The findings of an independent review into how the Council handled allegations of misconduct have been published.
Led by former Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion, the investigation focused on how the Council handled any allegations made, the policy and procedures in place to deal with similar types of allegations and what improvements, if any, could be made to safeguard against any inappropriate behaviour in future.
Following his appointment in February, Mr Dunion carried out a detailed review of relevant council policies, reports and other documents, webcasts of council meetings and 35 structured interviews. He also received 20 written representations from current and former councillors and staff.
In his report, which will be considered by councillors at a council meeting next Thursday (19 June), he concludes that complaints were, for the most part, handled properly and that the policies and procedures in place are broadly effective. In particular, he states that the recent allegations were ‘well handled and properly considered in line with the Council’s policies’.
However, he did identify issues with how previous concerns were dealt with and makes a series of recommendations around the Council’s complaints procedures and whistleblowing policy – in particular around the safeguarding of victims and/ or those making a complaint.
He also recommends further consideration of councillors’ conduct, their interactions with staff and the appropriateness of some social events in the City Chambers.
Chief Executive Paul Lawrence said: “I want to thank Kevin Dunion for leading this sensitive review and for his report, not least given the complexity of the brief and tight timescales.
“I know this must have been challenging and a difficult experience for many people and I particularly want to thank those who came forward to be interviewed or provided information to the review. Your input is very much appreciated.
“Subject to approval by councillors next Thursday, we will bring a further report back to the Policy and Sustainability Committee in August, outlining our proposed actions in response to Mr Dunion’s recommendations.”
Following the visit of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to The Eric Liddell Community in April this year, local Councillor Marie-Clair Munro brought forward a Congratulatory Motion that received cross-party support.
The motion formally recognises the charity’s vital work, championed by Her Royal Highness, in delivering specialised dementia care across Edinburgh and establishing a welcoming hub to combat loneliness and isolation.
Last Friday (6 June), Councillor Munro visited The Eric Liddell Community to present the motion in person. The recognition was formally handed to Irene Adams OBE, Chair of The Eric Liddell Community, and Paul Drury, Head of Fundraising and Community Services.
Councillor Munro was in attendance as Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal made her first appearance at The Eric Liddell Community since becoming the Royal Patron of the charity. Following this event, the local councillor has praised the charity for its ongoing commitment to supporting the local community and shining a light on the importance of compassionate, person-centred care.
Councillor Munro said: “I was honoured to be invited along to The Eric Liddell Community in April to be in attendance and meet Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, during her first official visit as Royal Patron of the Charity.
“I have always admired the important work that The Eric Liddell Community does within our local area and further beyond and have had the pleasure of working with the team during a range of events, including as part of The Eric Liddell 100 programme in 2024.
“Following my interaction with Her Royal Highness, I was inspired to write this Congratulatory Motion to mark my support of the incredible work being done, and I am proud to say that this has received cross-party backing, highlighting the esteem in which the organisation is held.”
The Eric Liddell Community is delighted to see the support shown by Councillor Munro and those who backed the motion, local backing is invaluable in enabling the charity to provide help for some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable people and families whilst continuing to share the legacy of The Flying Scotsman, Eric Liddell.
Chair of The Eric Liddell Community, Irene Adams OBE, expressed her gratitude, adding:“Everybody at The Eric Liddell Community would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Councillor Munro and her cross-party supporters for presenting us with such meaningful recognition for the work that we do.
“Through working with individuals such as Councillor Munro and Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, we have the opportunity to expand our services and provide support to those who need it most.”
This June, The Eric Liddell Community is proud to launch its annual Summer Appeal, with a focus on recognising the vital contributions of unpaid carers.
These individuals provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often without formal recognition or access to resources. At the heart of this year’s appeal is the Community’s Befriending Project, which continues to make a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of those caring for people living with dementia.
By offering emotional support and meaningful connection, the project helps to ease isolation and enhance quality of life for carers, acknowledging the incredible role they play in our community.
Continuing Travelling Gallery’s 2025 programme is a group exhibition exploring ways to connect with our worlds through other-than-human perspectives.
Challenging the boundaries between culture and nature, the exhibition looks to destabilise colonial systems, categories, and hierarchies, that tend to favour scientific theory and marginalise ancestral knowledges and indigenous cosmologies.
Curated with Jelena Sofronijevic, and featuring work by artists Emii Alrai, Iman Datoo, Remi Jabłecki, Radovan Kraguly, Zeljko Kujundzic, Leo Robinson and Amba Sayal-Bennett, the exhibition brings together a variety of contemporary artistic practices, including drawing, printmaking, sculpture and film, that reimagine our collective understandings and visions of places and times.
Common across the works in the exhibition is the use of the seed as a means to think about and connect themes concerning ecologies, environments, and migration. For some, the seed represents a world of its own, a self-contained body or cell, capable of crossing borders.
For others, it serves as a starting point for alternative possibilities and ways of being. Many of the artists have researched specific seeds, in their ‘native’ soils, and displaced in banks and libraries.
The potato is offered as an incidental ‘root’ to many of their works. In the film, Kinnomic Botany (2022), Iman Datoo draws upon research in the Commonwealth Potato Collection at the James Hutton Institute near Dundee, the UK’s largest collection of potato seeds, to challenge dominant taxonomies or ways of classifying lives.
More speculative connections can be made between Remi Jabłecki and Radovan Kraguly’s practices. The former’s futuristic sculptures remind us of the otherworldly, even alien qualities of these most earthly and everyday British crops, with the artist using them as a means to think about transformation and personal growth.
Kraguly’s prints,though as detailed as scientific and botanical illustrations, are similarly cosmic, avoiding categorisation in their ambiguous representations and titles.
Reflecting on relations of control between humans and nature, his works also illustrate the role of different pastoral and agricultural environments in the formation of the artist’s own identity and early adoption of ‘climate politics’, connecting his formative experiences growing up on a farm in the former Yugoslavia, to his later practice in rural Wales.
Amba Sayal-Bennett’s architectural sculptures Kern (2024) and Phlo (2024) are part of the artist’s investigations into rubber, a commodity once so highly demanded its value surpassed that of silver. In a mission facilitated by the British government, Henry Wickham stole and trafficked 70,000 rubber seeds from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in 1876.
Transported to Kew Gardens in London, they were then dispersed to British colonies for cultivation. Its plural uses and potential for profit led to its proliferation across the globe – yet the soil in India refused to take the seeds, which the artist puts forward as a form of environmental resistance to the colonial project.
Artist Emii Alrai, by contrast, focusses on excavation, exploring archaeology, Western museological structures, and the complex process of ruination.
Scotland has proved fertile land for many of the artists’ practices, yet, for some, SEEDLINGS presents the first opportunity to experience their works in these contexts.
Born in Subotica, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), Zeljko Kujundzic lived and worked in Edinburgh between 1948 and 1958, before moving with his partner and frequent collaborator, Ann, and their children, to British Columbia (BC).
His developed, complex work in ceramic sculpture, often featuring the thunderbird, a mythological bird-like spirit widespread in North American indigenous and First Nation cultures and storytelling, is deeply rooted in these early experiences.
Yet his part in Edinburgh’s growing artistic community, and work with artists and writers like Ian Hamilton Finlay, Nannie Katharin Wells, Bernard Leach, and Joan Faithfull, has, thus far, been walked over, in more conventional art histories.
A selection of archive materials concerning his invention of the solar kiln, unearthed from public and private collections across the UK and Canada, are presented here for the first time – the exhibition itself seeking to germinate future research.
The exhibition will also include a newly commissioned essay, How does a tree fit inside a seed?, exploring the artists’ works, both individually, and as constellated in the exhibition, by the curator Jelena Sofronijevic.
The text journeys through the construction and overlapping uses of terms like ‘native’ and, ‘invasive’, ‘indigenous’, ‘naturalisation’, and ‘dispersal’, to challenge binaries between beings, and consider ideas of home, identity, and belonging in the context of diasporas.
Launched in Edinburgh on Calton Hill (outside the Collective Gallery) on Friday 6 June. the exhibition will tour to arts venues, community centres, high streets and schools across Scotland including in the Western Isles, Glasgow, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, North Lanarkshire, Scottish Borders before culminating at Edinburgh Art Festival in August.
It is accompanied by a series of interventions on social media, highlighting the artists’ connections to the places of our tour, and a number of talks, tours, and workshops, including with artist Leo Robinson.
Details of confirmed tour dates and venues can be found on the Travelling Gallery website.
Louise Briggs, Curator, Travelling Gallery said: “It has been a real pleasure to work with Jelena Sofronijevic on this exhibition and to be introduced to the work of a number of artists, many of whom have interesting connections to Edinburgh and Scotland through their work & research as well as their personal & professional lives.
“This exhibition continues to explore our annual theme looking at The Environment and Climate Emergency.
“We hope SEEDLINGS will offer visitors a new way of thinking about our relationship with, and connection to nature and may encourage them to perhaps think about our worlds and our interconnectedness in different ways.”
Culture and Communities Convener Margaret Graham, said: “The Travelling Gallery is a unique and fantastic example of how art can and should be accessible for all. I’m delighted that, with our support, the Gallery has been able to remove barriers to art by taking powerful and thought-provoking exhibitions into communities across Scotland.
“This year’s exhibition not only invites us to engage with outstanding contemporary works but also encourages us to reflect on the world through different lenses.
“With such a talented group of artists involved, I encourage everyone to visit when the gallery sets off this week.”
Additional thanks go to: All of the exhibiting artists; Nena Kraguly; Family and Friends of Kujundzic; The City of Edinburgh Council; Creative Scotland; City Art Centre, Edinburgh; Government Art Collection; Ingleby Gallery; Carbon 12 Gallery; Palmer Gallery; and the University of British Columbia Library Rare Books and Special Collections, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
With over 46,000 hours of unpaid work time carried out in Edinburgh in the year 2024-25, residents are being asked to share their views on Community Payback Orders (CPO).
CPOs are given by the Court to people to pay for their crimes as an alternative to a prison sentence, with local communities putting forward ideas to their local authority for the unpaid work carried out where they live.
Edinburgh residents are now being encouraged to feed back on the unpaid work that has been carried out in their area and how it has helped the local community. There is also the chance to suggest local community groups or projects that could benefit from unpaid work.
CPOs were set up in 2011 by the Scottish Government as a replacement for community service.
Examples of unpaid work include:
· developing and maintaining children’s play areas
· recycling projects including bicycles and outdoor furniture.
· cleaning beaches, graffiti, litter
We welcome views on the effectiveness of Community Payback Orders as a way to reduce re-offending and we want to know:
· Do you have any experience of people doing unpaid work in your community?
· Do you think unpaid work gives people the opportunity to repay the community for the crimes they have committed?
· Do you have any ideas about residents, community projects or organisations who could benefit from unpaid work support?
· Recommendations for groups, residents, organisations or projects that may benefit from unpaid work,
Councillor Tim Pogson, Chair of Edinburgh Community Safety and Justice Partnership, said: “Community Payback Orders offer a positive alternative to a prison sentence for many people convicted of a criminal offence providing them with the opportunity to serve their sentence in a way that benefits local communities through unpaid work.
“CPOs support participants to learn new skills, gain confidence, and work as part of a team, whilst making a difference in their own life and the lives of those around them
“In Edinburgh we have several successful projects underway which enable CPOs to be completed, including community clear ups, repainting community centres and the ‘Brake the Cycle’ scheme, which involves individuals undertaking CPOs repairing bikes for reuse as part of community projects.
“I would encourage local Edinburgh residents to engage with the consultation and share their views to help shape CPO unpaid work in the City.”
A new affordable housing development was given the green light by the Development Management Sub-Committee yesterday.
The approved plans will deliver 49 new homes – comprising a mix of flats, colonies, and terraced houses – on a partly brownfield site adjacent to an established residential area. Of these, four flats will be fully wheelchair accessible.
Designed by architect Smith Scott Mullan, the affordable housing units will be developed by contractor CCG.
The site, located east of Burdiehouse Crescent, is ideally located within a 10-minute walk of local amenities, including Valley Park Community Centre, shops, schools, and public transport links. The new homes will also overlook a new recreational and play area.
Designed as part of the Edinburgh Home Demonstrator (EHD) programme, the project also sets a benchmark for sustainable urban development.
The homes will be fully operational as a Net Zero ready development, utilising air source heat pumps, exhaust air pumps, and photovoltaic panels for heating and hot water, eliminating the need for fossil fuel-based heating systems.
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Lezley Marion Cameron said:This approval is a vital step in tackling the housing emergency facing our city. Too many people are struggling to find a safe, secure and affordable place to call home and developments like this are a key part of the solution.
“The 49 new homes will not only provide much-needed accommodation for residents, but they do so in a way that is sustainable, inclusive, and community-focused.
“I look forward to seeing work get underway and to welcoming the first residents into a vibrant new part of the community.”
CCG Managing Director, David Wylie, said:“The Edinburgh Home Demonstrator programme, supported by Scottish Futures Trust, is a hugely important initiative which is helping to shape the future of affordable, ‘Net Zero Ready’ housebuilding in the Edinburgh and South East City Region.
“Burdiehouse is the third development to be brought forward since the launch of the programme in 2021. Like those before it – including the first project delivered by CCG – it will be analysed to help the South East Regional partners understand how ‘Net Zero Ready’ homes can be designed, procured, and delivered at scale to meet local housing demand, and support a just net zero transition by 2045.
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with The City of Edinburgh Council once again to bring new homes to Burdiehouse, and we look forward to commencing work on site very soon.”
The project contributes to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal housing programme and represents a new approach to delivering high-quality, climate conscious, and affordable housing.
NHS Lothian, and Asthma + Lung UK have praised the benefits of the LEZ, following a year of enforcement.
Experts at the NHS and a leading charity have highlighted the ongoing impact of the LEZ enforcement on air quality and health. In addition, the new rules have incentivised active travel and greater use of public transport.
A LEZ was introduced in Edinburgh on 31 May 2022, along with LEZs in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee, restricting the most polluting vehicles and benefiting everyone’s health. Edinburgh began enforcement alongside Aberdeen on June 1, 2024. Dundee began enforcement on May 30, 2024, and Glasgow on June 1, 2023.
With Clean Air Day (19 June) just a few weeks away too this one-year anniversary is a timely reminder of the importance of the LEZ here in Edinburgh and beyond.
In recent years air quality in Edinburgh has improved, with our monitoring data showing reduced pollution levels, and people getting ready for the LEZ may have contributed to this.
Over the last year, the average amount of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued for non-compliant vehicles entering the zone has been decreasing steadily.
Between June 2024 and January 2025 alone the total number decreased by 56%. There is also evidence of lower numbers of second contraventions. The vast majority of vehicles entering the LEZ are compliant, over 95%. Around 3% of vehicles entering the LEZ are exempted classed.
The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) has also published a study indicating that active travel and public transport use increased within the LEZ during the first six months after LEZ enforcement.
The first annual report on LEZ operation is expected to be presented to the Transport and Environment Committee later this year, including air quality trends and how the scheme contributes to our carbon reduction targets, as well as operational matters such as the number of PCNs issued, costs of maintaining and operating the scheme, gross and net revenue and other key issues.
The Council is working with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) on data collection and analysis of the LEZ and will present a report in the Scottish Parliament that will help inform the national picture of LEZ impact.
Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson: “I’m proud that alongside Aberdeen, Dundee, and Glasgow we took the bold step of implementing and enforcing a LEZ. We’re sending a clear message that our major cities are united in pursuing a better future for all. Fundamentally, the LEZs are about making our cities healthier for everyone.
“As Scotland’s capital city, we have a duty to lead on the response to the climate and nature emergencies which will define our country for generations to come. Multiple studies show that even low levels of pollution can have an impact on our health.
“Road traffic is one of the main sources of harmful emissions that are damaging people’s health and contributing to climate change, so we have a real responsibility to tackle this.
“The average decrease in PCNs here in Edinburgh show that people are getting used to the LEZ and modifying their habits accordingly. It’s also encouraging to see studies showing a positive shift towards greater use of active travel and public transport.
I look forward to seeing the annual report when it is considered by Committee.
“The LEZ is one important tool to help us achieve our ambitious climate goals, including net zero emissions by 2030.”
Flora Ogilvie, Consultant in Public Health, NHS Lothian said: “It’s great to know that the LEZ enforcement has been in place for a year, helping to improve air quality in the city and protect the health of our most vulnerable residents.
“Improving air quality and reducing traffic levels are also an important way of encouraging more people to travel by walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport.
“Travelling sustainably can help improve individual physical activity levels and mental wellbeing, as well as supporting better environmental health for the whole population and planet.”
Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland said: “We are pleased that Edinburgh along with Dundee and Aberdeen made the bold move a year ago to ban the most polluting cars from their city and it is a step in the right direction to help improve the air that we all breathe.
“With air pollution cutting short thousands of lives a year, we want to see our cities become far healthier places, where people can walk and cycle and not be forced to breathe in dirty air.
“With 1 in 5 people in Scotland developing a lung condition like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in their lifetime, for them, air pollution can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks and flare-ups.
“Children are more susceptible to air pollution as their lungs are still growing, and they also breathe faster than adults. As they grow, toxic air can stunt the growth of their lungs, making them less resilient into adulthood and placing them at greater risk of lung disease in the future.”
77% of all PCNs in the last year were served to light passenger vehicles (private cars) and 21% to light goods vehicles (panel vans) with the remaining 2% being divided among the other classes of vehicle. 62.4% of PCNs are paid within 14 days at the discounted rate.
Income from the LEZ will be used in the first instance to pay for the operation and maintenance of the scheme. Any surplus income will be contributed towards Council projects which contribute towards the wider goals of the LEZ, particularly improving air quality and climate change emission reduction.
Air pollution is associated with between 29,000 and 43,000 deaths a year in the UK. The World Health Organization and the UK Government both recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental threat to our health.
Another key development is that the Low Emission Zone Support Fund has now resumed and is open to new applications. This is funded by Transport Scotland and administered by the Energy Saving Trust.
A cruise ship levy could help to ensure residents benefit from Edinburgh’s popularity as a cruise ship stop.
In a formal response to be submitted to the Scottish Government’s Cruise Ship Levy consultation, the council has expressed strong support in principle for a levy to help it manage tourism sustainably at Edinburgh’s ports.
The response also calls for any legislation to be based on evidence and involve greater consultation with ports and the cruise ship industry, as well as close working with other local authorities and regional partners.
Close to 217,500 cruise ship passengers visit Edinburgh and the region annually, with a significant number docking in Leith, Newhaven and South Queensferry. Currently, passengers are exempt from paying local visitor levies.
While any legislation to introduce a national Cruise Ship Levy is still to be developed, comparisons to similar sized destinations suggest it could raise over one million pounds for Edinburgh and the region.
Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “Next summer we’ll become the first city in Scotland to launch a visitor levy, but under the Scottish Government’s legislation cruise ship passengers will be exempt.
“We consider it fair to treat all overnight visitors to Edinburgh the same, whether they choose to stay in a hotel, a short-term let, a campsite or a cruise ship.
“With public finances under increasing pressure, we believe this legislation should be used to empower councils to raise more income locally to better manage cruise ship tourism and pollution in our waters. As such, income raised should be ringfenced for the local area.
“In our waters we’re seeing more ships docking year on year, larger ships, and with that comes an environmental impact. Cruise ship tourism affects local communities and services just as other tourism does.”
You can view the City of Edinburgh Council’s draft response to the Scottish Government’s Cruise Ship Levy Consultation.
A final version will be submitted shortly, including amendments agreed at a meeting of the Policy and Sustainability Committee on Tuesday 27 May.
