Day: December 18, 2015

On the final day for comments on the city council’s budget proposals, local Power to the People group made the following submission:

Dear Gillian Tee

Members of North Edinburgh Power to the People group have prepared the following response to Edinburgh’s Budget Challenge.  We would like to begin by saying that we welcome Edinburgh Partnership’s commitment  to engagement and its acknowledgement that “the Partnership’s vision can only be fulfilled  by involving people and communities in decisions that affect them”.  We would like to point out however that consultation processes must be conducted in ways which the community finds meaningful  and  which take place within a realistic timescale.

We felt that the online  consultation  process  was an unacceptable way  to engage with local communities on  such serious matters.   We believe we have the right to be actively  engaged   in  decision making processes and that there should be opportunities  for  people in local communities to come together to discuss and respond  to these issues collectively.

We are unhappy that  the Council has chosen yet again to conduct a major consultation exercise  in the run up to the  Christmas holidays.  The last set of proposals were only made public at the end of November.   We would also like to point out that being allowed to decide what cuts we want to make to our local services is not community empowerment.

We believe that the majority of people in Edinburgh  are not aware of  the seriousness of the crisis facing the Council and do not appreciate the impact these proposals will have on essential public services.  

The proposals are very vague and lack the necessary detail in order to make  informed decisions.  If the Council genuinely want to hear people’s views, more detailed information is required which should be presented in an accessible manner.

With regard to the recommendations  relating to Community Learning and Development,   it is our belief that the reductions in budgets and staffing    will undermine universal provision and will result in the privatisation of  many important services.  We also feel that the loss of provision which will result from the cuts will   have a  greater impact on more disadvantaged communities such as ours where people are already experiencing significant hardship as a result of the present Government’s welfare reforms.

We would like  to draw your attention to Edinburgh People’s Survey which highlights a high level of dissatisfaction among  residents in the Forth Ward.  These findings  would suggest that more resources should be allocated to  our area  not less.

Most of our members are retired and we are concerned  that CLD’s work with adults does not appear to be a priority despite  this being a priority of the Scottish Government and the Council.  Cuts to workers, grants and changes to funding criteria will make Adult Education and Community Capacity  Building  work  almost impossible.    These proposals do not take into account  the needs of local people ie where they live, their ability to access services, what they want to learn about and get involved in.  This undermines universal provision, reduces choices for certain groups who are not seen as a priority  and goes against community empowerment.

We believe education (for adults as well as children) is an investment.

It achieves better outcomes for individuals, families and communities.  Reducing the  opportunities for adults to get involved in learning opportunities is short sighted and will have a negative impact on people’s life chances in poorer communities   We would like to remind you about  the Scottish Government’s pledge concerning Adult Education.  Their  Statement of Ambition recommends  the Adult Learning  should be Learning centred, Lifelong and Lifewide.   The Statement of Ambition also recommends that “Every adult in Scotland will have the right to access learning to meet their educational needs and their aspirations”.  We look forward to receiving your assurances that the Capital Coalition are committed to delivering this pledge.

Members of our group  are all actively involved in either managing community centres, helping to develop or participate  in the provision which takes place in centres.

We therefore  feel qualified  to make the following comments in relation  to the impact  of the proposals  on our centres:

Our  community centres in North Edinburgh  serve  a very large population.  We feel strongly that  work needs to be done to bring  more people into our centres and to encourage and develop community involvement.  We need more resources to do this effectively not less.

Our community centres  provide valuable  meeting spaces for the community to get together.  Valuable community  space will be lost  if centres become stuffed full of organisations and agencies who are competing for the same space. 

Centres play an important role  in prevention and early intervention and not just in relation to children.  They contribute to the health and well being of adults by reducing social isolation, providing opportunities for people to get involved,  to socialise  and develop networks and friendships.

Centres also play an important role in helping to promote community integration and cohesion.  They provide a safe space for  new people who move into the area to come to  and to integrate and feel a sense of belonging.    We are actively involved in developing areas of work which we hope will help to promote multi-cultural understanding  and intergenerational work.  

Properly managed and adequately staffed centres, which are accessible to all sections of the community, provide significant social and financial benefits to the Council.  Community centres should be seen as an  important asset not a liability.

We would like make  the following recommendations as an alternative to the budget savings being proposed by Council officers:

• The extension to the tramline should not proceed until  the findings   of the Inquiry into the tram fiasco has been published and lessons learned.
• Councillors and officials should renegotiate the loan deal which is costing the city millions of pounds in interest payments which could be spent on our public services. The public should be told why this has not happened to date.
• A Tourist Tax should be introduced in the city which  would raise a significant amount of income which could be used to  subsidise local services.
• We understand that 25% of secondary school pupils  in Edinburgh attend private schools.  We believe that these schools should not have charitable status and be subsidised by the  tax payer.  It is our view that private schools should pay the same taxes and rates as our state schools.
• Representatives from the Capital Coalition should make strong representations to the Scottish Government to abolish the council tax and replace it with a fairer  and more progressive tax which will enable local authorities to generate the necessary income to fund essential  public services.
• Representatives from the Capital Coalition should  work with Scottish Government Ministers to make the case  for  a debt repayment holiday to ease the immediate financial burden on the city.  Our politicians should also be making the case for local authorities to keep more of the cash they raise through local taxes.
• It is our view that a redistribution of wealth is required in order to address poverty and inequality in our communities and to ensure that public services are properly funded and available to all our citizens.

We look forward to hearing from you at the earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely

Anna Hutchinson, Linda Garcia and Cathy Ahmed

On behalf of North Edinburgh’s Power to the People Group