West Lothian Council bosses confirm plans for new school year starting in August

Join thousands of others who have signed up for the Daily Record newsletter.Leading trade union UNISON has urged care home bosses in Wishaw to “pay up now” to workers self-isolating with suspected Covid-19 who have been forced to survive on statutory sick pay of less than £96 a week.Many care homes and care-at-home service providers have failed to pay workers their full wages until they get the money up-front, despite the Scottish Government publicly stating funds would be available.Now the

The new academic year at Scotland’s Rural College will begin on September 28 with a combination of face-to-face and online teaching.The announcement comes as Scotland enters the first phase of its easing of lockdown restrictions.Applications are open for courses at its six campuses across Scotland including Oatridge at Ecclesmachan, while current students have been given details of when they can expect to return to their studies.To allow high-quality, socially distanced, on-campus delivery of

Weddings can take place in West Lothian again following the lifting of lockdown restrictions.Marriage and civil partnership ceremonies can now be undertaken and birth registrations started on June 29.Some restrictions will be in place, as determined by the Scottish Government guidelines.All ceremonies must take place outside and to ensure compliance with the guidelines, the wedding party is limited to eight people from a maximum of three households.Birth registrations will take place on a phased

Join thousands of others who have signed up for the Daily Record newsletter.A care home death linked to Covid-19 was recorded in West Dunbartonshire in the latest National Records of Scotland figures.The death, which was registered between June 22 and June 28, became the 123rd to be linked to the virus locally since the pandemic began, with it being the first recorded in a care home during the month of June.Statistics now show that 59 care home residents have had the condition mentioned on their

council tax bills to fill a Covid black hole.Council group COSLA believes a law change is required to address crippling deficits and avoid massive tax rises.Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “The financial black hole that Scotland’s councils now face cannot be paid for by cutting council services or a massive hike in council tax.”Get all the top Scottish politics news sent straight to your Inbox by signing up to our Politics newsletter.We cover Holyrood, Westminster and local councils, with a

“We recognise the need to continue to make improvements at Riverside, and will use this report to help focus our efforts to further help our pupils to achieve their full potential.”Executive councillor for education David Dodds said: “We share the confidence of Education  Scotland inspectors that Riverside has the capacity to continue to improve.“I know the dedicated staff team at Riverside, supported by the Quality Improvement Team, will  build on the strengths of the school to ensure the

West Lothian Council  has made “significant progress” in settling equal pay claims, it said this month.The statement came as Scotland’s local government watchdog has praised councils for their progress in settling equal pay claims, but says they expect councils to maintain their focus on unresolved cases.The 32 local authorities in Scotland have spent £1.3 billion settling cases of pay inequality between male and female staff.

“I want schools across Scotland to sign up to the Challenge when it launches in August so that we can keep sharing the joy of reading for generations to come.”Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, added: “It was fantastic to receive so many submissions to the First Minister’s Reading Challenge despite the restrictions of lockdown.“Pupils, parents, and teachers have come together to celebrate books and develop a reading culture within their schools and local communities.

hospital after being beaten with a metal weight by two thugs who broke into his house in a Scots town. The attack happened around midnight on Wednesday in the South Vennel area of Lanark.

West Lothian’s cricketers are able to get back in action from Monday after Cricket Scotland announced that clubs could return to training.Fauldhouse, Linlithgow and Livingston are now able to use club facilities to run small group training sessions outside.

Council bosses are now planning for pupils to return to schools full-time following a government climbdown today.Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced schools will return full-time in August if Scotland continues to make progress on suppressing coronavirus.The government u-turn follows revolt across the country at plans to have some pupils in class for as little as one day a week, including in West Dunbartonshire.This afternoon, West Dunbartonshire Council confirmed it is now revising its

cooking her meals - and it's even helped her shed weight.Margaret McKinley, from Edinburgh, has saved an astonishing £2,700 in total since she started cooking her food in advance before freezing it.The savvy Scot said it only takes her a few hours a week to prepare the meals which gives her plenty of free time on weeknights to spend with her family.Margaret said: "I started batch cooking about 18 months ago, because my then 18-year-old son left school and was taking a year or two out to decide

Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle in the early hours of morning. Concerned neighbours spotted multiple cop cars around 6am in Blackburn, West Lothian, the hometown of the singing sensation.

But since the Covid-19 lockdown, monthly meetings have been replaced by weekly Zoom chats, and specialist online sessions with exercise, including seated Tai Chi and relaxation, nutrition and other activities.

Staff have been furloughed since May. Unite is also campaigning to get the Scottish and UK Government to bring forward sector specific support packages for the wider aviation, aerospace, and manufacturing sectors.

East Ayrshire schools remains as August 11.

A total of 120 people have now passed away across West Dunbartonshire from confirmed or suspected Covid-19 – with cases in care homes accounting for the majority of deaths.Figures released by the National Records of Scotland last week show that, up until May 31, 58 people died in care homes, 57 lost their lives in hospital and five people have died whilst at home.The First Minister confirmed yesterday, Monday, that no new Covid-19 deaths had been recorded in Scotland overnight, for the second

South Lanarkshire Council are hoping to give every new primary one pupil the chance to visit their new school before the summer holidays.Over the next couple of weeks, the council wants to organise dates for four- and five-year-olds due to start school in August to meet their new teacher.Some schools - including Cathkin Primary and St Columbkille's Primary in Rutherglen and Auchinraith Primary in Blantyre - have already contacted parents with details of visits next week.According to Scottish

Nicola Sturgeon names a reopening date and warned that up to 280,000 jobs could be wiped out.The industry also warned a two-metre social distancing rule would sound the death knell for thousands of venues and leave whole areas of cities abandoned.Hospitality chiefs in England have been told they can partially reopen on July 4 if Covid-19 cases are under control. A reduced one-metre rule is also under consideration.