I've posted fairly frequently about the "Co-operative Capital" agenda, that the local Labour/SNP Coalition is attempting to facilitate - most recent update was probably
this one ...
... I've got a short piece in today's Scotsman, about the same theme/s and indicating the progress that's being made. The article
can be found here - and I'll also paste the main text below for ease-of-reference:
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TWO-WAY dialogue helps to heal, says Andrew Burns
I think you’d need to be inhabiting a wholly different world from
the one I live in not to be aware that trust between the electorate and those
of us either elected, or employed, to serve that electorate, has broken down
badly in recent years.
And you don’t have to look far to find yet another expenses scandal
playing out in the media.
Of course, this malaise doesn’t simply affect government or
Councils, but it has to be openly acknowledged before we can successfully
re-invigorate our democracy.
It was clear when we formed a Labour-SNP coalition in May 2012
that business as usual wasn’t an option; we had to change the way we do
things. That’s why we committed to
becoming a ‘Cooperative Capital’.
If this is to work, it can’t be a one-way street: two-way dialogue
is a must. We want to encourage communities, partners and those using our
services to become more involved in how these are planned, managed and
delivered.
The Cooperative Council philosophy underpins the Coalition’s
approach to work on many levels. It
means looking at new ways of delivering services but it also means cooperating with
other agencies, other cities and, crucially the people of Edinburgh: doing
things with them and not doing things to them.
In a time of economic challenge, Edinburgh’s different sectors
need to make real cooperative efforts to ensure this city’s high quality of life
is maintained and, where possible, enhanced. There are good signs that this
cooperative approach is starting to take root.
Administratively, we have sought to make the way the Council does
business more accessible to people through webcasting meetings, early
publication of our draft budget and developing the policy review and
development sub-committees to give stakeholders more of a role in how we
develop policy.
We established the first Petitions Committee in Edinburgh to
enable local residents to have an additional channel to raise issues of
concern, with their elected representatives, and directly with the Council.
We also completely revised the budgetary process to allow months
of debate and discussion before any final decisions are made, this year
publishing a draft budget in October – five months before the budget was
set. Hundreds of business and residents
responded to our consultation and I’m grateful to them for taking the time to
let us know their thoughts.
In September 2012, we took on board voters’ priorities and focused
our efforts on promoting and establishing cooperatives in four key areas:
housing, childcare, energy and social care. In the year-and-a-half since, I’m
pleased to report that we’re beginning to make some tangible progress in all
four.
The power of working with other sectors was recently demonstrated
when Edinburgh was named as the site for Scotland’s National Performance Centre
for Sport following a campaign led by Heriot Watt University and supported by
the Council, Edinburgh Airport, and
nearly 5,000 individual supporters – a real victory for Team Edinburgh.
And just in case it looks like I’m being too Edinburgh-centred in
my focus, the impact of a successful Edinburgh isn’t simply felt in the city
itself. The case for the cities is well
rehearsed: successful cities have a huge impact on their surrounding areas and are
the driving force behind the national economy.
The establishment of the Scottish Cities Alliance, the
collaboration of Scotland’s seven cities, the Scottish Government and the SCDI,
has
been a welcome step and we are fully committed to achieving its collective aims
of attracting external investment, stimulating economic activity and
most importantly creating new jobs and business opportunities.
Closer to home, we have joined forces with our neighbouring local
authorities so that we can work cooperatively on issues of mutual interest such
as skills and training, investment and tourism, energy and renewables.
We also become the first
Scottish Council, closely followed by Glasgow, to join the Cooperative Council
Innovation Network. Despite its origins, the CCIN is detached from any party
political structures and is registered with the Local Government Association as
an independent network. It aims to enable councils to improve collaboration
with citizens and communities, and strengthen cooperative practice.
Together with Glasgow, we are
planning a number of seminars and a conference later on this year and I am very
keen that we continue to work and them, and hopefully other local authorities,
to develop more cooperative practice and to create a Scottish network.
Now more than ever, I see cooperative councils being at the
forefront of innovative partnership working across sectors, tackling the serious
challenges that lie ahead together and rebuilding voters’ trust in local
democracy.
• Cllr Andrew Burns is leader of City of Edinburgh Council
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