New Pyjamas: 'Campaign is now viewed as damaged goods'

HUNDREDS of pages of correspondence and documents have at last revealed the turmoil going on behind the scenes at the New Pyjamas Appeal.

As revelations in the News yesterday and today have made clear, the campaign to provide enhanced facilities at the new Sick Kids hospital has been beset by conflict and animosity between senior staff in the appeal committee, the hospital's charitable foundation and NHS Lothian.

The very clear indication is that the health board feels it has been largely frozen out, while the Foundation was determined to keep a great degree of autonomy over the campaign. Page upon page of argument over the minor issue of how to display the NHS logo on publicity material bears this out.

There have been personality clashes and suspicion over the way the campaign was being run. This seems more than justified by an independent auditor's report which suggests mismanagement and expresses concern over the apparent lack of control over spending and the campaign's apparently inability to raise funds.

What remains to be seen now is what action – if any – the Charities Commission will take after its review.

At the moment the New Pyjamas campaign is damaged goods in the eyes of the public. If it is to regain trust a radical rethink is required to repair its shattered reputation. That remains all-important, as the people who must not suffer are the sick children who were supposed to benefit from the appeal.

But there's an important secondary issue too: how much of this sorry affair would have been kept quiet were it not for the Evening News revealing the suspension and resignation which set off the whole chain of events?

Galling rise in rates

JUST when Edinburgh's businessmen and women think there may be light at the end of the recession tunnel along comes another onrushing train.

Firms – big and small – are bracing themselves for hikes in business rates which will increase their bills by thousands of pounds from April. Most will have little choice other than to pass on the increased costs to customers.

Of course it's right that private enterprise pays its way. But the increase is galling for two reasons: the new rates are based on rental values before the worst of the recession hit, so no longer truly reflect the ability to pay.

And the national redistribution system means that yet more of the Capital's money will pay for services in other parts of Scotland – following 1 billion lost in the last decade alone.