Invitation to Participate in Community Planning Transformation and Improvement Stakeholder Engagement Session
The Edinburgh Partnership agreed to look afresh at the role of Community Planning in Edinburgh to maximise the relationships between public sector agencies and the voluntary and community sectors to address poverty and inequality and the climate and nature emergency.
We need your views to help shape the future of community planning in Edinburgh.
These sessions aim to bring together key partners to discuss, plan, and drive forward positive changes for communities. Your insights and contributions are highly valued, and we would be pleased if you could join us.
Spaces are limited, so we encourage you to book your place as soon as possible to secure your spot at your preferred session.
To register, please email communityplanning@edinburgh.gov.uk with your name, contact details, and the date of the session you would like to attend:
Wednesday, 23rd October | 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM | St. Bride’s Community Centre
or
Thursday, 24th October | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
or
Monday, 28th October | 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Microsoft Teams
Invitation to Participate in Community Planning Transformation and Improvement Stakeholder Engagement Sessions
The Edinburgh Partnership agreed to look afresh at the role of Community Planning in Edinburgh to maximise the relationships between public sector agencies and the voluntary and community sectors to address poverty and inequality and the climate and nature emergency. We need your views to help shape the future of community planning in Edinburgh.
These sessions aim to bring together key partners to discuss, plan, and drive forward positive changes for communities. Your insights and contributions are highly valued, and we would be pleased if you could join us.
Spaces are limited, so we encourage you to book your place as soon as possible to secure your spot at your preferred session.
To register, please email communityplanning@edinburgh.gov.uk with your name, contact details, and the date of the session you would like to attend.
Thursday, 10th October | 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Craigentinny Community Centre
or
Friday, 11th October | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre
or
Wednesday, 23rd October | 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM | St. Bride’s Community Centre
or
Thursday, 24th October | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | West Pilton N/hd Centre
or online
Monday, 28th October | 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Microsoft Teams
Background Information on the Edinburgh Partnership Transformation and Improvement Programme –
Survey findings reveal Edinburgh’s ‘bounce-back to better health’
Record levels of residents are feeling positive and say they’re satisfied with life in Edinburgh, according to a new survey produced for the city council.
According to the city’s 17th annual Edinburgh by Numbers – a statistical snapshot of the Capital collated by the Council – feelings of ‘worthwhile’ are the highest they have been for a decade.
Echoing the findings of an Edinburgh Partnership survey last year, which revealed 93% of residents are happy with life in the Capital, improved levels of resident happiness and life satisfaction have been recorded by Edinburgh by Numbers despite a small increase in anxiety levels.
Alongside personal wellness scores, the health of Edinburgh’s environment and economy is also on the up – with the data confirming Scotland’s Capital has the highest percentage of residents who consider the climate emergency to be ‘urgent’.
It comes as greenhouse emissions drop by 37.9% in Edinburgh as part of concerted efforts towards net zero by 2030, with more than half of city journeys under two miles now being made by walking or cycling, according to the findings. Public transport satisfaction rates have also hit 86%, which is significantly above the Scottish average.
Pointing to the resilience and growth of the Capital’s economy, Edinburgh by Numbers data suggests job opportunities in the city remain some of the best in the UK and that unemployment rates have more than halved from 6.3% to 2.6% in less than 10 years.
In continued signs of Edinburgh’s post-covid rebound, Edinburgh’s economy is listed in the data as the UK’s most productive economy outside of London, at 32.7% higher regional GVA per person than Glasgow.
Visitor numbers are also starting to return to pre-covid levels with a noticeable increase in visits from October to December, making Edinburgh second in the UK for overnight visits after London.
The data suggests there are over 170,000 students across all education levels but overall, Edinburgh’s population is aging. And while poverty levels are lower than national averages, tackling poverty and reducing inequality remains a key Council priority and a slight increase in relative poverty has been recorded following the cost-of-living crisis.
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “This year’s Edinburgh by Numbers paints a feel-good picture of a successful, growing Capital city where people really enjoy living and working.
“It’s great to see so much evidence of people living well, feeling happy and caring about climate change here in Edinburgh. The data points to good news for business, for jobs and for tourism and I think it’s fair to say that Edinburgh’s economic – and environmental – outlook is healthy.
“There has been a joint effort in recent years to work together as one city on everything from poverty to climate change, supporting the Festivals and our parks, ensuring Edinburgh remains a special, welcoming and unique place to live.
“Of course, with this good news comes the other side of the same coin: the pressure of complex population changes on our core services and on the people who live and work here.
“The recovery of tourism provides a welcome boost to our economy, but this means greater use and upkeep of facilities and isn’t always accessible for everyone. Likewise, a thriving economy does not mean that every resident is able to benefit equally, and we face a growing housing emergency and pressure supporting our people and our planet.
“That’s why we’re set on becoming the first city to introduce a visitor levy when the legislation comes into force. It’s also why the Council budget we set in February prioritises poverty, climate, and key services for residents. I’m pleased to see the Edinburgh by Numbers findings demonstrate just how vital this is.
“We’ve still got work to do, but we’ll continue to do everything in our power to reach our ambitious goals to eradicate poverty and become net-zero by 2030. We need the city with us though, and the success depends on everyone’s participation and will be the result of collective efforts.”
Sarah Boyd, Managing Director of Lothian Buses, said: “It’s really encouraging to read that satisfaction with public transport in Edinburgh sits at an average of 86%, which is significantly above the Scottish average of 58%.
“Our teams work incredibly hard to deliver sustainable, affordable, and reliable bus services for all, so it’s particularly heartening to read that overall satisfaction is so high.
“We are continuing to grow our network following a strong performance throughout 2023 which saw Lothian deliver for more than 110 million customers – an increase of 17% on the previous year.”
FEELGOOD EDINBURGH? LIKE F***!
AN INVITATION FROM NORTH EDINBURGH PARENTS ACTION GROUP
On behalf of the North Edinburgh Parents’ Action Group
You are invited to their launch of their photographic exhibition and publication with local stories and medical experts discussing the impact of poor housing on mental health and wellbeing.
Home Sweet Home?
10am to 12.30pm on Wednesday 1 May
Refreshments and lunch included at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre
Around 3,700 residents were interviewed face-to-face between July and September 2023, with 94% of the respondents saying they’re satisfied with life in Edinburgh.
The survey was commissioned by the Edinburgh Partnership to inform best practice, strategy development and outcome monitoring across the Partnership including informing the Local Outcome Improvement Plan, and will be noted by the Culture and Communities Committee in their meeting next Thursday (February 29).
Results also demonstrated that deprivation is the most significant factor impacting the experience of life, living in Edinburgh, and receiving services.
It shows that those in the 20% most deprived areas have an experience that is substantially worse than people who live in other areas of Edinburgh. Of those who took part in the survey, more than a quarter of residents had not paid a household bill, paid a bill using credit, or used a food bank in the past twelve months.
Most participants reported feeling very safe in general, but much less safe in their neighbourhood after dark. When asked what would make them feel safer, over half suggested additional police presence. The majority of people who took part said their satisfaction was lowest with the management of antisocial behaviour, road safety, and cleanliness of neighbourhoods.
The results of the survey, which were jointly funded by members of The Edinburgh Partnership, were designed to provide a proportionate sample of Edinburgh residents.
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “I’m delighted that such a large majority of our residents are so satisfied with Edinburgh as a place to live. It’s also heartening to see that people have recognised the hard work our Council teams put in to supporting and delivering our services.
“Research like the Edinburgh Partnership Survey is incredibly insightful for our own future planning and the feedback will help us to keep improving the way we serve Edinburgh’s residents.
“The rise in inflation and the continuing cost-of-living crisis mean that many residents are facing the most difficult financial circumstances ever, but we are working extremely hard to lessen the impacts.
“The reality is that we are Scotland’s lowest funded council and ending poverty is not something we can do alone. I remain committed to doing my utmost as Council Leader along with colleagues and our city’s partners to improving the situation here in Edinburgh as there’s still a lot more work to do.”
The Edinburgh Asociation of Community Councils (EACC) meets online tonight at 7pm.
Up for discussion is the Edinburgh Partnership’s draft Community Council Reform Implementation Plan (below)
In an email to community councils before the meeting EACC Chair Stve Kerr said: “I attach a draft implementation table which includes issues that have been covered in the initial discussion between the EACC Steering Group and senior City of Edinburgh Council officers.
“The list is not exhaustive, and I would welcome your thoughts on whether the areas covered are appropriate and additional issues that you wish to see addressed.
“I hope that as many of you as possible can participate in the discussion to ensure that the views of all 44-member Community Councils are represented.”
1. Steve Kerr, Chair of EACC, will give an update on the Edinburgh Partnership Improvement Plan’s Community Council Reform Programme.
2. Daisy Narayanan, Senior Manager, Place Making and Mobility for the City of Edinburgh Council, will introduce her new job, with a remit that includes ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’, City Centre Transformation, City Mobility Plan, and the Low Emission Zone (LEZ).
3. An LEZ team member will introduce the project and the current consultation which lasts until 20 September (to be confirmed).
4. Discussion about the National Care Service.
5. Any other business.
This meeting is open to the public, but priority will be given to questions from community councillors. The meeting will be recorded.
Please note that by joining the meeting you are giving your consent for the meeting to be recorded.
‘Think local, act local’ is the strong message coming from Edinburgh’s community planning partnership as city residents and community groups rally round to support each other.
This week the Edinburgh Partnership, the city’s community planning network, held an urgent meeting to co-ordinate the city’s response to Covid-19 and to look at what more we can all do to help Edinburgh’s residents and businesses through this unprecedented and difficult time.
They have committed to working together to do everything they can to keep vital services running, supporting the most vulnerable and isolated and making sure our frontline workers are able to continue with their essential work.
Council Leader Adam McVey said:“The Edinburgh Partnership brings together the heads of public sector like Council, police and NHS with the third sector, and the business community with the chamber of commerce, and are all working together to co-ordinate Edinburgh’s efforts.
“We’re supporting our residents, businesses, communities and working hard to sustain essential and lifeline services at this incredibly challenging time.
“There’s a lot we’re already doing to work across organisations, and we’ll continue to do everything we can to keep our vital services operating. This will mean everyone in the city doing their bit or simply bearing with us so we can direct support where it’s most needed.
“We’re already seeing many examples of organisations and individuals being hugely creative to help people in our communities and we’ll do everything we can to effectively coordinate help and support being offered and keep everyone up to date with the most recent information.”
Depute Leader Cammy Day said:“As we continue to develop our plans and respond to this constantly evolving situation, we’ll also be doing all we can to help those working incredibly hard to make sure important services can continue.
“Part of that will be helping to coordinate the huge volunteering effort that we’re already seeing across the city. It’s amazingly heart-warming, but unsurprising, to see the scale of kindness and generosity from Edinburgh people and businesses.”
Ella Simpson, EVOC Chief Executive said:“Every day we’re seeing wonderful examples of communities and the voluntary sector coming together to help each other and we’ll continue to support that effort working with volunteers and community groups, guiding them to where their support is most needed.
“Just being a good neighbour will be a lifeline to many older, vulnerable or isolated people.
“If you’re keen to help, we advise that you look within your own street and community first, see what your local charity is already doing and ask if they need your support. There’s so much you can do without looking too far. Very simple actions like help with shopping and checking on neighbours are key to getting the city through this.
“There are fantastic resources available for voluntary groups and individual volunteers and we’ll keep providing that support and sharing information on how you can help.”
What you can do
Already a volunteer or want to know how to volunteer? Contact Volunteer Edinburgh for information and advice.
Voluntary organisations responding to COVID-19 in their communities should contact EVOC for advice and support.
Over the last year, the Edinburgh Partnership has been looking at how we organise ourselves to make us more open and improve how we work across the city (writes Cllr Adam McVey, city council leader and Chair of The Edinburgh Partnership).
Our major goal was to agree a new way of working which helps us to create a city where everyone can share in our success; a city where people have enough money to live on, can access jobs, learning or training opportunities, and have a good place to live.
At our meeting on 2 April 2019, the Partnership agreed the new structure which will support this way of working. This new structure will give us a better focus for partnership working in the city. We will have four city-wide partnership groups, four local community planning partnerships, and 13 neighbourhood networks. Each group will take responsibility for a theme or plan to achieve our goal of a city where poverty and inequality are reduced. They will all feed into the Edinburgh Partnership Board.
More detail about the new structure is on the Edinburgh Partnership page on the Council website [www.edinburgh.gov.uk/edinburghpartnership].
These are the next steps for setting up the new groups:
Neighbourhood Networks
Strengthening how we work with communities has been an important aspect of this process. Building on the former Neighbourhood Partnerships, we are setting up 13 Neighbourhood Networks. Members will include community councils and other community groups in the area, such as residents’ organisations and parents’ councils, together with councillors and voluntary groups.
The final make-up of the membership will be for each Network to determine. This recognises your feedback that the Networks should reflect the diversity of each area.
We will set up an initial meeting, based on groups already involved locally, to decide how they want to work and to nominate a representative to sit on the Locality Community Planning Partnership.
Each Neighbourhood Network will decide locally how they will operate. They must hold an annual meeting at which they must nominate a community member to sit on the Locality Community Planning Partnership. The Networks will identify the priorities and outcomes for their areas, with this informing what the Edinburgh Partnership Board, and the groups in the new structure, will do.
Local Community Planning Partnerships
We are setting up four Locality Community Planning Partnerships to deliver the locality improvement plans. We will ask public bodies, such as NHS Lothian, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, to nominate their representative. Members will also include a councillor for each ward and a community representative from each of the Neighbourhood Networks.
Next steps
The Council’s localities teams will be organising the initial meetings of the Neighbourhood Networks. They will be in touch with councillors, and community and voluntary groups in their areas to organise the meetings in May.
We will ask members of the Edinburgh Partnership Board to confirm their representative for the four Locality Community Planning Partnerships. Councillors will agree their representation at a Council meeting in May.
I hope you agree that this is an exciting time for the city and gives us a real opportunity to do things differently. I would like to thank you for taking part, whether it was in the initial review, consultation and, more recently, the localities events. We look forward to continuing to work with you to make this a success.
Adam McVey
Chair, Edinburgh Partnership and Leader of The City of Edinburgh Council
“Community planning is all about how public bodies work both together and with local communities to design and deliver better services that can make a real difference to local people’s lives” – Council leader Cllr Adam McVey
The views of capital residents and partners are being sought as part of a drive by the Edinburgh Partnership to plan and deliver better services for the community.
Do you feel involved in decision-making? Are community voices being heard? What can be done to improve local democracy and community engagement? Where does the community fit into community planning?
In the snappily-titled ‘Edinburgh Partnership Review & Consultation on Governance and Community Planning Arrangements (the name alone should be enough scare a few people off!) The Edinburgh Partnership is consulting community councils, community groups and individuals on community planing in the capital.
Community planning brings together public agencies, the third sector and communities to work together to plan and deliver services which make a real difference to people’s lives. The Edinburgh Partnership involves these partners in overseeing this work for the city.
The Edinburgh Partnership recognises that community planning processes can be improved. In this consultation, the Edinburgh Partnership would like to hear people’s views on:
how communities and community groups can more effectively influence decisions about their community.
how the governance arrangements can be improved to:
make it clear how decisions are made, and who is making them, by improving the groups and structures involved
make partnership working stronger
make better connections between the different levels of partnership working in the city.
Why is The Edinburgh Partnership consulting?
In Scotland, the law says a range of public bodies must take part in community planning. This is set out in the Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. The act was designed to strengthen the influence communities have in making decisions about their area – this is known as community planning.
Below is the current governance structure in Edinburgh, which forms the basis of the consultation. It shows many partnership and advisory groups feed into and from the Edinburgh Partnership.
There are other bodies in the city which link to and/or have a role in these arrangements but they are not part of the governance structure. These include community councils, Council committees, the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils and the Equality and Rights Network. They provide the city-wide perspective for community and interest groups. These are not included in the consultation.
To help develop the consultation the Edinburgh Partnership carried out a review with the people involved in the current partnerships and groups shown in the governance structure (as above). Their views on what is working well and what could be better have shaped the proposals and questions in this consultation.
The Edinburgh Partnership would now like to hear YOUR views as it’s recognised that this consultation is relevant in different ways to a wide range of organisations.
Timescales
Deadline for submissions is Sunday 9th September 2018.
Your chance to influence how community planning works for Edinburgh: Take part here:
