The Notice of Election to community councils in Edinburgh was published yesterday (Wednesday 5th February).
Community councils are groups of elected local residents who care about their communities. These councils play an important role in the democratic process and act in the interests of their local areas.
The nomination period runs from today until 27 February. During this time you can nominate yourself to stand for election as a community councillor.
An election will only be held in a community council area if there are more people nominated than places on the community council. Should this be necessary the election date will be 27 March.
The new community council term will start on 28 March and will last four years. The next community council elections are planned for 2029 though this may be subject to change.
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker said: “Community councils remain an integral part of the social and democratic fabric of our city. In my experience as a ward councillor, I truly value my relationship with community councils and the excellent work that they do.
“From campaigning on key local issues, to organising meetings, chairing debates, liaising with local and national representatives and much more – the life of a community councillor in the Capital is never ordinary.
“This is an excellent opportunity to take a lead in your local area and make your community a better place. I’d encourage all residents to consider standing as a community councillor. Edinburgh draws its strength from its citizens, and we need their views and ideas to move forward together.”
Secretary of Edinburgh Association of Community Councils, Ken Robertson said: “You have a community council voice in city life, by right.
Councillor Mandy Watt, Finance and Resources Convener, looks ahead to Council Budget day on Thursday 20 February:
Very soon, councillors will be making tough financial decisions to balance the council’s budget and set the rate at which Council Tax will be charged.
Given the increasing need for investment in infrastructure and services, we’ll have to raise Council Tax, parking charges and other fees to fund the delivery of services we all rely on. We are considering a recommended 8% rise in Council tax.
An 8% increase adds £9.65 per month to a band D property and would provide a total of £26 million across all bands for investment and service priorities.
A huge amount of work has already been done to consider options, with detailed proposals considered yesterday at a Special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee. This has been informed by a huge consultation exercise with residents, and I want to thank all 3,260 people who took part.
We know from the consultation responses that people are aware of the financial challenges we face following years of underfunding, and many are open to a fair rise to Council Tax after last year’s freeze.Other councils are proposing increases of 10% and above, but we’re trying to keep Edinburgh’s increase lower because that’s what the majority of residents would prefer.
Residents also told us they’d like to see Councillors focus on several key priorities when setting this year’s budget. These include spending on education, investing in local facilities and upgrading our roads and pavements. We’ll use the money from an increase in Council Tax to protect and improve these services.
Investment proposals include continuing the extra £12.5 million for roads and pavements that was added last year, with a further £5 million for road safety, especially around schools. There will be five new schools and five extensions of existing schools and £26 million for special needs infrastructure. Fox Covert Joint Campus will be replaced and there’s £15 million for permanently replacing Blackhall Library.
The decision to recommend an 8% Council Tax increase was not taken lightly. Over the last decade cuts in core grant funding of over £400 million have been mitigated by council staff continually delivering more with less resources.
This year’s financial challenges are the UK Government’s increase in national insurance, costing the council £9 million and the Scottish Government changing the stability funding floor, taking away £6.3 million. Fortunately, the UK Government passed on £18million of pEPR (‘producer pays’) funding, which filled those gaps.
While we can expect a slightly better government grant this year following yesterday’s Scottish Parliament budget, the consequences of last year’s cuts to affordable housing remain clear to see.
Huge pressures on health and social care remain unaddressed by national governments. Yet again, Edinburgh is expected to be the lowest funded local authority in Scotland per head of population and we’ll still need to find best value efficiency savings to deal with service pressures of £40million and keep the books balanced this year.
MORE than seventy community groups across Edinburgh are shaking off the winter blues with the exciting news of their share of the latest round of National Lottery funding, announced today(Thursday 6th February).
Among the local projects celebrating this morning are Fresh Start, Living Rent, Granton Parish Church, Project Esperanza, LifeCare, Granton Youth and LIFT at Muirhouse Millennium Centre – who receive not one but TWO Lottery grants!
The Muirhouse centre recently launched an online fundraising campaign so today’s news of lottery success is a welcome boost.
LIFT receives £62,553 to continue delivery of their community support offering within Muirhouse. Through support and advocacy LIFT aims to tackle child poverty, increase wellbeing for individuals and families, and allow them to move forward from poverty and crisis.
LIFT was awarded a further £23,187 to employ a staff member to work on and develop their ‘sharing shelf’. This is a space where members of the community can come, without a referral, to pick up some food essentials and acts as a link point to other services within the centre.
Hard-pressed community centres have done particularly well in this round of grants: as well as Muirhouse Millennium Centre there are big grants for Space at Broomhouse, Craigmillar’s Sandy’s Community Centre and Southside Community Centre.
This vital support will enable them to continue to bring together local people, deliver essential services, and provide much-needed support to their communities.
This latest round of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund is shared amongst 549 projects across Scotland. A full list of projects is attached.
Thanks to an award of £76,336, Craigmillar Literacy Trust will continue to deliver their programme of early and family literacy activities for families, parents and carers for the next two years.
Kara Whelan, Project Manager, Craigmillar Literacy Trust,said: “This funding will enable us to continue to deliver our literacy support programmes to families with babies and young children, specifically, early communication and family literacy through home visits and one-to-one support for individual families. ”
An award of £63,399 means that Living Rent will provide support and guidance around a range of housing issues affecting hundreds of people in Leith, Newhaven and Granton over the next three years.
Emma Saunder, National Organiser for Living Rent, said: “This will have a huge impact on our ability to continue to grow and empower our members.
“This award will support us to grow in the Leith area of Edinburgh, as well as building a thriving group in Granton. We can also continue our work, supporting members who are trapped in awful housing conditions through empowering them to know their rights and take action to receive compensation, repairs or stop evictions.
“The National Lottery funding is a continued source of strength and support for local communities helping us to support them to come together to ask for change.”
Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCiL)will expand their ‘Financial Wellbeing’ service for disabled people living in Edinburgh and the Lothians after an award of £25,000.
FlorenceGarabedian, InterimCEO, LCiL, said: “From our work, we clearly see the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the lives of disabled people, their families and carers.
“This funding will help us provide a targeted response to the current financial climate, help many more people who are struggling with day-to-day costs and offer accessible advice and information around welfare benefits, income maximisation and financial security.”
Announcing the funding, Kate Still, Scotland Chair, The National Lottery Community Fundsaid: “At The National Lottery Community Fund we are so proud to be able to support local groups to make a real and lasting difference and help address the challenges their communities face.
“It’s all made possible by National Lottery players and we’re excited to see the outcomes of all of the funded projects across Edinburgh in the months ahead.”
The National Lottery Community Fund distributes funding on behalf of National Lottery players who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK.
