Tag: council services

COSLA SOS ahead of Scottish Budget

LOCAL GOVERNMENT WARNS OF JOB LOSSES AND SERVICE CUTS

COSLA has launched its campaign in advance of the Scottish Budget on 15 December – an ‘SOS call’ to Save our Services.

It is a rallying call, telling communities everything they need to know about the impact of the Scottish Government’s forthcoming budget on our council services, and our communities in the coming year.

COSLA says the SOS call reflects the extremely precarious financial situation in which Councils in Scotland find themselves, during a particularly challenging period. This is as a consequence of real-term cuts to the core budgets of Scotland’s 32 Councils over recent years.

The call comes ahead of the Deputy First Minister outlining the Scottish Budget on December 15th but reflects the reality of what the government set out in its spending plans last May.

Speaking yesterday, COSLA’s President Councillor Shona Morrison said: “There are many areas in which Local and Scottish Government work together for our communities and I fully appreciate that money is extremely tight – all Governments are having to cope with  rising inflation and fuel costs.

“However, with little room left to manoeuver, the Scottish Government’s spending plans as they stand will see Council services either significantly reduced, cut or stopped altogether.  

“70% of Local Government’s budget is spent on staffing, so it is inevitable that current spending plans will lead to job losses. The very serious impact of this scenario is that the critical work council staff do on prevention and early intervention will reduce significantly.”

COSLA’s Vice President Councillor Steven Heddle said: “In May, the ‘flat cash’ plans looked difficult for us. Today, with prices increasing across the board, including energy costs, and inflation sitting at almost 10% and at risk of rising still further, Local Government is now on extremely dangerous ground.

“Make no mistake, what we will now face is Councils struggling to deliver even the basic, essential services that communities rely on. To put this into perspective, the estimated £1bn gap for councils in 23/24 is the equivalent of the entire budget for early learning and childcare across Scotland or 17,500 teachers.

“A funding gap of this magnitude will have an impact on all our communities, with the most vulnerable who rely on these services suffering the worst consequences.”

COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann concluded: “We are at a crisis point like never before – the impact for communities is serious and needs to be reconsidered.

“The financial impacts for other parts of the public sector are also serious. When councils can’t focus spend on prevention, for example on preventing ill-health, services like the NHS will end up spending significantly more money when issues become more serious.

“Directors of Finance across Scotland’s Councils are sufficiently concerned about the financial sustainability of councils that they have written to the Deputy First Minister outlining their concerns.

“This really is an SOS call from Scotland’s Councils –people in communities across Scotland will be pulled into further poverty and uncertainty without adequate funding for the vital services that support them.”

You can find out more by downloading our Budget SOS Factsheet here.

UNISON: Council strikes go ahead following ‘derisory’ pay offer

UNISON, the largest union in local government, met yesterday to discuss COSLA’s latest 3.5% pay offer. The union unanimously agreed to reject this revised offer outright and voted overwhelmingly to continue with their strike plans in councils across Scotland.

UNISON rejected the offer as it has not sufficiently improved, falls far short of the Joint Trade Union’s claim (submitted in January) and falls far short of the current rate of inflation, which continues to rise.

The union also made the point that the offer falls far short of the offer made to council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have been offered a £1925 flat rate uplift, which equates to a 10.5% increase for those on the lowest wages.

Johanna Baxter, UNISON head of local government said: “This is another derisory pay offer. We are in a ridiculous position of both our employers and the Scottish Government agreeing this 3.5% pay offer is not nearly enough, but both are at logger heads about who should pay for it.

“Meanwhile council workers – over half earn less than £25k per year – are worrying about paying the bills. Inflation is predicted to rise to 13.5% and our members are offered a real-terms pay cut which will plunge more of them into debt.

“We have written to COSLA to tell them the strike continues in waste and recycling and we will confirm dates for strike action in schools and early years in the coming days.”

The City of Edinburgh Council has tweeted: ‘We’re expecting significant disruption to bin collections and street cleaning services due to strike action from Thursday 18 – Tuesday 30 August.

Find the latest updates and information on how this will affect you & what to do on our website http://edinburgh.gov.uk/binstrike

Community councillors to meet council candidates at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre

DRYLAW Telford Community Council will meet tomorrow (Wednesday 27th April) at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre..

With the council elections just a week away, the Community Council has invited Inverleith ward candidates along for an informal opportunity to meet CC members and find out what issues are important to them.

Unfortunately the meeting is not open to the public.

Secretary Pam Higgins explained: “Due to covid restrictions – room size specifically – we cannot accommodate an open meeting at present.

“This is a meeting for the candidates to meet their potential Community Council so that the transition is easier post elections. We hope that in the near future we can fully open up to the community again.”

The following ten candidates are standing in Inverleith:

  • Jule BANDEL – Scottish Green Party
  • Stuart HERRING – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
  • Phil HOLDEN – Scottish Family Party: Pro-Family, Pro-Marriage, Pro-Life
  • Tam LAIRD – Scottish Libertarian Party
  • Stephen MCNAMARA – Independent
  • Max MITCHELL – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
  • Mhairi MUNRO-BAIN – Labour and Co-operative Party
  • Vicky NICOLSON – Scottish National Party (SNP)
  • Hal OSLER – Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Malcolm Alexander WOOD – Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Four of them will be elected to represent Inverleith next Thursday.

Inverleith councillors elected last time (May 2017) were:

Gavin BARRIE – Scottish National Party (SNP)

Max MITCHELL – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Hal OSLER – Scottish Liberal Democrats

Iain WHYTE – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.

New fund to support survivors of gender-based violence

More than 120 projects across Scotland will share £38 million to support survivors of gender-based violence and focus on prevention.

The Delivering Equally Safe Fund (DES) is a new two-year funding programme to support third sector organisations and public bodies contribute to the objectives, priorities, and outcomes of the Equally Safe strategy.

The Fund includes more than £28 million for frontline services which provide direct support to women and girls, prioritising services that maximise their safety and wellbeing.

The two-year fund has also been increased by an additional £1 million per year to support projects which focus on early intervention and preventative measures.

Funding will be distributed to 121 projects, including Respect, which provides helpline services for perpetrators of domestic abuse, Kingdom Abuse Survivors project and Moray Women’s Aid.

Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said: “Violence against women and girls is appalling and unacceptable which is why we are funding organisations that are tackling the issue head on, including frontline services that support survivors and get to the root of abusive behaviour.

“These organisations are offering new and innovative ways to aid recovery, encourage education, and increase prevention awareness.

“I am also pleased that we have been able to increase our funding by more than £1 million a year more than our original fund to increase our support to these important initiatives.

“I look forward to seeing the  results of the important the work that Equally Safe Fund will deliver.”

Melanie Wood, from Moray Women’s Aid said: “We are delighted to receive funding through the Delivering Equally Safe fund. It will allow us to continue to deliver essential services to vulnerable women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse when they most needed it. 

“The funding will support the work of our Community Outreach Project and the Children and Young Person’s Service.”

‘The stark reality is that some council services won’t restart’

Accounts Commission: Councils and communities worked well together but impacts of Covid are unequal

Scotland’s councils reacted quickly, working alongside communities and partners to address the unprecedented challenges created by Covid-19, says a new report from the Accounts Commission. Many challenges remain significant, however, made more urgent by the multiple impacts of Covid-19 on communities and services.

Councils have a critical role in providing vital services which communities depend on. In its Local Government Overview 2021 report, the Accounts Commission, who report to the public on the performance of local government, make clear that councils, alongside their partners, quickly provided innovative and sustained support to vulnerable people.

This included supporting those who were shielding or self-isolating, switching to delivering services digitally and managing significant funding to support local businesses. 

With many council services disrupted, stopped or reduced, in particular education, social care and culture and leisure, the impact on some service users was severe and unequal. This included carers who lacked access to respite care, people with learning disabilities who were unable to access critical services and support, those receiving care at home and school children whose education was disrupted.

Covid-19 has also exacerbated and laid bare fundamental issues that need to be addressed to ensure services are maintained and that councils can tackle the multiple challenges ahead.

To help achieve this, longer-term financial certainty for councils will be vital. Whilst the Scottish Government has provided significant financial support to councils to assist in managing the net cost of Covid-19 in 2020/21, considerable amounts of funding took the form of one-off payments.

Furthermore, funding for councils beyond 2021/22 remains uncertain. Addressing this issue is vital.

Elma Murray, Interim Chair of the Accounts Commission, says: “Councils, communities and their partners have worked incredibly hard to continue to deliver vital services to local people. The stark reality is that some council services won’t restart, and some services will have to be delivered differently. 

“Underpinning this is the increasingly urgent need to address inequalities throughout Scotland’s communities. And for councils this is made more challenging because they continue to operate in a climate of significant financial uncertainty, which must now be addressed.”

Key Council services set to reopen

A number of key Council services, including libraries, community centres and galleries, will shortly reopen following the move to Level 3 in Scotland earlier this week.

Plans have been developed to prioritise the reopening of these venues in line with the Scottish Government’s current guidance and route map out of lockdown.

Services resuming include:

  • Three libraries reopening on Monday (3 May) with a further six in the coming weeks (full details below)
  • The City Art Centre will open on 15 May with four free summer exhibitions scheduled
  • Outdoor extra-curricular activities in schools restarted this week
  • Edinburgh Leisure centres are now open for individual exercise, including gyms, swimming pools, indoor court hire, racquet sports and children’s coaching, with outdoor contact sports for 12 to 17-year-olds and community access to high school sports facilities also restarted.

We’re also working closely with Community Centre Management Committees to decide what services are able to operate from the centres and when.

We’ll be following the latest Scottish Government and health guidance to make sure all venues are safe to reopen. Our first priority thus far has been ensuring our schools could reopen safely for our young people and staff but strict cleaning regimes and other measures will be in place to ensure the safety of everyone visiting venues or taking part in activities.

Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Donald Wilson, said: “It’s great to see our first libraries reopening their doors next week with more to follow in May as part of our plans for a gradual reopening of community amenities across the city.

“This phased reopening, which will also see the City Art Centre welcome back visitors, community centres offering essential services like youth work and Edinburgh Leisure venues up and running again, is the first step in our gradual and careful emergence from lockdown.

“Our libraries are invaluable resources for local communities as there’s so much more to a library than just borrowing books. They are trusted and much-loved hub buildings which strengthen local communities and are essential for the wellbeing of our citizens.

“Libraries are a vital requirement in any democratic society, giving access to knowledge and literature, helping to bridge the digital divide and supporting literacy.”

Culture and Communities Vice Convener Cllr Amy McNeese-Mechan said: “We really appreciate everyone’s support and patience as we gradually start to welcome people back into their much-loved local spaces like our libraries, community centres and sports venues. I’m sure everyone will fully appreciate that our top priority remains the health of our citizens and staff.

“I’m particularly delighted that our libraries are able to begin reopening, especially here in the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature, but also that the City Art Centre is able to open with four fantastic new – and free – exhibitions for our residents to enjoy as they take their first steps back towards normality.”

Libraries

Central, Drumbrae, and Kirkliston will be open this Monday (3 May) followed by Craigmillar, Fountainbridge, McDonald Road and Stockbridge (10 May). Wester Hailes will reopen on 17 May and Gilmerton on 24 May.

It is hoped that the remaining libraries will open again as soon as possible after these dates.

Residents are reminded that numbers will be limited in the buildings due to the safety measures in place and visits will need to be booked in advance – this can be done online or by phoning the library.

The buildings will be open by appointment for browsing and borrowing books, using computers and the internet, processing bus passes (National Entitlement Cards) or collecting hearing aid batteries. Returning books and picking up free sanitary products will not require a booking.

Social distancing measures will be in place and wearing face coverings is mandatory.

Museums and Galleries

The City Art Centre will open on 15 May with two new exhibitions –Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s and Charles H. Mackie: Colour and Light. Two further exhibitions are planned Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay (22 May) and Islander: The paintings of Donald Smith following a week later. All exhibitions are free.

Plans are being finalised for the reopening of other galleries and museums. Updates regarding reopening dates and measures in place to keep everyone safe will be published as soon as possible.

Community centres

We’re contacting all Community Centre Management Committees this week to provide support in re-establishing essential services such as youth work. As was the case before lockdown, processes are in place to allow them to identify services they want to resume and any support required to do so.

Extracurricular activities (ECA)

Outdoor ECA resumed in schools on 26 April and include activities such as sport, drama, dance music and art.

Indoor ECA aren’t currently permitted under the guidance but we’re considering their resumption alongside the need to maintain the strict cleaning regimes currently operating in our schools as the safety of our pupils and staff remains our priority.

Edinburgh Leisure

Outdoor contact sports for 12–17-year-olds started back on 5 April and community access to high school sports facilities on 19 April. Tennis courts and golf courses have been open since June 2020 with golf, in particular, seeing an upswing in participation (winter golf membership up 400%, year-on-year).

Leisure centres are now open for individual exercise, including gyms, swimming pools, indoor court hire, racquet sports and children’s coaching. It is hoped that outdoor adult contact sport and indoor group exercise can restart on 17 May, with indoor non-contact sport following in early June (as per Scottish Government’s current route map).

Eight out of ten Capital residents satisfied with Council services, Council survey finds!

Eighty per cent of Edinburgh residents are satisfied with services delivered by the Council since lockdown began in March 2020, according to a large-scale city survey commissioned by … the council!

More than 1000 people were interviewed by telephone between October and December for the Capital Residents Survey. The research aims to help us understand how the public have been affected by changes to service provision as a result of the COVID pandemic, and to guide our prioritisation of resources as the city recovers.

As well as reporting high satisfaction with Council services, of participants who had contacted the Council over the last year, 67% said they were satisfied with the service they received. Two thirds of the people who took part also said they felt generally satisfied with their lives.

Despite the challenges of the last year, results demonstrated the positive impacts of lockdown, with over half of the participants (53%) walking for leisure more than before, 45% increasing the time spent talking to friends and family and a third (33%) upping their general exercise.

However, out of survey respondents, people in lower socio-economic groups, those living with a health condition or living alone were more likely to have experienced a negative impact on their wellbeing.

Feedback shed light on people’s changing working habits, with 58% of respondents working from home during the pandemic – 85% of these all or most of the time. Of those who took part in the survey, 55% said they would like to continue working from home all or most of the time after the pandemic, while 41% would prefer to always or mostly work away from home.

Councillor Adam McVey, Council Leader, said: “I am delighted that the people of Edinburgh have recognised the hard work Council staff have put in to maintaining and delivering services during the pandemic.

“It’s been a hugely challenging year for everyone, and we’ve been working extremely hard to make sure Council services are delivered with as little disruption as possible. I know that colleagues across the Council will be really pleased that these efforts have benefited the people of Edinburgh.

“Research like the Capital Residents Survey is incredibly insightful for our own future planning. Not only does the feedback help us to identify areas for improvement, like street cleansing or road conditions, but information will help us plan for the end of lockdown and a full resumption of services.”

Councillor Cammy Day, Depute Leader, said: “Work, travel, social interaction and a whole range of aspects of our lives have changed immeasurably since the pandemic began. This data demonstrates exactly how it has affected the way people have accessed and experienced Council services during this time.

“It’s clear that, while there is light at the end of the tunnel, we’re going to have to adapt our ways of living and working for some time to come. The feedback received will help us to respond to this, and to keep improving the way we communicate with and serve the city’s residents.”

When asked about future provision of services, three quarters of respondents told us it would be more convenient if libraries, community centres and advice services were all available in the same place.

The majority of people who took part (58%) said it would make sense to have all public services delivered from one location, but there were some concerns this wouldn’t work practically.

Fourteen per cent said they were dissatisfied with Council services in general, with roads, communications problems and street cleansing or refuse collection concerns being the main reasons.

Capital Residents Survey – key statistics

Council services

  • 80% of respondents satisfied or very satisfied with Council services; 14% dissatisfied
  • One in ten respondents had visited Council offices in the past year and one in five had visited their local library
  • 33% said they’d contacted the Council since March 2020; out of these, 48% had done this via the website while 36% had telephoned

Future development of services

  • Three quarters of respondents agreed that it would be more convenient if libraries, community centres and advice services were all available in the same place. One in five disagreed
  • 76% said they would be comfortable using sports and leisure facilities at a local school

Impact of the pandemic on work, leisure and wellbeing

  • 58% of participants have been working from home – 85% all or most of the time
  • 55% of people said they would like to continue working from home all or most of the time after the pandemic ends
  • Two thirds of respondents (67%) reported being generally satisfied with their life nowadays
  • Seven in ten gave a high or very high score in relation to how happy they felt, though one in ten provided a low happiness score of less than five (out of ten)

The results of the survey, which was jointly funded by NHS Lothian, will now be reported to our Adaptation and Renewal Programme working groups to help prioritise future resource and to provide a better understanding of residents’ experiences of the pandemic.

In conducting the survey, quotas were set based on age, gender and geographical location to ensure coverage of both central and outer Edinburgh and to provide good data at city level and by key demographics.

Read the full report, Capital Residents Survey, and watch the Policy and Sustainability Committee discuss the report on our webcast from 10am on Tuesday, 20 April.

Another Edinburgh is Possible: Final Report published

The group, which is made up of community activists and trade union representatives, is appealing to Edinburgh residents to share the reports’s findings with their elected representatives:

‘Our full report on The City of Edinburgh Council services and communications has now been published. Please read, share and let your councillors know what you think – and let us know how you get on.’

#anotheredinburghhttps://tinyurl.com/2wfc7d8w

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Budget ‘does not represent fair funding for local government’

Scotland’s Council Leaders have restated their view that the Scottish Budget as it currently stands does not represent fair funding for Local Government.

Commenting ahead of the final decision on the Scottish Budget next week Councillor Gail Macgregor, COSLA Resources Spokesperson, said:  “Our ask of Scottish Government throughout the Budget process for this year was to give Scottish Local Government the fair funding and flexibility it deserves to be able to deliver the essential services that we provide to communities.

“The settlement for 2021-22, as it stands, does very little to address years of cuts to our core funding – in fact, once all Scottish Government commitments are taken into account, the increase offered is less than 1 percent (0.9% increase on last year’s base).

“This comes on top of years where Local Government has seen no increase at all. Since 2013-14, Scottish Government has seen a 3.1% increase in its revenue funding (real terms) – this is in contrast to a 2.4% reduction for Local Government over the same period.

“A key part of flexibility for Councils is to have their democratic right to determine their own council tax rates in their own areas respected.  Sadly the Scottish Government have not listened to us this year but Scotland’s Council Leaders have restated their view that councils should have the right to determine the level of council tax for their own areas without facing penalties in future years.”

Councillor Macgregor continued:  “In light of the current offer of £90m for authorities that agree to freeze the council tax this year (2021/22), Council Leaders were clear that COSLA should continue to press for this amount to be baselined into the Local Government Settlement.

“Council Leaders also expressed their continued concern about the proposed levels of core capital funding for the next five years. It will severely restrict the ability of councils to invest locally and drive recovery from the Covid19 pandemic. We would ask that Scottish Government thinks again about Local Government’s capital grant ahead of a final decision on Tuesday.”

Edinburgh Deserves Better!

Campaign group publishes alternative vision

With yet another round of budget cuts looming, campaign group Another Edinburgh is Possible has published an interim survey which shows widespread dissatisfaction with council service provision across the city.

The group, made up of trade union and community activists, invited Edinburgh residents to share their views on council performance – and the results will make uncomfortable reading for the administration’s leaders.

Public conveniences, poor road and pavement maintenenance, housing and homelessness services came in for particular criticism and the controversial Spaces for People initiative also attracted adverse comments.

There was criticism, too, for Edinburgh’s health and social care, while community education, social work and the city’s community centres also ranked poorly.

Despite years of cuts to council services – £320 million since 2012/13 – the City of Edinburgh Council is looking to make further ‘savings’ in the new financial year. £80 million has already been identified but the council has still to find an additional £5.1 million.

Looking further ahead, the picture remains bleak. The city council has plans to make savings of £40 million overthe next three years – but it will also have to find a further £47.5 million.

Campaigners say cuts of this magnitude are unsustainable, and Another Edinburgh is Possible organisers are now urging citizens to contact their elected representatives ahead of tomorrow’s crucial budget meeting.

Another Edinburgh is Possible is one of six delegations to Thursday’s full council meeting, which starts at 10am.

Agenda frontsheet  PDF 276 KB

The group has put forward four recommendations:

  • The ‘in-housing’ of Edinburgh’s public services
  • Improved communications with Edinburgh’s residents
  • A re-ordering of council priorities
  • The integration of Edinburgh’s transport system under public ownership

Edinburgh is currently run by an SNP – Labour ‘Capital Coalition’ although the Conservatives are now the biggest group on the council with 17 councillors.

The council says: “We deliver a vast range of services – more than 700! – to people who live and work in Edinburgh. This year alone, we will spend more than £1 billion on services and investing in our priorities.

“We’ve committed to ending poverty and becoming a net zero carbon city by 2030, while improving the wellbeing of our whole city. Now, more than ever, we must hold on to these commitments.”

Labour councillor Cammy Day is deputy leader of the city council. He lays the blame for continued cuts on the SNP – despite the Nationalists being Labour’s partners in Edinburgh’s Capital Coalition.

He said on FaceBook: “Despite over a decade of SNP cuts to Edinburgh Council – we will deliver a budget helping people who experience poverty, challenge issues around sustainability, reduce fee increases in key areas and, in thanking our communities, we will make investments to upgrade the city’s parks and greenspaces which have been a space for enjoyment during a challenging year for us all.

“Edinburgh Labour have also ensured substantial investments in providing proper digital inclusion for all of our school pupils across the city. All of the SNP government funding required has been allocated to our Health and Social Care work, and it is woefully short.

“Edinburgh Labour will continue to press the SNP Government for full funding to support the most vulnerable in our city, and prioritise any additional funding to support this.please get in touch and show your support – we need everyone to push the SNP government to fairly fund our capital city.”

Local government elections are scheduled to take place in May.

There’s still time to have your say – you can complete the Alternative Survey of Council Services up until 21 February:

http://anotheredinburghispossible.org/…/the…/

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