A 38-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with an incident in Drylaw which resulted in a 35-year-old man suffering serious injuries which took place on Tuesday 9 March.

 He is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday, 17 March, 2021.

Detective Inspector Bob Campbell said: “We are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen a black Dacia Sondero vehicle in the vicinity of Wester Drylaw Drive on the afternoon of Tuesday 9 March and in particular to the occupants of a small white VW Caddy van that was seen in the area at this time.

“I also urge motorists with dash cams to check their footage as they may have captured images which would assist our investigation.

“There will be additional patrols in the area and local residents are encouraged to speak to these officers if they have any information or concerns as it is vital that we trace everyone responsible.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland via 101 quoting incident number 1880 of 9 March 2021.  Alternatively, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be given anonymously.

Police are appealing for information from the public after a car was stolen from a property in Broxburn last weekend.

Between 10.30pm on Saturday 13 March and 9am on Sunday 14 March the keys for a silver coloured Range Rover sport were stolen through the letterbox of a property on Nicol Road, before the car was driven off in an unknown direction.

Police were contacted when the owner noticed the car was missing in the morning.

Detective Constable Alan Gibson said: “It is completely unacceptable to take what does not belong to you and therefore it is vital we trace the person responsible and get the car back to its owner.

“We have carried out local enquiries however are asking anyone with personal security cameras in the area to get in touch with police, you may have information that can help us.

“We would also ask anyone who has seen a silver coloured Range Rover with the registration number DE10 COM to come forward.”

Anyone with any information should contact Police via 101, quoting incident number 0912 of Sunday 14 March 2021. Alternatively you can contact CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800 555 111 where information can be given in confidence.

“At last it comes, drifting through the trees: a deep, guttural, primeval roar. A grunting yell that has echoed through these trees and across these hills since the ice retreated thousands of years ago.”

It is October in Strathconon, in Gaelic ‘the roaring month’, and John Burns is about to witness an ancient, bloody ritual: the annual rut of the Highland stags. It is the beginning of a winter that will end like no other, but for the moment it is simply a winter that John has decided to spend watching and learning about the nature and wildlife of his home country.

He will write a book to record his observations: Wild Winter ends up being a record of a year none of us will forget.

In The Last Hillwalker (2019) John wrote about his love of the hills and mountains, a love that began with a school trip to the Lake District and led to a lifetime of climbing – including ascents of some of the most famous peaks in the world. Based in Inverness for many years now, John is also a performance poet, storyteller and published author.

Now he wants to gain a more intimate understanding of the flora and fauna that have provided the backdrop to much of his career; to look more closely at the bond between man and nature.  He’s even written a bucket list of the things he wants to see; beavers, otters, mountain hares, seals, pine martens and even, if possible, the odd whale. The red deer rut was on the list – surely he can get the rest ticked off by May 2020?

One of the things I enjoy about John’s writing is its humility. He freely admits how little he knows about Scotland’s wildlife. On a whale-watching cruise to Mull with a bunch of seriously keen retirees he experiences ‘lens envy’, takes part in a bird quiz in which he scores ‘one hundred per cent. One hundred per cent wrong, that is…’ – and misses the one whale who does bother to turn up. Instead he sees a sea eagle, and a school of dolphins;

“leaping and playing all around us…there is no mistaking their sheer joy.”

John starts to realise that you have to take the natural world as, when and where you find it. He goes looking for otters and instead sees a buzzard pursued by gulls; he buys a camera trap but never manages to film an otter; he crawls along a cliff top to see basking seals and ends up face down in a pile of sheep poo.  And we feel we are learning along with him; when things go wrong – as they frequently do, for as John himself says;

“Wildlife doesn’t co-operate, It’s rarely where it’s supposed to be.“

– we think that maybe, just maybe, we could have a go at this too. You don’t have to be an expert; even Sir David Attenborough had to start somewhere (didn’t he?)

As John explores estates across the north of Scotland, the destruction and devastation caused by man becomes ever more evident. Vast tracts of land are owned by a few very wealthy people, many of whom are absentee landlords.

Traditionally the estates are run as ‘playgrounds for the rich’, where the only things that matter are deer and grouse and the shooting of both. To ‘protect’ these doomed animals, indigenous species are mercilessly eradicated – wolf, bear and elk are long gone, hen harriers, mountain hares, wildcats and eagles have been driven to near extinction. Where deer numbers are unchecked (something that, in their day, wolves would have seen to), no new tree growth can flourish, the land is overgrazed, and there are no habitats for many other native species. To facilitate access, the hills are scarred with bulldozed tracks. Heather is burned, illegal traps are set;

‘the place stinks of death and I find no beauty in its landscape.’

Meanwhile climate change and pollution are wreaking their own havoc, with unreliable weather leading to a lack of food and habitation for birds, fish and mammals. Things aren’t looking good.

Yet despite the parlous state of much of the Highlands, John finds room for hope. Some estates are moving away from the sporting model, their motivation being as much economic as ecological. Blood sports don’t make money.

Enlightened owner Anders Povlsen, who also owns the Jenners building in Edinburgh, is famously rewilding Glen Feshie. At Coignfearn it’s been four years since a hare was shot and heather is no longer burned.  Hugh Raven, owner of Ardtornish, has continued his late brother’s work to move the estate away from stalking – it now has hydro-electric schemes, a working farm and holiday accommodation; guns are only used to cull.

Beavers, long extinct in Scotland, have now been reintroduced in a controlled project in Knapdale – and in a rather less controlled release on the Tay. John meets with the manager of the Knapdale project, and discusses the huge benefits that beavers can bring to our waterways, and the need to involve all interested parties – farmers and landowners as well as wildlife advocates – if their reintroduction is to succeed. Sea eagles, hunted to extinction in the 18th century, have been back on the west coast since the 1970s. Legislation has now been enacted to protect that woefully slaughtered mountain hare population.

John loves bothies – he wrote a book about them (Bothy Tales, 2018) – and in Wild Winter he again visits many, from the freezing (Inver hut at Achnasheen) to the luxurious (the state-of-the-art Ruigh Aitechain at Glen Feshie), and here again he finds cause for optimism, meeting young people with understanding, vision and enthusiasm. In The Last Hillwalker, he worried that the next generation might have no interest in the hills, but now he realises that change is coming;

“I have a feeling that as we walk towards the future, these hills and glens will be in safe hands.”

One of the many delights of this book is the reappearance of John’s old hillwalking friends, Martin and Joe, on their annual visit to Scotland. Martin in particular is a wonderfully idiosyncratic character, still firmly anchored in the 1970s. He has no truck with technology, nor indeed anything ‘new-fangled’, does not drive, loves trains, and can only eat foods on a mental list compiled fifty years ago. The stories of his encounters with various intransigent Scotrail officials are hilarious (Martin always wins.)

The year turns; there are rumours of a virus in China. As we are all too aware now, those rumours soon grew legs, and by early March John is desperately trying to fit in as many expeditions as he can before lockdown is imposed. Miraculously, with the help of wildlife photographer James Roddie*, he achieves his dream of seeing a pine marten just in time.  Confined in his city centre flat, he at first struggles, but then learns to appreciate urban wildlife – and having failed to find an otter in remote Sutherland, eventually sees one swimming through the middle of Inverness.  That’s nature for you.

When lockdown is eased in summer 2020, there are reports of the Highlands being overrun with tourists.  While having no time for the controversial North Coast 500 tourist route (a sentiment echoed by just about everyone who lives anywhere near it), John suggests that, instead of complaining about the visitors the Highlands have previously worked so hard to attract, they should instead decentralise, encouraging people to go to the less frequented areas. Education, not sanctions, should be the way forward;

“There is plenty of room for everyone.”

Wild Winter is a wonderful and very readable book, full of stories, ideas and optimism. It speaks of John’s new understanding of the interconnectedness of all life;

“I am beginning to see how this great jigsaw of life fits together, and to realise how complex and interdependent everything is.”

And above all it speaks of joy and of hope;

“It never leaves me, this sense of wonder at a place. It is a connection with the earth…the heart of nature still beats.“

Wild Winter by John D Burns will be published by Vertebrate Publishing on 1 April 2021.

John’s website is here: https://www.johndburns.com/

*James Roddie is a multi-award-winning professional wildlife photographer based on the Black Isle near Inverness. He runs Black Isle Natural Photography and offers tuition and wildlife tours.

https://jamesroddie.com/

The government commissioned Laura Dunlop QC to conduct a review of the government’s procedure which was at the heart of the Judicial Review raised against the government by former First Minister, Alex Salmond.

The procedure for handling harassment complaints about current or former Ministers had just been introduced in the Scottish Government and was used to investigate complaints against Mr Salmnd by two members of staff.

The government lost the judicial review case meaning that it was able to pay costs to Mr Salmond of over half a million pounds. The Scottish Government conceded the case after it admitted that it had applied the procedure wrongly. The investigating officer it appointed, Judith Mackinnon, had been in contact with both complainers at an earlier stage of the complaint proceedings and should not have been appointed to also investigate the matter. After the collapse of the case the government wanted to learn lessons from the failure and this report is part of that process.

Ms Dunlop’s review makes a number of recommendations to strengthen the process for handling such complaints in the future, which will be considered along with the forthcoming report from the Committee on the Scottish Government’s Handling of Harassment Complaints and James Hamilton’s report. James Hamilton is investigating any breach of the Ministerial Code by the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms Dunlop’s recommendations include the following:

• that there should be no time limit in any investigation into complaints of sexual harassment against serving or former Minister, but a period of three years is recommended in other types of complaint
• that it should be considered whether a complainer’s wish to avoid police involvement is respected
• that it should be considered if there might only be one process raising a complaint against a minister within Fairness at Work (the overarching employment policy)
• that specific support should be given to a Minister during the investigation
• that it should be decided at the beginning whether the complaint is dealt with under the Ministerial Code or Fairness at Work
• that a screening process should be instigated with legal advice for the person conducting it
• that anyone involved in the investigation should have no prior involvement in the matter or close association with either party during the investigation

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “The Scottish Government welcomes this independent review and the constructive, forward-looking recommendations that Laura Dunlop QC has made. We will now work with the Scottish Government Council of Unions, on how these could be implemented, noting that in some instances it will require us working across institutions to find a way forward.

“Our shared priority is to have in place policies and procedures that allow any future complaints to be raised and investigated with confidence. I would reiterate the Scottish Government’s apology to the women who had the courage to make the harassment complaints – they were let down, and it is only right to ensure that lessons are learned for the future.

“Bullying or harassment of any kind is unacceptable and we want staff to feel safe and supported in raising concerns. We will finalise an implementation plan by June which draws on the lessons highlighted by this review, as well as the forthcoming report from SGHHC Committee.

“I am grateful for the attention Laura Dunlop has given to these important matters.”

Laura Dunlop QC’s review is published here

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “It’s clear why the SNP Government tried to bury this review late in the day after a lockdown easing statement.

“They have tried to shut down scrutiny throughout this affair and today they sneaked out a report that lays bare 10 glaring flaws in the way the SNP Government handles sexual harassment complaints.

“They completely failed the women at the heart of this scandal by using a catastrophically flawed procedure to investigate Alex Salmond.

“The SNP Government were doomed to lose this case. This review spells out that it had no hope of succeeding because of the contact between civil servants and the complainers.

“If the government had not withheld information from their own lawyers, more than £500,000 would have been saved, and Alex Salmond could have been investigated properly.

“They must abandon this disastrous procedure and build one that actually works. Nicola Sturgeon appears to be retaining this “problematic” procedure to save herself the embarrassment and political damage of admitting they got it badly wrong. 

“Until this procedure is fixed, more people can be let down at any moment.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “This review by Laura Dunlop QC is welcome and confirms that the Scottish Government’s sexual harassment policy was not fit for purpose. 

“What is truly astonishing is that the SNP government did not take this advice when developing the policy, instead of rushing it through. Had they taken professional advice beforehand they might have devised a fairer, more effective policy; they could have avoided an expensive and failed judicial review and – vitally – protected the women involved.  

“It is a damning indictment of the SNP and their failure that let women down who complained about the former First Minister. 

“The recommendations make it clear that any further complaints of this nature against a former minister must be managed independently and separate from those with any prior interest with any of the parties.   

“The Scottish Government must now implement these recommendations, ensure that such an expensive and damaging fiasco will never happen again and that there is a robust policy in place for the future.” 

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon addressed MSPs in The Scottish Parliament this afternoon with a major announcement on likely dates in the weeks and months ahead which will be key on the path out of lockdown.

This is the text of Ms Sturgeon’s speech:

Presiding Officer

My statement today will set out our next steps out of lockdown and back towards a way of life that is much closer to normality.

I intend to set out in some detail how and in what order we hope to ease restrictions between now and mid-May.

And I will set out, albeit in more general terms, our expectations beyond that.

I must stress of course – because it is simply an inescapable fact – that being able to deliver on the plans I outline today is dependent on continued progress in suppressing the virus and rolling out vaccines.

However, I do hope that this statement will provide welcome reassurance that brighter days are ahead of us.

Before turning to the detail, I will provide some context on the state of the epidemic, starting with a summary of today’s figures.

597 positive cases were reported yesterday, this represents 3.8% of all tests carried out, and takes the total number of cases to 210,605.

440 people are now in hospital, which is seven fewer than yesterday. And 42 people are in intensive care, which is two more than yesterday.

I regret to report that in the last 24 hours, a further seven deaths have been registered. The total number of deaths, under that measure, is now 7,517.

Once again, I send my condolences to all those who have lost a loved one.

One week today, when we mark the first anniversary of lockdown, the whole nation will be invited to share in a minute’s silence, as we reflect on those we have lost and on the painful sacrifices that have been made by so many over the past year.

Presiding Officer

We are currently recording across Scotland an average of 570 new Covid cases each day.

There are two points about that which it is important to make.

The first is positive. Case numbers have fallen sharply since the early part of this year, as a result of course of the tough restrictions we are all living under.

In January, we were recording more than 1,000 cases a day on average.

And even just three weeks ago, the average number of cases per day was 815.

So we have seen a significant reduction since then, which indicates the progress that has been made in suppressing the virus.

The second point is slightly less positive.

The 570 cases per day on average over the past week is up slightly from an average of 490 the week before.

This is not a massive increase, but it is clearly not the direction of travel we want to see, so we will be monitoring it carefully – and taking it as a reminder that we have no room for complacency. Care and caution in the face of this virus continues to be essential.

What is unambiguously positive so far is the progress of the vaccination programme. We have now vaccinated:

• virtually all over 65 year olds;
• 59% of 60 to 64 year olds;
• 41% of 55 to 59 year olds; and
• 34% of 50 to 54 year olds.

In total, as of 8.30 this morning, 1,943,507 people in Scotland have received their first dose of the vaccine.

That represents more than 40% of the adult population, and is an increase of 34,516 since yesterday.

We expect around 400,000 vaccinations to be administered over this week, and we hope that level can be maintained through April, subject as always to vaccine supplies.

However, it is not just the scale of the vaccination programme that is positive. What we are learning about its impact is also hugely encouraging.

We can already see that it is having a significant impact on the number of deaths. According to National Records of Scotland, the number of Covid deaths in Scotland has more than halved in the past two weeks.

And there are now positive indications from research, including a study last week from Public Health Scotland, that the vaccines also reduce transmission of the virus. That is really significant.

This provides us with greater confidence than we had previously about the impact of vaccination on suppression of the virus.

And that in turn gives us more confidence about mapping a path out of lockdown, with a firmer indicative timeline for lifting restrictions.

We have of course announced and implemented some significant changes already.

Last week, the restrictions on outdoor gatherings and activities were eased slightly.

And as of yesterday, all primary aged children are back in school full-time and the phased return of secondary schools is also underway.

After the Easter break – which for some will be 12 April – we hope that all children will be back in school full-time.

Obviously, we will continue to monitor the impact of these changes.

However, I am able to set out now some further changes that we hope to be able to make in early April.

I can confirm, firstly, that we expect to lift the current ‘stay at home’ rule on 2 April.

Initially, though we hope for no more than three weeks, ‘stay at home’ will be replaced by guidance to stay local – in other words, not to travel outside your own local authority area unless for an essential purpose.

People will continue to be able to meet up outdoors, including in private gardens, in groups of no more than 4 from 2 households.

Our other changes in early April will take effect from Monday 5.

On that day, we expect contact sports for 12 to 17-year-olds to resume.

We also expect that from 5 April more students – particularly in further education – will be allowed to return to on-campus learning.

Colleges will prioritise those students whose return is essential – including those who are most at risk of not completing their courses.

That includes those who are taking qualifications in construction, engineering, hairdressing, beauty and related courses.

We also expect to begin the phased re-opening of non-essential retail on 5 April.

Click and collect retail services will be permitted to reopen from that date, along with homeware stores, and car showrooms and forecourts.

Garden centres will also be able to reopen on 5 April – which I know is important as we head towards the summer.

And last – but for some of us definitely not least – we expect hairdresser and barber salons to reopen for appointments on 5 April.

Presiding Officer

These changes will, I hope, make a real difference to people in a number of different ways  

However, given the state of the virus and extent of vaccination, what I have just set out is the maximum we consider possible at that stage.

However, during April, we expect our vaccination programme to reach an important milestone.

By the middle of April, supplies permitting – which is still a necessary caveat – we will have offered first doses of the vaccine to all nine priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Those nine groups include everyone over the age of 50 and all adults with particular underlying health conditions.

They account for a significant majority of Scotland’s adult population – and, crucially, cover groups of the population that between them account for approximately 99% of all Covid-related deaths.

So reaching that milestone – and taking account of the fact that it takes a couple of weeks for protection from the vaccine to kick in – will give us confidence to ease restrictions much more significantly from 26 April.

On that date, we expect all parts of Scotland currently in level 4 to move down to a modified level 3.

The island communities currently in level 3 will have the option to move at that stage to level 2. However, given what I am about to set out on travel restrictions, we intend to discuss that with these communities over the next couple of weeks.

Let me turn then to the position on travel.

We expect that from 26 April, restrictions on journeys within mainland Scotland will be lifted entirely.

However, if restrictions on socialising and hospitality are relaxed more quickly and significantly on the islands, there may be a need to retain some restrictions on travel to and from the mainland – to protect island communities from the importation of new cases.

However, rather than impose that decision now on our island communities, we intend to discuss it directly with them to determine what arrangements they consider will work best for their circumstances.

We hope that restrictions on journeys between Scotland and other parts of the UK and the wider common travel area can also be lifted, if not on 26 April, then as soon as possible thereafter.

However, we need to keep this under review, as part of our efforts to reduce the risk of new cases being imported into Scotland and we will update the position during April.

Reducing the risk of importing new cases – and new variants – is also directly relevant to the issue of international travel.

We intend to discuss with the aviation sector later this week how and when non-essential travel to some international destinations may be possible again.

Like the UK government, we are certain that this will not be achievable before 17 May. However, our view is that it may well not be possible for a further period after that.

And, even when overseas travel does resume, it is very likely that a requirement for pre-departure and post-arrival testing will remain in place for some time to come.

However, we will keep this issue under close review.

I want to turn now to the other changes we hope to make from 26 April.

On that date, we expect all remaining retail premises to re-open.

All tourist accommodation will be able to re-open from that date too, subject to any wider restrictions that remain in place, for example, on hospitality.

We expect that libraries, museums and galleries will also reopen from 26 April.

Our expectation is that indoor gyms will reopen for individual exercise on that date.

Work in people’s homes will resume from that date, as well as driving lessons.

And we expect that the limit on attendance at weddings, funerals and associated receptions will be raised to 50 people from 26 April.

From 26 April, the restrictions on outdoor socialising will be eased further too.

From that date, six people from up to three households will be able to meet outdoors – and with no mainland travel restrictions in place.

12 to 17 year olds will be able to meet outdoors with up to six people from six households.

Unfortunately, given that the risk of transmission is greatest inside our own homes, where it is much more difficult to comply with mitigations like physical distancing, we cannot yet say if it will be possible to have people from other households visit us indoors from this date.

However, given how important this is to all of us, we intend to keep this under ongoing review.

The hospitality sector will also begin to reopen from 26 April.

From that date, cafés, restaurants and bars will be able to serve people outdoors – in groups of up to 6 from 3 households – until 10pm. Alcohol will be permitted, and there will be no requirement for food to be served. 

We also hope, though this in particular depends on continued suppression of the virus, that there will be limited indoor opening of hospitality from 26 April too.

This will be limited initially to the service of food and non-alcoholic drinks until 8pm, and for groups of up to 4 people from no more than 2 households.

As was the case last year, venues will need to retain customers’ contact details for three weeks after their visit.

Finally, we will advise that, from 26 April, people on the shielding list can return to work; children and young people on the shielding list can return to school or nursery; and students on the shielding list can return to college or university.

The Chief Medical Officer will write this week to everyone on the shielding list to provide more detailed advice. 

As is obvious, the changes that we hope to make on 26 April are significant.

We will therefore need to monitor them carefully. For that reason we do not expect any further changes to be made before 17 May, three weeks later.

However, from that date, we hope that all level 3 areas – or as many as possible – will move to level 2.

We would hope, from that date, indoor hospitality could return to greater normality, with alcohol able to be served indoors and within more normal opening hours, though possibly with some continued restrictions – a requirement for people to book in 2 hour slots, for example.

The precise detail of any continued restrictions will depend on an assessment of the situation closer to the time. But we will be aiming for us as much normality as possible.

On 17 May, we also hope that adult outdoor contact sports and indoor group exercises can resume.

We also hope that cinemas, amusement arcades and bingo halls will reopen from that date.

And that outdoor and indoor events – albeit on a small scale to begin with – will also re-start. We will confirm capacity limits with the events sector in the next few weeks.

We also hope that colleges and universities will return to a more blended model of learning from mid-May – meaning that more students can be on campus.

Further face-to-face support services will also resume – as will non-professional performance arts.

Finally, on 17 May, we expect restrictions on outdoor social gatherings to ease further.

And, if this has not proved possible before this date, we also expect that people will be able to meet up inside each other’s homes again – initially in groups of up to 4 people from no more than 2 households.

Let me come back to that point because I know that the restriction on indoor meetings has been one of the hardest parts of lockdown for most of us to bear.

Unfortunately, though, it is necessary and I note that the easing of this restriction is not expected before mid-May in England either.

However, all of us yearn to meet with friends and loved ones indoors again, and I know this is especially important for those who live alone.

So we will keep this under ongoing review and will seek to restore as much normality just as soon as it is safe to do so.

Presiding Officer,

I also want to give an update on business support.

In the past year we have provided more than £3 billion of direct support to businesses in Scotland.

And for the entirety of the next financial year, we will provide 100% rates relief for retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation businesses.

When I spoke in advance of the UK budget, I said that the strategic business framework, which supports closed businesses, would continue until June, even if some businesses were able to open before then.

However, a number of businesses have asked us to instead adopt a model of restart grants as we emerge from lockdown. We have decided to follow this advice.

So I can confirm that on 22 March, recipients of support under the Strategic Business Framework Fund will receive a final four week payment. There will be no new claims after that date.

And then on 19 April, recipients will receive a combined final payment comprising a further two weeks closure support and a one off restart grant.

For eligible retail businesses this will mean a payment on 19 April of up to £7,500 and for eligible hospitality and leisure businesses, a payment of up to £19,500.

This will provide support that is both more generous and also more flexible than previously envisaged.

Presiding Officer

The steps I have outlined today give a significant degree of clarity for the period between now and mid-May.

The unpredictable nature of this virus means it is difficult to give quite as much clarity beyond that point

However, our hope and ambition is that from early June, all of Scotland will move to level 1 – which will allow for a further easing of restrictions.

And then by the end of June, we hope that all of Scotland will move to at least level 0.

Level 1 and even more so, level 0 will be a massive improvement on where we are now.

But those levels still involve some restrictions and so we hope that we will be able to get beyond even that – we will be assessing the situation on an ongoing basis, with a view to restoring as much normality as possible.

It is our fervent hope – and also our tentatively increasing expectation – that vaccination, continued and effective use of the test and protect system, and probably a continued compliance with precautions like good hand hygiene, will allow us to keep Covid under much greater control.

And that this will allow us to enjoy many of the things that we took for granted before the pandemic – for example, normal family gatherings where we can hug our loved ones, sporting events, gigs and nightclubs.

For me to set out a precise date for all of that right now would involve plucking it out of thin air – and I’d be doing it to make my life easier, not yours.

I am not going to do that. But I do believe that over the coming weeks – as more and more adults are vaccinated – it will be possible to set a firmer date by which many of these normal things will be possible.

And I am optimistic that this date will be over the summer.

I know I will not be the only one now looking forward – with a real sense of hope – to hugging my family this summer.

Presiding officer,

Three months ago – when we had to reimpose lockdown in the depths of December – it was a dark moment in an unbelievably tough year.

I know how difficult the last few months have been. And I will never underestimate – or stop being grateful for – the hard, painful sacrifices that everyone has made.

But now – thanks to those sacrifices and the success of the vaccination programme – we are in a much brighter position.

As we move further into spring, children and young people will be back in school full time.  Shops and services will reopen. We will be able to travel more widely. We will be able see more of our friends and loved ones, and start to meet again in bars, cafes and restaurants.

As we move into the summer an even greater degree of normality – hopefully something much closer to actual normality, with the ability to hug those we love – will become possible. All of that should fill us with optimism.

This is certainly the most hopeful I have felt about the situation for a long time.

However, as you would expect, I do need to add a note of caution. I know this is the bit none of us want to hear, but the route back to normality does depend on continued suppression.

Right now, things are much better but hundreds of us are still getting this virus every day.

And last week, more than 200 people were admitted to hospital with the virus.

We are getting it under control. But it is still dangerous, and it is now even more infectious.

So we must continue to suppress it to the lowest level possible as we try to get our lives back to normal

So, for now, please stay within the rules.

Until April 2, please stay at home, except for specific purposes.

Please don’t meet people from other households indoors.

And please follow the FACTS advice when you are out and about.

By doing this over the last long months, we have protected each other and saved lives.

By doing it in the few weeks ahead, we can make steady and sure progress back to normality.

And we will continue to protect each other as we journey towards those brighter days that I do firmly believe are now in sight.

All League 1 and 2 clubs have provisionally agreed to a 22-match season with a split after 18 games with a restart date of 20 March.

The SPFL Board previously advised that an 18-game season would be the more practical and realistic option, but has agreed to work on the basis of a 22-match season in line with the League 1 & 2 clubs’ wishes.

Resolutions have now been circulated to all clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 for a divisional vote by each of them, that will require approval from 75% of the clubs i.e., 8, in each respective division.  Clubs have been asked to return their votes as soon as possible.

If 75% approval is not achieved, the SPFL Board will fixture games to deliver the 27-match programme previously agreed for Season 2020/21 by League 1 and League 2 clubs.

The resolutions will include the following details, as proposed by and agreed with the Steering Group:

League 1

• In the event that any club in League 1 has not completed 18 fixtures by Friday 23 April, the SPFL would not produce post-split fixtures for League 1.  League 1 would instead automatically become an 18-game competition for season 2020/21.  The remaining available dates between 23 April and the start of the play-offs would be used to ensure that all clubs in League 1 have played 18 fixtures. It is recognised and accepted that this may mean that some League 1 clubs could have a break in excess of two weeks before competing in the play-offs. 

• If any club in League 1 cannot fulfil 18 fixtures by Thursday 6 May, final standings would be calculated on a points-per-game basis.

• In the event that all clubs in League 1 have completed 18 fixtures by Friday 23 April, the SPFL will produce post-split fixtures for League 1. If all League 1 post-split fixtures cannot be completed by Thursday 6 May, the final standings in League 1 will be calculated on a points-per-game basis. These standings will determine which League 1 clubs are promoted / relegated and which are to take part in the Championship / League 1 play-offs and the League 1 / League 2 play-offs.

League 2

• In the event that any club in League 2 has not completed 18 fixtures by Friday 23 April, the SPFL would not produce post-split fixtures for League 2. League 2 would instead automatically become an 18-game competition for season 2020/21. The remaining available dates between 23 April and the start of the play-offs would be used to ensure that all clubs in League 2 have played 18 fixtures. It is recognised and accepted that this may mean that some League 2 clubs could have a break in excess of two weeks before competing in the League 1 / League 2  play-offs.

• In the event that all clubs in League 2 have completed 18 fixtures by Friday 23 April, the SPFL would produce post-split fixtures for League 2. If all League 2 post-split fixtures cannot be completed by Thursday 6 May, the final standings in League 2 will be calculated on a points-per-game basis. These standings will determine which League 2 clubs are promoted and which are to take part in the League 1 / League 2 play-offs as well as any potential Highland / Lowland League play-off.

• If any club in League 2 cannot fulfil 18 fixtures by Thursday 6 May, final standings will be calculated on a points-per-game basis.

The SPFL Board has agreed to delay the play-off competitions between the Championship, League 1 and League 2.  Instead of these competitions commencing on Wednesday 5 May, they will now commence on Saturday 8 May, thereby freeing up an additional mid-week fixture date.

League 1 and League 2 clubs have also agreed with the SPFL Board that the maximum ‘density’ of the fixture schedule, regardless of the number of outstanding fixtures a club might have, will be Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, i.e., not more than 4 League Matches in any 8 consecutive days.

SPFL Company Secretary Calum Beattie said: “Since the suspension of League 1 and 2 matches was lifted by the Scottish FA on 2 March, we have been in near-constant communication with the club representatives that make up the League 1 and 2 Steering Group.  Those discussions have been very productive with everyone working extremely hard to develop a proposition that is agreeable to all parties.

“Although the recommendation from the SPFL Board was that an 18-match season was the most practicable option, we fully recognise and respect the desire from clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 to aim for 22 games.

“I am pleased we have now reached an agreement that I hope will be approved by the clubs in the coming days.”

The First Minister set out the path out of lockdown today at Holyrood in an address to MSPs following a Cabinet meeting this morning.

The relaxations are naturally all dependent on rolling out vaccines and also suppressing the virus.

Ms Sturgeon began her statement with a look at where the country is now in relation to the virus.

Today the number of cases is 597, which means that as at today the number of new cases each day on average is 570.

The number of new cases is up slightly from 490 in the previous week, and Ms Sturgeon warned that this is not “the direction of travel we want to see”, and so care and caution in the face of this virus continues to be essential.

As for the numbers of those vaccinated – 59% of 60 to 64-year-olds have now received their first dose of the vaccine. More than 40% of the population have now been vaccinated with the first dose, and the government hopes to vaccinate 400,000 people each week from this week on. Today the number of people vaccinated as at 8.30 am this morning is almost double the number vaccinated up to the same time yesterday. It is now evident that vaccination is having a significant effect on the number of deaths. And the First Minister confirmed that this provides us now with “greater confidence about mapping a path out of lockdown with a firmer indicative timeline”.

Some rules were relaxed last week, with all primary school children back at school on Monday, and the phased return of secondary school children is also under way. The First Minister said: “We continue to monitor the impact of these changes.”

There are four dates which are key – 2 April, 5 April, 26 April and 17 May, with dates in June also mentioned. The following is a summary of what Ms Sturgeon announced today, but the government graphic is inserted below.

STAY AT HOME TO BE LIFTED ON 2 APRIL

The government hopes to lift the Stay at Home rule on 2 April, but everyone is advised to remain local and not travel outside their local authority area at that date.

On Monday 5 April it is expected that contact sports for 12 to 17-year-olds will resume and more students can return to on campus learning.

It is possible that there will be phased reopening of non-essential retail from 5 April including garden centres and car showrooms.

And (hurray!) the advice is that hairdressers will also re-open on 5 April.

But the First Minister said that what she had just set out is the maximum that can be done at this point.

She explained: “By mid April first doses will have been offered to all nine priority groups – all over 50 and all those under 50 who have underlying health conditions. This is a significant proportion of the adult population in Scotland. This will give us confidence to relax more restrictions from 26 April.”

At that point everywhere in Scotland which is currently in Level 4 will move to an amended Level 3. It is likely that from 26 April restrictions on journeys within Scotland will be relaxed.

While the government hopes that restrictions between Scotland and the remainder of the UK can be relaxed then – that position will be updated during April.

There is no real movement on changing rules on international travel as the government will discuss travel to some overseas destinations with the air travel industry later this week. But there is a caution that even when overseas travel does resume testing pre-departure will probably remain in place.

On 26 April all remaining retail and holiday accommodation, libraries, museums and galleries along with indoor gyms will likely reopen for individual exercise

The number of those attending weddings and funerals will be raised to 50 people may attend, and at that point the number of people who meet for outdoor socialising will rise to six people from three households.

The hospitality sector will reopen – to serve food outdoors up to 10pm and up to 6 people and there could be limited indoor opening – serving food and non-alcoholic drinks. Venues will continue to have to store contact details.

People who are on the shielding list can return to work and school or college at that point and will be contacted by the Chief Medical Officer.

The First Minister continued: “We do not expect any further changes before 17 May – but then level 3 areas will move to level 2.

Cinemas and bingo halls, outdoor and indoor events may be able to restart all subject to capacity restrictions. The restrictions on numbers meeting for outdoor social gatherings should be relaxed and it will probably be allowed to meet indoors at someone else’s home.

The Scottish Government have provided £3 billion directly to businesses in the past year and has already confirmed 100% rates relief for some businesses in the next year. They have also put fairly detailed plans in place for business support which the First Minister hopes will be “more generous and flexible support than previously envisaged”.

The final hope is that on 1 June all of Scotland can move to Level 1 and by the end of the month restrictions will move to Level 0.

Edinburgh-based entrepreneurs Ewan Thomson and Tom Sheppard believe they have spotted a gap in the home delivery market. Now they have acted upon it and set up Tasty Basket.

This is a grocery delivery service supporting local businesses whilst offering the customer the convenience of large supermarket ordering systems.

Customers order items online from the likes of I.J.Mellis, The Fishmongers, Charles Stamper, James Anderson & Charles Wilson Butchers, Pilot Beer and Breadwinner Bakery

Ewan said: “Whilst there are many services out there delivering local goods, they mostly lack two things. The option to also order basic household items, and the flexibility to choose an allotted delivery slot. Our concept offers customers a service similar to the large supermarkets, but with produce from local butchers, bakers, fishmongers, dairies and breweries.”

Tasty Basket launched in January and is growing, taking on new local suppliers every week. The pricing structure ensures the customer will always pay less for local than through other retailers. Customers select produce by retailer or similar product types, so it is possible to order goods from many different local suppliers, supporting local Edinburgh shops.

As well as fresh produce, Tasty Basket offer larder items like pasta and baked beans, and non-food products like household cleaning items and toiletries meaning the customer can order a full shop, similar to a large supermarket.

Tom said: “The idea for Tasty Basket came to me when I was moving house and I didn’t have the time to get to my favourite independent shops. I especially wanted sausages from Anderson’s on Edinburgh’s Great Junction Street and I just couldn’t understand why a service like this didn’t exist.

“We’re in talks with a lot of local independents right now, people like the Edinburgh Butter Co, Edinburgh Kombucha, and Ocelot chocolate. Our customers are returning for more and we’re committed to increasing the offering over the next few weeks. Like me, there are lots of people passionate about supporting local that can find it difficult to access. Tasty Basket aims to change that.”

Tasty Basket offers delivery 5 days a week to all Edinburgh addresses.
The minimum order is £25 with a delivery fee of £3.99.
Orders over £60 get free delivery.

The latest figures detailing the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in Scotland have been announced.

The statistics in Scotland as at 16 March 2021 are shown below.

The First Minister will address parliament this afternoon and is expected to give some more of the detail which businesses want to start planning for reopening.

The advice for now remains Stay At Home.

As at 7 March 2021, 9,725 deaths were registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate according to weekly statistics reported by National Records of Scotland. These figures will be updated on Wednesday.

Date	Newly reported cases of Covid-19	Cases in Lothian	New tests	Test positivity rate (bold denotes days under 5.0% and the highest in recent weeks)	Newly reported deaths	Number of deaths according to daily measurement	Patients in ICU with confirmed Covid-19	Patients in hospital with confirmed Covid-19 (under 500 is in bold)	Total number of positive cases since beginning of pandemic	Number of vaccinations administered	Number of daily vaccinations recorded for previous day with highest daily figure in bold (includes 1st and 2nd doses) Above 30,000 in bold	Number of people who have received their second dose of vaccine
16 March 2021	597	81	17,208	3.8%	7	7,517	42	440	210,605	1,943,507	43,463	170,892
15 March 2021	456	70	11,261	4.7%	0	7,510	40	447	210,008	1,908,991	22,201	161,945
14 March 2021	484	75	16,261	3.3%	2	7,510	40	461	209,552	1,888,697	25,362	160,038
13 March 2021	639	97	23,284	3.4%	8	7,508	38	479	209,068	1,867,123	29,328	156,250
12 March 2021	682	102	22,596	3.4%	17	7,500	38	512	208,429	1,844,636	26,812	149,409
11 March 2021	591	73	26,761	2.5%	22	7,483	42	556	207,747	1,825,800	25,315	141,433
10 March 2021	691	96	24,998	3.1%	20	7,461	50	582	207,156	1,809,158	28,855	132,760
9 March 2021	466	62	16,342	3.3%	19	7,441	50	614	206,465	1,789,377	19,672	123,686
8 March 2021	501	67	11,529	5.0%	1	7,422	59	654	205,999	1,774,659	17,711	118,732
7 March 2021	390	63	14,057	3.2%	0	7,421	61	628	205,498	1,759,750		115,930
6 March 2021	555	72	22,992	3.0%	12	7,421	63	639	205,108	1,743,869	32,081	114,081
5 March 2021	498	73		3.1%	11	7,409	64	666		1,717,672	29,064	108,197
4 March 2021	500	71	24,723	2.5%	27	7,398	69	726	204,055	1,688,808	34,237	100,058
3 March 2021	543	77	24,377	2.6%	35	7,371*	69	750	203,555	1,661,879	35,623	92,550
2 March 2021	542	104	14,537	4.4%	33	7,164	71	784	203,012	1,634,361		84,445
1 March 2020	386	70		4.5%	0	7,131	71	824	202,470
High and low numbers of newly reported cases since mid December 2020
27 February 2021	525	106	19,615	3.1%	18	7,129	74	898	201,512	1,570,153	27,224	72,178
4 February 2021	1,149	159	27,668	4.9%	53	6,322	127	1,812	183,418	694,347	45,085	9,031
Highs and lows in January
7 January 2021	2,649	357		11.3%	78		100	1,467	143,715
31 December 2021	2,622		28,295	10.1%	68		70	1,174
16 December 2020	689			5.9%	38		49	1,031		18,644

You can also see the latest numbers laid out visually on the Travelling Tabby website here. It is updated at 3pm daily.

[su_spoiler class=”my-custom-spoiler” title=”International travellers”]Everyone who arrives directly in Scotland by air from outside the Common Travel Area (the CTA, comprising United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands) must:

provide a Coronavirus (COVID-19) test and get a negative result during the 3 days before you travel
before departure for arrivals from Monday 15 February, book and pay for managed isolation in a quarantine hotel for at least 10 days from arrival. This applies to arrivals from all countries outside the CTA and includes British citizens. Book your managed isolation using this booking portal. If you are experiencing any difficulty booking through the booking portal, please ring +44 1274 726424.

complete an online passenger locator form before travelling, and provide contact details, travel details and the address of their final destination. You will need to enter the booking reference for your managed isolation package.
be tested on day of 2 and 8 during of your 10 day quarantine
follow the national rules on Coronavirus in Scotland
[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler class=”my-custom-spoiler” title=”What you can and cannot do”]

Up to 4 adults from up to 2 households can meet outdoors – you should still stay as close to home as possible
adults can take part in outdoor non-contact sport and organised group exercise in groups of up to 15 people
Young people aged 12 to 17 can:

meet outdoors in groups of up to 4 people from 4 different households
take part in outdoor non-contact sports and other organised activities in groups of up to 15 people – and travel across local council boundaries to take part in these activities
We also plan to allow communal worship to restart with up to 50 people from 26 March – but this will depend on levels of the virus.

What you can and cannot do
To minimise the risk of spreading the virus, you must stay at home as much as possible. By law, in a Level 4 area, you can only leave your home (or garden) for an essential purpose.

There is a list of examples of reasonable excuses below. Although you can leave home for these purposes, you should stay as close to home as possible.

Shop online or use local shops and services wherever you can. Travel no further than you need to reach a safe, non-crowded place to exercise in a physically distanced way.

To minimise the risk of spread of coronavirus, it is crucial that we all avoid unnecessary travel.

Examples of reasonable excuses to go out:

for work or an activity associated with seeking employment, or to provide voluntary or charitable services, but only where that cannot be done from your home.
for education including, school, college, university or other essential purposes connected with a course of study
for essential shopping, including essential shopping for a vulnerable person. You should use online shopping or shops and other services in your immediate area wherever you can.
to obtain or deposit money, where it is not possible to do so from home
for healthcare, including medical trials, COVID-19 testing and vaccination, and mental health support
for childcare or support services for parents or expectant parents
for essential services, including services of a charitable or voluntary nature such as food banks, alcohol or drug support services.
to access public services where it is not possible to do so, including from home:
services provided to victims (such as victims of crime)
social-care services
accessing day care centres
services provided by the Department for Work and Pensions
services provided to victims (including victims of crime)
asylum and immigration services and interviews
waste or recycling services
to provide care, assistance, support to or respite for a vulnerable or disabled person
to provide or receive emergency assistance
to participate in or facilitate shared parenting
to visit a person in an extended household
to meet a legal obligation including satisfying bail conditions, to participate in legal proceedings, to comply with a court mandate in terms of sentence imposed or to register a birth
for attendance at court including a remote jury centre, an inquiry, a children’s hearing, tribunal proceedings or to resolve a dispute via Alternative Dispute Resolution
for essential animal welfare reasons, such as exercising or feeding a horse or going to a vet
Local outdoor informal socialising, recreation, sport or exercise. This can be in groups up to a maximum of 4 people from a maximum of 2 households, plus any children under 12. 12–17 year olds can meet up in groups of up to 4 at a time and are not subject to the 2 household limit. Outdoor socialising, recreation and exercise can start and finish at a place in your local authority area (or up to 5 miles from its boundary). For exercise, you should travel no further than you need to reach to a safe, non-crowded place.
To participate or facilitate in an organised outdoor non-contact sport or exercise in groups of up to 15 people.
To participate in or facilitate an organised outdoor activity, non-contact sport or exercise for those under 18 years of age. This can be in groups of up to 15 people, with to 2 adult instructors or coaches included in the group number. See guidance on sport and physical activity
to attend a marriage ceremony or registration of a civil partnership
to attend a funeral or for compassionate reasons which relate to the end of a person’s life. This includes gatherings related to the scattering or interring of ashes, a stone setting ceremony and other similar commemorative events
if you are a minister of religion or worship leader, for the purposes of leading an act of worship (broadcast or online), conducting a marriage or civil partnership ceremony or a funeral
to donate blood
whilst it is permitted to leave your house for activities in connection with moving home (including viewing a property), or for activities in connection with the essential maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for, at this time it is advisable to postpone, if possible. Travelling for the purposes of undertaking essential work on a property other than your main residence should not be used as a pretext for a holiday. You should not stay longer than for the length of time required to undertake the necessary work
to avoid injury, illness or to escape a risk of harm
for those involved in professional sports, for training, coaching or competing in an event
to visit a person receiving treatment in a hospital, staying in a hospice or care home, or to accompany a person to a medical appointment.
to register or vote in a Scottish or UK Parliament, Local Government or overseas election or by-election, including on behalf of someone else by proxy
to visit a person detained in prison, young offenders institute, remand centre, secure accommodation or other place of detention
collecting a newly purchased vehicle
delivering or collecting a vehicle for a repair, service or MOT
[/su_spoiler]

The Scottish Greens launched its campaign for the 2021 Holyrood election on top of a very sunny Calton Hill.

The party’s lead candidates in Scotland rolled out the party’s slogan for the election this morning, with co-leader Patrick Harvie and parliamentary co-leader Alison Johnstone MSP.

The Scottish Greens will campaign on what they regard as their record of delivering meaningful change for the last five years and with a detailed vision for Scotland’s future.

Gorgeous day for the @scottishgreens 2021 Election launch #SP2021 pic.twitter.com/TPZGYeAaDh

— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) March 16, 2021

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie would not be drawn on any loss to the party following Andy Wightman’s resignation from it. But he did say that the party has high hopes of increasing the number of representatives elected in 2021.

He said: “Right throughout this  session of the Parliament and especially during the pandemic the Greens have been focused on making a difference for the people of Scotland and we’ve secured more impact than any other opposition party. 

“Whether that’s the fairer income tax system that Scotland has now that’s invested in local services, whether it’s protecting people like private rented sector tenants from eviction during the pandemic, or reversing the unfair downgrading of young people’s exam grades when the algorithm replaced the traditional exams.

“We’ve been focused on making a difference that’s what we will continue to do and if we vote like our future depends on it a good solid group of green elected in the May election will carry on making a difference making sure that our future is better than the world before Covid. 

“Right across Scotland, but including in Lothian we have really strong hopes of getting more MSPs. 

Some of the polls suggest that we can get not just two but three MSPs in Lothian this time. 

“That would be fantastic progress adding to the strong track record that our councillors on Edinburgh City Council have made over recent years as well.”

Alison Johnstone Lothians MSP told us it is all about building on the legacy of the previous sessions of parliament. She said: “We’re going to carry on having the impact that we’ve had. Hopefully there will  be more of us and that impact will be even greater

“In this Parliament we delivered equal protection from assault for all our young people, we’ve increased marine protected areas, we have delivered free bus travel for all aged 21 and under from this autumn.

“We have increased the scope of free school meals so they will include all primary school pupils and we have made sure that taxation is fairer. 

“Most people in Scotland pay less – and those who can afford to pay a bit more do so.

“We are going to continue in that same vein because we really do need a green and fairer recovery from the pandemic.” 

We suggested to Alison Johnstone that the Greens are just the SNP in disguise, but she explained this was absolutely not the case. She replied: “I think you need to look at the policy divergence between those two parties. 

“I am certainly no supporter of SNP transport policy or a great deal of other policies which is why we’ve defeated the SNP in parliament. 

“I led a debate on local healthcare services We constantly vote in a different way to that party. People only need to look at the voting records to see the evidence.”

Speaking ahead of the launch, co-leader Lorna Slater said: “Only the Scottish Greens have the solutions for a fair and green recovery from this pandemic which leaves no one behind.

“From fairer income taxes, free bus travel for young people and a public sector pay rise, we’ve shown in the last five years that Green votes make a difference.

“But our future is at stake. With global science showing we have only nine years left before the climate breakdown becomes irreversible, the Scottish Greens are the only party contesting this election with the practical solutions to address the climate emergency with the urgency it requires.

“Our manifesto will build on the detailed plans in our Scottish Green New Deal to invest in renewable energy, public transport, warm homes and protecting nature, creating tens of thousands of new well-paid jobs and rebuilding the public sector to address the urgent challenges that face our country.

“At this election Scotland has an opportunity to vote for the country it wants, leading Europe in renewable energy and driving down emissions. That’s why the time to vote Scottish Green is now.”

Police Scotland’s Road Policing officers carried out a speed enforcement campaign last night in the Gilmerton area and detected a number of drivers travelling at over the speed limit.

One driver was caught going at 69mph Gilmerton Station Road where the speed limit is 30mph.

Others drivers were caught at 63mph, 59mph and 50mph during the operation.

Reports will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

Road Policing Scotland posted on their social media platform “Dalkeith RP carried out speed enforcement last night on Gilmerton Station Road, Edinburgh, which is subject to a 30mph speed limit.

“Several drivers stopped and will be reported to the Procurator Fiscal for speeds including 50, 59, 63 and 69mph. #InTownSlowDown #NoExcuse.”

Hibs’ striker Kevin Nisbet has been included in Steve Clarke’s squad for the first time as Scotland prepare to begin their FIFA World Cup Qualification campaign.

The 24-year-old is the second top-scorer in the Scottish Premiership with 12 goals for Hibs this season.

He scored Hibs’ winner in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Ross County in Dingwall to consolidate third place on the table.

The full Scotland squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers – Craig Gordon (Heart of Midlothian), David Marshall (Derby County), Jon McLaughlin (Rangers)

Defenders – Andrew Considine (Aberdeen), Declan Gallagher (Motherwell), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Jack Hendry (KV Oostende)*, Scott McKenna (Nottingham Forrest), Stephen O’Donnell (Motherwell), Liam Palmer (Sheffield Wednesday), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Kieran Tierney (Arsenal)

Midfielders – Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Christie (Celtic), John Fleck (Sheffield United), Ryan Jack (Rangers), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Scott McTominay (Manchester United)

Forwards – Ché Adams (Southampton), Lyndon Dykes (Queen’s Park Rangers), Ryan Fraser (Newcastle United), Oliver McBurnie (Sheffield United), Kevin Nisbet (Hibernian) *on loan from Celtic

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers

Scotland v Austria – Thursday, 25 March 2021, kick-off 7.45pm – Hampden Park, Glasgow

Israel v Scotland – Sunday, 28 March 2021, kick-off 7.45pm (UK time) – Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel

Scotland v Faroe Islands – Wednesday 31 March 2021, kick-off 7:45pm – Hampden Park, Glasgow

Scotland Women’s Under-19s and Under-17s have discovered who they will face as they aim for European Championship qualification.

Scotland Women’s Under-19s have been drawn in Group 1 of League A for Round One of Women’s Under-19s EUROS qualifying along with Netherlands, Austria and Ukraine.

The matches will be played between 14 and 21 September or 19 and 26 October.

The new format replaces the old qualifying and elite rounds, still featuring one-venue mini-tournaments but now including two leagues with promotion and relegation leading to the 2022 finals in the Czech Republic. The competition returns after the 2019/20 and 2020/21 editions were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scotland Women’s Under-17s have been drawn in Group 2 of League A for Round One of Women’s under-17s EUROS qualifying with Netherlands, Czech Republic and Slovenia.

The matches will be played between 1 August and 14 November.

The tournament has taken a new format this year, like the Under-19s, building up to an eight-team 2022 finals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Notice of Election for the 2021 Holyrood election has been published and nominations open on Tuesday.

The notice will allow all candidates for Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentland, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western constituencies and the Lothians to register their intentions as candidates.

Anyone wishing to stand as a candidate must submit nomination papers, which are available on the Council website, by 4pm on Wednesday 31 March.

The Scottish Parliament Election will take place on Thursday, 6 May 2021, when people living across Scotland will elect MSPs to represent them at Holyrood.

Andrew Kerr, Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council and Returning Officer for the Edinburgh constituencies and the Lothian Region, said: “The Notice of Election signifies the official start of the election period. The forthcoming election will allow the city’s residents to have their say about the government of Scotland, and I urge all citizens to make sure they’re registered in plenty of time, think now about the way they’ll vote and then to use that vote on 6 May.

“We are keen to continue the enthusiasm demonstrated by voters during the UK Parliamentary Election in 2019 and even our recent by-election in Craigentinny/Duddingston when we had the same range of safety measures in place. Anyone unsure about how to register, where to vote or how to vote by post can find more information on the Council website.”

The last election in December 2019 resulted in a turnout of 73% on average in Edinburgh’s five constituencies and all those living in Edinburgh who are legally resident, including foreign citizens, can register to vote in the election. You may either cast your vote in person, postally or by proxy vote.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight Monday 19 April, to apply for a postal vote the deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 6 April, and for a proxy vote the deadline is 5pm on Tuesday 27 April.

Find out more about voter registration and the election, including the safety measures we’re taking to ensure polling stations are safe and covid secure, on the Council’s website.

Glampitect, a glamping site design consultancy, is expanding into Dubai less than two years after forming in Edinburgh.

Set up in the capital 18 months ago by friends Calum MacLeod and Alisdair Young, the international expansion comes after a remarkable period of growth for the market-leading firm.

From Brora to Bournemouth, the dynamic start-up has been involved in more than 200 glamping projects across Britain since its inception in August 2019.

With a growing team of specialist architects and consultants, the firm assists clients from conception to completion including planning permission, building warrant and site set-up.

With the UK operation well established, the decision was taken to embark on something similar in the UAE as the first stage of a planned global expansion, with destinations such as Ireland, Australia and the USA all on Glampitect’s radar.

The Dubai facilities will comprise luxury canvas lodge-style units measuring up to 40 square metres, all with air conditioning, en-suite bathrooms and the latest in five-star amenities.

“It’s really exciting to be entering this growth phase,” said 27-year-old Mr MacLeod. “We pride ourselves on the unparalleled service we offer our clients and are now taking our expertise to one of the most desirable and sought-after places in the world.

“It was always my plan to expand into the UAE but the pandemic has accelerated things a bit quicker than I had anticipated.

“The growth of glamping, or eco resorts as they call them in the Middle East, is massive and like in the UK, demand is far outstripping supply. In fact, the demand in Dubai is probably greater than anywhere else in the world right now and our expertise is helping people establish these sites as a business so it is a good fit for us.”

According to a study by Grand View Research Inc, the global glamping sector will be worth USD 4.8 billion by 2026, achieved through a compound growth rate of 12.5% each year.

“Glamping can have a return on investment in less than two years and popularity is growing every day so there has never been a better time to start a site,” added Mr MacLeod.

“Our group has grown rapidly, and we now have a strong team of architects, site designers, glamping feasibility experts, marketers and site set-up consultants. A glamping site isn’t something that you can set up on a whim. It requires careful planning, a flexible mindset and experts like us to guide people through the process.”

Mr MacLeod will base himself in Dubai and hopes to begin building a team of consultants.

“We’re really looking forward to establishing ourselves here as a consultancy to help people set up their own glamping sites,” he said. “This will cover everything from liaising with the planning people in Dubai to providing advice on how to sell units and market the facility.

“We will work closely with architects who know all the planning regulations in Dubai and will do all the ground work, including lay-outs of the sites; provide a masterplan, if you like, of what the site will look like, including amenities, communal areas, swimming pools, etc.

“Long-term it is our aim to have our own planning department based here so we can offer the full service like we do in the UK and assist people to maximise their revenue and occupancy.”

Mr Young, 39, said: “Launching our brand in the UAE is a hugely important milestone for Glampitect. It represents the first step in our goal of having an international presence. This will allow us to promote the UK’s established glamping industry, as well as our own specialist services, to new markets and develop new products in diverse and alluring destinations.”

The young Edinburgh entrepreneurs began their glamping journey nearly two years ago in the Highlands when they partnered together to set up North Coast 500 Pods in Achmelvich, Sutherland.

“We set up our own glamping site in May 2019 and did all the planning applications for that,” said Mr Macleod. “Later that year when I was at the Glamping Show in Warwickshire I was struck by the fact there was no-one there offering what we could provide.

“There were plenty of manufacturers but nobody to actually help set up the sites and that’s when I decided to leave my full-time job as a consultant electrical engineer to set up Glampitect to provide a five-star service to those with similar dream.

“We will provide the knowledge but the clients will be the decision makers. They may have land to build on, or want us to help them secure some land within a certain budget, and we will advise accordingly on their business model.

“They may want to site a few luxury safari tents, or set up a sustainable yoga retreat, with a unique accommodation offering and a 5-star vegan chef. It’s completely up to them!”

A former Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, Norman Irons and his wife, Anne, claim that the council consultation on introducing parking charges in Saughtonhall has excluded them and hundreds of others in the area.

The consultation has largely been run online which means that many elderly residents such as Dr and Mrs Irons feel left out. Even the council leaflet referred residents to an online map to complete the information provided. However the council has countered by saying that anyone responding to a consultation can request a paper copy of the consultation and submit that by post. Anyone doing so will be included in terms of representation.

An online petition against the measures has attracted almost 400 signatures. It asks for locals to resist the council’s heavy-handed attitude in introducing what they say are unnecessary parking zones in Saughtonhall and Balgreen. Those behind the petition regard this proposal simply as a council money-making scheme.

Residents say the council ran out of leaflets which were to be distributed in the area, and since these were delivered during the recent snowy weather, many residents say they did not receive any information about the consultation.

The council say that they delivered almost 17,000 leaflets to every single property in the affected areas. In addition they say that every ward councillor and community councils were issued with an email prior to the consultation.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “This review responds to the concerns of residents across the city, many of whom have told us that they want to see controls introduced to help limit the impact of non-residential parking. As part of this, officers have carried out an in-depth, citywide analysis to identify the areas that may be most in need of restrictions.

“Proposed controls are about helping residents to park near their homes, so of course we want to know what the people who live here think about them. Our suppliers have delivered over 1600 leaflets in the Saughtonhall area to try to reach every property in this area and around 17000 as part of this phase of wider consultation. We also have physical copies of the surveys available for those that may need them.

“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID pandemic we’ve been unable to hold the kind of face-to-face meetings we usually would for a consultation of this kind, though we have made the best use of technology to carry out this engagement virtually.”

STRATEGIC REVIEW

The possibility of implementing parking charges in Saughtonhall was first discussed in August 2018 when the council agreed a Strategic Review of parking in the whole city. The council was about to begin the consultation in April 2020, but put the process on hold when lockdown began. It then decided to proceed this spring with online drop-in sessions and leaflets sent out by post since face to face meetings is still not possible.

Murrayfield Community Council commented that while they are largely supportive of the plans, they were aware of the problems in some leaflets not being delivered, and that certain aspects of the leaflet were incorrect. For example, some privately owned spaces at Roseburn Maltings are marked as shared use spaces. The community council supports a blanket CPZ over the area as this would avoid some streets becoming a car park. But, they warn against using a one-size-fits-all approach. They said that except for residents around the Balgreen tram stop there is little support in the Saughtonhall area “with its quiet residential enclaves”.

Daughter of the former Lord Provost, Elizabeth Irons, told The Edinburgh Reporter: “My elderly parents live in Saughtonhall, one of the proposed CPZ areas. They were only recently made aware of this by a neighbour and had received no information. They subsequently checked with a number of neighbours and they were also unaware of this consultation.  To date we are only aware of one neighbour who has received the leaflet.

“It is simply unacceptable that the Council will conclude a consultation and implement changes without ensuring that all those affected have an opportunity to review plans and provide input. 

“Furthermore, how can the parking needs be properly assessed during Covid-19 – people’s movements are totally different at the moment due to restrictions?

“I emailed the parking consultation email along with Councillors strongly suggesting that the consultation needs to be extended on the basis that they had not properly consulted. If people aren’t aware of proposals or cannot access the details of this, then it is simply not a consultation.  I didn’t even receive the courtesy of a response from the body organising the consultation.

“While my parents and their neighbours have tried to contact as many residents as they can, these proposed changes affect thousands of households and it is not possible, nor is it their responsibility to contact everyone. These proposed changes affect thousands of people in the Saughtonhall area – the consultation leaflet needs to be delivered to every household and the consultation extended to allow people the opportunity to respond. 

“In addition, having reviewed the leaflet, it provides no substantive information on the proposed changes (simply a dotted line around the proposed CPZ area) and directs people to go online to look at an interactive map. There are many older people in our local community who have limited, if any, access to the internet or are sufficiently proficient to be able to navigate the site (my parents being an example of this) or would be able to join a Microsoft Teams online meeting.”

Local councillor and current Lord Provost Cllr Frank Ross told us: “I don’t have any numbers for those that have responded to the consult but my in box has been in overdrive.
“Overwhelmingly in the Corstorphine, Saughtonhall , Murrayfield and even in the Maltings at Roseburn there has been a negative reaction to the CPZ proposals. Not least because people aren’t being asked if they want a CPZ the basic assumption of the consultation is that controls are happening.
“The vast majority feel that the Council proposals are heavy handed and there is no clear understanding of what problem they are meant to be solving. Saughtonhall residents almost unanimously see no need for controls.”

The council wants to introduce parking charges in Saughtonhall as well as Easter Road, an area which they called West Leith, Bonnington, Willowbrae North, Murrayfield, Corstorphine and Roseburn. They say this will deal with increased complaints by residents about people from outside the area parking their cars in residential streets and then presumably commuting into the city centre. This means there is little on street parking for residents.The council looked at parking pressures in the whole city, including satellite towns and villages taking what they call a “strategic proactive approach to address parking pressures”.

The recent consultation was undertaken after the review and in particular areas where the council propose introducing parking controls, and the consultation ended on 14 March 2021.

Local resident Dave Dawson (67) who lives on Baird Grove recognised that many people had not received a leaflet so he produced his own and distributed it to his neighbours. He explained in the leaflet that he believed one Microsoft Teams meeting to discuss the proposals was attended by only 14 people, leaving those living there bewildered at the lack of consultation.

Mr Dawson said: “We are lucky as in our street most, most of the houses have a driveway. I park my car in the driveway anyway. But we have a daughter and a granddaughter who visit us regularly. And it would mean that I would have to take our parking permit in the street as well so that when she arrived, I would have to move my car into the street to let my daughter park in the drive. I think that’s the first and obvious thing if we get to that stage.

“For workmen coming to the house, or other friends or family, as I know happens in other parts of the city, we’re well aware of that – we’d have to buy tickets for friends or family to use. So there is a financial cost to everybody.

“And to be honest, this looks to me and to most of my neighbours as a moneymaking cash cow by the council. And quite frankly, if they wanted to raise more money and raise extra revenue, I’d rather pay more council tax than go through this procedure.

“The only time we have a busy street with parking is when there’s an event on a Murrayfield or at Tynecastle. And I would have to say the vast majority of people who come and park in our street at that time are very courteous, very respectful of property, they respect the white lines, they don’t double park over drives or anything. But every other time when it’s a normal day, in the street we do not have any issues at all with parking. I can understand that there are issues closer to the tram stop and Western Corner, the bus stop up there. I believe there are people who park and then commute into town. I would sympathise with people who are closer to there. But in this particular street, it’s not never been an issue but apart from the events I’ve described.

“I’ve spoken to a few neighbours about it, and then in response to a lot of people looking at me blankly, I produced my own leaflet, which I sent out to them. And I would have to say that if you don’t know about something you can’t reply to it. I would also have to say that a lot of our neighbours round about here now are elderly. They might not have internet access, or if they can, they certainly aren’t experts in finding their way around an interactive map, which the council put out. The consultation exercise for me has been very, very flawed and the assumption that the cars which are parked during a pandemic are commuters going to work seems to me to be deeply flawed as well.”

The council has confirmed that 83 people attended the two Saughtonhall meetings on Teams.

Local MP Christine Jardine said: “It’s clear from my correspondence that a great number of people are dissatisfied with the way this is being handled particularly in Saughtonhall where not everyone seems to have received the same correspondence about the proposals. 

“The general reaction to then proposals varies from area to area and I would hope that the council will take this into account.

“I’ve raised this directly with the council and will pass on all the comments I receive, but I would also stress that people should make individual contributions to ensure that the widest possible response is provided.

“For the consultation to be fair there needed to be traditional, non-online options to ensure that no residents are excluded particularly at the moment when there is no access to community online facilities provided by libraries.

“This is yet another botched consultation by the SNP-run Council who need to do more to ensure that the public’s views are taken into account and reflected in the final proposals.”

Jackie Kay’s tenure as Scotland’s national poet has come to an end after five years as planned.

Scotland’s third Makar – she succeeded Edwin Morgan and Liz Lochhead – described her time in the role as an “incredible journey”.

Ms Kay’s time as Makar included her reading Threshold at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 2016, take up residency at Young Scot during the Year of Young People in 2018 and develop a digital project bringing poets and musicians to the public during lockdown.

Other highlights include a collaboration in 2020 called Fare Well which formed the centrepiece of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations and the lullaby Welcome Wee One which has featured in every Baby Box, more than 167,000, since the scheme launched in 2017.

Ms Kay also wrote The Long View partly in Gaelic, partly sung and partly in sign language, which was performed for the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament. It was particularly powerful and you can watch it on this video here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFuN3q81ito?feature=oembed&w=696&h=392]

Her replacement will be announced in the coming months.

Jackie Kay said:”It has been an extraordinary journey these last five years and I’ve gained so much in terms of peoples’ love and interest in poetry.

“I’ve found out so many things about my country.

“I wanted to take poetry to unexpected places and I feel that I have achieved that. Up until the lockdown I was on and off boats, on and off trains, in and out of cars and  buses, travelling north, south, east and west, going to all sorts of different places I hadn’t been to before.

“It’s been a glorious, joyous, interesting ride to have been to every major city and to have been to so much of the Highlands and Islands, rural parts of Scotland. It gave me a real sense of the country and its changing attitudes to politics, to race to diversity and to poetry.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“Jackie has made an outstanding contribution as Makar and helped widen the appeal of poetry to a broad and diverse audience both here in Scotland and internationally.

“The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought unique challenges, but Jackie’s vitality, warmth and tremendous talent has helped to keep the role of Makar relevant.

“Her Fare Well Hogmanay collaboration was a memorable event which shows the universal appeal of poetry and her lullaby Welcome Wee One has been the first introduction to poetry for thousands of children.

“The legacy of Jackie’s tenure as Makar will be the enduring and positive impact she has had on so many, particularly the younger generation from her period in residence at Young Scot. She takes our best wishes for the future.”

The Crafty Kit Company which is based in East Lothian is to hold a kitten-themed fundraiser in aid of the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home.

Founder Jo Lochhead will demonstrate crafting such as producing a needle felt kitten using a craft kit which the company produces from the old Post Office in East Linton.

For each crafting kit sold, The Crafty Kit Company will be donating £10 to Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, helping with their vital work caring for cats and dogs in need.

Jo said: “As a business we try to put giving at the heart of everything that we do.

“For a number of years, we’ve committed to donating one charitable ‘impact’ for every kit that we sell. Previously we have supported global initiatives such as providing safe drinking water to families in Malawi and Ethiopia, and meals to koalas injured during the Australian bush fires of 2020.

“We’re very much a team of animal lovers, and we’re delighted to be supporting local charity Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home with this event.”

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Katie Kennedy of Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home said: “Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home are so grateful for the support from our partners The Crafty Kit Company during what is a difficult time for us all.

“Their virtual ‘Create Your Kitty’ event is a wonderful way to bring people together in a creative, wholesome environment that is also supporting our mission to rescue, reunite and rehome stray or abandoned pets across Edinburgh and the Lothians. Every £10 donated from the needle felting kit will go a long way to helping us care for our four-legged friends. We cannot thank you enough for your support and generosity”.

The online event will be held on 31 March 2021 and you can register here.

The Harryhausen exhibition at Modern Two is moving to a paid for online space so that more people can enjoy it.

The exhibition opened in Edinburgh in October last year when few people were able to visit before the next lockdown closed the museum once more.

Now there is a digital exhibition package with a virtual experience of the parts of this splendid exhibition – which is the largest ever staged of Ray Harryhausen’s work. Harryhausen (1920-2013) created figures for movies which changed the face of modern cinema.

Ray Harryhausen:TItan of Cinema Virtual Exhibition Experience includes interviews, footage of items in the exhibition, story boards and movie memorabilia, film clips and specially created animation sequences. The one off charge of £10 will also allow access to live Harryhausen events which will begin in May. It was Harryhausen who created the characters such as the skeletons for Jason and The Argonauts or Pegasus from Clash of the Titans.

He began creating the figures in his parents’ garage in California where he created his own stop-motion films after watching King Kong. Later he pioneered the Dynamation process to create some of the best films in this genre of cinema.

Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “We are only too aware of the huge number of visitors around the world who had hoped to see our landmark exhibition Titan of Cinema, but have unfortunately been unable to. So we are absolutely delighted to share, for the first time in the Galleries’ history, this landmark virtual exhibition experience which is available to anyone, anywhere, at any time, worldwide. Packed with information and insight, and with access to special live events, it is essential viewing for those who have seen the show – an amazing visual record of an unforgettable experience – as much as for those who won’t have the possibility to visit Edinburgh. The wonders of Ray Harryhausen’s imagination have beamed into homes across the world for many decades, and we are delighted to continue that tradition with our very first virtual exhibition.”

Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema opened at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) in Edinburgh in October 2020 and had to close temporarily because of the pandemic. The exhibition will resume when the Gallery reopens and is now scheduled to run until 20 February 2022.

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Titan of Cinema has been organised in close collaboration with The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation as part of the legendary trailblazer’s centenary celebrations last year. It is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition ever of the art of Harryhausen, who elevated stop-motion animation to an art form between the 1950s-1980s, and whose exhilarating movies inspired a generation of the world’s greatest living filmmakers, among them Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Sir Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro.

John Walsh, filmmaker and Trustee of The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, said: “For generations of moviegoers, Ray Harryhausen is a giant of cinema creating worlds and creatures that come alive on the screen. This first-ever virtual exhibition experience is the ultimate journey into those thrilling worlds from the mind of the stop-motion animation genius who revolutionised Hollywood special effects.”

The exhibition would not be possible without the generous support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “I’m so pleased that players are supporting NGS to bring the magic ofRay Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema to the homes of audiences across Britain and beyond. I hope this new digital experience will engage as many people as possible, no matter where they are!”

Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema Virtual Exhibition Experience can be purchased from today via this link. 

Over the course of the weekend, police officers, alongside staff from Lothian buses, have been proactively patrolling Edinburgh as part of Operation Proust.

Together in partnership we are committed to tackling youth disorder directed at Lothian buses and keeping our communities and those working and travelling on Lothian Buses safe.

Five youths from across the city have been identified and charged for bus related offences.

Officers have also engaged with over 100 young people during the course of the weekend and spoken to them about the dangers associated with throwing objects at buses.

Sergeant Grant Robertson said  “We will continue our efforts to tackle this issue and work closely with our partners. 

“We ask parents and guardians to speak to children under their care about the dangers associated with throwing objects at buses, tampering with the engine compartment and holding onto the rear of the buses while both stationery and in motion.

“This behaviour is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated “

The search for the remains of King Richard III is to be recreated in Newtongrange for a new movie with Alan Partridge actor Steve Coogan.

The last of the Plantagenet rulers died in battle in 1485 and his skeleton was found under a council car park in Leicester nine years ago.

Comedian and actor Coogan and his Stan and Ollie writing partner Jeff Pope are set to produce a film about the discovery of the king’s remains alongside acclaimed director Stephen Frears.

And Coogan’s film company Baby Cow Films has applied for planning permission from Midlothian Council to recreate the famous dig at the National Mining Museum’s Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange.

Plans to dig three trenches at the museum site, as well as putting down tarmac for the duration of filming, have been lodged.

The application to set up the film set says work, if approved, will start on Monday, April 26, with filming planned for the last two weeks of May and start of June.

It also says the trenches will be filled in at the end of filming.

The film The Lost King will tell the incredible true story of how the remains were tracked down by a team of archaeologists and found underneath the car park.

As well as writing the film with Pope, Coogan is due to star in it.

The hunt for King Richard’s remains saw an archaeological dig launched in 2012 when three trenches were dug at two council car park sites and a playground in Leicester.

The site was a former friary and, within a few months of starting the dig, remains, which were later confirmed as the king’s, were discovered.

The planning application to Midlothian Council sets out proposals to create three trenches similar to those used in the original dig.

Baby Cow Films Ltd said in its planning statement the workwas intended to “create a temporary film set of three trenches surrounded by free-standing set flattage”.

It added: “The film follows the true story of the discovery of the remains of King Richard III in 2012.”

by Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency : funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector, and used by qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.

The latest figures detailing the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in Scotland have been announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith at todays media briefing.

The statistics in Scotland as at 15 March 2021 are shown below.

The number of daily cases has dropped below 500 for the fifth time this month, and other figures such as the number of people in hospital and ICU have also decreased. More pupils have returned to school today, the First Minister will announce any new relaxations of the rules tomorrow in The Scottish Parliament. Taking account of statistics, Ms Sturgeon hopes to make an announcement as to what might happen on 5 April and in May.

She also mentioned that there have been incidents of blood clotting reported by other countries but that any guidance on stopping the use of any vaccine has to come from The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Until any new announcement from MHRA the guidance is very much to take up your vaccine appointment when offered one. It is the government’s intention to administer 400,000 doses of the vaccine this week and future weeks. This is a huge increase on what has happened until now, and will allow the government’s promise of vaccinating all those over 50 and those under 50 with underlying health conditions by the middle of April to be met.

The advice for now remains Stay At Home.

As at 7 March 2021, 9,725 deaths were registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate according to weekly statistics reported by National Records of Scotland.

Date	Newly reported cases of Covid-19	Cases in Lothian	New tests	Test positivity rate (bold denotes days under 5.0% and the highest in recent weeks)	Newly reported deaths	Number of deaths according to daily measurement	Patients in ICU with confirmed Covid-19	Patients in hospital with confirmed Covid-19 (under 500 is in bold)	Total number of positive cases since beginning of pandemic	Number of vaccinations administered	Number of daily vaccinations recorded for previous day with highest daily figure in bold (includes 1st and 2nd doses) Above 30,000 in bold	Number of people who have received their second dose of vaccine
15 March 2021	456	70		4.7%	0	7,510	40	447	210,008	1,908,991	22,201	161,945
14 March 2021	484	75	16,261	3.3%	2	7,510	40	461	209,552	1,888,697	25,362	160,038
13 March 2021	639	97	23,284	3.4%	8	7,508	38	479	209,068	1,867,123	29,328	156,250
12 March 2021	682	102	22,596	3.4%	17	7,500	38	512	208,429	1,844,636	26,812	149,409
11 March 2021	591	73	26,761	2.5%	22	7,483	42	556	207,747	1,825,800	25,315	141,433
10 March 2021	691	96	24,998	3.1%	20	7,461	50	582	207,156	1,809,158	28,855	132,760
9 March 2021	466	62	16,342	3.3%	19	7,441	50	614	206,465	1,789,377	19,672	123,686
8 March 2021	501	67	11,529	5.0%	1	7,422	59	654	205,999	1,774,659	17,711	118,732
7 March 2021	390	63	14,057	3.2%	0	7,421	61	628	205,498	1,759,750		115,930
6 March 2021	555	72	22,992	3.0%	12	7,421	63	639	205,108	1,743,869	32,081	114,081
5 March 2021	498	73		3.1%	11	7,409	64	666		1,717,672	29,064	108,197
4 March 2021	500	71	24,723	2.5%	27	7,398	69	726	204,055	1,688,808	34,237	100,058
3 March 2021	543	77	24,377	2.6%	35	7,371*	69	750	203,555	1,661,879	35,623	92,550
2 March 2021	542	104	14,537	4.4%	33	7,164	71	784	203,012	1,634,361		84,445
1 March 2020	386	70		4.5%	0	7,131	71	824	202,470
High and low numbers of newly reported cases since mid December 2020
27 February 2021	525	106	19,615	3.1%	18	7,129	74	898	201,512	1,570,153	27,224	72,178
4 February 2021	1,149	159	27,668	4.9%	53	6,322	127	1,812	183,418	694,347	45,085	9,031
Highs and lows in January
7 January 2021	2,649	357		11.3%	78		100	1,467	143,715
31 December 2021	2,622		28,295	10.1%	68		70	1,174
16 December 2020	689			5.9%	38		49	1,031		18,644

You can also see the latest numbers laid out visually on the Travelling Tabby website here. It is updated at 3pm daily.

[su_spoiler class=”my-custom-spoiler” title=”International travellers”]Everyone who arrives directly in Scotland by air from outside the Common Travel Area (the CTA, comprising United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands) must:

provide a Coronavirus (COVID-19) test and get a negative result during the 3 days before you travel
before departure for arrivals from Monday 15 February, book and pay for managed isolation in a quarantine hotel for at least 10 days from arrival. This applies to arrivals from all countries outside the CTA and includes British citizens. Book your managed isolation using this booking portal. If you are experiencing any difficulty booking through the booking portal, please ring +44 1274 726424.

complete an online passenger locator form before travelling, and provide contact details, travel details and the address of their final destination. You will need to enter the booking reference for your managed isolation package.
be tested on day of 2 and 8 during of your 10 day quarantine
follow the national rules on Coronavirus in Scotland
[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler class=”my-custom-spoiler” title=”What you can and cannot do”]

Up to 4 adults from up to 2 households can meet outdoors – you should still stay as close to home as possible
adults can take part in outdoor non-contact sport and organised group exercise in groups of up to 15 people
Young people aged 12 to 17 can:

meet outdoors in groups of up to 4 people from 4 different households
take part in outdoor non-contact sports and other organised activities in groups of up to 15 people – and travel across local council boundaries to take part in these activities
We also plan to allow communal worship to restart with up to 50 people from 26 March – but this will depend on levels of the virus.

What you can and cannot do
To minimise the risk of spreading the virus, you must stay at home as much as possible. By law, in a Level 4 area, you can only leave your home (or garden) for an essential purpose.

There is a list of examples of reasonable excuses below. Although you can leave home for these purposes, you should stay as close to home as possible.

Shop online or use local shops and services wherever you can. Travel no further than you need to reach a safe, non-crowded place to exercise in a physically distanced way.

To minimise the risk of spread of coronavirus, it is crucial that we all avoid unnecessary travel.

Examples of reasonable excuses to go out:

for work or an activity associated with seeking employment, or to provide voluntary or charitable services, but only where that cannot be done from your home.
for education including, school, college, university or other essential purposes connected with a course of study
for essential shopping, including essential shopping for a vulnerable person. You should use online shopping or shops and other services in your immediate area wherever you can.
to obtain or deposit money, where it is not possible to do so from home
for healthcare, including medical trials, COVID-19 testing and vaccination, and mental health support
for childcare or support services for parents or expectant parents
for essential services, including services of a charitable or voluntary nature such as food banks, alcohol or drug support services.
to access public services where it is not possible to do so, including from home:
services provided to victims (such as victims of crime)
social-care services
accessing day care centres
services provided by the Department for Work and Pensions
services provided to victims (including victims of crime)
asylum and immigration services and interviews
waste or recycling services
to provide care, assistance, support to or respite for a vulnerable or disabled person
to provide or receive emergency assistance
to participate in or facilitate shared parenting
to visit a person in an extended household
to meet a legal obligation including satisfying bail conditions, to participate in legal proceedings, to comply with a court mandate in terms of sentence imposed or to register a birth
for attendance at court including a remote jury centre, an inquiry, a children’s hearing, tribunal proceedings or to resolve a dispute via Alternative Dispute Resolution
for essential animal welfare reasons, such as exercising or feeding a horse or going to a vet
Local outdoor informal socialising, recreation, sport or exercise. This can be in groups up to a maximum of 4 people from a maximum of 2 households, plus any children under 12. 12–17 year olds can meet up in groups of up to 4 at a time and are not subject to the 2 household limit. Outdoor socialising, recreation and exercise can start and finish at a place in your local authority area (or up to 5 miles from its boundary). For exercise, you should travel no further than you need to reach to a safe, non-crowded place.
To participate or facilitate in an organised outdoor non-contact sport or exercise in groups of up to 15 people.
To participate in or facilitate an organised outdoor activity, non-contact sport or exercise for those under 18 years of age. This can be in groups of up to 15 people, with to 2 adult instructors or coaches included in the group number. See guidance on sport and physical activity
to attend a marriage ceremony or registration of a civil partnership
to attend a funeral or for compassionate reasons which relate to the end of a person’s life. This includes gatherings related to the scattering or interring of ashes, a stone setting ceremony and other similar commemorative events
if you are a minister of religion or worship leader, for the purposes of leading an act of worship (broadcast or online), conducting a marriage or civil partnership ceremony or a funeral
to donate blood
whilst it is permitted to leave your house for activities in connection with moving home (including viewing a property), or for activities in connection with the essential maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for, at this time it is advisable to postpone, if possible. Travelling for the purposes of undertaking essential work on a property other than your main residence should not be used as a pretext for a holiday. You should not stay longer than for the length of time required to undertake the necessary work
to avoid injury, illness or to escape a risk of harm
for those involved in professional sports, for training, coaching or competing in an event
to visit a person receiving treatment in a hospital, staying in a hospice or care home, or to accompany a person to a medical appointment.
to register or vote in a Scottish or UK Parliament, Local Government or overseas election or by-election, including on behalf of someone else by proxy
to visit a person detained in prison, young offenders institute, remand centre, secure accommodation or other place of detention
collecting a newly purchased vehicle
delivering or collecting a vehicle for a repair, service or MOT
[/su_spoiler]

Scotland’s consumer advice service has issued fresh warnings about illicit puppy breeders operating in Scotland.

Lockdown restrictions have led to a rise in demand for pets, which in turn has caused an increase in puppy farms and breeders who do not look after the welfare of the puppy or its mother.

Advice Direct Scotland, which runs the national consumer advice service consumeradvice.scot, has urged people considering buying a puppy to carry out extensive research before agreeing to a deal, and to thoroughly check out the person making the sale.

Puppies without paperwork and certificates should not be purchased, and buyers should insist on seeing the puppy at home with its mother.

Marjorie Gibson, head of operations with Advice Direct Scotland, which runs consumeradvice.scot, said: 
“Lockdown has resulted in more and more people considering getting a puppy for their household.
“That trend has led to an increase in illegal breeders and puppy farms, who sell puppies which are not ready to leave their mother and haven’t had the correct treatment or vaccinations.
“That can often result in the dog becoming extremely unwell and even dying.
“Anyone who doubts the credentials of a puppy seller should trust their instincts and pull out of the sale.
“Suspicious activity should also be reported to the police or Scottish SPCA.”

More information on illegal breeders is available here: www.saynotopuppydealers.co.uk

Hibs are in pole position to finish third in the table and there has never been a better time to achieve this.

Should Rangers or Celtic win the Scottish Cup, finishing third in the Premiership would result in a place in the play-off round of Europa League qualifiers.

As things stand they would potentially face Malmo who demolished Pat Fenlon’s side 9-0 or Fenerbache, Ferencvaros or Genk.

Victory in that two-legged tie however would guarantee a place in the Europa League group stages and potentially generate significant income.

In the 2020-21 season, winning a group match was rewarded with just under £500,000 in prize money whilst a draw netted over £160,000. This is on top of any gate receipts which could be substantial against such giants of the game such as Liverpool, Juventus, Lazio, AS Monaco, PSV Eindhoven or Real Sociedad.

Even defeat at the play-off stage however would see Hibs drop into the group stage of the inaugural Europa Conference League which is Uefa’s new third-tier tournament, sitting beneath the Champions and Europa Leagues, and played on a Thursday.

In the Conference League, Hibs could face teams of the quality of  Napoli which would bring back memories of that wonderful night in 1967 when the Italian giants were trounced 5-0 at Easter Road.

Other potential opponents, as things stand include Everton, Sparta Prague, Feyenoord or Basel but in any case they would be guaranteed at least six matches.

Hibs could also qualify for the play-off spot by winning the Scottish Cup, as could any other  side in Scotland.

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross MP, will unveil a new policy proposal for £500 ‘Retrain to Rebuild’ accounts to help people get back into work and progress their career when he speaks to the party’s conference on Monday.

In his headline speech, the party leader will outline a manifesto pledge for the 2021 election aimed at setting a skills revolution in motion.

The pledge for everyone to be able to claim £500 for training every year through a ‘Retrain to Rebuild’ account will be a key element of the party’s skills and employment policies in their manifesto for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

The party will aim to roll out the scheme to 100,000 people for two years before expanding it to a universal scheme in 2023.

During the first two years, the scheme would primarily be targeted at people who are currently unemployed, anyone facing redundancy, and people earning less than £30,000.

The proposals would also bring businesses, colleges and skills providers together in new Institutes of Technology to deliver rapid retraining courses and identify employment opportunities.

The Scottish Conservatives said they would fund the new proposal by streamlining some of the current Scottish Government skills and employment budget, and say this has been topped up by some of the recent £1.2 billion additional Barnett funding from the UK Government.

Ross will say: “We may be nearing the end of the health crisis, thanks to the success of the vaccine scheme, but the economic crisis will loom over us for years to come.

“The UK furlough scheme has protected around a million Scottish jobs but to rebuild Scotland, we need to start focussing on the jobs of the future.

“Faced by a tsunami of unemployment we need an emergency response that matches the scale of the problem.

“Our Retrain to Rebuild accounts would give people in work the support to learn new skills and progress.

“It would give people struggling for work the chance to rapidly retrain and get a new job or kick-start a new career.

“We would target support at the 100,000 Scots who need it most to start with, and expand this plan to auniversal skills offer by 2023.

“The benefits would flow to all of us by driving up productivity, attracting more investment, fostering new businesses and ultimately, increasing funding to local services.

“The SNP close doors and limit opportunity, telling people that they have to wait for independence to achieve and get ahead.

“While their top priority will always be indyref2, my party will have a relentless focus on rebuilding Scotland now.

“By stopping an SNP majority, we can get the Scottish Parliament 100% focussed on job-protection proposals like Retrain to Rebuild.

“So let’s meet this challenge with bold and ambitious plans to tackle it.

“Let’s be the party that delivers opportunity and gives people the tools they need to succeed and achieve their ambitions.

“Let’s deliver a skills revolution.”

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has appealed to the club’s supporters to stay at home during next week’s Old Firm clash against Celtic at Parkhead.

Thousands of supporters breached coronavirus lockdown rules last weekend as Rangers clinched their first top-flight title in ten years.

Their behaviour was widely criticised by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney and concerns have been raised that the scenes could be repeated when they face their main rivals next weekend.

In a statement released by Rangers on Saturday night, Gerrard said: “This is another huge week for Rangers Football Club.

“The players would want nothing more than to hear the fans sing and support us in the ground and hear you behind every pass, every tackle, and to lose themselves in utter euphoria when the ball hits the net.

“Sadly, however, right here and right now, you can’t be there with us. You can’t follow us to Parkhead as champions – and the first time we can say we are champions in a decade.

“That hurts me, it hurts my management team and it hurts my players.”

“Make no doubt about it, we want you there with us, but sadly, right now, you can’t be. We know you are with us here in spirit and we know how much last weekend meant to you when we secured the title.

“We know all of you enjoyed it, but we must stay safe, and stay at home.”

Today is the second day of the Scottish Conservative party conference and today they have revealed two promises in their manifesto relating to proposed legislation.

In the week when the Scottish Government passed the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act by 82 votes to 32, the Conservatives say they would repeal the bill and only revive those parts which do not in their view threaten freedom of speech.

When it was passed, Justice Secretary, Humza Yousaf said: “Through the passing of this landmark Bill, Parliament has sent a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and to wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated – I am delighted Holyrood has backed this powerful legislation that is fitting for the Scotland we live in.

“We must remember why this Bill is so necessary, every day in Scotland around 18 hate crimes are committed. The effects of these crimes are felt deeply by those targeted and this prejudice has a pernicious effect on the health of a society and its communities. Not only that, the toll hate crime takes on its victims, their families and communities, is immense.

“The Bill’s passage has shown Holyrood at its very best – a collaborative, diverse and determined Parliament which we should all be proud of. Robust scrutiny has ensured we have met the right balance between protecting groups targeted by hate crime and respecting people’s rights to free speech.

“I look forward to overseeing the implementation of this legislation which will ensure Scotland’s justice system can bring perpetrators to account and provide sufficient protection for individuals and communities harmed by hate crimes.”

The Conservatives disagree and Conservative MSPs voted against the new legislation.

Douglas Ross said: “Backed by Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens, the SNP have passed one of the most extreme and outrageous laws in the history of the Scottish Parliament.

“We opposed the SNP’s Hate Crime Bill and our manifesto will pledge to repeal it. We will seek to overturn the dangerous threats to freedom of speech and our fundamental rights that Humza Yousaf refused to remove. The SNP Government has no place criminalising what people say in their own homes. 

“Other opposition parties did not do enough to force the SNP to fix this shambles of a bill but I now ask that they take this moment and reconsider. Work with the Scottish Conservatives, stand up for free speech and join us in including a pledge to repeal this bill.

“The passing of this Bill shows the clear danger of an SNP majority and why the Scottish Conservatives are determined to stop them in the coming election. Without enough opposition MSPs to challenge the SNP, they would pass even more oppressive bills.”

Leader Douglas Ross also has plans to bolster the party’s Victims Law by incorporating Suzanne’s Law. It is named after Suzanne Pilley who was murdered in 2010 but whose remains have never been found. The proposed law would allow the authorities to refuse parole for those convicted of murder who fail to disclose the location of their victim’s body.

Douglas Ross said: “To lose a loved one to murder would be unimaginable but over recent years in Scotland we have seen a growing number of cases in which the remains of victims have not been recovered.

“It is testament to our police and prosecutors that convictions have been secured without a body.

“However, something must be done about the gross injustice of victims’ families being left in a state of endless limbo.

“That is why we are including Suzanne’s Law in our manifesto.

“Killers should be given a simple choice – fully disclose what they have done with remains or stay locked up until they do so.

“In some of these appalling cases, killers appear to take a perverse pleasure in prolonging the suffering of grieving relatives.

“The least that families of murder victims deserve is a proper burial, a chance to say goodbye and have some closure.”

The latest figures detailing the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in Scotland have been announced.

The statistics in Scotland as at 14 March 2021 are shown below.

The number of daily cases has dropped below 500 for the fourth time this month and other figures such as the number of people in hospital and ICU have also decreased.

As at 7 March 2021, 9,725 deaths were registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate according to weekly statistics reported by National Records of Scotland.

Date	Newly reported cases of Covid-19	Cases in Lothian	New tests	Test positivity rate (bold denotes days under 5.0% and the highest in recent weeks)	Newly reported deaths	Number of deaths according to daily measurement	Patients in ICU with confirmed Covid-19	Patients in hospital with confirmed Covid-19 (under 500 is in bold)	Total number of positive cases since beginning of pandemic	Number of vaccinations administered	Number of daily vaccinations recorded for previous day with highest daily figure in bold (includes 1st and 2nd doses) Above 30,000 in bold	Number of people who have received their second dose of vaccine
14 March 2021	484	75	16,261	3.3%	2	7,510	40	461	209,552	1,888,697	25,362	160,038
13 March 2021	639	97	23,284	3.4%	8	7,508	38	479	209,068	1,867,123	29,328	156,250
12 March 2021	682	102	22,596	3.4%	17	7,500	38	512	208,429	1,844,636	26,812	149,409
11 March 2021	591	73	26,761	2.5%	22	7,483	42	556	207,747	1,825,800	25,315	141,433
10 March 2021	691	96	24,998	3.1%	20	7,461	50	582	207,156	1,809,158	28,855	132,760
9 March 2021	466	62	16,342	3.3%	19	7,441	50	614	206,465	1,789,377	19,672	123,686
8 March 2021	501	67	11,529	5.0%	1	7,422	59	654	205,999	1,774,659	17,711	118,732
7 March 2021	390	63	14,057	3.2%	0	7,421	61	628	205,498	1,759,750		115,930
6 March 2021	555	72	22,992	3.0%	12	7,421	63	639	205,108	1,743,869	32,081	114,081
5 March 2021	498	73		3.1%	11	7,409	64	666		1,717,672	29,064	108,197
4 March 2021	500	71	24,723	2.5%	27	7,398	69	726	204,055	1,688,808	34,237	100,058
3 March 2021	543	77	24,377	2.6%	35	7,371*	69	750	203,555	1,661,879	35,623	92,550
2 March 2021	542	104	14,537	4.4%	33	7,164	71	784	203,012	1,634,361		84,445
1 March 2020	386	70		4.5%	0	7,131	71	824	202,470
High and low numbers of newly reported cases since mid December 2020
27 February 2021	525	106	19,615	3.1%	18	7,129	74	898	201,512	1,570,153	27,224	72,178
4 February 2021	1,149	159	27,668	4.9%	53	6,322	127	1,812	183,418	694,347	45,085	9,031
Highs and lows in January
7 January 2021	2,649	357		11.3%	78		100	1,467	143,715
31 December 2021	2,622		28,295	10.1%	68		70	1,174
16 December 2020	689			5.9%	38		49	1,031		18,644

You can also see the latest numbers laid out visually on the Travelling Tabby website here. It is updated at 3pm daily.

[su_spoiler class=”my-custom-spoiler” title=”International travellers”]Everyone who arrives directly in Scotland by air from outside the Common Travel Area (the CTA, comprising United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands) must:

provide a Coronavirus (COVID-19) test and get a negative result during the 3 days before you travel
before departure for arrivals from Monday 15 February, book and pay for managed isolation in a quarantine hotel for at least 10 days from arrival. This applies to arrivals from all countries outside the CTA and includes British citizens. Book your managed isolation using this booking portal. If you are experiencing any difficulty booking through the booking portal, please ring +44 1274 726424.

complete an online passenger locator form before travelling, and provide contact details, travel details and the address of their final destination. You will need to enter the booking reference for your managed isolation package.
be tested on day of 2 and 8 during of your 10 day quarantine
follow the national rules on Coronavirus in Scotland
[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler class=”my-custom-spoiler” title=”What you can and cannot do”]

Up to 4 adults from up to 2 households can meet outdoors – you should still stay as close to home as possible
adults can take part in outdoor non-contact sport and organised group exercise in groups of up to 15 people
Young people aged 12 to 17 can:

meet outdoors in groups of up to 4 people from 4 different households
take part in outdoor non-contact sports and other organised activities in groups of up to 15 people – and travel across local council boundaries to take part in these activities
We also plan to allow communal worship to restart with up to 50 people from 26 March – but this will depend on levels of the virus.

What you can and cannot do
To minimise the risk of spreading the virus, you must stay at home as much as possible. By law, in a Level 4 area, you can only leave your home (or garden) for an essential purpose.

There is a list of examples of reasonable excuses below. Although you can leave home for these purposes, you should stay as close to home as possible.

Shop online or use local shops and services wherever you can. Travel no further than you need to reach a safe, non-crowded place to exercise in a physically distanced way.

To minimise the risk of spread of coronavirus, it is crucial that we all avoid unnecessary travel.

Examples of reasonable excuses to go out:

for work or an activity associated with seeking employment, or to provide voluntary or charitable services, but only where that cannot be done from your home.
for education including, school, college, university or other essential purposes connected with a course of study
for essential shopping, including essential shopping for a vulnerable person. You should use online shopping or shops and other services in your immediate area wherever you can.
to obtain or deposit money, where it is not possible to do so from home
for healthcare, including medical trials, COVID-19 testing and vaccination, and mental health support
for childcare or support services for parents or expectant parents
for essential services, including services of a charitable or voluntary nature such as food banks, alcohol or drug support services.
to access public services where it is not possible to do so, including from home:
services provided to victims (such as victims of crime)
social-care services
accessing day care centres
services provided by the Department for Work and Pensions
services provided to victims (including victims of crime)
asylum and immigration services and interviews
waste or recycling services
to provide care, assistance, support to or respite for a vulnerable or disabled person
to provide or receive emergency assistance
to participate in or facilitate shared parenting
to visit a person in an extended household
to meet a legal obligation including satisfying bail conditions, to participate in legal proceedings, to comply with a court mandate in terms of sentence imposed or to register a birth
for attendance at court including a remote jury centre, an inquiry, a children’s hearing, tribunal proceedings or to resolve a dispute via Alternative Dispute Resolution
for essential animal welfare reasons, such as exercising or feeding a horse or going to a vet
Local outdoor informal socialising, recreation, sport or exercise. This can be in groups up to a maximum of 4 people from a maximum of 2 households, plus any children under 12. 12–17 year olds can meet up in groups of up to 4 at a time and are not subject to the 2 household limit. Outdoor socialising, recreation and exercise can start and finish at a place in your local authority area (or up to 5 miles from its boundary). For exercise, you should travel no further than you need to reach to a safe, non-crowded place.
To participate or facilitate in an organised outdoor non-contact sport or exercise in groups of up to 15 people.
To participate in or facilitate an organised outdoor activity, non-contact sport or exercise for those under 18 years of age. This can be in groups of up to 15 people, with to 2 adult instructors or coaches included in the group number. See guidance on sport and physical activity
to attend a marriage ceremony or registration of a civil partnership
to attend a funeral or for compassionate reasons which relate to the end of a person’s life. This includes gatherings related to the scattering or interring of ashes, a stone setting ceremony and other similar commemorative events
if you are a minister of religion or worship leader, for the purposes of leading an act of worship (broadcast or online), conducting a marriage or civil partnership ceremony or a funeral
to donate blood
whilst it is permitted to leave your house for activities in connection with moving home (including viewing a property), or for activities in connection with the essential maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for, at this time it is advisable to postpone, if possible. Travelling for the purposes of undertaking essential work on a property other than your main residence should not be used as a pretext for a holiday. You should not stay longer than for the length of time required to undertake the necessary work
to avoid injury, illness or to escape a risk of harm
for those involved in professional sports, for training, coaching or competing in an event
to visit a person receiving treatment in a hospital, staying in a hospice or care home, or to accompany a person to a medical appointment.
to register or vote in a Scottish or UK Parliament, Local Government or overseas election or by-election, including on behalf of someone else by proxy
to visit a person detained in prison, young offenders institute, remand centre, secure accommodation or other place of detention
collecting a newly purchased vehicle
delivering or collecting a vehicle for a repair, service or MOT
[/su_spoiler]

Former Hibs’ manager Paul Heckingbottom will take charge of Sheffield United’s Premier League fixture at Leicester City today following the announcement of Chris Wilder’s departure as Blades boss.

The Yorkshireman will remain in charge for the remainder of the 2020-21 campaign.

Heckingbottom will be supported by former AFC Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall, Alan Knill and United’s current backroom staff.

After overseeing Friday’s 5-0 victory over Birmingham City in the Professional Development U23s League, taking the young Blades to top of Group A, Heckingbottom was asked to take over first team duties ahead of the visit to the King Power Stadium.

He told sufc.co.uk: “It is a great honour to be considered to lead this Club until the end of the season and I thank the Board for putting their trust in me. We have a lot of work to do, but have a great support network, all of whom will bring valuable knowledge and experience, as we look to finish the season strongly.”

United’s chief executive officer, Stephen Bettis, commented: “The appointment of Paul and the integration from development to senior level is testimony to the great work that is currently being done at the Academy. The Club sees the following months as an opportunity to further develop some of our talents at the Academy and to give them valuable time to train with the first team.

“Additionally, Jason has a fantastic pedigree and his fresh input will hopefully add a different dimension when he joins the Club on Monday. He will have a watching brief at Sunday’s game at Leicester.”

Hibs’ Head Coach Jack Ross was delighted that his players rose to the challenge and showed their big game mentality to come from behind and secure a hugely valuable three points in the race for third place.

After dominating the first-half, Hibs fell behind to a Billy McKay goal shortly after the restart but responded immediately when Martin Boyle equalised from the penalty spot.

Substitute Kevin Nisbet added a second and Hibs managed the remainder of the game well.

The victory leaves Hibs six-points clear of fourth place Aberdeen who parted company with their manager in midweek and European football is now very much in the fans’ sights.

Speaking after the final whistle to Hibs TV, Ross said: “We spoke all week about this being our biggest game of the season and the truth is the next one becomes the biggest one but the challenge for the players was to produce a big game performance and display a big game mentality and I thought they did that today.

“The first-half we were really dominant. The second-half when the game becomes open we responded brilliantly to going a goal behind. It was a really big win for us and I thoroughly enjoyed watching us today in terms of how hungry they were to win the game.

“We are a good front running team but the ability to come from behind to win games is an important one and it’s something we need to improve on and to show that character today was terrific.

“We’ve had clear ambitions from day one in pre-season and the players have went about that brilliantly and quietly but at this stage of the season you can be a bit more open and really push because the truth is to achieve success you have to be brave enough to take on the challenge to do it.

“We want to finish third. I know a lot of supporters who have really committed to the club this year with no reward of being in the stadium so for us there is a huge drive toward getting the club into Europe and hopefully that coincides with people getting back into the stadium and that itself will hopefully be a part reward for that commitment.

“So there is a real steely determination about us. It’s been hard work but nobody should underestimate how determined we are to do that as a group and how hungry we are and I think we showed that today.”