City Region Deal help for family support services

Intensive family support services across South East Scotland are receiving a boost from the City Region Deal.

The Deal’s Intensive Family Support Service will help families in areas of chronic worklessness and poverty, bringing together the third sector and all six local authorities in South East Scotland with research expertise from the University of Edinburgh.

The first phase has launched in South East Scotland, covering Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Fife, Scottish Borders, and West Lothian.

Capital City Partnership has engaged leading charities Children 1st, Barnardo’s and Fife Gingerbread to partner with local authorities in delivery of the services.

Rona Hunter, Chief Executive Officer, Capital City Partnership, said:

The Intensive Family Support Service within the City Region Deal is a great opportunity to bring together a wealth of expertise and approaches across Edinburgh and South East Scotland to improve the lives and opportunities for a number of families. Harnessing local efforts under a regional framework, it establishes how we can make a difference in the long term to bring about sustainable change. I’m looking forward to seeing the project develop and for further knowledge to emerge so that we can continue to improve pathways out of poverty and inequality.

Focus areas include: supporting lone parent and low-income households affected by worklessness; helping adults to provide a better environment for their young people; and ensuring families can benefit from job opportunities created through the City Region Deal.

Families will receive support for core issues that affect everyone in the household to create stability and increase independence. They will receive help to engage in employment or employability-related activities, and receive advice on welfare and income maximisation.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson said:

City Region and Growth Deals will be a crucial part of our economic recovery from coronavirus (COVID-19) as we work towards a fairer and more inclusive Scotland. We are investing £300 million over 15 years to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal across transport, housing, culture, innovation and skills to help achieve this.

The Intensive Family Support Service will demonstrate that we can achieve more by working together in partnership and in turn, be able to provide support and opportunities for those that need it most in these challenging times.

Sarah Galey-Horn, University of Edinburgh, is helping the service look at how organisational and social interactions promote economic mobility in low-income families. Sarah commented:

I see family support programmes like IFSS as part of a broader trend towards community-based social policy that puts human relationships, rather than individual outcomes, at the centre of social services. The research project uses a method called social network analysis (SNA) that focuses on analysing and building relationships that reduce poverty-related vulnerabilities. This approach will help us identify practices that facilitate trusting, supportive relationships with families and to share those practices across the six local delivery partners.

Borders College Shortlisted for leading the way in Data Science learning

An innovative partnership programme funded through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal is benefitting students across the region, by allowing not only full-time students to learn about Data Driven Innovation (DDI) but also those who are unemployed or facing redundancy. 

The programme at Borders College has been shortlisted for a national award at the annual CDN (College Development Network) Awards – one of the most prestigious awards in the sector. Core Skills staff at Borders College developed a project-based approach to their course delivery and assessment. This approach has enabled the lecturers to develop the digital, data and meta-skills of the learners that relate more specifically to the needs of the employers. The shortlisting recognises a college that has anticipated the importance of wider skills development and reflected this across the curriculum. The winners will be announced at a virtual celebration on Thursday 3 December 2020.  

Borders College Principal Angela Cox said: 

“I am delighted that the creativity and hard work of the staff is being recognised in this way. Borders College prides itself on providing our community with the skills they need now and in the future. Accessing and interpreting data is an essential skill irrespective of the sector you want to work in and we are delighted to be working with University of Edinburgh on developing these skills, alongside other City Region Deal partners.”  

Alison Muckersie from University of Edinburgh, the Data-Driven Innovation Skills Gateway lead, commented: 

“The team at the Borders College has embraced the opportunity provided by the significant City Region Deal investment to prepare their students for the fast-changing world of work. Data skills are becoming increasingly important across all jobs and sectors, and are key to ensuring ongoing competitiveness for businesses. By embedding data literacy in their core skills programme the College is recognising this trend and is helping their students to be better equipped for the world of work, regardless of the roles they move into.” 

The programme consists of a pilot group of unemployed individuals that are developing data literacy skills online and meet up with their tutor on a weekly basis for support and advice. This pilot group is learning about Data Citizenship, Data Science, Information Technology Skills and Communication. The group will complete their course in December, with the hope that they will have the skills to gain employment in an increasingly competitive and changing jobs market.  

The digital technology and data revolution has put data at the core of many things, from personal privacy to public health, wealth creation to environmental protection. This is particularly important for employers, whether large or small businesses, public sector organisations or charities, because using data to create or improve products and services is key to unlocking economic growth and job creation. 

By moving to more digital solutions and using data to update business models, organisations can develop and take advantage of new and innovative ways of operating. To do this successfully, businesses need to have a workforce that is fit for purpose. 

Rapidly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics are increasing the demand for highly-skilled workers, but every type of work is affected. It is estimated that 90% of jobs already require digital skills. And while some jobs will disappear altogether as automation spreads, new jobs and whole new areas of work will emerge. 

The college has recognised the importance of developing these skills and has embedded the programme into their core curriculum. It is currently being taught online to over 170 full time students across a range of subjects (Construction, Business, Hospitality, Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy, Sport and Horse care). 

DataLoch heralds new data-driven era in healthcare innovation

A new data repository has been created to bring together health and social care data for the first time, driving forward data-driven approaches to improving care.

DataLoch will enable researchers to engage with private, public and third sector health and social care organisations, using data from across the Edinburgh & South East Scotland region to power research and innovation.

The project takes its name from the industry standard ‘data-lake’, a system or repository of data stored in its natural form.

DataLoch has been funded as part of the University of Edinburgh’s Data-Driven Innovation initiative – part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

The UK is facing an increasing number of health and social care challenges, experts say, including an aging population and increasing numbers of people living with long term conditions.DataLoch aims to create an efficient and safe approach to storing, linking and accessing health and social care data to help researchers tackle these challenges.

The Edinburgh International Data Facility at the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) will provide a secure and robustly managed facility for the information.

DataLoch has been created jointly by NHS Lothian, Borders and Fife and the University of Edinburgh.

The project was in the first phase of development when the Covid-19 pandemic began. Researchers have since diverted their efforts to focus on Covid-19 data and supporting NHS service managers and clinicians with immediate hospital-based improvements.

Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian said: “DataLoch has already shown its value with the Covid-19 specific data set which has enabled us to explore and address new challenges facing the NHS as a result of the pandemic. We are a learning organisation focused on quality of care and we believe DataLoch will help drive data-enabled innovation within NHS Lothian to continue to improve the efficiency and quality of care we deliver.”

Professor Nick Mills, Chair of Cardiology, University of Edinburgh said: “DataLoch is a unique platform that aligns with the needs of our research community and our health and social care providers. It will promote a data-driven approach to healthcare improvements and enable us to develop a world-leading learning health system in our region.”

City Region Deal passes £100m milestone

Press release issued on behalf of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal

More than £100m of the £1.3b Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal has already been delivered, a new report shows. 

Housing, transport, skills programs and five new data innovation hubs are among the projects that have already benefited from the deal funding. 

The UK and Scottish Governments are each investing £300m into deal projects that are expected to create thousands of highly-skilled jobs and opportunities.  Regional partners are investing a further £730m in the projects for a total £1.3bn boost for the area. 

The annual report, which was approved by the Deal’s Joint Committee last week, showed that £103m has been spent since the deal was signed in 2018. 

Projects worth more than half (£736m) of the funding have now been approved, demonstrating the strength and pace of delivery on the 15 year deal.  In the past year this included the £85m business case for the Usher Institute, which will create a world-leading innovation hub to improve the delivery of health and social care services. 

The report also highlighted how the deal has responded and adapted to the coronavirus pandemic.  Just 11 days after the country was locked down the deal launched a COVID-19 Jobs Support portal,  it has allocated £200,000 worth of grants to create data-driven solutions to assist the region’s communities, services and businesses with the recovery, and it has worked with transport operators on a package of emergency measures to support the main routes into and out of Edinburgh.     

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Connectivity and Infrastructure, Michael Matheson, said:

City Region and Growth Deals will be a crucial part of our economic recovery from coronavirus (COVID-19) as we work towards a fairer, greener and more inclusive Scotland.

The region has instinctively worked together to respond to these testing times, and this determination will ensure that we can maximise the benefits of our investment in the years to come, creating jobs and significant growth.

UK Government Minister for Scotland, Iain Stewart, said:

It’s great to see the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal progressing quickly and delivering for businesses and communities.

Deal partners have responded positively to challenges posed by the pandemic, and as our economy recovers these projects will be even more vital to securing jobs and investment for the area.   

The UK Government has committed £300 million to the deal with £290 million of that investment focused on Scotland’s tech sector. This is a hugely important area, with a recent survey showing 23% of the Edinburgh’s workforce employed in digital tech jobs.    

Across Scotland, the UK Government is investing more than £1.5 billion in regional growth deals to secure the future of our economy.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, Convener of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Joint Committee, said:

The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal continued to make great progress in its second year. On top of delivering projects across the innovation, skills, transport, culture and housing themes and bolstering regional infrastructure, a further major benefit has been the strategic coordination we are seeing across these areas.

Claire Pattullo, Vice-Chair of Regional Enterprise Council, said:

I’m greatly encouraged with the momentum that is building in Year 2 of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

The Regional Enterprise Council represents business, social enterprise and the third sectors with the ambition of achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout the city region.

In the coming year we will be helping to shape the Regional Growth Framework to support the City Region Deal’s goals.

Contact Information

Sara McGuire

sara.mcguire@edinburgh.gov.uk

Publication of the Annual Report and the Benefits Realisation Plan

On Friday 4 September, the City Region Deal’s Joint Committee approved an important plan for reviewing and evaluating the effectiveness of the Deal’s activities and deliverables, and signed off our second Annual Report.

Annual Report

This year’s Report details the strong progress we’ve made in finalising business cases across the different themes of Innovation, Housing, Transport, Skills and Culture, gaining approval for 55% of the £1.3bn investment committed in the Deal Document. But – critically – the Report also explains how, in early Spring, the Deal partners quickly responded to the rapidly emerging Covid-19 pandemic across a number of fronts:

• The launch of a COVID-19 Jobs Support portal on 3 April, just 11 days after the country was locked down.

• Regional councils, SEStran and Transport Scotland formed a Transport Transition Group, and worked with operators to prepare measures for the main transport corridor routes into and out of Edinburgh.

• The Data-Driven Innovation Programme allocated up to £200,000 in small grants to enable university staff and students to apply data-driven-innovation ideas in support of communities, services and businesses in the city region.

• Construction commencing at the Borders Innovation Park and at the Queensway Industrial Estate in Glenrothes as part of the Fife Industrial Innovation Investment.

To read the full Report, follow this link

Benefits Realisation Plan

Our Benefits Realisation Plan (BRP) is a major step forward in evidencing outcomes and impacts from the Deal. It will demonstrate to both the UK and Scottish Governments the benefits of their support and ensure continued focus on inclusive growth to reduce inequality and increase wellbeing.

The BRP was developed over many months in consultation with both governments, as well as other key stakeholders. Not only does it address how the Deal is performing against objectives and delivery plans, but it also measures wider economic, social and other impacts that may be generated within the Region, Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

In January 2020, Audit Scotland highlighted its keen interest in Scotland’s City and Growth Deals implementing monitoring and evaluation processes, so we are proud to have achieved this important milestone for our deal.

To read the Benefits Realisation Plan, follow this link