It is the middle of the week, and almost the end of the month, and this is the day when we begin production on our March newspaper.
If you have any news that absolutely needs to go in our paper then please do get in touch today.
SCOTTISH BUDGET
The Scottish Government’s budget was passed at Holyrood on Tuesday afternoon as set out to parliament by interim Finance Minister, John Swinney MSP.
The budget includes funding for Creative Scotland of £6.6 million which will be a relief for arts organisations, and the amount of funding for local authorities was increased by £223 million to support pay awards to staff. That sum is added to the already announced £570 million included in the local government settlement, taking the total for all 32 local authorities to £13.5 billion out of a total budget of around £57 billion.
Although the financial position of the government remains “exceptionally challenging”, Mr Swinney said that additional funding confirmed by the UK Government only on Tuesday morning had helped him to make some extra cash available.
Hamilton is coming to Edinburgh
The Scottish premiere of the hip hop musical hit Hamilton will be on the stage at the Festival Theatre from 28 February to 27 April 2024. Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh visited the capital on Tuesday afternoon and directed a very swift photo call after arriving with Capital Theatres CEO, Fiona Gibson. The group of photographers hardly had time to draw breath before he was off again for two interviews – but only with the BBC and STV.
However, thanks to the BBC Local Democracy Reporter scheme we can share the BBC footage with you here:
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The Council will set its budget on Thursday
The City of Edinburgh Council will meet on Thursday to set its own budget.
The SNP group on the council announced their plans for a graduated increase in council tax using statutory powers which they thought the council had. The group has now been told those plans would be unlawful.
On BBC IPLAYER – The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland
A new TV series The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland, which began on Tuesday evening features many women from Edinburgh.
Over the course of three programmes, this series will tell the stories of key women who have had a role in shaping Scotland over the last 50 years.
Presented by Kirsty Wark, it highlights the women who challenged the status quo in the 1960s and 70s, those who defied sexism to seize new opportunities in the 80s and 90s, and the women who, in more recent years, have stepped up to lead – in politics, in their communities and in the workplace.
The series will feature some well-known names, from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to Elaine C Smith, but also highlights an extraordinary range of women who may not be famous but whose passion and commitment have changed the lives of everyone in Scotland.
In the first episode, which focuses on the 60s and 70s Kirsty discovers how the mothers of Craigmillar used the arts to revitalise their communities and create new opportunities for their children. Leading the campaign was local woman Helen Crummy, who lived with her family in the Edinburgh estate.
With help from the local community – she spearheaded a children’s arts festival which used creativity to draw attention to local injustices, such as unfair evictions, and which became a template for others in disadvantaged communities across the world.
This new series has been produced in partnership with The Open University (OU) in Scotland, whose consultants on the series included Dr Kim Barker, Senior Lecturer in Law, and Dr Helen O’Shea, Lecturer in History. Dr Valerie Wright, of the University of Glasgow, also acted as a consultant on the series working with Two Rivers Media.
Says Kirsty Wark: “This series will celebrate the monumental achievements of women, many of them unsung, who some quietly, and others shouting from the rafters, did so much to transform the lives of women and men in Scotland and beyond in the last five decades. They campaigned, they cajoled, they sang, they bravely made a path and encouraged others to follow. Whether it was sport, stage, screen or fighting sex discrimination they made modern Scotland.”
The first episode of The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland will go out on the BBC Scotland channel on Tuesday February 21 at 10pm, with all three episodes available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
