Death by a thousand cuts

North Edinburgh activists urge: reject the budget cuts!

North Edinburgh’s Power to the People adult education group is among the many deputations who will be urging councillors to think again at this morning’s budget meeting. This is what they plan to say:

My name is Anna Hutchison and I am speaking on behalf  of the Power to the People group.  We are an adult education group and have been meeting in Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre for the last 3 years.

I would like to begin by saying that we welcome the Council’s  commitment  to involving its citizens in decision-making processes: however we feel that  the online budget consultation was an unacceptable way  to engage with local communities on  such serious matters.  It is important that in future opportunities are provided for  people  to come together to discuss and respond  to these issues collectively.

We would also like to point out that being allowed to decide what cuts we want to make to our local services is not  our idea of community empowerment.

We  believe  that the proposed cuts will have a  significant impact on disadvantaged communities such as ours. People are already experiencing significant hardship as a result of the present Government’s welfare reforms and the loss of local provision will make the situation worse. 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 no longer  appears to be a priority for the Council.  Cuts  in CLD workers and  changes in the funding criteria for revenue grants  will make Adult Education and Community Capacity  Building  work  almost impossible. We believe that 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.

Community Centres have always played  an important role in our community.  They  provide a valuable space for people to get together and to get involved in community life.  We believe 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.

Councillor Godzik  told us at our deputation last year that North Edinburgh was awash with community centres.  This  is not the case.  Also this view does not take  into account  the needs of local people: i.e. where they live, their ability to access services, what they want to learn about and get involved in.  Reducing the number of local centres and limiting what they can offer undermines universal provision, reduces choices for certain  groups such as elderly people  and yet again goes against the idea community empowerment.

Our Centres play an important role  in prevention and early intervention but this priority must include all age groups.   There is plenty of research which shows that being involved  contributes 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.  With regard to the Power to the People group, our members consistently highlight this when we do our evaluation each term.

The final point I wish to make about community centres  is that  they play an important role in helping to promote community integration and cohesion.  Our centres  provide a safe space for  new people who move into the area to come to  and to integrate and feel a sense of belonging.   Long may this continue.

We plead with you today to do the decent thing and  to reject these budget cuts.

I will now hand over to Willie Black, another member of the Power to the People group.  Willie is going to outline some of the suggestions we have put forward to address the current funding gap:

We  have been told that there is no alternative to cuts.  We do not accept this is the case.  There is always an alternative.

We put forward the following recommendations to the Head of Children and Families  as an alternative to the budget savings being proposed by Council officers.  To date we have no response.  The following suggestions should be given serious consideration  and an adequate response provided to explain why they are not acceptable to Edinburgh’s Capital Coalition.

• 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.
• Finally, 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 believe that there needs to be  a proper public debate about  the  alternative solutions being put forward by groups like ourselves and the unions.  This debate must  take place in local communities across the city  and be organised in a way to maximise the involvement of local people.

People in Edinburgh are angry at what is happening to our services and rightly so.  These cuts  will increase poverty and inequality in our communities and penalise the poorest in society.  Unison has  said that if approved, this budget  will represent  the worst cuts to public services in living memory.    This must not happen.  Edinburgh is a rich city and we demand that you take a stand today and reject this budget.  We expect you  to behave like politicians and  to  campaign  with us and the unions to defend  and protect our public services.

I would like to  finish this deputation with a quote from the late Brian Robertson who was an activist in North Edinburgh for many years. His words are worth remembering  given that national and local elections are just round the corner.

“There are too many politicians… who think they’ve got the power. We’ve got the power! It’s us who elect them to represent us, not the other way around. I feel politicians forget they’re working for us. They should be listening to what we’ve got to say … They’ve got this manifesto and that manifesto, they’ve got THEIR manifesto. What’s wrong with a people’s manifesto, a community manifesto!  Let’s demand social justice and an end to poverty” .

Free transport from North Edinburgh to the City Chambers is available. A minibus will be leaving Royston Wardieburn community centre at 8.30 sharp

The Council meeting to set Edinburgh’s budget starts at 10am