Putting the ‘power’ into Empowerment

Changes are needed to ensure legislation designed to empower communities delivers on its promise, according to an influential parliamentary committee.

The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Regeneration Committee reports today on the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill.

Whilst fully supporting the general principles of the Bill, the Committee noted for communities to be truly empowered there needs to be a change in the mind set of public authorities. They have to be more open to communities setting the agenda and this must be coupled with support to communities to help them access these new powers.

The Bill aims to provide local communities with the power to participate in local decision making via participation requests. It also sets out powers for communities to take ownership or management of lands from public authorities into community control. Other measures include reform of allotment provision as well as changes to the rules governing Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs).

Committee Convener, Kevin Stewart MSP said: “During our consideration of the Bill we met with folks in communities across the country who said time and again that they wanted to be more involved in the decisions being made about them.

“There can no doubt this Bill is generally a welcome boost towards putting power in the hands of communities. However, for a Bill which is designed to empower, we were struck by the requirement that only groups with a written constitution could submit a participation request. This seems out of step with the whole ethos of the Bill. In the words of Jeanie Mackenzie – who responded to our video on participation requests: ‘Sometimes an individual has a very good idea for improving public services, but lacks the time or opportunity to find others and form a constituted group.”

Whilst noting the vital role of CPPs, the Committee expressed concern that local communities are not sufficiently involved in the decisions being made and CPPs were too focussed on a ‘top-down’ approach. The report recommends that the Bill should require CPPs to actively seek input directly from the community and not just its representatives.

The Committee also raised concerns about the language used around the proposals which in itself could be seen as a barrier to community involvement.

Kevin Stewart MSP added: “During our consideration of the Bill we heard expressions used like ‘third sector interface’ and ‘partnership-framework’ when taking about community involvement. Language like this can act as a barrier for people getting involved. For the Bill to truly empower, public authorities must avoid ‘gobbledygook’ phrases which cannot be easily understood.”

Other recommendations in the report include:

Provision should be enshrined in the Bill for consultation and engagement with affected communities in relation to the National Outcomes.
There should be an explicit requirement on all CPPs to include community capacity building in local plans.
The Bill should stipulate a 6 month maximum time limit for public authorities to conclude contracts for community transfers.
Whilst agreeing that there should be no defined allotment size, guidance should be produced for local authorities outlining the different needs and good practice.

Burns ceilidh: celebrating community at Royston Wardieburn

That Man to Man, the world o’er,

Shall brothers (and sisters!) be for a’ that

A Burns Night is about many things. Good food, shared with friends, family or neighbours – and sometimes all three! Burns is about love, about comradeship and about community but if there’s just one word that captures the spirit of Scotland’s national Bard it’s ‘celebration’ – and all those elements were there in abundance at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre last night.

Yes, last night’s Community Celeidh celebrated the memory of Burns but it was more than that – it was a vibrant, living tribute to all the good things Burns work extolls: a warm, friendly gathering of friends and neighbours of all ages, interests and ethnicities joining together to have fun in each others’ company.

Organised by Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Granton Community Gardeners and Pilton Community Health Project’s Living in Harmony group the evening built on last year’s event and proved to be a huge success.

Around 150 people – aged from three months up to … well, a good bit older! – enjoyed a traditional Burns Supper and were entertained by the excellent Homecoming String Band and a succession of local performers, all made poosible and supported by a team of enthusiastic volunteers who were always on hand to make sure the evening went smoothly.

Congratulations to the organisers, the band, the excellent team of volunteers and the local performers who entertained us so regally on the night: the poets, the musicians, the singers and the wee dancer – you were all brilliant!

And thanks, too, the the local community who came along to support the event and whose enthusiasm made the evening such a success.

Rabbie would be proud of you all – here’s to next year!

Visit our Facebook page for more ceilidh pictures

Burns Night Community Ceilidh: Get ready to rock at Royston Wardieburn!

We are delighted that the Burns night community ceilidh will happen again tomorrow (Saturday 24th January) from 5 – 9.30pm at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre.

The event is a celebration of diversity and talent in north Edinburgh. It is organised by a wide range of groups – including Pilton Community Health Project (PCHP), Granton Community Gardeners and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre – under the banner of Living in Harmony. Living in Harmony is about bringing local residents together to share their experiences and cultures and get to know each other better.

Pilton Community Health Project’s Rachel Farrier said ‘The joy of this event is what happens afterwards, once people have danced with each other, it’s difficult not to say hello on the street!’

This year’s ceilidh will include a traditional haggis supper served up by Granton Community Gardeners giving us all a chance to sample produce from the gardens. We’ll be reliving the highlights of last year with ‘turns’ from residents from around the world – including wee Sarah reading Burns poetry, some highland dancing from Dakota Hay and Nepalese dancing from Sushma and her friends. The homecoming string band will lead the dancing and we’ll all get the chance to strut our stuff.

Last year’s ceilidh was a massive success – over 200 people attended and over 40 volunteered to make it such a brilliant event. You can see photos from this event on PCHP’s facebook page [photos by Anneleen Lindsay].

Local people really enjoyed the event: ‘nice to see some community spirit’ one said. This year tickets are going fast and it looks to be a great event.

Tickets available NOW from Royston Wardieburn Community Centre and only cost £1.

Get yours before they are gone!

#StrongerNorth campaign goes on display in Community Shop

Community Shop supports #StrongerNorth initiative

Information about the #StrongerNorth community safety initiative will go on display in Muirhouse Community Shop on Pennywell Road tomorrow and will be backed up by #StrongerNorth Monday sessions at the shop from next week.

Volunteers at Muirhouse Community Shop have created striking window displays to highlight a variety of different campaigns over recent months – Domestic Abuse, Environmental Services and the Independence Referendum have all been featured – and now #StrongerNorth will be in the spotlight.

Tenants organisation TRIM and Muirhouse Community shop is working closely with the #StrongerNorth team and will be welcoming key members of the team to the shop on Mondays from 19 January. Visitors can expect to meet local police officers, Total Craigroyston staff, the Stronger North Project Officer and members of North’s Community Safety team over the coming weeks.

A spokesperson for the community shop said: “We decide what we put in our shop window. We always feel it’s important that we keep it current and what a better way than to start with this? Stronger North was brought about after the residents told police and council we are fed up, things need to change and we want change now. A gold team was set up and meet often to discuss serious issues and a multiagency approach is being worked at. Things will not change overnight – Stronger North is still very new and with support from everyone we are confident it will make a big difference long term.”

For further information about #StrongerNorth call Fraser Sinclair on 529 5023, email stronger.north@edinburgh.gov.uk or visit the #StrongerNorth Facebook page.

Council budget cuts: meeting at Royston Wardieburn next week

Womens International Group (WIG) are holding a follow up meeting from our 9 December one – the council budget Cuts will be announced soon.

The meeting will take place on:

Wednesday 14 January

at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre at 6-30pm.

We are hoping the local councillors will be in attendance to be able to answer questions regarding the cuts .

All welcome

Anna Hutchison (on behalf of WIG)

COUNCIL BUDGET NEWS:

It was announced this week that more than 1,200 council jobs could go over the next three years under proposals to plug the city’s £67m funding gap.

The council insists there will be no compulsory redundancies and said the planned ‘transformation of services’ was designed to make them more efficient and customer focused.

City council Finance Convener Cllr Alistair Rankin said: “Of course change on this scale brings challenges but we need to take decisive action now to meet our targets and create a stronger, leaner, more agile council to better serve the people of Edinburgh.”Among the proposals under consideration are offering more services online, having a neighbourhood approach for face-to-face services and cutting grants to the voluntary sector by as much as 10%.The latest restructuring proposals will be considered by the Finance and Resources committee on Thursday and consultation with staff and trade unions is also being planned.

See below for relevant Council reports:

Item_7.3___BOLD_business_cases___delivering_a_lean_and_agile_Council

Item_8.1___Organise_to_Deliver___Next_Steps

Budget: Council ‘needs to think again’

‘Thinking needs to be done, not only in this city but across Scotland. This is the important missing element in this consultation.’

Granton and District Community Council has urged the city council to think again over proposed budget cuts. The community council’s response to the budget proposals follows a local consultation conducted by community councillors last week.

Community council secretary Dave Macnab said: “We have submitted this response to the city council on behalf of those who attended our local consultation exercise. When the people within our area found out scale of the cuts – for they are cuts, calling them savings is double speak – they were appalled.

We are calling on all councillors and in particular those who represent us in Forth to oppose the cuts. The council needs to think again.”

GDCC_December_Budget_response

Granton & District CC’s budget response reads:

Dear Sir/Madam,

City of Edinburgh Council – Budget Consultation

Background

1.1 As part of the Council ‘Budget Challenge’ consultation 2015/16 the Council outlines that it faces a budget challenge which ultimately means that “we need to save £67 million over the next three years”. The main thrust of the consultation as far as we can see has been the encouragement of the citizens of Edinburgh to go ‘on line’ and ‘take the budget challenge’ which is an on line platform that encourages people to decide what services they want to cut.

1.2 Granton and District Community Council were not convinced that having an on line consultation exercise was sufficient to get the views of all of the people of Edinburgh given the scale of the cuts that are being proposed. Whilst we acknowledge that there were a series of ‘drop in’ events for people across the city, the focus of these was on showing people how to view and work the budget ‘game’.

This means that people who do not have regular access to IT – often older residents and those who do not have access to IT – will miss out on the opportunity to have their say. It is our view that the scale of the proposed budget cuts will have a disproportionate and negative impact on these very people – often the poorest in our communities. As a consequence we decided to undertake our own consultation exercise.

Granton and District Community Council – Consultation

2.1 We organised a drop in day for Tuesday 9 December at Royston & Wardieburn Community Centre – we were in the centre from 9.30 – 6.30 pm.

2.2 To promote the event we distributed 2000 leaflets across our community council area that highlighted the purpose of the event etc.

2.3 We also placed posters across our community to advertise the event. We also made full use of social media – including our web site and twitter account.

2.4 We drew up a list of some of the key proposals (that the council had identified in the consultation document) that we considered would have severe and negative impact within our area and asked people to comment on these – via post-its, voting stickers, and by talking to us. We noted down what they said as well as have them write down their concerns. Not everyone used the ‘voting stickers’.

Outcome of the Consultation

3.1 Despite the terrible weather conditions we had 52 people who spoke to us. Every person we spoke to were “astonished”, “amazed”, “had no idea” of the scale of the cuts.

Clearly the on line budget consultation has not resulted in the people within our community having any idea of the scale or specifics of the cuts proposed and the impact on what this means in real terms. This was our fear and so it has been realised. The real impact needs to be clearly articulated by the Council before any decisions are made.

3.2 The qualitative data is outlined in Appendix 1

Consultation Conclusions and Recommendations

4.1 It is clear that the council does not have enough income to deliver the services for the people it serves. Yet nowhere do we see that there has been any thinking done to increase income. The focus is on cutting services. We believe this is a one dimensional approach.

4.2 We do not believe that sufficient impact assessment evidence has been produced to provide a clear socio-economic evaluation on most proposals.

4.3 We therefore call on the council to approach the Scottish Government with a view to obtaining additional grant funding to cover the services for the people of Edinburgh. If the Scottish Government cannot provide this – then they in turn should be advised to approach the UK Government for emergency funding.

4.4 We believe this city is facing a funding crisis and moving money from one area to another is divisive and will not solve the fundamental issue which is insufficient income. Given the changing demographics and growth in overall population as the race to ever further house building continues, the pressure on the city infrastructure and public services is at breaking point. The squeeze on council finances will continue and people will continue to suffer. Therefore a more fundamental approach to local authority funding is needed and this thinking needs to be done, not only in this city but across Scotland. This is the important missing element in this consultation.

4.5 We think it worth reminding the council and our elected representatives of a report of the Communities and Neighbourhood Committee of 24^th November that highlighted the levels of poverty and inequality across this city:

Some 22% of all households in the city live on incomes below the poverty threshold, slightly above the Scottish average
24% of all Edinburgh households lived in fuel poverty in 2012. This equates to some 53,600 households in the city.

4.6 There is an irony in that one of council actions to help deal with poverty and inequality as outlined in this report stated:

“Ways to improve neighbourhoods are crucial and include place making and building community capacity. Examples are given of community learning and development to help with basic skills and to support community organisations, advice work to help poor households retain stable accommodation, improving the insulation of homes to reduce fuel poverty, and community safety actions to make residents feel safer by reducing anti-social behaviour.

Whilst one of the council budget cut proposals is:

“Carry out a full service review of CLD reducing the level of staffing at all grades, realigning staff against emerging neighbourhood models of work, prioritising service…..there may be some reduction in community based programme…..”

Clearly these two things are contradictory.

4.7 We consider that the only way that our city will meet people’s aspirations in terms of reducing poverty and inequality is by way of a fairer, more progressive tax system. When you take account of direct and indirect taxes, those on low incomes in the UK are being hit hard, while billions of pounds each year is lost through tax avoidance and evasion (by the richest). Progressive tax reforms would help to address inequality at root as well as redistributing economic power.

4.8 There has been under-investment in public sector, in technology, in infrastructure, in education for years. It is enlightening to quote the words from Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz who served as Chairman of the Economic Advisors under President Bill Clinton and Chief Economist at the World Bank:

“One should remember austerity has almost never worked. This is an idea that’s been tried over and over again; back in 1929 Herbert Hoover tried it, succeeded in converting the stock market crash into the Great Depression – there were some other factors too. The IMF has tried this experiment; in East Asia I saw it in the years that I was at the World Bank; they tried it in Latin America; each time it succeeded in converting downturns into recessions, recessions into depressions”.

Whilst we recognise that these wider economic issues are not within the remit of the city council we make this statement as part of a wider debate that we consider needs to take place in Scotland and is the economic and social context in which the current cuts are being proposed.

4.9 We call on the council not to implement the current proposals. Everyone that we spoke to said no. There was a strong view that the council have not thought hard or innovatively enough and do need to take a stronger step in supporting the people in rejecting the current economic paradigm and seek a new approach that supports the aspirations of the people of this city. We reject the budget proposals as currently outlined and call on our elected representatives within Forth and beyond to reject them.

Granton and District Community Council
http://grantonanddistrictcommunitycouncil.com/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantonDistCC

Trinity Community Council: December news bulletin

Crime

Housebreakings are up again – 12 thefts from houses and 10
from sheds/garages. Worst affected are the Bangholms,
Craighall Rd and the Dudleys. Police urge residents to be
vigilant about their own and other people’s security and are
pleased that many are reporting suspicious activity.

If a housebreaking looks imminent, you should call 999 rather than 101.

Thieves look for tell-tale signs that a house contains what
they are looking for e.g. a car with bike rack suggests bikes in
the house. Increased police patrols will continue until after
Christmas when the problem is expected to subside.

City of Edinburgh Council Budget Proposals 2015 – 18

Cllr Cammy Day of the ruling coalition outlined how savings of 2.1% are sought for 2015/16 rising to 6% by 2017/18. Because Children & Families and Health & Social Care are partly protected, the biggest savings are proposed from Services for Communities where a 7% saving is sought in 2015/16.

City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) is consulting on their proposals and have received 1,500 responses – mostly about plans to raise allotment fees.

We have broad concerns that:

1 The nature of the consultation provides insufficient
financial or statistical information to provide the context
needed for people to make an informed response.

2 There should be more focus on delivering the same services more efficiently rather than (as the proposals often suggest) reducing service in order to lower costs.
Achieving 2% efficiency improvements year-on-year should be achievable without cutting delivery.

Some points concerning detail:

Reducing City Car Club use seems like a backward step
especially for North Edinburgh where we believe every possible tool to contain traffic growth will be needed.
If painting white lines on playing fields, cutting grass in parks, etc. needs reduced then voluntary/user groups may be prepared to help but that will require greater flexibility from CEC.
Closure of public toilets outside the city centre is disappointing when various residents have argued that there is a growing need for new/refurbished toilets in Starbank and Victoria Parks. Trinity Community Council intends to submit a formal response on this subject. Do you have any views you’d like us to take account of?

Looking further ahead, CEC intend undertaking a BOLD (Better Outcomes through Leaner Delivery) exercise. This will take a more radical look at council structures (including at the Neighbourhood Partnership level) to deliver services. We will be engaging with this.

20MPH Consultation

Following discussion with residents (whose research was very informative) we welcome the proposal to introduce a 20 mph limit on Lower Granton Rd from Granton Square to Craighall Road.

Ferry Road from Newhaven Road to Great Junction Street will also become 20mph. It is understood that Granton Road, Craighall Road and Newhaven Road will remain at 30mph with the rest of Trinity at 20mph.

As ever, the key will be proper enforcement!

East Trinity Road

City council officials have undertaken a further survey of traffic in East Trinity Road. We are seeking a meeting to discuss results. The next step is likely to be further consultation.

Parking

Problems with parking in Wardie Road has raised the possibility of introducing Priority Parking for the area from Ferry Rd to East Trinity Road and and from Granton Road to the Goldenacre Footpath.

As there will be a cost to residents not everyone will be
enthusiastic. We will undertake a survey of your views in 2015.

Traffic generally …

We remain concerned that disconnected proposals are popping
up without a coherent framework and that local problems will
simply be displaced. The issue of traffic and transport across
North Edinburgh needs considered as a whole through a proper review of the now outdated North Edinburgh Transport Plan.

North Edinburgh is the only part of the city where no transport review was undertaken for the Local Development Plan despite hosting a high proportion of planned housing development.

Contact in the Capital

The next issue of North Edinburgh News is hitting the streets now. Distribution will include Ferryfield and Rose Park with some copies being stocked at Leith Library, St Serf’s, Wardie Church and Lomond Park Bowling Club. If you get a copy, please let us know what you think.

Proposed Sainsbury’s Local in Craighall Road

We are advised that this application will be heard again by CEC Planning Committee on 17 December.

Parks

CEC are considering restoration work on the statue of Edward VII in Victoria Park. Feedback from the drop-in session on proposals to turn the third bowling green in Victoria Park into allotments was favourable and allotments will now likely be allocated 50:50 to people on the waiting list and local residents.

Current work on the tennis and basketball courts is near
complete. A permanent surface will be laid in the Spring.

Trinity CC: Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Monday 12 January at 7pm in St Serfs Church Hall, Clark Road.

Did you find this bulletin useful or informative? You can subscribe to the bulletin by emailing

tcc-comms@outlook.com

Trinity CC December newsletter

We’re no’ playin’ your game!

Community groups unite to oppose council cuts

Community groups, local organisations and concerned individuals have united to protest against imminent council cuts. The say the council’s budget proposals will hit the poorest people hardest and have written to local councillors urging them to support the fight against slashing local services.

Last week’s hastily convened meeting at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre was organised by Women’s International Group and was attended by more than twenty local people – community councillors, management committee members, health service workers and local staff were all there. No councillors were present at the meeting.

WIG’s Anna Hutchison explained that the Women’s International Group had attended a Budget Challenge meeting and were unhappy about the way the consultation exercise was conducted – no-one attended to explain what was being proposed or to answer questions, and the Challenge was being presented as a fait accompli – ‘these are your only options’.

The group also felt it was wrong that local people were being asked to take part in a process to cut services that would pit one area or service off against another, so decided to call a public meeting to gauge the views of the wider community.

“It’s not for us to do the councillors’ work for them”, she said. “We elect councillors to set budgets and run the city. We expect them to listen to us and to protect our precious local services.”

The Council faces a considerable budget challenge. Between 2015 and 2018, the Council’s annual budget will remain around £950 million but the council expects the cost of providing services to be £1.01 billion.

The council says it must make savings of £67 million over the next three years ‘to make sure we can provide the services that are important to the people of Edinburgh’.

Granton and District community councillor Dave Macnab told the meeting: “I’ve been struck by the fact that this budget consultation is almost like a game of Monopoly – except this time you are dealing with real people and real services. This is no game and I think people are sleepwalking into this process. What these abstract proposals mean in reality is cuts on an unimaginable scale”.

He went on: “I am quite disturbed – officials seem to be accepting that this is the way it must be. I would ask: what happens if we say ‘NO’?”

West Granton West Pilton community councillor Willie Black said that recent problems of antisocial behaviour in the area could be traced directly to poverty and unemployment – and that austerity measures, slashed budgets and cuts in local services would make an already bad situation much worse.

He also questioned the council’s figures, suggesting that the scale of cuts is much deeper – not £67 million but £142 million over the next three years.

Willie Black said it was vital that communities combined to fight the cuts being imposed upon them – ‘cuts that are being inflicted on us through no fault of our own, and yet the poor are the people who get the blame’. He said: “Alliances are being formed – we’ve got to put all our energies into a collective effort to challenge these cuts.

“And we’ve got to ask the councillors: in the war against the poor, where do you stand?”

The meeting was then thrown open for debate and discussion. Among the points raised during a passionate and enthusiastic session:

It is unclear what the £67 m in the Council’s budget leaflet represents. It looks like the savings to be made over 3 years is significantly higher than £67m – this needs to be clarified.
There are a number of headings in the Council’s budget paper termed ‘Other’. These sections involve huge sums of money but there is no explanation as to what this relates to. This needs to be broken down so that we can see what it includes.
The savings identified are very confusing – it isn’t clear what they relate to – this should be explained better in a way that lay people can understand
It is impossible to make an informed decision based on this information
The language used excludes people – it is gobbledygook!
The language used attempts to disguise the fact that ‘savings’ are actually cuts – people need to be aware of this.
The Council are asking the citizens of Edinburgh to approve their cuts – this is not
It is disgusting that elected members are not here – they always have excuses for not turning up to important local meetings. Councillors are elected to represent their constituents – we vote for them to do a job on our behalf and they get paid to do it.
Communities are being expected to identify which services they want to cut – this is unacceptable
The consultation is a sham – the decisions have already been made. The same thing happened with the consultation on the closure of Royston Primary School – they didn’t listen to the community then. The facts they presented to local people were proved to be complete nonsense. Can we trust them on the figures we have been presented with this time round?
Councillors and senior officials never put their hands up and admit their mistakes (ie the trams, Royston Primary School, Craigroyston High School)
Community councillors are sent huge amounts of information from the Council – it is impossible to read through it all and often to understand because of the language used. This makes it very difficult for community councillors to present this information in a meaningful way to the wider community
The Council has already sub-contracted services out to private firms (someone received a letter re their single person discount – it was sent from a firm in Derbyshire). This is privatisation by the back door
It is accepted that the Council needs more cash to fund local services and that the council tax freeze isn’t helping the situation. The Council tax needs to be changed to make it more progressive so that the better off pay more.
We are constantly told that events like the Festival and the Hogmanay celebrations are a good investment as they bring extra cash into the city but we never actually see the figures and we don’t see the benefits in our communities. This income should be audited and it should be set aside for local services. There needs to be better transparency in the Council’s financial systems.
Education should be a priority – libraries and community centres are often a starting point for learning – they provide safe spaces in the community for children, young people and adults
Libraries and community centres are fantastic local facilities and provide a great service to all the community.
CLD workers are an important resource in local communities.
If jobs go it won’t be the folk who are high up the tree who go
There have been many examples of serious mismanagement at the Council – the trams project is only The Council are now considering extending the tram line to Leith and paying for another feasibility study. This is a complete waste of public money. Edinburgh has become a laughing-stock around the world because of this fiasco.
Many local organisations refused to display the leaflet publicising this meeting because they said it was political. Some workers are worried that the Council will cut their grants if they are seen to be publicising this kind of event. This position needs to be clarified by the Council.

Impact of cuts

Cuts in local services will result in more crime and anti-social behaviour – this is a false economy as it costs more money to deal with the consequences of crime.
Services for children and young people helps to keep them away from crime – it is more effective to prevent problems from happening in the first place. Cuts in funding to projects who work with hard to reach young people will be a disaster for young people and the wider community. Youth projects are trying to build trust and relationships with young people which can help to steer them away from crime.
Many kids haven’t had a chance in life. Services such as Panmuir House are the last chance saloon for kids who do get into trouble. Close it down and then what happens?
Cuts in services and closures will affect the health and well-being of local people – research shows that going to libraries and museums, taking part in groups and activities improves health – cuts in services will result in more illness and will put more pressure on the system
Cuts in jobs means public sector workers are being asked to take on more responsibilities – this puts people under stress and can lead to them going off sick. They then get pulled up by management and put under more pressure to return to work – this adds to the stress factor.
Workers in the public sector are scared to go off sick these days despite the fact that they have valid sick lines– there has been a change in management culture in public services in recent years (examples given about situation in the NHS)
The next generation in this community will end up even more disadvantaged because of the impact of the cuts
People are already struggling without more cuts to basic services. Many people do not have enough to survive on once the bills are paid. Benefit sanctions are being used to penalize people for minor things (being late for an interview). People are having to go without money and food and having to rely on food banks and support from local services.
High levels of unemployment and poverty in the past resulted in an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour. Many people moved out of the area and this had a negative affect on the people who were left. This is likely to happen again if we don’t have services in place to support people.

The meeting came up with a number of ideas about what the council could do to address budget difficulties:

Introduce a ‘tourist tax’ to bring cash into the city – this could be used to subsidise local services
Introduce a hotel levy during the Festival and the Christmas and New Year Celebrations
Raise the council tax – the Council has the power to do this. They will need to ensure that this does not penalize poorer people.
Reduce expenditure on things like taxi-fares, council lunches, official visits abroad and the like – this is unnecessary expenditure.
Find other ways of making savings that don’t involve cutting services or sacking workers who provide front line services
Dig out the last feasibility study on extending the tram line to Leith – this will save £1/2m.

The meeting agreed to write to local politicians and to forge links with other groups across the city. The North Edinburgh anti-cuts campaigners also plan to meet early in the New Year to discuss sending a deputation to the city council’s budget meeting in February.

If you want to have your say:

Take the budget challenge

But hurry – last day for submissions is tomorrow

Friday 19 December

Background reports:

Budget_proposals_2015_2016_updated_28.10.14

Item_7.3___2015_18_Revenue_and_Capital_Budget_Framework

#StrongerNorth Community Cleanup Day

Granton Mill Community Cleanup

Sunday 14 December 10am – 12 noon

The #StrongerNorth initiative is supporting a second community cleanup …

The condition of the communal areas around our homes is in urgent need of improvement. You will know that there has been a lot of dumping of rubbish and other items which needs to be addressed. As most of us are owners or privately renting tenants it is our responsibility to ensure that our shared apaces are looked after and fit for living in.

On Sunday 14 December form 10am you are invited to take part in a community cleanup of the edges and green spaces in our area. The City of Edinburgh Council is supporting us with this work and is providing equipment for the day.

The hope is that together we can make the area a place that is safe and enjoyable for everyone who lives here. In order to do this we want to make sure that everyone meets their responsibilities, so we will be working with the council and others to find ways to best achieve this.

If you are able to spare some time on Sunday, then please come along and take part -it would be great to have as many people as possible helping!Please egt in toucj if you have any questions

SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER 10am – 12 noon

MEET AT CRAIGROYSTON HIGH SCHOOL end of GRANTON MILL PLACE

Contact Willie Black 0751 568 6421, email w.black@blueyonder.co.uk

Fraser Sinclair, North Neighbourhood Office 0131 529 5023

#StrongerNorth

Be part of it

Some pictures taken during the recent West Pilton cleanup: