12 March and the course is on 22 March 2013 at Edinburgh Napier University.

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Lord Hodge will be sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court later this year. He will succeed Lord Hope, one of the two Scottish Justices, who retires on 27 June 2013, when he takes up his new position at the beginning of the new legal year, in October 2013. Following training with Edinburgh firm, Brodies, Patrick Hodge was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice in 2005, and regularly sits in both the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh.

The appointments of Lord Hodge along with English judges, Lord Justice Hughes and Lord Justice Toulson, were made by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, following the recommendation of an independent selection commission. The commission consulted across each of the Supreme Court’s three United Kingdom jurisdictions before making their recommendations.

Lord Neuberger commented:- “Recommending three appointments for a Court of twelve naturally represents an important set of decisions. All members of the selection commission were keenly aware of the significance of the task we faced. We encouraged applications from a broad qualified pool, and took careful soundings from all those who were statutorily required to be consulted.

“The three names which have emerged represent a talented trio of judges, all of whom have already made notable contributions to the development of the law in their judicial careers. Lord Justice Hughes, Lord Justice Toulson and Lord Hodge are each replacing an outstanding member of the court, but they are jurists of the highest calibre and I very much look forward to working alongside them in their new roles.”

Lord Justice Hughes said: -“This is a great honour for me. I look forward to the challenge.”

Lord Justice Toulson said: “I am extremely fortunate to become a member of the court which has supreme responsibility, subject to Parliament, for upholding and developing the law in the UK, and deeply conscious of my obligations to the judicial system and the public which it serves.”

Lord Hodge said: “I am very honoured to have the opportunity to serve as a member of the Supreme Court. I look forward to working with my colleagues from the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.”

Lord Hope’s forthcoming retirement means that a new Deputy President must be appointed. Expressions of interest will be invited from the existing Justices, and the process will be supervised by the same selection commission which sat to make the recommendations to the Supreme Court.

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Stockbridge Pipe Band hold their ceilidh this weekend! This is what they say:-“Fundraising Ceilidh this Saturday, 2nd March at Teviot House, Bristo Square. Doors open 7pm with the excellent Pentlands Ceilidh Band kicking off the first dance at 7:30pm. Both the Davidson’s Mains & District novice juvenile pipe band and Stockbridge pipe band will be performing and with a raffle and licensed bar open until after midnight, you’d be daft not to pop in for a wee hoolie! Tickets are £8 adults/£5 U16s.”