In the mean time access though the following link:

Severe Weather – Interim Report – 18jan11 v2.0

If you are looking for school closures or other information relating to bad weather, please see www.edinburgh.gov.uk/severeweather

Andrew Dixon, CEO of Creative Scotland

Entitled ‘Talking Cities’, the 19th annual lecture programme will feature thought-provoking and illuminating sessions about everything to do with cities: their role in society; their potential for the future; their relationship to the rural sphere; how their design influences their identity; how they are presented in literature and the arts and how they can be a force for societal and economic development through their creative industries and architecture.

First launched in 1992, The Edinburgh Lectures take place throughout the autumn and winter months. Previous speakers have included First Minister Alex Salmond, playwright John Byrne, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, poet and Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney and Alex Kapranos, lead singer of Scottish band Franz Ferdinand.

The City of Edinburgh Council’s lecture this year will be given on 17 November by urban policy expert Greg Clark, whose talk at the National Galleries of Scotland’s Hawthornden Lecture Theatre will pose the question: “What are British Cities good at?  Does it matter?”

Greg Clark, Senior Fellow, ULI Europe, Middle East, Africa and India

Among the confirmed speakers are:

* Andrew Dixon, CEO of Creative Scotland
* Professor Alberto Magnaghi, Professor of Territorial Planning at the University of Florence
* Deyan Sudjic OBE, Director of the Design Museum in London
* James Robertson, acclaimed Scottish writer and publisher
* Professor Bruce J. Katz, urban policy expert and adviser to the US Government
* Greg Clark, Senior Fellow, ULI Europe, Middle East, Africa and India

Councillor Brock said: “For the first time, cities have outstripped rural areas as the home to most of the world’s population. The Edinburgh Lectures ‘Talking Cities’  programme promises to be a fascinating and informative exploration of the concept of the city and we’re thrilled to have an outstanding line-up of influential speakers ready to engage and enthrall us.”

Andrew Dixon, CEO of Creative Scotland, will give the third Edinburgh Lecture of the series, entitled “Shining the spotlight on Scotland’s creative cities”, at the Filmhouse on 2 December.

He said: “I am delighted that Creative Scotland has been included in this year’s programme. The theme of the programme ‘Talking Cities’ is exactly what Creative Scotland is about. It’s important that people across the country hear about the fantastic work that places contribute to Scotland as whole. Creative Scotland intent to shine a spotlight on Scotland’s rich cultural sector.”

Lord Provost George Grubb said: “This lecture series will shed light on how cities can and will influence our world. Do cities do more than generate economic income for the region and the nation?  The 19th Series of the Edinburgh Lectures will explore how cities also have the potential to provide solutions to our cultural, social and environmental challenges.”

The Edinburgh Lectures, now in their 19th year, are presented by The City of Edinburgh Council in association with Creative Scotland; Edinburgh Napier University, Heriot-Watt University, National Museums Scotland, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh; The Open University in Scotland; The Royal Society of Edinburgh; The Scottish Government and The University of Edinburgh.

For full programme and booking details, please visit The Edinburgh Lectures’ brand new blog at: http://edinburghlectures.wordpress.com

Tickets for The Edinburgh Lectures can be purchased from the Usher Hall’s box office in person, by phone on 0131 228 1155 and online at www.usherhall.co.uk. Price £5 – refundable up to three days prior to lecture (personal callers only). There is a £1 nonrefundable transaction fee for telephone and online bookings.

Baxter plays the piano in the Conductor's Suite at the Usher Hall. Pic courtesy of The Scotsman Publications Ltd

This competition is being run in conjunction with the William Wegman: Family Combinations exhibition currently on show at the City Art Centre, which features witty and captivating images of the photographer’s family of Weimaraners.

Whoever’s photo is judged the best will win dinner for two at The Dogs restaurant in Hanover Street, as well as two tickets to the City Art Centre’s summer exhibitions. The winning photograph will also be framed and hung in the City Art Centre until 24 October 2010, when the exhibitions end.

Fergus and Baxter Robertson take to the stage at the Usher Hall. Pic courtesy of The Scotsman Publications Ltd

Photographs must sent by email (no larger than 500kb) to museumsandgalleries@edinburgh.gov.uk by 3pm on Friday 1 October 2010. Judging will take place the following week and the winner will be notified directly. The judging panel comprises: Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture and Leisure Convenor; David Ramsden, Owner of the Dogs restaurant; and Frank Little, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Museums and Galleries Manager.

Scotland’s Inspiring Capital scooped the top spot with high scores across the board particularly for aesthetics/architecture (93.72) and user-friendliness (90.46).

Having come second in the same awards in 2009 with a total score of 90.88, the city took top spot this year with a total of 91.76. Readers were asked to score each city out of a maximum of 100 according to criteria such as service, culture and value for money.

No stranger to accolades,  Edinburgh was voted as one of the world’s top ten cities by travel magazine Wanderlust in 2008 as well as voted as the UK’s favourite city break destination by readers of Guardian/Observer for 10 years in a row.

Council Leader, Cllr Jenny Dawe, added: “This result is great news for the city and confirms what we all know: Edinburgh is a great place in which to visit, invest, live, work and study.”

“The city truly has the best of everything; historic buildings and great atmosphere, a vibrant leisure and retail offering, abundant green space, outstanding schools and universities – the list goes on. Little wonder, then, that people continue to think of Edinburgh as a must-visit location.”

DEMA’s current marketing campaign, This is My Edinburgh, runs until 31st September. Featuring a mix of real-life Edinburgh residents – from a B-boy dancer, to a Warhol-inspired model – the This Is My Edinburgh campaign focuses on the contemporary and creative sides of Scotland’s majestic capital.

Sue Bruce

The City of Edinburgh Council has offered the post of Chief Executive to Sue Bruce following the conclusion of short-list interviews by the recruitment committee today (2 September 2010). The appointment still has to be ratified by the Council at its meeting on 16 September.
 
Council Leader Cllr Jenny Dawe said: “It is essential that we have the right calibre of Chief Executive for what is a difficult, but rewarding, role at the best of times. We have had a strong field and a rigorous recruitment process. Sue has emerged from that as our preferred candidate and I am confident that her outstanding knowledge, experience and leadership will be a real asset to the Council as we deal with the budgetary and other challenges we face.”
 
Ms Bruce said: “I am delighted to be recommended to Council as the preferred candidate. I have enjoyed and valued my time in Aberdeen greatly, however this would have to be regarded as the pinnacle of my career. Edinburgh is a great city and a major European capital, and I am looking forward immensely to applying myself to the role.”
 
Further announcements on a start date and handover arrangements will follow.
 
Sue Bruce profile
 
Sue has worked in local government for more than 30 years, beginning her career in the education field. She was appointed to the Director role in East Dunbartonshire covering Education, Social Work, Housing and Cultural Services in 2000 and then Chief Executive in 2004.

• Diploma in Youth Work and Community Service, Jordanhill College of Education
• MPhil in Government, University of Strathclyde
• LLB, University of Strathclyde
• Certificate in Strategic Public Sector Negotiation, JFK School of Government, Harvard 

The City of Edinburgh Council is to make major savings following the launch of its new website. Scheduled to go live on 15 September, the site at www.edinburgh.gov.uk will also provide much easier ways for users to make payments, request information and ask for help.

While there is a one-off cost of £210,000 for creating the new website, there will be significantly lower annual costs for software licensing, support and hosting compared to previous systems. As well as a new website and intranet for the Council specifically, the new system also provides a ‘platform’ for around 200 other websites that the Council is involved in supporting. Initial savings will be around £190,000 per year with the potential for a further £100,000 annually as these other websites are moved.

Council Finance Convenor Cllr Phil Wheeler welcomed the development: “This is going to be real progress for the Council and improve markedly the experience that people have of using our website. Having seen how the site is progressing I’m confident that users will see a modern design that really works and helps them to do quickly and efficiently what they came for. The fact that we are saving money at the same time as improving what we do is exactly what we are trying to achieve in dealing with the challenges of the current budget situation.”

Andrew Unsworth, the Council’s head of e-Government, said: “This will be a major step forward for the Council and those that use our website. While the fact that the system pays for itself through the savings is important, we also see the website as crucial in improving our customer services and we intend to achieve additional savings by encouraging contact from our customers via the web instead of mail, telephone or face to face.”

The projected savings do not take account of reduced costs resulting from increased demand for online transactions. Edinburgh residents’ usage of the web is above the UK and Scottish averages and studies have shown that costs per exchange range from £10 to £30 for face-to-face, £1 to £3 for telephone and 1p to 50p for web.

The new content management system is provided by Jadu, which is used by over 30 UK local authorities. The site promises clearer design and navigation, easier and faster access to the most popular tasks, and improved site search options powered by Google. Users will be able to register with the site, which will allow them to sign-up to receive relevant information and will make it easier to submit forms and carry out frequent transactions.

Interesting facts

In the last 12 months www.edinburgh.gov.uk received more than 2million unique visitors and nearly 24million page impressions.

The software licensing and support costs will be around 20% of previous levels, providing an annual saving of around £154,000. Hosting costs will be around 70%, providing an annual saving of £37,000. Moving other websites to the same platform (i.e. website content management system and supporting hardware) will save at least another £100,000 per year. These savings will initially pay for the one-off costs involved in redesigning the site of £210,000 (in 09/10 and 10/11) with the full benefits being realised after that.

The other sites that the Council supports include those set-up for specific projects, campaigns, statutory boards and facilities, e.g. schools. These sites will be added over the next few years.

Broadband take-up in Edinburgh increased to 62% between 2006 and 2008, well ahead of the UK average of 57% and substantially ahead of the Scottish average of 53%. 71% of Edinburgh adults use the internet at home compared with 66% in all Scotland and 65% across the UK. (Ofcom – The Communications Market 2008: Nations and Regions (Scotland)). More recent figures have indicated that this trend is continuing.

The web is responsible for 61% of all local government incoming enquiries, against 19% for the phone and 2% for face to face. (SOCITM IT Trends 2008/9 (SOCITM is the association for public sector IT professionals)

80% of UK citizens want public services to be made available online and three-quarters of those want this to happen in the next five years. (Report by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA))

The Council’s website was recently rated by SOCITM as a two-star site (of a possible four stars) in its Better Connected review on usability and accessibility.

The Council decided on 11 February 2008 to look for a replacement website to take advantage of developments in web technology that the existing system could not support and to respond to the need to improve the service for users. The business case for the new website was approved in August 2009.

If you want to direct other people to these pages, you can use the following link: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/papalvisit

John Cunningham of Mercy Corps said:  “Access to clean water is critical to prevent potentially lethal water-borne diseases like cholera spreading, particularly in areas overcrowded with those made homeless by the flood waters. If untreated, cholera can kill a child in less than 24 hours. The floods have had a huge impact on the whole of Pakistan, and there’s a real risk that water-borne disease could take hold and make this tragedy even worse as the months go on.

“Immediate emergency aid is crucial, but it is just as important to make sure that people have access to clean water supply once the flood waters recede and the recovery and rebuild effort begins. With the help and generosity of the people of Edinburgh, we will build 50 lasting, sustainable water sources that will benefit more than 50,000 people in Pakistan. It will have a real impact that will still be felt for years to come, and will be one that the people of the Capital can be extremely proud of.”

How you can help:

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill with City of Edinburgh Councillors, Ron Cairns and Paul Edie, and HMP Saughton Governor Nigel Ironside.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and Prison Governor Nigel Ironside received the money from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilips) for coming first in the Libraries Change Lives Award.

Saughton Prison Library and its City of Edinburgh Council Librarian – Kate King – have tirelessly worked to reduce re-offending by tackling the issue of low literacy levels amongst the prison population.

The work is aimed at encouraging prisoners to engage with the library and aims to give them the skills to improve their chances of employment on release, and contribute to reducing re-offending levels. The librarian has also worked with their families to improve family literacy.

The award money will be used to further this work, improve communications with prisoners and open up more channels of access to the library and its resources.

The cheque was handed over at a special event in the library this week.

Additional information:

Opened in a purpose-built extension in November 2008, less than two years later Saughton Prison Library has become the only library in Scotland with a waiting list, welcoming more than 12,500 prisoners through the doors in its first year alone.

Furthermore, damage done to library books has reduced significantly from 80 per cent to zero since the new library opened, demonstrating the new-found value the prisoners have for their library.

The library’s mission is to offer a service which addresses social inclusion issues amongst the prison population and provides support opportunities for education and employment, thereby improving the transition from prison to outside community life. 

]]> http://edinburghcouncil.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/award-winning-library-receives-5000-cheque/feed/ 0 The City of Edinburgh Council Saughton Prison Library Award