Five things you need to know today

Council set out how they will tackle the Housing Emergency

The City of Edinburgh Council have approved an action plan as they work towards tackling the severe shortage of suitable housing in the capital. As there are not enough homes in Edinburgh the council is being forced to put people in unsuitable temporary accommodation. Each day there are around 5,700 households in the capital living in temporary housing.

Following the unanimous decision to declare a housing emergency last November, the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee agreed a report this week which sets out how the council will respond to the crisis.

The actions are based on wide engagement with partner organisations and councillors, including 14 engagement workshops which have helped to identify key priorities.

The measures outlined in the Housing Emergency Action Plan are expected to reduce the number of households in Edinburgh without settled accommodation.

These include:

Reviewing the Allocation Policy for Council Homes to ensure it continues to enable fair access to housing, including consideration of protected characteristics, such as gender.
Improve the standard of repairs and repairs response for Council housing.
Ensure all relevant and appropriate partners are included and supported to resolve the housing emergency.
Improve the relationship between housing officer and tenant, ensuring local housing staff are visible in their localities and available to meet tenants where and when this is required.
It comes as the Council agreed to introduce a 7% rent rise for tenants over 10 years at the Full Council meeting last Thursday. In an effort to tackle the city’s housing crisis, the council says the increase could raise around £2billion.

Monkeying around

A Japanese macaque who captured the attention of people around the world when he escaped from Highland Wildlife Park in January will be taking up residence at Edinburgh Zoo. 

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), the wildlife conservation charity which operates both parks, has moved seven-year-old Honshu to the capital with three males from his troop to give him a fresh start after his time on the run. 

Darren McGarry, head of living collections at RZSS, said: “Primate group dynamics can be very complex, especially in a situation like this where an individual is separated from the troop for an extended period of time.  

“Honshu is also of the age when macaques disperse or move away, so it would have been very difficult to reintroduce him to his wider family. Instead, we want to create a new, mini-troop for him, comprised of three other male macaques of similar age – just like with our giraffes. Thankfully they have settled in well together at the park and are now being moved to their new home at the zoo.” 

Queen’s Gallery no more

Later this spring the gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse will reopen as the King’s Gallery.

From 22 March there will be a new exhibition Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians which uses fashion as a window into Georgian society during this revolutionary period.

The exhibition will bring together almost 100 works from the Royal Collection, including paintings, prints and drawings by artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth and their contemporaries. At the heart of the exhibition will be a selection of surviving period clothing and accessories, alongside paintings showing comparable items. Together, these works will build up a layer-by-layer picture of what the Georgians wore – from the functional dress of laundry maids to the glittering gowns suitable for court – between the accession of George I in 1714 and the death of George IV in 1830.

Following the exhibition’s successful showing in London, new additions have been made with distinctly Scottish links. These include two depictions of George IV by Fife-born artist Sir David Wilkie, painted to mark the first visit by a reigning monarch to Scotland since Charles I. In the largest of these, the King stands proud in full Highland dress of Royal Stewart tartan, making a statement of unity, with the monarch portrayed as heir to both the Hanoverians and the Jacobites following over a century of conflict. Also on display is a portrait by Louis Gabriel Blanchet of Bonnie Prince Charlie, showing the Jacobite leader as a defiant prince.  

As part of the organisation’s charitable aim to ensure that as many people as possible can access and enjoy the Collection, Royal Collection Trust is proud to launch a new scheme of £1 tickets for exhibitions at The King’s Galleries in 2024, available to those receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits. 

In addition to £1 tickets, The King’s Galleries will continue to offer a range of concessionary rates, while visitors who purchase standard tickets directly from Royal Collection Trust can convert them into a 1-Year Pass, allowing free re-entry for 12 months.

Tickets and visitor information can be found at www.rct.uk 

Silent films

The 14th annual silent film festival takes place at the Hippodrome Bo’ness later this month with a programme full of the best old movies around.

The programme for this year’s HippFest has just been announced along with details of the live music which accompanies the films. Talks, workshops, and an exhibition also form part of the programme. Details are here.

The programme will feature some of the biggest names from the silent era such as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Clara Bow, and Joan Crawford; with live appearances from musicians and silent film aficionados, including Neil Brand, Jenny Hammerton, Maud Nelissen, and John Sweeney.

Take a look at the programme here.

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