Letters

News that the Confederation of British Industry and British Chambers of Commerce have called on the Westminster Government to build up to 100,000 new affordable homes is very welcome. They cite the same reasons for a major house-building programme that Scotland’s housing sector has presented to the Scottish Government – that investment in housing brings

The announcement this week from the Scottish Government’s of a two-year extension to the Energy Assistance programme in recognition of the fact that many individuals across the country need help to get out of fuel poverty is welcome. Energy Action Scotland and other bodies, including the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, had made the case to

This week, the Scottish Government announced an allocation of £40 million to build new social homes. Any investment in social housing is good news and Shelter Scotland welcomes this confirmation of how much money each local authority will receive for building more homes. However, this is not new money. It is part of the overall

HALF of the world’s hungriest people are farmers which seems unfair when many of them are growing the food that we eat every day. Millions are struggling to feed their families or make a decent living because they are not getting enough for growing or producing these goods. During Fairtrade Fortnight, me and my little

Edinburgh Community Food is a healthy eating charity working across the capital with the aims of improving health inequalities by boosting access to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables (locally sourced where possible) as well as cooking skills and confidence with easy to understand nutritional information. We read about the Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering

As a Coalition supporting young people we are delighted to see that youth unemployment in Scotland has fallen by 28,000 over the last year. Scottish Government activity on getting young people into work is to be welcomed. We must however not be complacent and there is more work that can still be done, especially in

LAST week was important for disabled people, as MSPs showed overwhelming support for a bill which would see a clamp down on inconsiderate and dangerous parking. More than 60 MSPs from across the political parties backed the Responsible Parking (Scotland) Bill. There are currently insufficient powers to tackle bad parking in Scotland. I have heard

RECENT findings reveal over two fifths of people in the UK who have used sunbeds – which are proven to prematurely age the skin – are using anti-ageing products. This compares with only a fifth (20 per cent) of those who have not used a sunbed, according to a Cancer Research UK survey. The research

AS one of the campaigners who pressed for the creation of the new Land Fund, Community Land Scotland is pleased the first awards are now being made this week, heralding what I hope will be a continuing stream of help for communities to purchase important land and other community assets. Today, in the Western Isles

PROFESSOR David Bell’s analysis on social protection broadens the current debate about welfare and benefit cuts, such as the draconian bedroom tax. It hopefully challenges us all to consider what kind of society we want to live in. Recent advances in areas such as housing rights, access to education and personal support in later life