Council Leader Jane Meagher reflects on the strength of Edinburgh’s diverse communities
I’ve used the time since the knife attacks in the Calders last Monday to reflect on the strong sense of community that we enjoy here in Edinburgh – and on the many benefits that come from our incredible diversity (writes City of Edinburgh Counci leader JANE MEAGHER). As Nelson Mandela famously said, ‘our differences are our strength ’.
What has struck me most following this isolated, albeit frightening incident, is the way that those in the community were able to rally and unite in the face of adversity.
This was abundantly clear when I visited the Calders to spend time with the community and with council colleagues in our schools, early years centre and in our housing service – all of whom were impacted by what had happened.
What stood out was the selfless way they focused on the safety and wellbeing of those in their care – and I want to thank everyone who played their part during and after the incident, including of course the Police and other emergency services.
I was particularly heartened by the conversation I had with local shopkeeper, Mr Hussain, whose store was badly damaged by the attacker. Despite what he’d been through, he spoke proudly of the kind-hearted support he’d received from across the community and how they’d helped him clear up his shop.
We are all reminded in these circumstances of the need to stand together – and of the importance of community spirit and tolerance.
From our long-standing links with the Norwegians and Poles during and after World War II to the thousands of Ukrainians, Afghans and Syrians who now call Edinburgh home, we’re proud to be a city of sanctuary – welcoming all those who come here in search of a better life.
Many have lived here for generations and some of our best loved institutions – cafes, bars, restaurants and other family businesses – are only here thanks to incomers. Those who care for us, either in the community or in hospitals include people from other parts of the world. Our city and its culture are all the better for it.
Sadly, there are those who will seek to spread hate, division and misinformation on the back of last week’s incident. Of course, people have a right to make their views heard, and to travel great distances to do so, but I condemn the opportunism and ignorance shown by some, particularly online.
One way we can combat such intolerance is to recognise and celebrate the strength and diversity of our communities across the city, comprising people from all walks of life, cultures, and backgrounds.
It was timely, then, that earlier this week councillors agreed a new Equal Edinburgh framework, which will help us do just that. We want all residents to be able to easily access and benefit from the services that meet their needs – without stigma and in a way that suits them.
Developed in partnership with our communities and partners, we hope that this will also help to reduce isolation, while fostering good community relations across the city.
We’re lucky to live in such a welcoming and diverse city. Our strength lies in all those who call Edinburgh home – our shared experiences sit alongside our differences – and we all have a part to play in keeping it that way.
This article first appeared in Edinburgh Evening News (12 March)
Council Leader Jane Meagher sets out the many benefits the visitor levy will bring to Edinburgh, its residents and visitors:
We’re rightly proud that so many people want to visit and enjoy our historic and beautiful city – and of the significant benefit that tourism brings to our economy.
But with that popularity comes a cost: the pressure it places on our services and on the people who live and work here all year round.
We’ve long been aware of our responsibility to manage this pressure but, as the lowest funded local authority in Scotland, we had to find other ways of funding this.
I was delighted then that, having secured the powers to introduce a visitor levy for Edinburgh, we’ve now agreed the first round of spending programmes. This investment of nearly £100 million over the next three years will allow us to sustain and enhance our reputation as one of the most popular and enjoyable destinations in the world.
As the first local authority in the UK to push ahead with a city-wide scheme, I know that other councils across the UK – together with the UK, Welsh and Northern Irish governments – are watching closely as they seek to develop similar schemes of their own. They should be encouraged by what they’re seeing.
Thanks to the funds generated from the Edinburgh Visitor Levy, as we now know it, we can transform our city into a cleaner, greener and more welcoming environment. We can invest more in our award-winning parks and greenspaces, doubling the number of park rangers and funding extra planting across the city.
We can help to put more police on our streets while new public toilets, upgraded bins and extra patrols will help to maintain Edinburgh’s streets, public spaces and public infrastructure to the high standard our residents and visitors expect.
We can also renew and restore attractions across Edinburgh, including bringing much-loved cultural venues like the Royal High School and Leith Theatre back into use for the first time in decades.
We’ve listened to and taken account of the views of residents, the tourism industry and other stakeholders at every stage of the process – and I’m grateful to the many Council officers, Visitor Levy Advisory Forum members, businesses and residents for their valuable contributions and support.
This is just the beginning. As the scheme develops, we’ll continue to involve communities in spending decisions in their local areas – and the Forum will continue to help ensure the views of the city are taken into account over the next three years and beyond.
I’m sure, like me, they’re looking forward to seeing the many benefits the levy will bring to our city, our residents and our visitors.
Jane Meagher’s article first appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News
Nearly a quarter of a million children are experiencing poverty in Scotland, while too many people face a day-to-day struggle to balance low-paid, insecure work with an ever-higher cost of living. This is according to the latest Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, published earlier this month.
Here in Edinburgh, meanwhile, over 80,000 of our residents are still struggling to make ends meet, with one in five children living in relative poverty. It’s simply unacceptable that so many people are being forced to go without or choose between heating and eating.
Earlier this month, I attended the End Poverty Edinburgh conference, where I heard from people with lived experience of poverty and homelessness.
It’s clear that the complexity of the benefits system remains a massive barrier for people trying to access support. From becoming homeless after fleeing domestic abuse to having to stop work to care for loved ones, the stories I heard bring to life the people behind these desperate numbers.
In setting up five new Neighbourhood Prevention Partnerships, we can bring key services together under one roof and make support easier to access for local people.
I also welcome the Pride in Place funding announced by the Secretary of State for Scotland in Granton last month and look forward to the positive difference this will make.
Key to all of this is the ongoing work of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission. In 2020 they published their landmark report ‘A Just Capital’ setting a ten-year mission, alongside clear calls to action for the steps needed to eradicate poverty in Edinburgh. Five years on, they’re due to publish their mid-term report (on 31 October), which we should all read with great interest.
Creating a cleaner, greener city
The impacts of climate change are sadly already being felt across the globe – as they are here in Edinburgh. As our economy and population continue to grow, we need to make sure that this growth is sustainable and does not worsen the crisis, while also adapting our city to reduce the impact of future weather extremes.
Six years ago, we declared a climate emergency and made a commitment to become a net zero city by 2030 – recognising both the importance of the challenge and the role we must play as Scotland’s capital.
While this has always been an ambitious target, it’s helped us to bring together services across the Council and the city to help reduce emissions – providing the sense of urgency we need to make a real and lasting difference.
Having been recognised nationally and internationally for our action on climate, we’re continuing to lead by example with the £1.3bn transformation of Granton Waterfront into Europe’s first net-zero coastal town, while the completion of the tramline from the Airport to Newhaven has seen passenger numbers grow to over one million a month.
This is exactly the sort of shift we need to become a cleaner, greener city – but there’s clearly a lot of work still to do. In our updated 2030 Climate Strategy, agreed this week, we highlight the areas of work we need to focus on. The City Mobility Plan and the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy, in particular, will be key to decarbonising Edinburgh’s transport and buildings – our two highest carbon emitters.
This is a goal we cannot reach on our own and every resident, community and organisation has a role to play. Every action and every gram of emissions that we avoid matters now more than ever, which is why we must remain ambitious and stick by our target. Doing nothing is simply not an option.
Expanding the network has the potential to transform our city and wider city region. You need only look at the success of the existing line to see the huge social, economic, and environmental benefits it could bring to our residents, businesses and communities.
We’ve already received over 5,700 responses to the consultation and spoken to hundreds of residents, community groups and other key stakeholders at our public drop-in events and engagement sessions. There are still a few weeks to go until the consultation closes and I’d urge everyone to make their voice heard.
We’re also seeing great numbers with our trial cycle hire scheme. Since going live at the beginning of September, we’ve seen over 21,700 individual trips by more than 5,800 riders, covering almost 60,000 kilometres in total.
Given this demand, we’re working with Voi to move to the second phase, which will see around 340 e-bikes on our streets from next week and the boundary of the scheme extended west to include Holyrood Park and Meadowbank and further north, taking in Bonnington, Leith and Newhaven. We’re keeping a close eye on the management of the scheme and remain on track for full coverage of the city by the end of the year.
Staying safe this Bonfire Night
As we count down to Halloween and Bonfire Night, I want to recognise the huge amount of work being done by colleagues across the Council, Police and blue-light services, Lothian Buses and other partners to prepare for this year’s events.
Sadly, we know the impact the disorder we’ve endured in recent years can have on our communities and I’m desperate to avoid a repeat of these horrific scenes.
Our new Firework Control Zones are a direct response to community concerns and, alongside police dispersal zones, they will make a real difference – but this is only part of the solution.
We’re supporting community-led events across the city and our schools teams are partnering with local community groups to create alternative options for young people on Halloween and Bonfire Night.
I want to thank Fearless, Crimestoppers’ youth service, for hosting a youth summit where pupils from 19 of our high schools, Council officers, and other agencies shared their views and discussed how we can address these challenges together. The feedback from the event was extremely positive – with our young people helping to shape the forthcoming Fearless social media campaign, which will launch alongside Police Scotland’s campaign later this week.
Through these joint efforts across the city, we want to make this Bonfire Night a safer and more enjoyable experience for all.
Remembering our war heroes
Having marked 80 years since the end of WWII earlier this year, there are sadly very few veterans left with us to thank for their outstanding service and bravery. All the more reason, then, for us to continue to remember them – and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Yesterday (20 October), the Lord Provost led the annual dedication service to Edinburgh’s Garden of Remembrance. Located beside the Scott Monument, the Garden is made up of thousands of symbols of Remembrance, including poppies and crosses, many of which come from Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory. The Garden will be open for the public to visit, reflect, and pay their respects throughout the Remembrance period.
Meanwhile, veterans and ex-service personnel in Edinburgh will once again be able to benefit from free taxi journeys to Remembrance Day events, thanks to the return of Poppy Cabs. If you, or anyone you know, wishes to use the service, please email Jonny Bates at the Association of Hackney Carriage Drivers of Edinburgh or call 07496 238040.
Keeping Edinburgh Beautiful
Finally, with our internationally renowned gardens and greenspaces, it comes as no surprise that Edinburgh has once again been recognised at this year’s Keep Scotland Beautiful awards.
Working in close partnership with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society and Royal Botanic Gardens, the submissions celebrated the very best of Edinburgh – highlighting some of our best-loved parks, gardens and community spaces, such as Bridgend Allotments, Holyrood Park, Cyrenians Royal Edinburgh Garden – and the newly opened Jock Tamson’s Gairden.
Judges were impressed by the vibrant culture of volunteering and great visitor experience, with particular praise for the longstanding tradition of the Floral Clock in West Princes Street Gardens.
Council Leader Jane Meagher writes about the need to support Edinburgh’s third sector
With our population growing and more people struggling with the cost of living, Edinburgh’s third sector is in a precarious position.
According to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, seven in 10 charities now cite financial trials as their biggest challenge, up significantly in just two years. Traditional funding streams from the public sector, which provide vital grants to allow charities to operate in our local communities, are under growing pressure too.
Echoing these concerns, a report to the Scottish Parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee late last year made it clear that short-term funding cycles are creating financial instability for charities, diverting time and resources away from what’s important – delivering valuable services for vulnerable people.
This predicament came into sharp focus for Edinburgh earlier this year when the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) – which oversees health and social care spend in the city – had to make difficult decisions to help it make necessary savings of close to £30m. Dozens of local projects and charities have seen their funding pulled as a result.
Immediately, councillors united to intervene and see what could be done to prevent the devastating closures and redundancies these cuts could bring. Thankfully, we’ve been able to step in to provide emergency £2m funding, providing short term relief for 46 projects.
Yesterday at Policy and Sustainability Committee, we also agreed how to spend a contingency fund worth £273,473 to further support primarily small, local projects and organisations in our communities which have lost EIJB funding. Grants of £10,000 will be made available this autumn to help with the resilience of the sector.
Yet, the fact remains that the council also faces significant financial challenges. We remain the worst funded council in Scotland and plugging this gap will be difficult in future years. To that end, we need to find a longer-term sustainable way forward for this sector which provides so much good.
Tackling poverty is one of our city’s top priorities and we cannot achieve this without the support of projects which focus on prevention.
To get ahead of this, we’ve engaged the Edinburgh Partnership to conduct a review of how it supports and works with third sector organisations in Edinburgh, and to ultimately find solutions for improving funding certainty in future years.
This includes how grant funding and commissioning is delivered, how third sector organisations monitor and report on their work, and what in-kind support is provided.
We want to hear about how we can make it simpler, provide more stability, and collaborate to help those who need this sector’s support most.
You can share your views through our Consultation Hub webpage, or by attending a workshop from now until Thursday 5 June.
Results will be shared with those who take part and with the wider third sector, and will be reported to our next Policy and Sustainability Committee in August.
In a successful city like Edinburgh, it is unacceptable that 80,000 people are living in poverty– including close to a quarter of all children – which makes tackling inequality and preventing poverty one of the biggest challenges facing the capital.
“Everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.“
A campaign to boost the number of businesses which become real Living Wage accredited has led to 12,000 Edinburgh workers receiving a direct, guaranteed uplift in pay over the past decade.
Since the Scottish Real Living Wage campaign was first launched in 2013, over 700 Edinburgh businesses have made the voluntary commitment to pay the only wage rate designed to rise in line with the cost of living in the UK.
Those commitments have meant total pay increases to the value of almost £100m over the last 10 years for the lowest paid workers in Scotland’s capital city.
Speaking at an event in Edinburgh on Wednesday to mark Living Wage Week Scotland, Councillor Jane Meagher welcomed the achievement but said fair pay must go further.
As Co-Chair of the Edinburgh Living Wage Action Group and Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work, she said: “We’ve had a record-breaking few years in Edinburgh for Living Wage sign ups and it feels like we’re witnessing a real movement.
“This year alone we have seen more than 100 businesses sign up as real Living Wage employers, and eight Edinburgh employers committing to the new Living Hours standard. This needs to be celebrated, but we cannot be complacent.
“The next few months and years will be critical because we know that poverty in Edinburgh is rising. Just last week, we declared a housing emergency because we simply do not have enough adequate affordable housing in the city to meet demand. With households facing financial insecurity and Edinburgh’s rents some of the highest in the UK, secure wages are as important as ever.
“We know Edinburgh-based businesses want to help tackle low pay and insecure work, but we know that employers are under increasing pressure. They too face a cost of living crisis, high bills and recruitment challenges.
“As the rate of the Real Living Wage rises to £12 an hour, Living Wage Week and the events hosted here in Edinburgh and across the country provide an opportunity to showcase how far we’ve come, while acknowledging that more work is needed. We need to help employers to make the Real Living Wage the norm.
“Everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”
Kat Brogan, Managing Director of Mercat Tours and Co-Chair of the Edinburgh Living Wage Action Group, said: “To any employer who is not there yet but wants to sign up to the Real Living Wage, now has never been a more crucial time. The cost of living – particularly in Edinburgh – remains high.
“As a powerful advocate for Living Wage businesses, our Action Group can provide advice and guide you towards becoming a Real Living Wage employer. It will benefit your team, your business and Edinburgh as a thriving city which offers a fair experience for all.
“The Real Living Wage is a crucial element of ‘Real Living’ – a happy, healthy, fulfilling life – and it’s so important to highlight its importance this Living Wage Week.”
Earlier this year, over 70 delegates from 16 UK towns, boroughs and cities joined the City of Edinburgh Council to call for employers to offer ‘a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work’ at Scotland’s first Living Wage Places Network event. Edinburgh’s selection followed the Scottish Capital’s recognition as a Living Wage City in 2021.
Christine McCaig, Projects Coordinator at Living Wage Scotland, added: “We are celebrating the continued progress toward ‘Making Edinburgh a Living Wage City’ this Living Wage Week.
“Around one fifth of the 3400 accredited Living Wage employers in Scotland are based in Edinburgh, signalling Scotland’s capital city as a significant contributor to the continued growth of the Living Wage employer movement.
“Despite the challenges facing many businesses, more employers are showing their commitment to tackling in-work poverty and demonstrating leadership and resilience at a time when workers need it most.”
The Edinburgh Living Wage Action Group was established in 2021 with the aim of building the living wage movement in Scotland’s capital city.
Employers who would like to know more about the group, or would like information and advice on becoming accredited can contact policyandinsight@edinburgh.gov.uk.
