Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has said his priority is to build Scotland’s future as he prepares to present his second Draft Budget to Parliament on Thursday. Councils across the country are braced for further cuts and it’s a ‘make or break’ Budget for local services. Continue reading A make or break Budget for local services
“We have a strong track record of effective financial management” – Cllr Alisdair Rankin Continue reading Take your seat for Budget Question Time
Local government umbrella body COSLA is to launch a social media campaign entitled #BudgetReality which will lay out in detail the real budget Councils have been given for next year. The campaign will also highlight the impact of this reduction in specific service areas. Continue reading Councils spell out #BudgetReality
Residents are being encouraged to attend a Question Time event being organised by the City of Edinburgh Council as part of wider engagement about changes to Council services.
Taking place in the City Chambers on Thursday, 10 November (7.15–8.30pm), the event is part of a seven week engagement period, asking people to play their part by giving their views through various channels including an online survey and dialogue page where residents can speak to other people in their local area.
The engagement period which started on Friday 30 September ends on Friday 18 November.
The event is being run in partnership with the Edinburgh Evening News for the third year running and will be chaired by Euan McGrory, Deputy Editor of the Evening News, Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. Residents who are unable to attend can watch via the Council’s webcasting service.
Those attending will have the opportunity to submit questions in advance or ask questions on the night, which will be answered by a panel of six senior councillors. The panel will include Council Leader Cllr Andrew Burns; Deputy Leader Cllr Frank Ross; Finance and Resources Convener Cllr Alasdair Rankin; Culture and Sport Convener, Cllr Richard Lewis; Transport and Environment Convener, Cllr Lesley Hinds and Health and Social Care Convener, Cllr Ricky Henderson.
Cllr Alasdair Rankin, said: “We have an increasing population, inflationary pressures, decreased budgets and greater demand for our services so it is really important that we get residents’ views on how we can more efficiently deliver services.
“We’ve had an excellent response to our Question Time event over the last two years and I would encourage residents to attend and take the opportunity to have their questions answered about our services in person.
“Of course, for those that can’t make it, they can tune in live and ask questions, via the Council’s website.”
Last year’s event was well attended with an additional 237 tuning in live via our webcast and was subsequently watched by 3,759 people via the archive.
Further information on wider engagement:
Social media – use the #playyourpart
Email – playyourpart@edinburgh.gov.uk
Phone – 0131 200 2305 (8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 3.40pm Friday)
Write – Freepost, RSJC-SLXC-YTJY, Budget, Council Leader, City Chambers, High Street Edinburgh EH1 1YJ
Vast majority of Edinburgh’s citizens ‘satisfied with life here’
Satisfaction with Edinburgh as a city to live in is the highest it’s ever been, according to the city council’s latest annual residents’ survey. Continue reading Edinburgh: Shiny happy people?
What’s Total Craigroyston ever done for this community? Well, quite a lot, actually …
Total Craigroyston, the council-led agency formed to tackle deep-rooted children and family problems in North Edinburgh, wound up last week with a ‘Checking Out’ event at Pilton Youth & Children’s Project. Continue reading Total Craigroyston checks out
North Edinburgh to loo-se public lavatories?
Toilets at Granton Square and Canonmills are among a dozen public conveniences earmarked for possible closure by the city council. Local residents are being encouraged to take part in a survey to have their say about the closures.
The Council decided in 2011 to reduce the funding of public conveniences in order to make budget savings of £300,000. It’s believed that around ten public toilets must close in order to achieve these savings.
A list of twelve facilities has been identified for closure, based on criteria such as usage, accessibility and condition:
· London Road
· Tollcross
· St John’s Road
· Canaan Lane
· Middle Meadow Walk
· Joppa
· Hawes Pier, South Queensferry
· Granton Square
· Ardmillan
· Currie
· Canonmills
· Juniper Green
Members of the public are being asked for their feedback on how these potential closures would impact on them individually and their communities – this will help the Council to make the final decision about which public conveniences to close.
Residents can now take part in the online survey which will run until Monday 25 May.
There are currently more than 60 publicly accessible toilets across the city and a community toilets scheme is currently under consideration to further improve provision.
‘residents are well aware of the cuts that come from the council tax freeze and general reduction in council funding’ – Cllr Gavin Corbett
Budget cuts of £28.5 million could be avoided if Edinburgh had similar powers to councils elsewhere in the UK and Europe, according to the capital’s six-strong group of Green councillors. The city council sets it’s budget tomorrow and councillors look likely to approve swathing cuts to public services.
The Greens have published an alternative budget paper which shows how £25.7 million of extra income could be raised by giving the council modest extra powers such as a visitor levy and greater flexibility with council tax.
This, say the Greens, would mean extra priority for care for older people, funding for charities and community learning as well as new investment in school conditions and sports facilities.
Green Finance Spokesperson Cllr Gavin Corbett said: “Less than a year ago the Commission for Local Democracy showed that, across Europe, councils with comparable responsibilities to Edinburgh typically control 50-60% of their income, through local taxes and charges.
“In Edinburgh, those powers have been reduced to almost nothing, with dire consequences for local services. Indeed, the council’s biggest-ever budget consultation exercise showed that residents are well aware of the cuts that come from the council tax freeze and general reduction in council funding.
“So what I propose today is modest and affordable – less than 4% of overall spending – asking for the right to put to Edinburgh residents a choice to raising a bit more income in order to strengthen budgets for swimming pools, care services, community centres, homelessness charities and schools.
“I’m confident that, given that choice, investment in services would come ahead of an austerity-driven race to the bottom.”
The City of Edinburgh Council budget is set on 12 February 2015. A package of £28.5 million of cuts or savings has been proposed from a £962 million budget. Of the£28.5 million package, £5.2 million non-frontline cuts have already been approved last October.
Services under threat include:
– £4.3 million cut to charities and other third-party service providers
– Over £5 million cut to health and social care at a time of increasing demand
– £1.4 million cut to Edinburgh Leisure which runs swimming pools and sports facilities.
– £0.6 million cut to community learning and development
Other likely cuts include the closure of public toilets, reduction in library hours, nursery and childcare funding.
The city council’s latest survey of Edinburgh residents has shown record levels of satisfaction with local services. Overall, 87% of Edinburgh residents are satisfied with the way the Council is managing neighbourhoods, a 20% rise on 2008.
The annual survey also shows that 96% of residents are satisfied with Edinburgh as place to live and satisfaction with how the Council manages the city overall has increased to 74% from a low of 35% in 2009.
The public’s top priorities for improvement include roads maintenance, street cleaning and refuse collection, and tackling dog fouling.
In a sign of growing confidence in the economy, over half of respondents feel confident about their job prospects in Edinburgh, with those feeling ‘very confident’ more than doubling in a year.
Council Leader Cllr Andrew Burns said: “The top line figures continue to offer great encouragement and reassurance that, broadly speaking, residents believe we are managing their city well.
“What’s even more impressive is that this has been achieved against a backdrop of real pressure on public finances and the need to make efficiencies throughout the Council.
“Our recent budget clearly shows we have listened to residents, with a further £16m going into the budget for fixing potholes and pavements, as well as investment in other facilities and services that the public value.
“But we will, of course, make sure that we tackle those areas where the survey shows we need to do more. That’s essential for the people who live and work here, but also for maintaining our reputation as a world-class capital city.”
Deputy Council Leader Cllr Steve Cardownie added: “We know from the many awards that the city receives each year what visitors think of Edinburgh but what these results demonstrate is that residents agree; it’s a great place to live.
“It is particularly encouraging that they believe that our world-famous festivals make the city a better place to live and that they are attending ever more performances and events right here on their door step.
“We are ambitious for the city and there is much work yet to be done, so we simply need to continue delivering the pledges we made to Edinburgh residents and look for that to be reflected in future surveys.”
Key findings in the Edinburgh Peoples Survey 2013 include:
More detailed analysis will be carried out to understand the reasons underlying the changes in satisfaction. The research will also be used by managers and staff to develop action plans for maintaining high performance and addressing areas for improvement.
The Edinburgh People Survey (EPS) is the Council’s annual citizen survey, measuring satisfaction with the Council and its services, identifying areas for improvement and gathering information about residents which is not available through other sources or at neighbourhood level.
The survey is undertaken through face-to-face interviews with around 5,000 residents each year, conducted in the street and door-to-door.
Do you agree that council services are improving? Let us know!
The major annual survey of Edinburgh residents has shown record levels of satisfaction with local services, continuing a steady trend over the last five years. The most improved services include recycling, street cleaning, parks, pavement maintenance and community safety. However, the results also highlight areas for further work, including refuse collection, dog fouling and public engagement.
Overall, 86% of Edinburgh residents are satisfied with the way the Council is managing neighbourhoods, a 19% rise on 2008. At a local level, improvements can be seen in all neighbourhoods, particularly the South West, Forth, Leith and Portobello and Craigmillar. While Forth and Pentlands generally fall below the city average, these have seen a significant increase in satisfaction since the previous survey.
Council Leader Cllr Andrew Burns said: “We know how much importance our residents place on us getting the basics right and I’m delighted to see these improvements, especially for the thousands of staff who work hard all year round to deliver high-quality services to the people of this city. What’s even more impressive is that this has been achieved against a backdrop of real pressure on public finances and the need to make efficiencies throughout the Council”
The survey also shows that satisfaction with how the Council manages the city overall has increased to 72% from a low of 35% in 2009. Commenting on the figure, Cllr Burns added: “This measure has varied a lot in the last five years and the most recent change is so large we should be cautious about drawing conclusions based on this year’s result alone. It may be that the progress with the tram project is a factor. Our strong leadership and commitment to listening could equally have helped. Either way, it’s something we need to understand better.
“Overall, while the results are encouraging there can be no room for complacency. We are ambitious for the city and there is much work yet to be done, so we simply need to continue delivering the pledges we made to Edinburgh residents and look for that to be reflected in future surveys.”
The public’s top five priorities for improvement included road improvements and safety, street cleaning and refuse collection, activities for children/young people, tackling dog fouling, and more shopping facilities and entertainment.
Deputy Council Leader Cllr Steve Cardownie said: “Our recent budget clearly shows we have listened to residents, with an extra £12m going into doubling the budget for fixing potholes and pavements, as well as investment in other facilities and services that the public value. The continued improvements also underline the fact that we have been responding to concerns, but we will make sure that we also tackle the areas where the survey shows we need to do more. That’s essential for the people who live and work here, but also for maintaining our reputation as a world-class capital city.”
Other findings in the Edinburgh Peoples Survey 2012 include:
•Improved performance of the whole Council compared to previous years. As well as overall management of the city, there were increases in delivering value for money and displaying sound financial management.
•Edinburgh continues to be highly regarded as a place to live with 97% expressing satisfaction, continuing a year-on-year increase since 2010. Satisfaction with neighbourhoods as place to live has also stayed very high at 94%, up by 8% since 2008.
•High levels of satisfaction with nursery, primary and secondary schools (excluding those who stated ‘don’t know’).
•Improved satisfaction with the way the Council communicates with customers and “puts customers first”.
•Satisfaction has reduced in refuse collection (to 78%) and dog fouling (to 48%).
•Road maintenance continues to have a lower satisfaction score than other services (56%), staying about the same over the five-year period.
•Reduced feeling of ability to have a say on local issues and services.
More detailed analysis will be carried out to understand the reasons underlying the changes in satisfaction, and the research will also be used by managers and staff to develop action plans for maintaining high performance and addressing areas for improvement.
One area that’s been highlighted for improvement is refuse collection and recycling. The introduction of fortnightly bin collections proved unpopular when introduced last year, and the council acknowledges there are still issues to be resolved. Local resident Frank emailed a picture of his bin (below) yesterday, saying: ‘I live in Granton Terrace and the bin men have left half the buckets in the street because they say they are overfilled. We received a phone call from them saying we can take our excess rubbish to a Recycling Centre. Do you think that would be a good idea, taking rubbish bags on the bus to Seafield?”
So the council is making progress, but there’s still room for improvement in service delivery. But then, you’re never going to be able to please all of the people all of the time, are you?
Do you think council services have improved in your neighbourhood? Let us know!
