Illegal Jacks needs you!
Audit Scotland gives City of Edinburgh Council report update
Scottish Government to boost employment opportunities with Employability Fund
National Libraries Day
Scottish Greens Manifesto launch
Over the weekend Illegal Jacks our beloved Tex-Mex restaurant which has recently moved to St Patrick’s Square suffered a mindless vandalism attack.
How about visiting the restaurant this week? Go on help them out and give them some custom. They now face a £500 bill for the repair.
If 50 people go in and spend a tenner they will bring in £500 – but many more of you need to go along and spend that so that they can turn a profit of £500 and pay for the damage.
Come on Edinburgh get your burrito on!
So anyone recognise the vandals here? @edinburghpaper Can you help with an RT please? Thanks. pic.twitter.com/4nXnwNW9Hj
— Illegal Jack's (@illegaljacks) February 7, 2016
The Audit Commission gave the City of Edinburgh Council a fairly damning report in 2013 and it is now about to deliver an updated view on the council’s progress.
Some parts are good and some not so good.
The Audit Commission has opined that the councillors must provide leadership, that the Corporate Management Team must provide ‘comprehensive and accessible information about the council’s financial position’ and they remain concerned about the level of savings that the council has to make.
The Commission is not clear that the council has a fall back position if the Transformation Programme which will deliver 2000 job cuts does not work.
They are also disappointed that the council has not yet implements a workforce strategy or improved its Information and Communications Technology. They consider this last part ‘fundamental to effective transformation’.
They are calling for a further audit report in a year’s time mainly due to the level of increased financial challenge which the council faces.
The council believes that the report shows that it has made significant progress in addressing financial problems.
You can read the full report here:
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Open in new tab The Scottish Government’s Employability Fund will provide 11,650 training places next year.
The aim is to provide chances for young people and adults to get into jobs to help Scotland’s economic growth. The programme SERI (Scotland’s Employer Recruitment Incentive) will open to new applications in April.
Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham said:
“The Employability Fund remains a key element of our efforts to boost employment levels in Scotland. As well as offering real training opportunities to people struggling to get a foot on the jobs ladder, improving skills and employability across Scotland will enhance our economic prospects.
“Following a period of uncertainty following the Chancellor’s spending review, which has been hugely challenging for the devolved Scottish budget, I am very pleased to announce that the Employability Fund will continue into next year and support a further 11,650 training places. When budgets are so limited it’s important that we do everything we can to squeeze the most benefit from every single penny that we spend.
“More than 2,500 of these places will be delivered through our colleges, who are fully focused on providing meaningful qualifications leading to real jobs. Figures released last month showed ongoing improvement in youth unemployment with the overall employment rate as high as it’s been since records began in 1992 so, while we cannot be complacent, it is clear that progress is being made.
“Alongside the news yesterday that Scotland’s Employer Recruitment Incentive (SERI) will continue into 2016/17, the work of the Employability Fund will complement key actions aimed at reducing youth unemployment in Scotland by 40 per cent by 2021.
“Since 2007 we have funded over 180,000 MAs, as well as provided over 6,000 unemployed 16 to 29 year olds with job training opportunities in the third sector through Community Jobs Scotland. We have also allocated 10,000 places across all of Scotland’s local authorities through the Youth Employment Scotland Fund and provided Education Maintenance Allowances to around 35,000 young people each year.
“Last year we also consulted on how to deliver employability services fit for a fair and modern Scotland when these powers are devolved next year. We want to give the people of Scotland the best possible chance of finding sustainable jobs and maximising their potential.”
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Edinburgh families enjoy a reading of The Gruffalo with Michelle McManus at Wester Hailes Library on Saturday as part of National Libraries Day.
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The Scottish Greens will launch their 2016 Scottish Parliamentary election manifesto later this morning at Oran Mhor in Glasgow.
Patrick Harvie MSP and Co-Convenor of the Scottish Greens has already criticise the Labour candidates. He said: “Only 8 of the top 32 list spaces across the eight lists for Scottish Labour were given to people who have not previously been elected to Holyrood or to Westminster.”
We hope to interview some of the hopefuls in Glasgow so watch this space later!
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SCOOPIT
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
