Letters: Cuts hit the people most in need

Dear Editor

Cuts in funding for services affect people differently, most are appalled at the frequency and the damage it is doing to the local social fabric. But as always, it is those who are in need of services are denied them with all the consequences including further isolation within the community.

Pilton Equalities Project, an organisation in North Edinburgh, runs many services for local people, including :-

Five Day Care Clubs, Classes and Activities in Computer Training, Arts and Crafts, Classes in Literacy and Numeracy. Cooking, A Mental Health Issues Group Class

These activities are attended by approximately 200 people each week.

PEPs Minibuses pick up from and return people to their homes, all the buses are staffed with volunteer escorts. Up to 8o other volunteers help throughout the week with other activities.

Funding cuts from the Council or Scottish Parliament will hit the provision of these services and the very people who are in most need.

PEP makes every effort in appealing to various social and charitable organisations for grants to keep these vital services for local people going but it is not sustainable in the long run if funding cuts continue.

PEPs volunteers did 13,00 hours volunteering in 2016 for local people, adding greatly to the quality of life and indeed their health. As one of those volunteers, the reason for this letter is to raise public understanding of how serious are repeated cuts in funding for local services.

With the best will and efforts volunteers cannot operate on insufficient funding for their organisations.

A. Delahoy.

Silverknowes Gardens

The city council will sets it’s budget tomorrow. The meeting starts at 10am

Locality Improvement Plan: five days left to have your say

Until 27^th January – Still time to tell us your priorities for North West Locality. Please complete our short survey and please share

The 2017 – 2022 North West Locality Improvement Plan (LIP) will help coordinate how key partners including the Council, NHS, Police etc. best use available resources to meet changing demands across our communities. The LIP will also help towards the delivery of the new Edinburgh City Vision 2050. Continue reading Locality Improvement Plan: five days left to have your say

COSLA: give us a break

It’s the blame game. Local government blames Holyrood for cuts to services. Holyrood blames Westminster. Westminster says it’s Holyrood’s fault – and so the cycle goes on. And on. And on. And while the various democratic structures pass the buck, communities continue to suffer – and, as ever, the poorest communities suffer most …

COSLA President Councillor David O’Neill said that Council Leaders had given COSLA a very clear message over the course of the last week that the Scottish Government have to treat local government fairly in tomorrow’s settlement announcement. Continue reading COSLA: give us a break

UNISON reveals ‘hidden and drastic’ cuts to libraries and community learning services

All Edinburgh libraries face reduced opening hours, some will close and merge with other services, mobile library stops will vanish and Community Learning and Development jobs are to be axed in a £6.4 million cuts package, warns the Edinburgh branch of UNISON, the public service union. Continue reading UNISON reveals ‘hidden and drastic’ cuts to libraries and community learning services

Help us deliver ‘re-shaped’ services, pleads council

Council seeks your views on budget priorities

Edinburgh residents are being asked by the City of Edinburgh Council for their views on reshaping council services as part of public engagement for the 2017/18 budget, which will be set early next year.

This year people will get the chance to contribute ideas of their own on how city services are provided, by having meaningful conversations online with other residents in their local area. Residents will also be able to see the suggestions of others in their community and rate those ideas.

The Council has agreed draft spending and saving plans for the next three years and is now looking for residents’ views on how best to change the delivery of some services.

A seven-week engagement period, beginning today (Friday, 30 September), will run until Friday, 18 November. It will focus on three key themes, new ways of working, lean and agile services and working with partners.

The online survey will ask residents to think about how the changes below could affect them, their community and the city as a whole as well as what challenges and opportunities they present for the Council.

Supporting individuals and community groups to become more involved in delivering library services.
Developing the ways customers do business with the Council to include more online tools which are accessible and respond to customer needs so that services are delivered right first time.
Working with Edinburgh Leisure to maintain access to quality facilities and programmes whilst achieving savings and efficiencies.

The Council will also be working closely with communities, equality groups and partners over the coming months by running workshops around reshaping services, working with communities to agree how local budgets should be spent and creating a city vision for Edinburgh for 2050.

A Question Time event will also be webcast from the City Chambers on Thursday, 10 November to give members of the public a more personal opportunity to ask questions about changes to services.

Councillor Alasdair Rankin, Finance and Resources Convener, 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.

“In previous budget engagements residents told us to protect education, care for older people, culture, and services for vulnerable children and adults. These continue to be our priorities.

“Using our online engagement tools, we’re making it easy for people to contribute their views and ideas, and to understand the different challenges there are reshaping our services.

“We are improving our engagement tools this year by allowing people to speak to other residents in their local area about issues which specifically affect them. This will give us quality feedback on how people would like their services delivered in the future.”

Councillor Bill Cook, Finance Vice-Convener, added: “Everything you say will be taken into account when we draw up the final budget to be considered by Council in early 2017, so we are extremely interested in hearing your views. Whether it’s via the online survey, dialogue page, phone, letter, email or social media we welcome all feedback.”

At a meeting of the Finance & Resources Committee on Thursday, 29 September, councillors approved a report on the draft budget.

The draft budget, online survey and dialogue page can be accessed at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/playyourpart.

Residents can have their say by:

Completing the online survey

Commenting on the online dialogue page

Phoning on 0131 200 2305 (8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 3.40pm Friday)

Writing to Freepost, RSJC-SLXC-YTJY, Budget, Council Leader, City Chambers, High Street Edinburgh EH1 1YJ

Speaking to your local councillor(s)

Care and Repair Edinburgh

Care and Repair Edinburgh – Better At Home https://www.careandrepairedinburgh.org.uk/

Care and Repair Edinburgh – Advice and Information Leaflet

Registered charity Care and Repair Edinburgh supports older (60+) and disabled people to live safely at home through providing a range of practical services.

C&RE is contracted by the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) to provide the following core services:

Small Repairs
Adaptations
FREE Handyperson/Volunteer
Keysafe Fitting (Police Approved)
Trade Referrals

See leaflet for more info

It’s National Libraries Day!

DIVE IN TODAY!

Visit

www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/

Death by a thousand cuts

North Edinburgh activists urge: reject the budget cuts!

North Edinburgh’s Power to the People adult education group is among the many deputations who will be urging councillors to think again at this morning’s budget meeting. This is what they plan to say: Continue reading Death by a thousand cuts

Andrew Burns: don’t blame us!

City council leader says the Scottish government must act to change ‘broken’ local government funding system

Edinburgh’s 58 councillors will vote through cuts of £85 million at tomorrow’s budget meeting. Billed as the deepest cuts in living memory, thousands of jobs will be lost and key services will be slashed. Who’s responsible for Edinburgh’s budget crisis? Council leader ANDREW BURNS says local government funding is to blame and he’s urging the Scottish Government to ‘let go’. Continue reading Andrew Burns: don’t blame us!

Council budget: time for a ‘grown-up debate’

Edinburgh Greens propose small council tax rise to improve council services and combat cuts

Green councillors in Edinburgh are proposing a small council tax rise to raise £10m to invest in services. They believe that combatting cuts in schools, social care and vulnerable children services should be the capital’s priority.

Green councillors in Edinburgh are proposing a 4.3% council tax rise for next year: equivalent to an extra 97p a week for the average Band D property.

The council tax rise, which is backed by 63% of respondents to the council’s budget consultation, would still leave the council having to make significant efficiencies and savings, but, according to the Greens, it would head off the worst cuts.

The £10m package includes

– Retaining a properly-funded school music service
– Blocking cuts to special schools and disadvantaged children
– Keeping budgets for social care for frail older people
– Supporting community centres, libraries and leisure centres.

The additional money would also allow the Council to recruit and keep more care workers to bridge a gap of 5,000 unmet care hours a week. And it would see a substantial investment in long term repair and maintenance of schools.

The proposals are outlined in a blog published today by Green Finance spokesperson Councillor Gavin Corbett, ahead of the council budget meeting this Thursday (21 January).

Cllr Corbett said: “This year’s budget round is by far the toughest since devolution in 1999, with the city council looking down the barrel of £85m worth of cuts. That includes cuts to schools, libraries, swimming pools, social care and community centres.

“That is why almost two-thirds of people responding to the council’s budget consultation backed a council tax rise. I agree with them and I am proposing 97p extra a week to reverse all of the worst cuts and also help tackle to mounting crisis in social care.

“So I believe the city council owes to it to the people of Edinburgh to have a proper grown-up debate about the right balance between new income and spending. To shrink away from that debate, to meekly accept whatever cuts central governments dole out is to infantilise the capital city, to impoverish vital services and to simply store up yet greater problems for the future.

“Let’s have that grown-up debate.”

Edinburgh currently has five Green councillors on a council that is dominated by Labour (21) and the SNP (17) so it would be a major surprise (i.e. there’s next to no chance) if the Green proposals were to be adopted.

When city councillors set Edinburgh’s budget on Thursday it’s expected that the Labour-SNP Capital Coalition will vote through budget cuts of £85 million. Up to 2000 jobs will be lost in what public services trade union Unison describes as ‘the worst cuts in living memory’.

You can find the Edinburgh Greens blog on the budget at
http://www.edinburghgreens.org.uk/site/councillors/budget-2016/