Chancellor must listen to growing opposition to austerity measures
The Scottish Government has consistently demonstrated that the UK’s deficit and debt can be brought down without the need for huge public spending cuts as set out by the UK Government, Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary John Swinney said today. Continue reading Swinney urges Osborne: do the right thing
It really doesn’t seem like a year since the last consultation, but here we are again …
Edinburgh residents are being asked for their views on how the Council spends and saves money as part of public engagement on proposals for the 2016-20 budget.
This year people will also get the chance to contribute ideas of their own on how city services are provided, using the online ‘Your City, Your Say’ dialogue page.
The web page will form part of a ten-week engagement period, beginning today, allowing the public to feed back on proposals for the Council’s 2016-20 budget, which aim to address an overall shortfall of £126m.
People will be able to submit suggestions and views on topical issues, creating solutions to challenges and ideas for better serving the public and saving money. Users can also rate and comment on others’ posts, helping the Council to gather opinion on where it should invest in future.
If successful, the resource will be extended after the budget is set, crowdsourcing public opinions on different matters on an ongoing basis.
A new online planner will also seek views on how the Council should deliver services, including the way parking is charged and how the Council works with voluntary and third party organisations.
By prioritising some services using the planner, the public can see how this impacts on other services, and how saving in one area can allow additional spending in another.
Councillor Alasdair Rankin, Finance Convener, said: “We really want to hear how people want the Council to invest and save money – your views will always help us to deliver services in a way that will benefit and improve lives.
“By doing things differently and introducing our new online engagement tools, we’re making it easier than ever for people to contribute their views and ideas, and to understand the different challenges there are in setting the budget.”
Councillor Bill Cook, Finance Vice Convener, added: “Everything you say will be taken into account when we draw up the final budget proposals to be put to the Council in early 2016, so we are extremely interested in hearing your views. Whether it’s via the planner, ideas forum, survey, phone, letter, email or social media we welcome all feedback.”
At a meeting of the Finance & Resources Committee on Thursday 24 September, councillors approved a report on the draft budget, along with a set of budget proposals for public engagement over the coming months.
The full budget proposals, the budget planner and forum tools can be accessed at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/budget.
You can have your say by:
You can do this by:
Community ownership for public toilets?
Toilets at Granton Square and Canonmills will be among the first tranche of public convenience closures, it has been confirmed. The local public conveniences are among ten that will close over the summer, saving £300,000.
Ross McEwan, administrator of Granton Improvement Society, has called for the local public toilet to be acquired as a community asset.
It’s not a cr*p idea: in other areas across the country enterprising local communities have formed Trusts to save local assets – including public toilets.
One group in Devon successfully took over the running over their village toilets when faced with council closure. Not only did they save the facility, they upgraded it – with the help of Lottery funding, the villagers of Barbrook refurbished the toilets and added a community information room next door too!
During Edinburgh’s budget process in 2011, the Council agreed to reduce the budget of the Public Conveniences service by £300,000, a saving that was delayed until the 2015/2016 financial year.
Earlier this year an initial list of toilets proposed for closure was selected based on the number of people using the facilities, the conditions of the buildings, alternative facilities available in the local area and the potential for a Community Toilet Scheme.
Prior to final closure of these facilities, consultation has been undertaken with the wider community to establish views on the proposed closures and identify any steps that could be taken to lessen the effects of losing these facilities.
The results of this survey can be found here .
Following consideration of the feedback, the decision has been made to close the following toilets:
· Ardmillan – end of July 2015
· Canaan Lane – end of July 2015
· Canonmills – end of July 2015
· Currie – end of July 2015
· Granton Square – end of July 2015
· Joppa – end of August 2015
· Juniper Green – end of July 2015
· London Road – end of August 2015
· St John’s Road – end of August 2015
· Tollcross – end of August 2015.
Two other public conveniences have been spared – at least for now. The toilets at Hawes Pier and Middle Meadow Walk will not be closed at this time, while the options for these sites are reviewed.
To lessen the impact of the closures, the Council is establishing a Community Toilet Scheme with interested businesses across the city.
This would result in participating businesses allowing members of the public to use their toilet facilities without expecting them to make a purchase, in exchange for an annual payment from the Council.
A number of businesses have already expressed an interest in participating through the public toilets survey and some businesses in identified areas have also been approached with information about the Scheme.
A council spokesperson said: “The decision to close these toilets has been a difficult one and it is appreciated that there will be some impact following these closures. To help mitigate this, there have been over 60 additional toilet facilities identified in Council buildings around the city that are available for the public to use.
“These are located in various Libraries, Community Centres, Edinburgh Leisure facilities and Neighbourhood Offices; information about these toilet facilities is available here on the Council’s website.”
Nearly 20 public toilets will remain open.
If you would like to make an enquiry about public toilet closures, please call 0131 529 3030 or email public.toilets@edinburgh.gov.uk.
If you do choose to call the telephone number, be prepared for a lengthy wait … might be worth going for a pee before you call!
“The Budget today puts security first. The economic security of a country that lives within its means. The financial security of lower taxes and a new National Living Wage.
“The national security of a Britain that defends itself and its values. A plan for working people. One purpose. One policy. One nation. And I commend this Budget to the House.” – Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne
Every Chancellor loves a little drama; that opportunity to produce a rabbit from a hat and wrong-foot political opponents and leave them floundering. George Osborne took centre stage today, delivering the first Conservative budget since 1996, and in the finest traditions of vaudeville conjurers he kept something up his sleeve, saving the best ’til last – the big finish.
Yes, there was the expected £12bn cut to welfare – although over a longer time frame – and there were small giveaways here and clawbacks there, nothing too remarkable or unexpected. And then …
“In the last five years we’ve taken the tough choices to drive down our borrowing, make our business taxes competitive and reform welfare.
“It’s because we’ve taken these difficult decisions, and overcome the opposition to them, that Britain is able to afford a pay rise.
Because let me be clear: Britain deserves a pay rise and Britain is getting a pay rise.
I am today introducing a new National Living Wage.”
Now you can call it a new National Living Wage if you want, or just an increase to the National Minimum Wage if you prefer, but whatever you choose to call it, it’s a sizeable hike: more than either Labour or the SNP offered in their respective manifestos, the government has set it to reach £9 an hour by 2020.
Working people aged 25 and over will receive it, starting next April, at the rate of £7.20p.
Along with the slashing back of public expenditure through swingeing cuts to the welfare budget, the setting of a compulsory ‘National Living Wage’ is clearly designed to get the message out that this government intends to make work pay. The announcement delighted the massed Tory ranks, with architect of the benefits reforms Iain Duncan Smith (below) particularly enthusiastic. Rarely has the ‘quiet man’ been quite so animated!
Responding for the Labour Party, acting leader Harriet Harman said: “When you’re in opposition, the temptation is to oppose everything the government does – and believe me, I feel that temptation. But we best serve this country by being a grown-up and constructive opposition.
“So while we will fiercely oppose policies that hit working people, and we will expose policies that are unworkable, where the government comes forward with ideas that are sensible we will be prepared to look at them.”
On Scotland, Mr Osborne said very little: “But what really drives this government, is building up other parts of our United Kingdom, as a balance to London’s strength.
“For Scotland, we’re now delivering – as promised – major devolution of tax and welfare powers.
“The Scottish Government will soon have to answer the question; “you’ve got the powers, when are you going to use them?””
And that was it.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney called the Budget a ‘con trick’ which particularly hits low income households and young people.
He said the announced freeze in working age benefits and cuts to tax credits will see the most vulnerable in our society continue to be hit the hardest whilst the revised minimum wage fails to deliver a real living wage.
Mr Swinney said: “The reality is this budget is an attack on the low paid, the young and those entering the jobs market. This budget is a series of con tricks to try and hide the fact that individual households will now bear the brunt of austerity cuts.
“I support a meaningful living wage paid for by business – one that pays what people need to live, not one that fails to compensate for cuts to valuable tax credits.
“The Chancellor has not even promised to meet the current living wage of £7.85 and under 25’s will face the brunt of cuts but receive no increase in wages.
“As the Resolution Foundation – cited by the Chancellor – make clear the real living wage is based on people receiving tax credits and housing benefit so any new living wage must be far higher to compensate for it. The Chancellor’s con trick does not come close to meeting those costs.
“The Chancellor is cutting from the poor whilst paying out to the rich, he is short changing those on low incomes whilst giving tax breaks to the better off.
“There has been no easing up on austerity – he has simply shifted some of the balance from public services to the public themselves. The Scottish Government has faced a 10% cut in our overall budget for the last five years and the Chancellor today said deficit reduction would take place at the same pace in the future. Overall the scale of austerity being imposed by this UK Government remains unchanged.
“Despite revising down productivity and export figures in each of the next four years there was little in this budget to boost productivity or to set out a strategy for growth.
“The reality is that in delivering his emergency budget the Chancellor has simply exacerbated the emergency situation faced by many on low pay and low incomes.”
The Budget in summary:
1. Introducing a new National Living Wage of over £9 an hour by 2020
From April 2016, a new National Living Wage of £7.20 an hour for the over 25s will be introduced. This will rise to over £9 an hour by 2020.
2. The government will run a surplus in 2019-20
The deficit will be reduced by around 1% of GDP (the value of the economy as a whole) on average in each year, which is the same pace as over the last 5 years. This means a surplus (where more tax is raised than is spent) will be achieved in 2019-20, and debt will fall in every year. Included in this is:
Plans for the remaining savings will be set out in the autumn following the spending review.
3. The tax-free Personal Allowance will be increased from £10,600 in 2015-16 to £11,000 in April 2016
The tax-free Personal Allowance – the amount people earn before they have to start paying Income Tax – will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17.
Increases to the Personal Allowance since 2010, when it was £6,475, mean that a typical taxpayer will be £905 a year better off in 2016-17.
The government has an ambition to increase the Personal Allowance to £12,500 by 2020, and a law will be introduced so that once it reaches this level, people working 30 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage won’t pay Income Tax at all.
4. Protecting defence spending
The Ministry of Defence’s budget will rise by 0.5% (above inflation) each year to 2020-21. Up to an additional £1.5 billion a year will also be available by 2020-21 to fund increased spending on the military and intelligence agencies.
The government will meet the NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade.
5. Reforming the welfare system to make it more affordable
The welfare system will be reformed to make it fairer for taxpayers who pay for it, while continuing to support the most vulnerable. Changes include:
6. Reforming Dividend Tax
The dividend tax credit (which reduces the amount of tax paid on income from shares) will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance for all taxpayers from April 2016. Tax rates on dividend income will be increased.
This simpler system will mean that only those with significant dividend income will pay more tax. Investors with modest income from shares will see either a tax cut or no change in the amount of tax they owe.
7. Taking the family home out of Inheritance Tax
Currently, Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on estates over the tax-free allowance of £325,000 per person. Married couples and civil partners can pass any unused allowance on to one another.
From April 2017, each individual will be offered a family home allowance so they can pass their home on to their children or grandchildren tax-free after their death. This will be phased in from 2017-18.
The family home allowance will be added to the existing £325,000 Inheritance Tax threshold, meaning the total tax-free allowance for a surviving spouse or civil partner will be up to £1 million in 2020-21.
The allowance will be gradually withdrawn for estates worth more than £2 million.
8. The amount people with an income of more than £150,000 can pay tax-free into a pension will be reduced
Most people can contribute up to £40,000 a year to their pension tax-free. From April 2016, this amount will be reduced for individuals with incomes of over £150,000, including pension contributions.
9. The higher rate threshold will increase from £42,385 in 2015-16 to £43,000 in 2016-17
The amount people will have to earn before they pay tax at 40% will increase from £42,385 in 2015-16 to £43,000 in 2016-17.
10. Corporation Tax will be cut to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020
The main rate of Corporation Tax has already been cut from 28% in 2010 to 20%, in order to boost UK competitiveness. It will now fall further, from 20% to 19% in 2017, and then to 18% in 2020, benefiting over a million businesses.
11. The annual investment allowance will be set at its highest ever permanent level at £200,000
The annual investment allowance, which has previously been increased temporarily, will be set permanently at £200,000 from January 2016.
The allowance means businesses can deduct the full value of certain items, including equipment and machinery, up to a total value of £200,000 from their profits before tax. This helps them with cash flow because it means the full tax relief is given in the year items are purchased, rather than over several years.
This permanent increase will help businesses plan their spending on longer-term investments.
12. The Employment Allowance will increase by a further £1,000 to £3,000
Businesses will have their employer National Insurance bill cut by another £1,000 from April 2016, as the Employment Allowance rises from £2,000 to £3,000. The Employment Allowance gives businesses and charities a cut in the employer National Insurance they pay.
This means, next year, businesses will be able to employ 4 people full time on the National Living Wage and pay no National Insurance at all.
13. The standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax will increase to 9.5%
From November 2015 the standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax will be increased from 6% to 9.5%. Households’ insurance prices are falling and the standard rate remains lower than that of many other EU countries.
14. Clamping down on nuisance calls from claims management companies
The amount that can be charged by claims management companies – such as those that encourage claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) or personal injury insurance – will be capped, reducing nuisance calls to potential customers.
15. Restricting tax relief for wealthier landlords
Currently, individual landlords can deduct their costs – including mortgage interest – from their profits before they pay tax, giving them an advantage over other home buyers. Wealthier landlords receive tax relief at 40% and 45%. This tax relief will be restricted to 20% for all individuals by April 2020.
In addition, from April 2016, the ‘wear and tear allowance’, which allows landlords to reduce the tax they pay (regardless of whether they replace furnishings in their property) will also be replaced by a new system that only allows them to get tax relief when they replace furnishings.
16. Ending permanent non-dom status
Non-domiciled individuals (non-doms) live in the UK but consider their permanent home to be elsewhere. The UK rules allow non-doms to pay UK tax on their offshore income only when they bring it into the UK.
Permanent non-dom status will be abolished from April 2017. From that date, anyone who’s been resident in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will be considered UK-domiciled for tax purposes.
17. Reforming the way banks are taxed
Following increasing bank profits, and to reflect changes in bank regulation, the government is:
18. 3 million new apprenticeships
3 million new apprenticeships will be created by 2020, funded by a levy on large employers. Firms that are committed to training will be able to get back more than they put in.
19. £30 million of funding for Transport for the North
Cities and counties in the North will be given even more control over local transport. Transport for the North (TfN) will be supported by £30 million in funding over 3 years, and will have more responsibility for setting out policy and investments.
20. 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds
From September 2017, working families with 3 and 4 year olds will receive 30 hours of free childcare – an increase from the 15 hours they’re currently offered.
21. Student maintenance grants will be replaced with loans
From the 2016-17 academic year, cash support for new students will increase by £766 to £8,200 a year, the highest level ever for students from low-income households. New maintenance loan support will replace student grants. Loans will be paid back only when graduates earn above £21,000 a year.
22. Road tax will be reformed and the money raised spent on the road network
The road tax system will be revised to make it fairer and sustainable. From 2017, there will be a flat rate of £140 for most cars, except in the first year when tax will remain linked to the CO2 emissions that cars produce. Electric cars won’t pay any road tax at all and the most expensive cars will pay more.
Existing cars won’t be affected – no one will pay more for a car that they already own. The money brought in from road tax in England will be spent on England’s roads from 2020.
The government will extend the deadline for the first MOT of new cars and motorcycles from 3 years to 4 years.
23. Public sector pay will increase by 1%
Public sector pay will increase by 1% a year for 4 years from 2016-17.
24. Making sure individuals and businesses pay what they owe
The government will continue to clamp down on tax avoidance, planning and evasion, as well as increasing resources for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) so they can make sure people pay the tax that’s due. This includes:
“Never has the gap between the chancellor’s rhetoric and the reality of people’s lives been greater” – Labour leader Ed Miliband
“Mr Deputy Speaker, five years ago I had to present to this House an Emergency Budget. Today I present the Budget of an economy stronger in every way from the one we inherited. The Budget of an economy taking another big step from austerity to prosperity.
We cut the deficit – and confidence is returning.
We limited spending, made work pay, backed business – and growth is returning.
We gave people control over their savings and helped people own their own homes – and optimism is returning.
We have provided clear decisive economic leadership – and from the depths Britain is returning.
The share of national income taken up by debt – falling.
The deficit down.
Growth up.
Jobs up.
Living standards on the rise.
Britain on the rise.
This is the Budget for Britain. The Comeback Country.”
So concluded Chancellor George Osbourne at the end of yesterday’s budget statement. Mr Osborne painted a picture of Great Britain brought back from the abyss by a resolute government’s astute economic management. Yes, there were a few pre-election sweeteners in there too but in the main this was a steady-as-you-go budget with one clear message to voters – the job isn’t finished so don’t let Labour loose on the economy; they will wreck the ongoing recovery and undo all the good work of the last five years.
Welcoming the statement Scottish Secretary Alsitair Carmichael said the budget will bring in a range of measures which will support key Scottish business sectors, workers and families across Scotland.
The Chancellor announced significant changes to the tax system which will see 2.33 million people in Scotland take advantage of more generous personal allowances, benefiting by an average of £555 in real terms.
The allowance will increase to £10,800 in 2016-17 and to £11,000 in 2017-18. This means people in Scotland will be able to keep more of their pay before being taxed. This also means 287,000 people in Scotland will have been taken out of paying income tax altogether.
The Scottish Government will benefit from additional funding of £31 million in 2015-16 through Barnett consequentials. This means it has seen additional spending power of £2.7 billion since 2010.
This Budget also delivers a substantial package of support for important Scottish industries including the oil and gas sector, the Scotch whisky industry and the video games industry, much of which is centred in Dundee, will benefit from a £4m support package.
Vehicle owners will also benefit from the cancellation of the September 2015 fuel duty increase. By the end of 2015-16, a typical motorist will have saved £675, a small business with a van £1,400 and a haulier £21,000.
Mr Carmichael said: “This Budget is another positive step forward for Scotland in the wider journey to economic stability which has taken place over the past five years.
It gets the important things right, with a focus on helping create a fairer and more generous personal tax system which will benefit thousands of people in Scotland and giving a helping hand to some of our key business sectors, securing jobs and prosperity for the future.
This progress has been hard-won by this Government and builds a strong base for Scotland’s economic future as part of the UK.”
It wasn’t what was announced, it was the things that weren’t mentioned that worry government critics. Labour leader Ed Miliband said Osborne’s budget statement made ‘no mention of investment in our National Health Service and our vital public services’ and added: “Never has the gap between the chancellor’s rhetoric and the reality of people’s lives been greater.”
Mr Miliband said: “Mr Deputy Speaker, never has the gap between the Chancellor’s rhetoric and the reality of people’s lives been greater than today. This is a Budget people won’t believe from a government that is not on their side. Because of their record, because of their instincts, because of their plans for the future and because of a Budget, most extraordinarily, that had no mention of investment in our National Health Service and our vital public services. It’s a budget people won’t believe from a government they don’t trust.”
He added that the Tories also plan to cut NHS spending – ‘That is the secret plan that dare not speak its name today.’
The Scottish government’s reaction was also less then appreciative. Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “The Chancellor had every opportunity to end the damaging cuts from the UK Government and has instead turned his back on investment in public services.
“We face the same £30 billion of unfair and unnecessary cuts today as we did yesterday. That is despite the clear admission from the Chancellor that there is headroom to invest to protect our public services.
“If we are to believe the Chancellor that the economy is making such a successful recovery, then there is no justification for the destructive cuts that impact on the most vulnerable in society. That tells you everything you need to know about the values and priorities of this Chancellor.”
Commenting on the ‘U-turn’ on the North Sea fiscal regime, Mr Swinney said:
“Measures to safeguard the North Sea are a step in the right direction for our oil and gas sector. The Scottish Government has been calling for such measures, along with the industry, for some time. Today’s measures are a glaring admission by the Chancellor that his policy for the North Sea has been wrong and the poor stewardship by the UK Government has had a detrimental impact on our oil and gas sector and the many people who work in the industry. It has taken the Chancellor four years to admit the tax rise he implemented in 2011 was a mistake. A heavy price has been paid for this mismanagement.
“Today I cautiously welcome the U-turn by the UK Government to take action on the future of the North Sea. We will study the proposals in detail. It is now essential that work is focussed on boosting investment and growth in the North Sea sector.”
The Scottish Greens also criticised Mr Osborne’s ‘fantasy economy’. They said the Chancellor’s rosy depiction of the economy is not being felt on the ground, with low wages, ins, inecure employment and welfare sanctions continuing to reinforce poverty and inequality in the UK.
The Greens are leading a debate in Holyrood today on in-work poverty, and are campaigning for a £10 minimum wage by 2020. Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow, said: “This is not a plan to make the UK a fairer or more sustainable society. Instead of an eye-watering £1.3 billion subsidy for fossil fuels, the Chancellor could have provided a gigantic boost to locally-owned clean energy or backed the return of our railways to public hands.
“This Coalition has delivered five years of hacking away at the public good and at the foundations of our welfare state. It’s been a devastating and costly campaign by an elite in Westminster and the prospect of another round should terrify everyone who is fighting for social justice in this country.”
Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian, said: “The Westminster coalition try to paint a rosy picture but what they describe will seem to many like a fantasy economy, far removed from the reality of rising rents, insecure low paid work and the misery of welfare cuts. The Greens want to see a £10 minimum wage and the small rises announced today are completely inadequate in a world of extreme high pay at the top.”
Wednesday was show day, today is the day the boffins scrutinise the Budget in fine detail. I wonder what they’ll discover as they pick through the bones?
Today’s UK Budget provides the last opportunity for the Chancellor to scrap his failed austerity measures Deputy First Minister John Swinney said today. He said the final budget ahead of the General Election should be focused on delivering economic growth by tackling inequality.
In his final call to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget the Deputy First Minister urged him to scrap his failed economic policy. In the June 2010 Budget, the Chancellor stated that the UK Government was ‘on track to have debt falling and a balanced structural current budget by the end of this Parliament’. He has failed on both measures. Rather than debt falling as a share of GDP in 2014-15, it is now forecast to continue rising. Likewise, instead of running a structural current budget surplus in 2014-15, the UK Government is now forecast to run a structural current deficit of almost £50 billion (2.7% of GDP).
Speaking ahead of the UK Budget John Swinney said: “The current UK Government’s economic policy is fundamentally flawed and is damaging Scotland’s recovery. Despite the deep spending cuts we have seen, the Chancellor has not achieved the deficit reduction targets he set himself in his first budget in 2010.
“Between 2009/10 – 2014/15, Scotland’s budget has fallen by around 11% in real terms, within this capital expenditure has fallen by around 34%. This means our budget has been cut by a staggering £3.5 billion in real terms since 2009/10.
“And it doesn’t stop there. Scotland’s cumulative share of the cuts to day-to-day public spending over the 5 years to 2019-20 is forecast to be worth around £14.5 billion compared to 2014/15 levels.
“There is an alternative. George Osborne can use today’s budget to stop these deep cuts and grow our economy instead.
“The Scottish Government is doing all it can, within its limited powers, to support Scottish finances. The latest Scottish GDP figures show the economy grew by 3.0 per cent over the year to Q3 2014 – the fastest annual rate of growth in seven years – while the number of people in employment has risen by 180,000 since its post-crisis low in Spring 2010 and is now at a record high of over 2.6 million.
“However, successive UK budgets and Autumn Statements have undermined the Scottish Government’s ability to support economic revival, particularly through the significant cuts the Chancellor has made to capital investment over the spending review period and, in some cases, the in-year reductions he has made to the Scottish Government’s published spending plans.
“In addition to our proposals on austerity, the Budget must also deliver a permanent shift to a more competitive and predictable north sea oil tax regime, which will allow investors to shift their focus away from fiscal risk and towards the significant investment opportunities that remain in the North Sea.
“The Scottish Government has set out three key priorities for fiscal reform at this Budget:
“I hope that the Chancellor will have listened to reasoned proposals ahead of delivering his budget and that economic growth and tackling inequality will be given equal representation in this final budget before the General Election.”
The Chancellor will deliver his budget speech at 12:30.
‘It’s a broken council which is failing it’s people and this budget must be rejected’ – Linda Garcia, WIG group
Councillors have set Edinburgh’s budget after a marathon meeting at the City Chambers yesterday. A raft of deputations from across the city urged the council to reject a budget package of cuts and service reorganisation aimed at saving £22 million this year, but councillors voted to approved the budget.
Leading the deputations was Royston Wardieburn Community Centre’s Women’s International Group (WIG). Royston Wardieburn was the city’s very first purpose-built community centre – it first opened in 1965. Two years ago – after years of hard work by the management committee – a brand new centre was opened, but members fear that all that good work could be undone by proposals to change the way community centres are operated.
WIG’s Anna Hutchison told councillors: “We are very concerned about these proposals. We have achieved a great deal in our Centre in recent years, but there is still a great deal of work to be done and we cannot build on our achievements when everything keep changing.
“Cutting CLD (community learning and development) staff and removing them from centres seems very short-sighted given that the Scottish Government is now requiring all councils to produce a CLD plan stating how they intend to build stronger, more influential and inclusive communities and improve life chances through learning and active citizenship.”
She warned that voluntary management committee members would ‘walk away’ if proposals to change the role of CLD staff in the running of community centres is implemented.
WIG’s Linda Garcia added: “We do not accept the proposed budget. We do not accept the way Edinburgh’s finances are being run. We do not accept that inequality, poverty and powerlessness are inevitable in our communities.
“We have been ‘trained’ to believe that no alternative (to cuts) is possible and that achieving a decent and fair society is just too damn complicated, so best not to try! We do not accept that this is the case. We want a council which puts citizens at it’s heart”.
“We believe that this budget is unacceptable to the citizens of Edinburgh. Unfortunately, despite a string of scandals, the Council seems unable to change. It is a broken Council which is failing it’s people and this budget must be rejected”.
“We demand that you join the campaign to secure additional funding from the Scottish and Westminster governments to safeguard our public services.
“We demand that you support Unite’s campaign to restructure the £1.2 billion debt owed by the Public Works Loan Board – paying £56 million in interest charges each year is completely unacceptable.
“We demand that the Scottish Parliament orders a Public Inquiry to examine the mismanagement of this Council, the numerous scandals and cover-ups by successive administrations.
She concluded: “We demand that you return power to the people.”
The group, joined by supporters in the public gallery, then serenaded councillors with a song! Based on the original Italian partisan song Bella Ciao, WIG’s words are:
The public sector is for the people
Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao
The public sector is for the people
Not for sale to profiteers.
Oh we are singing for education
Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao
We are singing for education
And an equal right to learn.
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer
Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer,
Unnecessary and unfair.
They cut the funding, they cut the workers
Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao
They cut the funding, they cut the workers
Ain’t no ‘Big Society’.
Following that musical interlude, WIG were followed by a succession of deputations from across the city, each one urging the city to think again. EVOC, Edinburgh East Save Our Services, Edinburgh Tenants Federation, Edinburgh Trade Union Council, UNITE Edinburgh Not for Profit Branch, Edinburgh Anti-Cuts Alliance, Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links, UNISON and the EIS: each one advanced powerful arguments – but ultimately each one was unsuccessful as councillors voted to press ahead with the cuts.
Protecting frontline services in Edinburgh for young, old and vulnerable residents was a priority at the budget meeting, according to senior councillors. Investment in roads and pavements, investing in school infrastructure and working towards the redevelopment of Meadowbank Sports Centre and Stadium were other key priority areas.
Councillors say public opinion expressed during the recent budget consultation helped to influence key decisions as they attempted to balance the city’s books.
Cllr Alasdair Rankin, Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: “Given the financial challenges all local authorities are facing over the next few years, we want to invest in the areas that are essential to Edinburgh and so it is important that the public continue to tell us what is important to them.
“This year we published the draft budget in October and 3,525 people gave us their views – five times the number of responses compared to last year. We also used a new online planner to give respondents the opportunity to express what they feel the Council’s priorities should be. The planner allowed us to show where we will incur costs in 2017/18, to demonstrate the impacts of increasing or decreasing spending in all of our services. This was extremely popular and 1,719 of those people took Edinburgh’s Budget Challenge.
Cllr Bill Cook, Vice-Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: “We used the feedback received during the consultation process to help us make many key decisions such as maintaining funding for homelessness services, not increasing allotment charges and putting an extra £5m towards improving roads and pavements.”
The eight successive year’s Council Tax freeze maintains Edinburgh’s band D rate as the lowest of Scotland’s four major cities.
The council tax band levels for Edinburgh in 2015/16 will be:
A: £779.33
B: £909.22
C: £1,039.11
D: £1,169.00
E: £1,428.78
F: £1,688.56
G: £1,948.33
H: £2,338.00
The total revenue budget is £949m for 2015/16. Council Tax funds 25% of this with 75% coming from Government grants and business rates. The total capital budget (including the HRA) is £245m.
Key budget provisions:
Ensuring every child in Edinburgh has the best start in life
– Allocated an additional £5m of capital to support rising school rolls
– More than £4m invested in Early Years Change Fund for services for the very youngest children
Ensuring Edinburgh, and its residents, are well cared-for
– Maintaining funding for commissioned homelessness services
Providing for Edinburgh’s economic growth and prosperity
– Maintaining £1m to continue supporting the Edinburgh Guarantee, helping improve job opportunities for young people
– Support the Strategic Investment Fund with an additional £4.5m
Strengthening and supporting our communities and keeping them safe
– Continuing to invest in community policing
– Allocating an additional £100,000 to each neighbourhood to allow local people to have an even greater say in how their area can be improved
Investing in roads, pavements and cycling infrastructure
– An additional £5m investment in roads and pavements taking the total to £20m
– Commit 8% of the transport revenue and capital budgets for creation and maintenance of cycle infrastructure
Becoming more efficient
– Delivery of procurement transformational efficiencies
– Implementing the Better Outcomes Leaner Delivery (BOLD) programme
– Reducing the head count of the organisation by developing existing staff, revising roles and responsibilities and implementing structural change in the organisation through the ’Organise to deliver’ programme
– Maximising income
– Maximising savings through the rationalisation of the Council’s property estate
– Reducing carbon footprint and generating income through strategic energy projects
While the council argues that front line services are being protected, campaigners believe city councillors have let the capital down.
One Unite member who attended the lobby said: “This is a sad day for Edinburgh. You might have thought that a Labour-led council, supported by the SNP, would stand up for workers and communities – well, today’s vote shows you can think again. You can’t cut 1200 jobs without it having a huge effect on services and the people who will suffer most are the people in the poorest communities, the people who depend most on council services. People are angry – and rightly so, because these cuts will do real damage. Edinburgh is a rich city, yet our politicians vote through cuts on this scale? It’s shocking – they should be ashamed.”
A member of the Anti-Cuts Coalition added: “Deputation after deputation urged the council to reject this budget but it’s clear the councillors had already made their minds up. They blame Westminster, they blame Holyrood but at the end of the day our councillors have got to take a long, hard look at themselves.
“They have got to make a stand – if local councillors won’t support and fight for their communities, who will?
“Communities are being treated with contempt and remember – these cuts are just the start. We are facing another two years of austerity budgets, with more services slashed and hundreds of jobs lost – and when members of the public wake up to that it will be too late.”
Visit our Facebook page to see a webcast of the Budget meeting
http://l.facebook.com/l/PAQGWhuX2/www.edinburgh.public-i.tv/core/share/open/webcast/0/0/0/0//webcast/0/0/0
You’ll find pictures of the lobby there too
‘residents are well aware of the cuts that come from the council tax freeze and general reduction in council funding’ – Cllr Gavin Corbett
Budget cuts of £28.5 million could be avoided if Edinburgh had similar powers to councils elsewhere in the UK and Europe, according to the capital’s six-strong group of Green councillors. The city council sets it’s budget tomorrow and councillors look likely to approve swathing cuts to public services.
The Greens have published an alternative budget paper which shows how £25.7 million of extra income could be raised by giving the council modest extra powers such as a visitor levy and greater flexibility with council tax.
This, say the Greens, would mean extra priority for care for older people, funding for charities and community learning as well as new investment in school conditions and sports facilities.
Green Finance Spokesperson Cllr Gavin Corbett said: “Less than a year ago the Commission for Local Democracy showed that, across Europe, councils with comparable responsibilities to Edinburgh typically control 50-60% of their income, through local taxes and charges.
“In Edinburgh, those powers have been reduced to almost nothing, with dire consequences for local services. Indeed, the council’s biggest-ever budget consultation exercise showed that residents are well aware of the cuts that come from the council tax freeze and general reduction in council funding.
“So what I propose today is modest and affordable – less than 4% of overall spending – asking for the right to put to Edinburgh residents a choice to raising a bit more income in order to strengthen budgets for swimming pools, care services, community centres, homelessness charities and schools.
“I’m confident that, given that choice, investment in services would come ahead of an austerity-driven race to the bottom.”
The City of Edinburgh Council budget is set on 12 February 2015. A package of £28.5 million of cuts or savings has been proposed from a £962 million budget. Of the£28.5 million package, £5.2 million non-frontline cuts have already been approved last October.
Services under threat include:
– £4.3 million cut to charities and other third-party service providers
– Over £5 million cut to health and social care at a time of increasing demand
– £1.4 million cut to Edinburgh Leisure which runs swimming pools and sports facilities.
– £0.6 million cut to community learning and development
Other likely cuts include the closure of public toilets, reduction in library hours, nursery and childcare funding.
Five-fold increase in public response to budget proposals – but only 3500 take the opportunity to have their say
es more responses than last year have been received through the City of Edinburgouncil’s budget engagement and consultation exercise.
The results are detailed in a report which will be considered by the Finance and Resources Committee on Tuesday, 3 February. The Council received comments on topics such as allotments, early years and adult education, Edinburgh Leisure, library opening hours, public toilets, homelessness and third party grants.
For the first time the Council used a new online tool enabling residents to have their say on how the Capital invests and saves over the next three years.e report includes feedback from around 3,525 Edinburgh residents, key stakeholders and local businesses including 1,719 people who used the online planner.
The city’s population is around 490,000.
The Council also received 782 telephone calls, emails and letters,145 budget leaflets were returned and 524 comments were made through social media.
A budget question time event was also attended by over 40 people, viewed by 200 people on the live webcast and watched another 862 times using the archive.
In order to meaningfully engage with a larger and more diverse group, the online planner allowed the Council to show where it expects to incur costs in 2017/18, to demonstrate the impacts of increasing or decreasing spending in all of its services, and to give respondents the opportunity to express what they feel the Council’s priorities should be. Impacts shown in the planner were indicative of what might happen as a result of budget changes. The Council also asked for public views on this year’s 2015/16 budget proposals.
Cllr Alasdair Rankin, Convener of the Finance and Resource Committee, said: “I would like to thank the thousands of residents and businesses who took part in this open and democratic 11-week engagement and consultation process. A broad range of channels were used to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to have their say as an individual and or as a group to influence how the Council should invest and save money.
“The Council received five times more feedback through this year’s budget engagement and consultation than last year. The online planner was extremely successful and we ensured it was promoted to all age groups and people from all walks of life to help us understand more fully where Edinburgh residents think Council money should be invested and saved. We will be taking this success and working with people right through the year to develop a more participatory process throughout the city.
“The comments and the results of the budget planner are now being carefully considered along with all the other feedback we received. This will help us to make the right decisions for our residents now and in the future when setting our budget. I would encourage people to watch councillors making these important decisions for the city live, via our website, or catch up afterwards on the webcast archive.”
The budget for 2015/16 will be set at a meeting, which will be webcast, on Thursday 12 February.
Did you have your say on the city council’s budget proposals? Have you got the taste for balancing the books? Well, you now have the opportunity to give Chancellor George Osborne some timely Budget advice. Read on …
What would you like to see in Budget 2015?
The government is seeking your views on what you would like to see in Budget 2015, which will take place on Wednesday 18 March.
The government encourages open and transparent policy-making, and welcomes original and innovative ideas. Your views will be considered by HM Treasury as part of the policy-making process.
Please submit your representation by filling in our short survey.
If you would prefer to submit your representation as a file attachment, please email budget.representations@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk
For information on the correct procedure for submitting your representation, please view the guidance.
To allow for full consideration in advance of the Budget, any submission should be sent to HM Treasury by Friday 13 February
Follow HM Treasury on Twitter for all of our latest news and Budget coverage.
