COUNCILLOR ANDREW BURNS' REALLY BAD BLOG

Labour Group alternative-budget proposals

2012-02-02T07:45:00.002Z

Ever since I took over as Edinburgh Labour's Group Leader (back in June 2008) we've enforced a discipline of publishing our budgets just prior to the actual budget-setting meeting of the Council:

- February 2009 budget here
- February 2010 budget here

And last year, we published a full week in advance:

- February 2011 budget here

Well, its Local Government election year! --- and we've had a healthy internal debate about standing by that discipline in 2012 :-)

And, on balance, given all the arguments we've made in recent years about how flawed the Council's budget-setting process is, we concluded it would simply be hypocritical not to publish our budget proposals early again this year.

So, with a week to go - 2012 budget day is Thursday 9th February - the final draft text of our Budget Amendment follows below. There are a few question marks in paragraph 7, but they only relate to 'report numbers' which we don't yet have. And, with seven days to go, it is possible some elements may change slightly.

But, frankly, we continue to be pretty sick-and-tired (and this criticism applies to previous Labour Administrations of which I was part) of the way that the Council's annual budget round is managed.

Every year, we get ourselves into the ludicrous situation of each Party Group not knowing what the other is proposing until we walk into the Council Chamber at 10am on the local Budget Day. And we're not talking a Westminster or Holyrood budget here, but the budget of a medium-sized city ... it just makes no sense to continue like this.

... so, once again this year I'm just going to re-produce below the final draft text of our Budget Amendment.

This whole approach is also entirely consistent with our Draft Manifesto launch - back in November 2011 - when we put our early manifesto thoughts into the public domain a full six-months prior to the election (more on the manifesto process next week!). Meantime, I hope you'll see those early manifesto thoughts reflected in our budget decisions below?

I do hope this all sends a very clear signal about the style of Council we would help run, if given the opportunity to do so by the electorate on Thursday 3rd May.

We're absolutely prepared to work with any others in sharing our ideas early, and I'll positively welcome any other Group who now adopts the principle tenets of this main Opposition Party Budget.

Please do read the text below, in conjunction with my colleague Ricky Henderson's more general explanation of our thinking, which was published earlier on Tuesday this week - see here and here.

======

DRAFT verFINAL

(based on current information as at 02/02/12)

The City of Edinburgh Council

9^th February 2012

REVENUE BUDGET 2012- 2013

CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMME 2012- 2016

HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT AND CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2012- 2013

LABOUR GROUP AMENDMENT

1. AVAILABLE RESOURCES

Council agrees that the protection of front line services remains an important priority, and acknowledges that every effort should be made to rationalise back-office functions.

Council further agrees that economic regeneration is vital to ensuring Edinburgh’s prosperity and future prospects; and recognises the Council’s duty to lead on both issues.

Therefore Council notes:

The current budget position as contained within today’s report/s.

The imbalance in revenue resources over the next 3 years due to the allocation of funding from the Scottish Government.

That future years will be extremely challenging based on current allocations / forecasts.

2. SERVICE PRIORITIES

Council now agrees:

That the introduction of the Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for Council workers is necessary to ensure social and economic justice and will also support the local economy.

To plan for the payment of the Living Wage to be a condition of future contracts with external suppliers.

That in future the highest paid Council employee shall earn no more than 12 times the salary of the lowest paid Council worker.

To establish a “PSC / Service Improvement Fund (Spend to Save)” of £11million to develop Council services and achieve efficiency savings; whilst noting that some £4.25million of abortive expenditure, plus extensive internal costs, has been sunk on the abandoned privatisation alternative.

To establish a “Co-operative Development Unit” (CDU) with an initial fund of £250,000. This unit will be resourced by the redeployment of senior staff from elements of service restructuring; noting that this restructuring has been called for in the previous 4 Labour Group Budget Amendments.

The CDU will work with Council departments, communities and partner organisations to develop sustainable co-operative models which will deliver excellent public services in a cost effective and cooperative manner. (i.e. childcare, renewable energy production, housing)

That £3.44million funding in 2012/13 will go towards the ‘Change Funds for Health and Social Care and Early Years’, to support the wider alignment of budgets on a preventative basis, with provision of £6.88million by 2014/15.

To reinstate £826,000 of Voluntary Sector funding to ensure that all Voluntary Sector Grants are maintained at current levels, throughout 2012/13.

Funding of £740,000 to Edinburgh Leisure for specified works and services.

To reinstate £550,000 to the Libraries Service, which would secure existing Sunday opening hours.

To allocate £2million towards Employability Services in the city, ensuring that every school-leaver has a positive employment/education destination, and agrees to review the effectiveness and deliverability of these services in view of their importance to jobs and economic success.

To call for an urgent report, within 2-cycles, on all potential solutions to provide long-term stability for the funding of these Employability Services/Programmes.

That, recognising the need for ongoing schools maintenance, an additional ‘School Fabric Repairs’ fund of £3.1million is established.

That an additional investment fund of £1.2million is allocated to Neighbourhood Partnerships (doubling their existing discretionary spend) and those local communities are thus fully consulted on the best use of these one-off resources for infrastructure or community improvements, and also local co-operative developments, such as:

roads and footways improvements (Right First Time [RFT])
expansion of ‘Real Time Information’ for local bus services
cycling infrastructure improvements
local Play facilities
local Sports Pavilions
local Community Centre facilities

3. PROPOSED SAVINGS

Council further agrees to the following areas of significant saving:

a. Restructuring of Senior Management (Heads of Service) Posts

b. Reduction in the Q.I.O. Teams

c. Removal of various Council Publications

d. Absenteeism management

4. CONTINUED INVESTMENT

Council notes this budget allows the following areas of continued investment:

a. Nursery, Primary, Secondary and Special Schools

b. Health and Social Care Services for the Old and Vulnerable

c. Voluntary Sector, and third-party, grant support

d. Sport and Physical Activity services

e. Neighbourhood Services and local infrastructure

f. Libraries

5. FUTURE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT

Council notes that the budget process is an internal exercise which culminates in the setting of the Council's budget in mid-February each year. Spending plans are set for at least 12 months and sometimes up to 3 years.

Council agrees to establish a new Council Budget Committee to improve the scrutiny, and effectiveness, of the budget process. The proposed committee would be made up of Councillors and external groups representing wider civic society in the city. Such a dedicated budget committee could radically improve scrutiny and transparency of the budget setting process.

6. POLITICAL CHOICE

Council thus agrees to develop the concept of a ‘Co-operative Council’, positively promoting local decision-making, and rejecting the now, failed privatisation alternative.

Council thus acknowledges that this budget has focused on proposed areas of targeted savings to enable both continued investment in essential front line public service priorities, and the achievement of longer-term sustainable savings.

7. ADDITIONAL APPROVALS

Council notes the following:

Report no. CEC/86/11-12/PS and CEC/87/11-12/PS by the Director of Corporate Governance, setting out the overall resources available for revenue expenditure.
Report no. CEC/??? by the Director of Corporate Governance setting out the proposals for funding services from third parties in 2012/13.
Report no. CEC/88/11-12/PS and CEC/??? by the Director of Corporate Governance setting out the overall position on capital resources for the period 2012 - 2016.
A further report will be submitted to seek approval of revised charges for Council services, the outcomes of which are contained in Annex 1 to this amendment.

Council approves the following:

The revenue budget set out in the reports, subject to the adjustments set out in Annex 1 to this amendment.
The 2012 - 2016 capital budget as set out in reports CEC/88/11-12/PS and CEC/??? by the Director of Corporate Governance.
The Council Tax and Rating Resolutions as set out in Annex 2 to this amendment.
The recommendations contained in report CEC/??? by the Director of Services for Communities to increase rents by 7.9% in line with the agreed rent strategy in the HRA approved business plan.

Signature of Proposer ……………………………………………………

Signature of Seconder ……………………………………………………

£4,253,384.00

2012-02-01T12:07:00.018Z

Got the answer to that ABM-question this afternoon ...

... £4,253,384.00.

I accept that, one could argue, it has indirectly led to savings via the eventually successful (thankfully!) in-house Public Sector Comparator bids?

But, nevertheless, this is four-and-a-quarter million pounds that Senior Council Officers expended under the direct authority of the SNP/Lib-Dem Administration's February 2009 Budget --- only to see the whole programme abandoned at conclusion.

Group Meeting with a budget focus

2012-01-31T14:44:00.009Z

Group Meeting this evening, and we obviously discussed this Thursday's Full Council Papers ...

... but most of the debate was taken up (as planned) in finalising our alternative budget proposals for next Thursday's Budget Council Meeting.

As per previous years, we do intend to publish the final draft of our proposals in the run-up to the debate next week: watch this space.

Forget and smile ...

2012-01-30T23:58:00.000Z

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:

Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

by Christina Rosetti, 1862

Full Council this Thursday

2012-01-30T23:19:00.025Z

Full Council Meeting this coming Thursday (2nd Feb), with Budget Council Meeting next week (9th Feb) ...

... going to be a very busy couple of weeks :-(

This Thursday's agenda can be found here, with the individual reports accessible via this link.

The Managing Absence a Work report is up - Labour having referred it from last week's Policy and Strategy Committee. I'm still hoping that an outbreak of common-sense might prevail and the report will indeed be continued for another cycle --- it's what we originally asked for (and where refused), but if the local Administration concede that on Thursday it would be very welcome nevertheless.

We've also got a question down about the final costs of the abandoned ABM programme - will be interesting to see the total figure expended on the near 3-year project?

Allotment update!

2012-01-29T16:20:00.000Z

Well, survived the two Burns Suppers over the weekend ... both were very enjoyable events :-)

Managed a brief visit to the Allotment late this afternoon - fencing project still ongoing, but you can see that half of one side is now down, providing much better views over the adjoining plots.

First weekend in February and the other side is coming down - then the 're-fencing' will commence!

Haggis overload

2012-01-27T09:51:00.001Z

Third Burns Supper of the season tonight - Scottish Labour Students event at Teviot ... giving the Immortal Memory!

One more to follow, tomorrow evening, at Tynecastle High School, and then that's it --- no more veggie-haggis until 2013.

There's only so much of it one can eat :-(

Audit Committee

2012-01-26T08:26:00.016Z

Audit Committee earlier --- main agenda here, and individual reports can be found here ...

... main item of debate and discussion was, unsurprisingly, around the Tram Update Report. All just for noting, with one omission being acknowledged - that being the lack of presence of 'Transport Scotland' at the Committee?

Wouldn't like to be too 'machieavellian' about their absence, but they do now have several staff working on the project (at long last!) and I hope that some of them will attend the next Audit Committee which looks at the projects progress.

Scottish Government consultation

2012-01-25T20:15:00.021Z

Would be trite not to acknowledge the significant events of the day --- following the UK Government's earlier consultation launch (which I mentioned here), the Scottish Government has launched its referendum consultation paper today.

The former has a closing date for submissions of Friday 9th March ...

... the latter, a closing date of Friday 11th May.

I hope both papers receive a significant number of well-considered responses - as what follows next, whatever your constitutional viewpoint, is of huge importance.

Managing absence at work?

2012-01-24T23:38:00.023Z

Policy and Strategy Committee earlier - main agenda here and full set of papers here ...

... item 5 (specific report here) on managing attendance/absence at work resulted in a bit of needless (in my mind, at least) debate :-(

Trade Union-side and Management-side, clearly have a disagreement on the 'trigger points' within the new, propsed procedures ... but it was obvious from the Deputation and ensuing discussion that there isn't a million-miles between them on the main tenets of the proposals.

So --- we suggested a month's continuation to hopefully sort out the differences and ensure workforce buy-in to the changes; but no, because it was a Labour suggestion it was swatted away and we've ended up having to take the issue to February's Full Council in the (further!) hope that some common sense might prevail meantime.

Lets hope so.

100-days to go

2012-01-23T10:43:00.000Z

A mere 100 days to go :-)

Next, significant (local) campaigning milestone, will be the release of our re-drafted Manifesto - based on the feedback we've had to date ...

... first week in February and it should be good-to-go :-)

Final document to be published in early March after a few more weeks of public consultation.

Edinburgh South West Burns Supper

2012-01-21T11:45:00.015Z

Edinburgh South West's Annual Burns Supper this evening ...

... another successful event, with excellent speeches from Rachel Reeves MP, Lewis Macdonald MSP and Johann Lamont MSP. And all very ably chaired by Alistair Darling MP and Sarah Boyack MSP.

What a line-up :-)

And, to make the night even more enjoyable, one of my long-suffering sisters won the main raffle prize :-))

Coalition reflections

2012-01-20T09:50:00.033Z

No - not the UK Coalition, but our own more local variety :-(

Been reflecting a bit on recent events in the Council Chamber (and also those of November) and I'm left wondering if there really is anything of political value, other than the naked retention of power, that the local Lib-Dems are now achieving via their 'so-called' partnership with Edinburgh's SNP Group?

Of course, I'm resigned now to the pairing stumbling through to the 3rd May ... but really, despite good people being present in both Groups, Edinburgh does deserve a better local leadership.

Joint Labour-SNP Amendment, with Green backing

2012-01-19T00:19:00.043Z

Full Council Meeting later today and it looks like there should be a joint Labour-SNP Amendment, with Green Group backing, to support the in-house option for Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) services --- the text of which should be pretty much along the lines that I outlined a couple of days ago ...

... a majority Council position which, in essence, is a repeat of last November's meeting (on 'Environmental Services' outsourcing) - and again, Officers, Employees, Trade Unions and Politicians (of all Parties) should simply get on, and deliver on the eventual Council decision.

Time to move on.

Policy and Strategy Committee next Tuesday

2012-01-18T15:51:00.028Z

Policy and Strategy Committee meeting next Tuesday - and the main agenda can now be seen here; with all the individual reports available via CPOL, as usual, here ...

... the reports numbered 7, 8 and 9 are laying the final scene for the upcoming 2012/13 budget-setting meeting on Thursday 9th February; all of which I mentioned earlier.

Item 10, on the developing Commissioning Plan for Treatment and Recovery from alcohol and drug dependency also makes fascinating reading ... large sums of money are spent, by the Council, in this area with potentially very significant impacts on many peoples' lives.

Privatisation proposals

2012-01-17T23:27:00.088Z

More privatisation proposals coming up for decision at that Special Council Meeting this Thursday ... main agenda can now be found here; and individual reports via here.

Two further elements are being reported: Corporate and Transactional Services (CATS) are being recommended for retention in-house --- we'll support that; and Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) services are being recommended for outsourcing ...

... following our Group Meeting this evening, I can now re-produce our draft Amendment (see below) opposing that outsourcing.

The Labour Group have opposed this whole Alternative Business Model (ABM) work stream since its inception in the February 2009 Administration Budget.

All the evidence, which we have carefully considered - and our Statutory Duty to deliver best value and balance quality with cost - indicates to us that this procurement process should be terminated right now and that these public services should be retained in-house.

======

City of Edinburgh Council

Labour Amendment

Full Council Meeting

19^th January 2012

Item 4.1(a) Alternative Business Models Review Programme

– Integrated Facilities Management

1. Council notes that the Alternative Business Models Review Programme would be concluded by a decision of Council and that this was commonly known by, and made clear to, all Parties involved in the process.

2. Council, having taken into account inter-alia the following …

i. The statutory duty to deliver Best Value, namely the duty to ensure the continuous improvement of services. Specifically Council notes the duty to strike an appropriate balance between quality and cost while having due regard for efficiency, effectiveness, economy, equality, human rights and sustainability including social and economic sustainability as well as environmental protection.

ii. The statutory duty to have due regard for Scottish Government guidance and protocols including Best Value Guidance, Section 52 Guidance, the National Standards on Community Engagement and the “Public Private Partnerships in Scotland – protocol and guidance concerning employment issues”.

iii. The now acknowledged workforce reduction under this element of the ABM programme with public sector jobs being lost to the City of Edinburgh and the resulting adverse economic consequences for the city.

iv. The risk to local services, and local accountability, being too great and the estimated level of savings being unlikely to outweigh the dis-benefits of this element of the ABM programme.

v. The information that was made available in the “data room” coupled with detailed analysis of some of the said information.

… all leads Council to agree that the procurement process is terminated without award of a contract.

3. Council further notes that an internal improvement plan has been developed which has the potential to deliver significant improvements and savings to in-house service delivery and:

i. resolves to apply the terms of the Integrated Facilities Management internal improvement plan and instructs the Chief Executive Officer to take appropriate steps to secure its implementation.

ii. agrees that regular reports on the progress of the internal improvement plan shall be made to the Finance & Resources Committee and/or Council and that Committee should bring any matters of concern regarding its progress to the attention of the Council in order that it can determine any course of action it deems necessary.

4. Council therefore rejects recommendations 9.1(i) to 9.1(iii) and agrees to proceed as stated above.

Proposed __________________________________

Seconded ___________________________________

Budget preparations

2012-01-16T23:27:00.015Z

Amidst all the Local Elections planning, and endless referendum discussions, normal Council business continues --- with the 2012/13 annual budget for the Local Authority about to be set on Thursday 9th February 2012: only a few weeks away!

Of course, that budget will be inherited by any incoming Administration after the 3rd May Council Elections --- so, the whole process has taken on an added-significance this year.

Our Group has plans well advanced and, as in recent previous years, I will publish the detail of our Opposition Budget as soon as possible --- and certainly before we actually get to the 9th February.

Salsburgh birthday!

2012-01-15T12:18:00.018Z

Spent most of this afternoon/early evening over in sunny Salsburgh ... whole family gathered for my Dad's 84th Birthday celebrations :-))

Lots of cake; masses of externally-provided catering (huge take-away!); and plenty of robust debate about bicycle helmets and referendum/s ... all in that order of importance, of course ;-)

All very enjoyable!

Labour Group Away Day

2012-01-13T01:02:00.025Z

Labour Group Away Day (well, afternoon!) at the 'Engine Shed' today --- nearly 4-months since the last one, and a lot of detailed work for the 2012 Elections has been completed in the intervening weeks ...

... of course, all our candidates are selected and our draft manifesto is out for consultation; and focus now shifting to the finalisation of plans for the last few months of the campaign!

Less than 16-weeks to go until the polls open ;-)

Westfield Court Nursery to close, shock!

2012-01-12T21:32:00.017Z

Well, comes as no surprise I'm afraid, but the Council have just announced that Westfield Court Nursery School is to be closed permanently :-(

It was - and those in charge now this fine well - closed for all intent-and-purposes nearly 2-years ago; and then announced as a temporary measure back in October 2010.

As I said back then, I think parents at this Nursery School have been treated disgracefully and someone, somewhere should have had the decency to be honest about the original closure-intentions.

Finance Committee meeting

2012-01-11T08:06:00.025Z

Finance Committee meeting next Tuesday - main agenda can now be found here; and individual reports here.

Despite the length of that agenda, there's not really anything of huge contention amongst the papers ... but you never know!

Believe it or not, this is the penultimate Finance Committee Meeting before the Council Elections on 3rd May ... indeed, there is only ONE Transport Committee Meeting left on 21st February before we next go to the polls. I'd expect plenty of 'long agendas' in the coming weeks :-(

Scotland Office (UK Govt.) referendum proposals

2012-01-10T00:31:00.022Z

Scotland Office has published - just in case you hadn't heard! - its proposals for transferring referendum powers today ... relevant News Release can be found here.

The actual consultation paper - which is relatively brief - can be found here and comments can be submitted up until Friday 9th March 2012 ...

... I'll certainly make a submission in due course, but I suspect the Scottish Government may have alternative plans to be published in the not-too-distant future.

Libraries Consultation

2012-01-09T08:45:00.022Z

City-wide consultation still currently ongoing in relation to the Capital's Libraries' services ... you can see outline details here and the main Strategy Document here.

The consultation runs through to the end of this month, and I'd strongly encourage Edinburgh residents to make a submission; as without change, these proposals will mean no Edinburgh Library will be open on a Sunday.

I personally think it's a short-sighted set of proposals, which is being driven primarily by finance and not by the quality or standards of service provision.

Decorations down, tree recycled

2012-01-08T01:13:00.000Z

Slightly belatedly (think the 12th Night was a few days ago!) have now got all the Christmas decorations, cards, tree and assorted ephemera either safely packed away or soon-to-be-recycled ...

... you can put those trees out for collection from 7am tomorrow (Monday 9th) - details here ;-)

Here's hoping they are all actually collected before any high winds pick up again :-(

Allotment fence renewal

2012-01-07T11:41:00.017Z

That long-standing allotment fence project has been given a bit of an impetus by the recent weather conditions ...

... large sections of the old fence have now been literally blown down - as you can see :-(

So, manged to remove this whole section earlier this afternoon - recycled what I could and Junior enjoyed a bit of a bonfire getting rid of the rest ;-)

Just the simple task of renewing it all now!

Pet update

2012-01-06T23:56:00.035Z

Believe it or not, I've had several bits of communication recently asking why the infamous pet menagerie isn't featuring much on the blog these days ...

... errr; just what can I say!

Well, regular readers will remember that a few natural fatalities have taken their toll; and those stick insects are now safely returned to their original school-environment: as you can imagine, I'm gutted :-(

But here's the photographic proof (above) that Smithy (the still, relatively new cat) is alive and well - along with a tank full of fish to keep him occupied ;-)

That classic shark is just to keep the cat out of the tank :-))

Back on the campaign trail

2012-01-05T19:24:00.000Z

It might only be the 5th of January, but the campaign trail was well-and-truly reengaged today --- more door-to-door literature delivery early this afternoon, followed by first local campaign-planning meeting of 2012 ...

... there are now, of course, only 118-days to go ;-)

I sense every, single one of them will be somewhat busy!

Tweets on the go ...

2012-01-05T09:31:00.039Z

Tweeting certainly comes with its dangers for politicians - just ask Diane Abbot about that today :-(

... but, it can also be a great tool for disseminating information quickly and providing a near-live commentary on events as they happen: although, that said, I have received complaints about just how many elected (Labour) Councillors are now tweeting live from the Council Chamber when they should be listening to the ensuing debates? It's a perfectly fair point.

But - a really good example of how twitter can be used in a 'live' situation is surely what the local Edinburgh South West Environmental Wardens are doing this morning ... tweeting live as they do their local rounds!

If interested, you should be able to see some of what unfolded by having a quick look at @southwest_team or #edinwarden on twitter.

I think its just a glimmer of what's possible if technology were to be used to its full advantage in managing localised issues; thus helping such be resolved quickly and efficiently.

1st weekly surgery of 2012

2012-01-04T19:51:00.000Z

1st weekly surgery of 2012 this evening - at Fountainbridge Library - and the ongoing bad weather certainly had an impact on attendance :-(

Anyhow, almost back to a normal routine next week (weather permitting, of course) ...

... exception being no surgery on Monday due to schools still being closed; but regular pattern from Tuesday onwards!

Glasgow cleaner than Edinburgh?

2012-01-04T15:47:00.036Z

Yes - apparently its true and speaks volumes about the current state of Edinburgh's streets ... Evening Times (unsurprisingly!) ran the story last week here ...

... crucial paragraphs are as follow:

"But this year for the first time it (Glasgow) has scored a cleanliness rating of 70 out of 100 – one ahead of Edinburgh.

For comparison purposes, Glasgow is in the same group as Aberdeen, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.

Keep Scotland Beautiful found all nine recorded scores below 75 out of 100 highlighting the problems faced by councils with high population density.

However its findings state: “Since 2003/04, there is clear evidence that the cleanliness standards have improved significantly.

Of the areas included in the Glasgow league table, East Dunbartonshire scored the highest cleanliness rating at 74.

North Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire both scored 73, Dundee and Falkirk, 72, Aberdeen and West Dunbartonshire 71 and Edinburgh 69."

Bottom of the urban cleanliness-league for the Capital :-(

Again unsurprisingly, the Council (here in Edinburgh) have produced no Press Release trumpeting this great achievement ... unlike the many that are churned out every time Keep Scotland Beautiful produces any figure that shows the slightest glimmer of progress :-(

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T22:19:00.033Z

Happy New Year! to one and all ...

... managed to survive the 'in-law' Christmas dinner ;-)

Hope everyone managed to get some rest and relaxation over the holidays.

2012 appears to have got off to a bit of a stormy start - with Edinburgh and Salsburgh (can't remember it ever happening before?) being mentioned in the same paragraph of a BBC News story: click on the attached for the evidence!

Fair bit of damage around the city with lots of trees down - Council's Forestry section may well be able to help (if its required) and can be contacted on 0131 311 7074.

Have a restful Christmas :-)

2011-12-23T18:18:00.000Z

That's it --- will be a bit of a blogging break as I try and re-acquaint myself with my Other-Half and Junior ...

... not that its set to be a 'quiet' holiday: all the in-laws coming to us for Christmas dinner and we'll have 12 people in the flat on Sunday! Thank goodness for that Allotment :-)

Normal blogging service will be resumed in early January ...

... meantime, hope everyone has a restful Christmas :-))

Last day in the office

2011-12-23T17:37:00.069Z

Last day at the City Chambers today ... that said, I am in Edinburgh right throughout the holidays and will pick up e-mails (or messages on my mobile) if anyone needs to get in touch urgently.

Yesterday's Council Meeting was a grim affair. No other way to describe it really.

It was bad enough seeing the significant (and understandable), local anger at the closure of Leith Waterwolrd (more on that below); but then the last substantive debate of the day - on the 'Management Reporting Arrangements' report descended into slight farce with the Administration accusing Opposition Groups of being too robust in their challenging of Officers?!

For me, was a bit of a metaphor for all that's gone wrong in the last 5-years ... perhaps, just perhaps, those making the accusations should consider whether they themselves could have been more "robust in challenging Officers" on some other important projects for the City?

Anyhow, of much more importance, all four main Council Groups voted to see the eventual closure of Leith Waterworld in January --- in response to the Green Motion (see item 10.5) which sought a reprieve.

I know, only too well, that our decision to back the Administration Motion will be a huge disappointment to many, and I want to briefly lay out our reasoning:

The original decision on this matter was considered by Full Council on 15th September 2005 as part of a report on renewing sports facilities, including Meadowbank and the Royal Commonwealth Pool (RCP). It was agreed to realise a capital receipt from the sale of Leith Waterworld as part of the funding package for the RCP. This received all-Party support by all four Parties on the council at the time.

This decision has thereafter been reaffirmed, again on a cross-Party basis, at numerous formal meetings of Council:

it was the subject of further reports to Full Council on 1st June 2006 and 1st February 2007
The new SNP/Lib-Dem administration reaffirmed this decision on 28th June 2007, 20th December 2007 , 13th March 2008 , 20th November 2008 and 5th February 2009
it was the subject of Executive and Committee reports (Planning, Finance & Resources Committee, Culture & Leisure Committee) on 7th December 2006, 14th August 2007, 9th September 2008, 16th June 2009, 1st June 2010 and 26th April 2011
the report of 26th April 2011 took into account changes in the business case reporting that the funding gap in the business case for the RCP had been closed
every report above received all-Party support from all five Parties now on the council.

I did subsequently raise the general issue of "scrutiny" at Leaders' Question Time yesterday:

underlining that the formal decision on 1st February 2007 (on an all-Party basis) included that Leith Waterworld would remain open up until the new facilities at the refurbished Commonwealth Pool were open to the public
and noted our severe disappointment that the specific commitment of the 1st February 2007 had not been honoured and that an ‘Act of Council’ had not been properly monitored

All that said, I fully appreciate this is clearly not the ultimate decision that local campaigners were seeking, but as I've tried to lay out above there is a six-year, all-Party history to this closure decision.

And, having very carefully considered all the arguments, we did feel the closure should go ahead in January.

So - as I say above - a grim affair of a Council Meeting.

Birthday boy :-)

2011-12-22T00:35:00.002Z

48 today ... I do hope the next 24-months go really slowly ;-)

I've got my doubts!

Can't believe I'm going to be stuck in the Council Chamber all day on the 22nd December ...

... ah well, important business does need to be discussed --- and the cake will keep.

Christmas shopping!

2011-12-21T23:06:00.014Z

Managed to take a few hours off this afternoon and quickly fitted in the Christmas shopping!

With the Southern-invasion starting on Friday, and Full Council tomorrow, it was either this afternoon or blame the postman for a series of terribly unfortunate delays ;-)

Was good to see the City Centre looking fairly busy.

Social media training

2011-12-20T08:41:00.014Z

Bit of additional, 'social media' training this afternoon, and yet more Edinburgh Labour candidates persuaded to sign up to twitter and facebook ...

... I'm sure they will all be merrily tweeting away in a few days time!

Anything could happen frankly :-(

Full Council this Thursday

2011-12-19T18:14:00.019Z

Full Council Meeting this Thursday - main agenda here and individual reports on CPOL here ...

... quite a few potential, political divisions, but with the surprise absence of the ABM reports it might be a slightly shorter meeting than initially anticipated?

I would think most of the debates will centre around the 'Management Reporting Arrangements' report; and the motion on Leith Waterworld (see item 10.5).

I will try and post late Thursday, or early Friday, with any outcomes.

Allotment Update - AT LAST :-)

2011-12-18T13:57:00.009Z

Back from the Allotment and, as you can see, all is looking well :-)

Bit of storm damage to some of the fences, but temporary repairs weren't too difficult to undertake.

I did actually (several months ago) take down some sections of the tall fence, as it really is past its best. Also managed to locate a second-hand stock of good quality fencing posts to renew the whole structure.

But, work-pressures (not that I'm complaining!) have stopped me from completing the re-fencing project ... just might try and get some of it done over the Christmas/New Year period as I can't imagine there will be much time available after the 2nd week in January!

Anyhow - this morning we picked got a great crop of brussel sprouts (you can see some here) in preparation for the Christmas-day invasion ... not sure I've mentioned it before, but we have 12 people in total arriving for Christmas dinner, with every one of the in-laws making the journey North from London!

As well as these brussels, also got some potatoes in storage - so there will certainly be an Allotment-theme to the Christmas day meal :-))

Strictly, allotment and more newspaper delivery

2011-12-18T09:48:00.025Z

Devastated that Chelsee failed to win Strictly last night ... so much for my dancing-powers of prediction ;-)

On a totally separate subject - I've had several complaints from regular readers asking what the h*ll is happening at the Allotment? ... apologies to all those so-interested; it is true that the plot has had somewhat less attention in the last few months than recently but we do have several hours planned for "Allotment-work" this afternoon, so I'll get an update/photo on the blog later today :-)

And then, post-Allotment, and before it gets dark, I must get the last of those Edinburgh Labour newspapers delivered!

Never a dull moment.

New Leadership team out on the streets of Edinburgh

2011-12-17T19:02:00.003Z

New Leadership team out on the streets of Edinburgh earlier this afternoon ... all that 'Glasgow-bias' talk is clearly rubbish: their 1st preference is obviously Edinburgh Labour ;-)

(apologies about the picture quality ... can't get the staff these days!)

COSLA, Group Party & new Leader

2011-12-16T00:16:00.002Z

COSLA Convention Meeting later this morning, at their Haymarket office ...

... followed later this afternoon (and certainly into the evening!) by the Edinburgh Labour Group Christmas Party at the City Chambers.

Blogging may be light until Leadership announcement tomorrow ;-)

Central Edinburgh suffers power surge

2011-12-15T20:59:00.030Z

Tram depot handed over to the Council this afternoon ... SNP Minister quoted as saying:

"This is an important milestone for the project and demonstrates what has been achieved through the city council working alongside Transport Scotland and the contractor in the last few months."

Pity neither he, nor his colleagues, gave much thought to that potential synergy throughout the previous 4-years :-(

Anyhow, good to see such progress at last ---

--- of course, was all followed by some significant power-problems in Central Edinburgh just a few hours later!

Not that I'm suggesting the two incidents were in any way connected ;-)

Tollcross Community Council

2011-12-14T00:09:00.019Z

Tollcross Community Council meeting this evening ... made sure I attended, arriving slightly late, all absolutely nothing to do with the festive 'wine and nibbles' on offer at the end of the meeting :-)

Various planning issues again dominated the main part of the meeting - hardly surprising when you consider the huge amount of development in the local area over the last decade.

Tollcross, and parts of Fountainbridge in particular, are completely unrecognisable to what first presented themselves to me in the mid-1990's when I moved to Edinburgh.

Ward 9, City Chambers and CERN!

2011-12-13T12:41:00.024Z

Busy day at various Ward events this morning and into the early afternoon ... followed by a series of meetings in the City Chambers this afternoon.

Outside of work, been fascinated by the huge attention given to today's developments at CERN ... I, to my shame, wasn't fully aware of Peter Higgs' Edinburgh connections until today. Indeed, I thought Boson was his scientific partner :-(

More seriously, it does seem like a scientifically significant moment.

Hutchison and Chesser Community Council

2011-12-12T08:01:00.015Z

Hutchison and Chesser Community Council meeting this evening ...

... fairly prompt meeting, with most discussion centred around the recent approval of the Hutchison Road outline planning application.

As I mentioned last month, there was overwhelming community support to see the site developed, but it will be crucial now to ensure all of the numerous planning conditions (and Section75 conditions) are delivered upon.

Rested and refreshed

2011-12-11T13:13:00.017Z

Back in Auld Reekie feeling rested and refreshed after a blissfully quiet weekend off the Byres Road, in Glasgow. Even the mobile phone was eerily quiet :-)

Back to the campaign trail though - and also been catching up on some of the weekend coverage of that Euro Treaty decision ... don't always agree with Ian Bell, but his is the most accurate analysis I've seen so far. Deeply, deeply depressing stuff.

Thank goodness for the Byres Road.

Glasgow for the weekend ;-)

2011-12-09T17:35:00.015Z

Right - off to the sunny West Coast this evening for our annual pre-Christmas weekend break ... I certainly know how to splash out ;-)

Dropping Junior at one of his Aunts (in Salsburgh) for the weekend and the other-half and I then plan to do absolutely nothing in particular for 48-hours.

Bloody marvellous.

Going it alone

2011-12-09T07:56:00.026Z

I'm a federalist at heart - always happy to be pragmatic about how we eventually get there! - but have to say I find the news about our UK Prime Minister's negotiating-stance over any new European Treaty deeply depressing :-(

All the best aspects of my life are those of an inter-dependant nature, where I'm reliant on others for good things to happen; and where those good things just wouldn't occur without others.

Being alone is fine at times - but this isn't the time to go it alone.

Quite the opposite.

Local Government Settlement

2011-12-08T21:28:00.026Z

More detail on the Local Government finance settlement out - details here and comparative tables here ...

... Edinburgh benefits from the new "no council should receive less than 85 per cent of the average" commitment, to the tune of some £21million next financial year (2012/13).

By a quirk of local government accounting that equates to almost exactly the sum that's been lost in the last 3-years (circa £7million/year) due to the centralist imposition of the Council Tax freeze; which should more correctly be known as the Service Improvement freeze.

Aberdeen benefits in a similar fashion, with all other Councils seeing a real-terms reduction.

Not to be too churlish - this does make year 1 (2012/13) look somewhat less daunting for Edinburgh, but years 2 and 3 (2013/14 and 2014/15) remain a depressing financial sight.

Elections Consultative Group Meeting

2011-12-07T22:48:00.032Z

Elections Consultative Group Meeting earlier this afternoon ... clearly lots of behind-the-scenes preparations now going on for next May's Local Government elections: they are less than 150-days away of course ;-)

Timing of the count discussed, and Administrators clear preference is to do the count on the next morning (Friday 4th May). I somehow suspect that the City of Edinburgh will continue functioning perfectly normally without the immediate counting of votes ... after all, if 2007 is anything to go by, it will take several days for any new Administration to be formed?

I have to say, personally, I completely agree with this view and think it frankly bonkers to try and count elections after polls close at 10pm in the evening.

I just fail to see the need to rush and hope that good sense prevails and the counting is indeed left until the morning of Friday 4th May 2012.

Pesky reporting arrangements

2011-12-06T08:11:00.022Z

Well, so much for my predictions :-(

There were a couple of divisions on those Motions (not a surprise) but there was also a bit of a rammy on the very brief paper at item 13 on the agenda: 'Management Reporting Arrangements' ... if you read it - it's only 2-pages! - you'll see its actually about a lot more than reporting arrangements; and all three of the Opposition Groups were surprisingly joined by several Members of the Administration Parties in requesting much more detail on what's actually being proposed.

A certain bodily function and a brewery comes to mind ...

... needless to say, further report now coming back to the next Full Council Meeting on Thursday 22nd December.

Oh joy.

Policy and Strategy Committee tomorrow

2011-12-05T08:24:00.022Z

Polcy and Strategy Committee tomorrow - main agenda here and all the reports on CPOL here ...

... expect there to be divisions on both Motions, at 5.1 and 5.2 on that agenda - but the rest of the formal reports are fairly uncontroversial. I suspcet this is a trend that will now last until at least the 4th May 2012!

Mind you - that said, the report on 'Mainstreaming Employment' does contain impressive statistics indicating that men are now in the minority of top-earners within the Council ... check the table at the top of page 3.

More envelopes and dancing ...

2011-12-04T09:23:00.025Z

With only a few weekends to go before the Christmas break ... and a mere 150-days or so until polling day! ... the mass envelopes-stuffing (and subsequent delivery) continued apace today ;-)

Managed to make it home in time to see Chelsee Healey survive through to the next round --- maybe it'll be two-years in a row after all :-))

Birthdays, Budgets and Strictly ...

2011-12-03T15:40:00.059Z

Well, survived the birthday celebrations yesterday early evening - just! Good time had by all, and the flat is still in one piece ;-)

This morning spent several hours at the final City-budget summit ... still find it utterly bizarre that the list of top table 'City Leaders' (in this Release) doesn't include those politically in charge of the Council --- or maybe it does ;-)

Anyhow, it was an 'interesting' event - after which I hastily switched on my computer (remember the phone I have is twitter-useless) to read the 'Council twitter-feed' to see what promised commentary had been put up during the event --- only to find: nothing, not a single Council tweet today? Very strange.

And - this evening - Strictly is nearing the semi-finals ... been getting a bit of stick for not blogging about it this year (damned if you do, damned if you don't!), having correctly predicted the winner in 2010 :-)

Well, for what it's worth, I've though for several weeks that Chelsee Healey (who I'd never heard of before?) has had it in the bag - and that was certainly reflected in tonight's scores. She'll probably be evicted tomorrow night now :-(

Birthday Boy!

2011-12-02T09:29:00.000Z

Junior is an impressive 14-years old tomorrow (3rd December) - can hardly believe it!

Due to a city-wide Budget-Summit having been organised for tomorrow morning (yes, I know it's a bl**dy Saturday!) we're having the main celebrations late this afternoon/early this evening ...

... with quite a few teenagers coming to the flat for Pizza: it may take me some time to recover fully ;-)

Blackadder exhibition

2011-12-01T21:13:00.018Z

Finally managed to find a bit of time, late this afternoon, to go and have a proper look at the current Elizabeth Blackadder exhibition which is on at the National Gallery ...

... I do think the Gallery have done an excellent job of displaying dozens of Blackadder's paintings, stretching across the whole of her long career, and the resulting exhibition is (for me) a triumph.

It's only on for another few weeks, closing on 2nd January!

Special Council Meeting on 19th January

2011-12-01T01:26:00.040Z

Discovered this afternoon that there is to be a Special Council Meeting at 10am on Thursday 19th January 2012 ...

... solely to deal with the next two tranches of the ABM/privatisation-programme; those being:

IFM (Integrated Facilities Management)
CATS (Corporate and Transactional Services)

As regular readers will know, both Labour and Green Groups on the Council have opposed this process from the start (it all originated in the February 2009 Lib-Dem/SNP Council budget), and last month - to their credit - the local SNP joined with our 2-Groups to create a Council-majority which led to the decision to keep the first tranche (Environmental Services) of the ABM-programme in-house ...

... I've seen nothing to date that leads me to believe that either the Labour or Green Groups will alter their stance on this specific topic, and if the local SNP remain steadfast then the delay until the 19th January should be merely a delay for the inevitable retention of these services in-house?

A public commitment to that effect would certainly help ease the uncertainty that currently affects, literally thousands of Council workers.

Time to change course

2011-11-30T23:52:00.096Z

Been reflecting on yesterday's Autumn Statement and today's Pensions March ... and the more I think on it all, the more I'm convinced it really could be a very significant turning-point.

The first UK General Election I could vote in, was the 1983 poll and I remember only too well the sense of complete disunity on the left at the time and the worryingly low levels of overall public support for Labour's message --- and indeed, it took another 14 long years for that to be reversed ...

... politically, it feels (thank goodness, from my perspective) absolutely nothing like 1983 today. I sense, despite all the recent electoral difficulties, a unity in the sheer simmering anger at what's happening to ordinary working families across the UK.

Have a look at this Institute for Fiscal Studies (the IFS is not an organisation known for its left-wing tendencies!) analysis of the Autumn Statement from earlier today - take a close look at slide 10 in particular ...

... and ask yourself why virtually 10,000 people in each of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee marched today?

And if you can persist with this slightly academic piece, please do so --- read through its analysis (follow some of the links even); and read through to its eventual conclusions ...

... Labour needs to seize the moment, just be somewhat bolder, because for me at least it's now blatantly obvious that it really is time for the UK to change course.

I suspect literally millions of ordinary working people would welcome it, because they now know that the alternative are years (if not a decade) of complete stagnation for which the lowest paid, will pay the most ... and that's just not right :-(

Pensions March in Edinburgh today

2011-11-30T20:43:00.000Z

A picture often says more than words can ... this is Edinburgh earlier today.

My better-half is a teacher and is down there somewhere alongside what many consider was a 10,000-strong protest.

I looked after Junior (and several of his friends!) during the day and was astounded at the reports on the scale of the marches in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and elsewhere across Scotland and the whole of the UK ...

... I really hope those who should be listening, are doing so.

Craiglockhart Community Council

2011-11-29T22:19:00.021Z

Craiglockhart Community Council meeting this evening ...

... presentation on transport and road safety issues was the main topic of the night, but was also very good to formally meet Gordon Buchan's successor (as candidate, if not yet Councillor!) - Will Searle - who is the new Tory candidate for the Fountainbridge/Criaglockhart Ward.

I suspect I may be seeing just a little bit more of him over the coming 22 weeks ;-)

Autumn Statement

2011-11-29T14:04:00.042Z

Endless coverage of the Autumn Statement today - one, lesser reported aspect was the (what I think will be?) significant impact on the Liberal-Democrats in the 2015 UK General Election ...

... the BBC picked up on it a bit, but in essence, the Lib-Dems are now essentially bound to the current coalition fiscal arrangements across both sides of the next General Election.

Of course, a weeks a long time in politics, but at the moment they seem ever more enthralled to current Conservative economic plans - not for just this year, or next, but for the next 5-years ... up to and beyond not just the next UK General Election but also beyond the Scottish Referendum and the next Scottish General Election in 2016.

It really could be the 1930's all over again - politically as well as economically - for them?

Olympic tickets success :-)

2011-11-29T14:02:00.026Z

Not sure I've mentioned it before now, but we've already got our main, family summer-holiday arranged for London next year ... to coincide with the Olympics of course ;-)

And earlier this year, I was fortunate to get some tickets (Hockey) via the main on-line lottery; and today was again lucky enough to get 2 more sets (football) via the on-line bidding process --- including 3 tickets for the Women's football final :-)

Hoping for a few more in the early part of next year, when the final remainder go on sale (via on-line bidding again, I guess), and really looking forward to being in London next summer!

ELREC Election Manifesto Meeting

2011-11-28T08:28:00.016Z

ELREC (Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council) organised an Election Manifesto Meeting this evening and invited all the Council Group Leaders along ...

... very good opportunity to listen and was pleased to be able to do so, as well as be able to underline that our own draft manifesto is out for consultation right now.

Enjoyable evening - made all the better by the provision of good food ;-)

Green Investment Bank for Edinburgh?

2011-11-28T08:27:00.023Z

Meant to flag this up at the end of last week - such a rare event these days to agree with every word of a Council Press Release! ...

... but very good indeed to see strong, joint Edinburgh-Glasgow support for the Green Investment Bank being located here in the Capital: all the details here.

Busy week ahead!

2011-11-27T19:21:00.000Z

More - many more! - envelopes stuffed today ...

... huge thanks to all those who gave up a large part of their Sunday to help out: it was greatly appreciated ;-)

I know I shouldn't say it, but if I see that 'Moving Edinburgh Forward' slogan just once more :-(

Back to the City Chambers tomorrow ... wall-to-wall meetings all day long, which at least means no more envelope stuffing for 24-hours ;-)

Very busy week ahead actually!

Envelope-mania is here

2011-11-26T15:08:00.001Z

It is - after all - only "22-weeks to go" from this coming Thursday ;-)

... so 'mass envelope-mania' has started to infect my hallway once more!

Indeed, I don't think there's been more than a few weeks in the last 3-years when my hallway hasn't had some form of campaigning material festooning it :-(

Ah well - no elections in 2013, so maybe I'll get a few weeks respite then ... unless that referendum is called during those 12-months?

Another quiz victory :-)

2011-11-25T22:56:00.000Z

Latest-leg of the Gavin Strang Quiz trophy tonight (been three previous ones, as regular readers will know) - and, guess what happened tonight ...

... yes; "Edinburgh South West" were once more victorious :-)

That's 3 out of 4 wins ... one more constituency-contest in Edinburgh East, and then its the 'Grand Final' ...

... as you can see, the South West team is eager-and-ready for the remaining challenges :-))

Environmental Services element of ABM to be kept in-house

2011-11-24T15:59:00.003Z

Council Meeting now over and can confirm that the Environmental Services element of the ABM-programme is to be kept in-house - 31 votes to 25.

Credit to the local SNP, and also Councillor Gary Peacock (Lib-Dem) for ultimately backing the in-house bid.

A clear Council-majority ... Officers, Employees, Trade Unions and Politicians (of all Parties) now need to get on, and deliver the Council decision.

One moment of light-relief came during Leaders' Question Time when 2 SNP Councillors quoted directly from our 'Moving Edinburgh Forward' document ... criticising us for sending it to Members of Community Councils and for discussing it openly at public, budget meetings?

Outrageous behaviour from Edinburgh Labour - and I really must apologise ... but, just for a moment there, I clearly thought we lived in a free and open society where the discussion of ideas was to be welcomed ;-)

Joint Labour-SNP Amendment (with Green backing)

2011-11-24T09:17:00.000Z

Looks like the in-house option will get majority support today ... delighted to report that Labour and the local SNP have now agreed a Joint-Amendment, and that the Greens intend to back it.

That is a majority Council position :-)

Credit to the local SNP for getting behind this.

===

City of Edinburgh Council
Joint Labour/SNP Amendment

Full Council Meeting

24th November 2011

Item 8.1 Alternative Business Models Review Programme
– Environment Workstream

1. Council notes that the Alternative Business Models Review Programme would be concluded by a decision of Council and that this was commonly known by, and made clear to, all Parties involved in the process.

2. Council, having taken into account inter-alia the following …

i. The statutory duty to deliver Best Value, namely the duty to ensure the continuous improvement of services. Specifically Council notes the duty to strike an appropriate balance between quality and cost while having due regard for efficiency, effectiveness, economy, equality, human rights and sustainability including social and economic sustainability as well as environmental protection, including concerns regarding co-mingling.
ii. The statutory duty to have due regard for Scottish Government guidance and protocols including Best Value Guidance, Section 52 Guidance, the National Standards on Community Engagement and the “Public Private Partnerships in Scotland – protocol and guidance concerning employment issues”.
iii. The now acknowledged, significant workforce reduction under this element of the ABM programme with public sector jobs being lost to the City of Edinburgh and the resulting adverse economic consequences for the city.
iv. The risk to local services, and local accountability, being too great and the estimated level of savings being unlikely to outweigh the dis-benefits of this element of the ABM programme.
v. The information that was made available in the “data room” coupled with detailed analysis of some of the said information.

… all leads Council to agree that the procurement process is terminated without award of a contract.

3. Council further notes that an internal improvement plan has been developed which has the potential to deliver significant improvements and savings to in-house service delivery and:

i. resolves to apply the terms of the Environmental Services internal improvement plan and instructs the Chief Executive Officer to take appropriate steps to secure its implementation.
ii. agrees that regular reports on the progress of the internal improvement plan shall be made to the Finance & Resources Committee and/or Council and that Committee should bring any matters of concern regarding its progress to the attention of the Council in order that it can determine any course of action it deems necessary.

4. Council therefore rejects recommendations 23 a) to e) and agrees to proceed as stated above.

Proposed __________________________________ Councillor Andrew Burns

Seconded __________________________________ Councillor Steve Cardownie

"In-house Option" ballot results

2011-11-23T22:53:00.002Z

Big decision on the Environmental Services strand of the ABM-programme tomorrow ... as regular readers will be aware, our preferred option is to keep these specific public services in-house.

And following on from the recent constructive response, received from the Trade Unions, in relation to the proposed Public Sector Comparator (PSC) [in-house] option, the relevant workforce members were formally balloted on their intentions.

Results, as received tonight, are very positive:

70% response rate
with 94% of those voting in support of the PSC changes

If the Council now backs the PSC option tomorrow, then management AND Trade Unions will have an obligation to get the in-house implementation right.

With a bit of good-will on all sides, I'm confident it can be done.

Hutchison Road application approved

2011-11-23T13:51:00.001Z

The mixed-use Hutchison Road application, which I mentioned earlier this morning, has just been approved (on a division) at Planning Committee.

As I said, its a vacant and derelict site - and has been so for nearly a decade - and now has permission for 100+ residential units (c40% of which will be Affordable Housing) plus a supermarket (potentially Morrisons?).

On balance, I do think it was the right decision.

Hutchison Road planning application

2011-11-23T01:48:00.000Z

Significant planning application, for the Local Ward, up for decision later this morning ...

... relates to the 'old' ASDA site on Hutchison Road, which has been vacant (and derelict) for nearly a decade now; since the Superstore relocated across the road to Chesser Avenue.

I'm not usually one who is a natural supporter of supermarket developments, but later today I will be speaking in favour of the proposal for this site - a mixed use of residential development and a medium-sized supermarket (pre-let to Morrisons).

Frankly, several previous applications (and plans) for 100% residential development on the site have got nowhere and given the current economic climate I fail to see how 100% residential is going to be viable for some considerable time to come :-(

So, on balance, and to see a site no more than 2-miles from Princes Street developed, I think what's on offer is acceptable ... the Officers disagree and have the application up for refusal. Not a popular recommendation with the local community, who have generated a near-500 signature petition in favour of the current application!

I'll post again later, once the result of the Planning Committee meeting becomes clear.

Group Meeting this evening ...

2011-11-22T08:27:00.031Z

In preparation for Thursday's Council Meeting, had our usual monthly, Group Meeting this evening ...

... main item of debate was, unsurprisingly, the ABM-report which was delayed last month. You can see the position we took last month, here. And if you go here, you can see all my blog-posts mentioning ABM.

I'd hope you'll see a consistency of approach from those posts - and the many links therein. In essence, going right back to the local Budget in February 2009, we've been clear and consistent in our opposition towards the privatisation of front-line Council services.

We've also tried hard, especially in recent months given the potential gravity of these decisions, to publish our Amendments a couple of days prior to the relevant Council Meeting --- and I'll re-produce our provisional position for Thursday below ...

... would be good to see the other Political Groups do likewise?

===

City of Edinburgh Council
Labour Amendment

Full Council Meeting

24th November 2011

Item 8.1 Alternative Business Models Review Programme
– Environment Workstream

1. Council notes that of all the manifestos presented to the people of Edinburgh in the Council elections of 2007 only one specifically advocated the privatisation of Council services.

2. Council regrets that greater public consultation was not carried out on this issue and believes that entering into the proposed contract a mere six months before local government elections is anti democratic.

3. Council also notes, with serious concern, the now acknowledged, significant workforce reduction under this element of the ABM programme with public sector jobs being lost to the city.

4. Council considers that the risk to local services, and local accountability, are too great and the estimated level of savings are unlikely to outweigh the dis-benefits of this element of the ABM programme.

5. Council therefore simply notes recommendations 23a) through to 23d) but does not agree to them.

6. Council further notes recommendation 23e).

7. Council finally notes that the Public Sector Comparator has been developed which has the potential to deliver significant improvements and savings to in-house service delivery.

8. Council thus agrees to focus attention and resources on the further development of the in-house Public Sector Comparator element (of the ABM programme) towards a conclusion and to implement this when fully finalised.

Proposed __________________________________

Seconded __________________________________

Full Council week

2011-11-21T23:59:00.018Z

Full Council Meeting this week - on Thursday ... main agenda can be found here, with all the individual reports available via CPOL here.

Apart from item 8.1 on the Alternative Business Models programme (report here), there's not much else of huge controversy - amongst the main reports!

There are several interesting Motions, on the main agenda, and I suspect they'll take up a fair bit of debating time ... anybody would think there was an election imminent :-(

sunny Salsburgh, fog and leaflets

2011-11-20T13:17:00.014Z

Over to sunny Salsburgh today to visit my parents ... weather was really quite pleasant when we left Edinburgh, only to be confronted by a wall of fog and mist as we approached the highest point in Central Scotland :-(

But, despite the outward gloom, a pleasant afternoon was had by all.

Back in Edinburgh and leaflet distribution continues apace ... less than 24-weeks to go now ;-)

Consultation event

2011-11-19T18:04:00.000Z

Thoroughly enjoyable consultation event on our Moving Edinburgh Forward document earlier today ...

... some excellent input, especially via the workshops, and plenty of food-for-thought as we move towards re-drafting our proposals early next year.

Many, many thanks to those who gave up most of their Saturday to attend :-)

We'll keep the http://www.edinburghlabour.com/ website updated as the document develops!

COSLA, meetings, the weekend!

2011-11-18T20:56:00.000Z

COSLA Leaders pre-meeting this morning ... not as heated as a couple of months ago, but still a myriad of unanswered questions about the draft Local Government settlement.

I suspect final answers just won't be forthcoming until the Government's final announcement in early December :-(

Series of other meetings this afternoon in the City Chambers and managed to escape at a reasonable hour - need this evening to get properly prepared for tomorrow's Edinburgh Labour, consultation event!

Youth Unemployment over +1million

2011-11-17T20:46:00.000Z

Acres of coverage on the truly depressing youth unemployment figures out yesterday :-(

Over +1million,16-24 year olds were jobless in the last quarter. Whatever your politics, it's a human tragedy that surely needs much more urgent attention.

Larry Elliott was scathing in today's print-Guardian ...

... his analysis won't cheer you up, especially if you're aged 16-24 :-(

Leadership choices ...

2011-11-16T20:04:00.000Z

With the recent rule-changes to the Scottish Labour Party elections, there's now the unbridled joy of local Councillors being able to submit supporting-nominations for the 'Leader/Deputy Leader' candidates ...

... the deadline was 12noon earlier today, and I've thought long-and-hard about whether to submit such supporting-nominations and decided to do so.

My backing - for what its worth! - has gone to:

Johann Lamont MSP for Leader
Lewis Macdonald MSP for Deputy Leader

I should explain, briefly, my rationale for these choices.

For the 'Leader-candidate', on balance, I believe that Johann Lamont will be the more politically effective as an Opposition Group Leader. I supported her back in August 2008 when she was elected as our previous Deputy Leader, and I'm just not convinced that either Ken Macintosh nor Tom Harris will cope with the huge difficulties that will undoubtedly face the new Leader of the Scottish Labour Party. The challenge is frankly immense - and I reckon Johann will cope with that. I also happen to like what she is saying on the campaign trail.

For the 'Deputy Leader-candidate', the choice was actually much more straightforward for me as I know Lewis quite well - having worked with him during my Transport-days when he was a Transport Minister at the Scottish Executive. I like Lewis - in my view, he held Ministerial Office competently. I also happen to think its important one of the Leadership roles is occupied by someone from outside of Scotland's Central Belt - as an Aberdeen politician, Lewis fits that bill.

The other candidates have their qualities, and Ken Macintosh/Anas Sarwar will certainly get my second preferences, but my first-choice for 'Leader/Deputy Leader' will be Johann and Lewis, for the reasons briefly explained above.

A Living Wage for council workers

2011-11-15T19:10:00.048Z

Now I know you will have noticed (!) that our recently-launched consultation document had a commitment to introduce a Living Wage for council workers thus ensuring that all employees are paid a fair wage ...

... well, earlier today, I was thus more-than-happy to sign up to the Edinburgh University Labour Students 'Living Wage' campaign.

I'm pictured here with Stephen Donnelly, Secretary of Edinburgh University Labour Students who later commented:

"I'm delighted that the Labour Group have backed a Living Wage for council workers. The individuals working tirelessly for our city deserve the dignity of a decent wage, and with the announcement that Glasgow City Council is to pay its staff a Living Wage, it's time Edinburgh followed suit. Edinburgh Labour Students have made this their priority for the year, and won't rest until poverty pay is stamped out in our city"

Hear, hear!

Budget preparations begin!

2011-11-14T19:09:00.020Z

Well, back in sunny-Edinburgh, having survived the weekend: just! Good time had by all, but am suffering from a slight lack of sleep today :-(

Anyhow, onwards ...

... and, believe it or not, serious discussions now commenced (senior Officer meeting/s today) on our 'Opposition Budget' for 2012/13 - it will, after all, be set on Thursday 9th February which is a mere 12-weeks away!

Challenging times ahead for sure.

Off to North Yorkshire!

2011-11-11T13:04:00.018Z

Mad rush to get down to North Yorkshire this evening :-(

Regular readers will remember that a group of our friends celebrated 25-years of 'gatherings' back in May ...

... well, such a good time was had by all (dodgy jumpers and Chilean spirits included!) that there was an overwhelming demand for a repeat event this Autumn :-)

So, off down to the very same bunk-barn for a bit of rest-and-recuperation over the weekend.

SWNP Transport Sub-Committee meeting

2011-11-11T13:03:00.017Z

South West Neighbourhood Partnership (SWNP) Transport Sub-Committee this afternoon ...

... 2 good presentations from Officers (on Road Safety and Trams) with lots of debate ensuing afterwards ;-)

Also considerable debate around the 'missing' surface, pedestrian-crossing on Calder Road - which was to be part-funded from a local development (that has indeed happened) but a claimed funding-gap now appears to be preventing any progress at all?

ABM/Privatisation 'Public Debate'

2011-11-10T08:08:00.012Z

Attended the hastily organised so-called 'Public Debate' on the ABM/Privatisation proposals this evening ...

... despite a very healthy turnout - I'd say around 100 people - there were still a dozen or so empty seats and plenty of people outside who would (I'm sure!) have liked to attended.

Some local reporting of the event can be found over at STV-Edinburgh, and I reckon none of the politicians present could have left thinking there was much support for this process to be taken any further forward.

Its just a tragedy that more effort, time and (frankly) money hasn't been spent on the in-house bids ... as I'm increasingly convinced that will be what's supported at the Full Council Meeting on the 24th November.

Tollcross Community Council

2011-11-09T18:01:00.021Z

Tollcross Community Council meeting this evening - haven't managed to make it along for the last few months, so good to be able to get there tonight ...

... main agenda can be found here, with the previous minutes here.

Most debate did centre around the presentation on the 'Tollcross Improvement Plan', with entirely understandable frustration at the lack of any implementation of the main tenets of the proposals.

I'm certain these issues will feature strongly in many local debates over coming months.

Policy and Strategy Committee

2011-11-08T00:28:00.024Z

Policy and Strategy Committee this morning - you can see the main agenda here, and all the individual reports on CPOL here ...

... the meeting, as you'll likely guess from that agenda, was extremely brief and the only report to even generate a modicum of serious debate was the one on the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) project.

Sadly, the report - in essence - highlights yet more delays in this project and the whole thing has the air of so much else about the Council at the moment: indecision, delay and drift :-(

Live blogging?

2011-11-07T23:57:00.018Z

Spent a couple of hours this morning taking part in an Edinburgh Reporter live blog!

You can still see the subsequent debate here ... but I should warn you, there are some truly worrying mug-shots contained within that link ;-)

Good range of questions - and was pleased to see much of the focus on the ideas within the consultation document we launched last Thursday.

Politics, Pentlands and fireworks ...

2011-11-06T22:53:00.014Z

Excellent, if not depressing, analysis of the current state-of-politics by Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer this morning ...

... tried to cheer myself up with a bit of walking in the Pentlands this afternoon, with the completely co-incidental visit to the nearby pub at the end of a truly strenuous hike ;-)

Even managed to fit in a family fireworks display this evening, at which the entertainment thankfully lasted more than 50-seconds :-(

Here we go again ...

2011-11-05T17:06:00.021Z

Here we go again ...

... I mentioned when we launched the Moving Edinburgh Forward document, last week, that we had 150,000 pieces of literature being delivered across the city: well, my own local Ward delivery started today!

As friends and colleagues know, I do rather like elections ... but it really does feel like we've been involved in full-on campaigning now since September 2009 and the start of the UK General Election campaign; swiftly followed by the Holyrood campaign; now even more swiftly followed by the Local Council campaign!

And colleagues wonder why I'm obsessed about counting-down the days :-))

Telfer Subway CCTV-petition

2011-11-04T16:36:00.003Z

Spent a bit of time this afternoon with Sarah Boyack MSP, and Councillor Donald Wilson, gathering signatures on a petition (online version now here) arguing for the installation of CCTV at the Telfer Subway ...

... Sarah has been campaigning on this issue for many, many months now, and recent events have really highlighted the need for some action.

I'm not someone who instantly believes that CCTV will solve all-ills, but its quite clear that there is a very specific problem along this location - and, at the moment, the Police need to depend on CCTV from surrounding shops, which don't adequately cover the sight-line of the actual subway.

There really is a need here for a dedicated camera monitoring the pathway --- and I hope the petition will help to finally make the case.

Local Branch Meeting this evening

2011-11-03T19:03:00.021Z

Very well attended local Branch Meeting this evening ...

... with lively discussion, centred around a host of local issues, followed by a good debate on the Consultation Document we launched earlier today.

Been a very positive day, all round ...

... and everyone I've met and spoken to in the last 24-hours (and that's a lot of people!) is completely focused on keeping it that way for the next 181-days.

Great :-)

Consultation document launched

2011-11-03T19:01:00.023Z

The Moving Edinburgh Forward consultation document was successfully launched this morning ... just for all you real political anoraks out there, here are my speech notes from the event ...

"I’m sure the observant amongst you will have registered the fact that today marks six-months to go until polling day, next year on Thursday 3rd May 2012.

Now, many of my colleagues think I’m somewhat obsessed with the countdown to the next local government elections – and I have to admit that they are basically correct.

That 6-months translates to 26 weeks or, to be more precise, 181 days, 20 hours and 30 minutes until the polls open at 7am on Thursday 3rd May 2012.

It cannot come soon enough for us.

We’re determined to use every one of those 181 days to work tirelessly to bring real and lasting change to Edinburgh’s City Chambers.

And whilst I really don’t want to dwell on the negative this morning, I think it has to mentioned that not only I, not only Edinburgh Labour, but many, many individuals and organisations right across Edinburgh think our City Council has failed in the last 5-years, and our city – our home – has stalled.

Ultimately, Edinburgh voters will be the final judge on that – but for this morning, I want to primarily focus on what Edinburgh Labour is offering as a vision for a better Edinburgh.

And over the summer months – since the Scottish Elections back in May – we have worked very, very hard to ensure we’ve arrived at this position, here today, a full 6-months out from our own local elections: we have all 23 of our candidates selected and in place to fight every one of Edinburgh’s 17 multi-member wards.

I do believe we are the first local authority political group in Scotland to have reached this position – and I certainly have no recollection, in the 20-years of my political activism, of candidates being in place so early.

It is a statement of our intent, and of our seriousness to move Edinburgh forward, at the next Local Elections.

As well as many of the candidates being here today, we are also launching a new website, Twitter feed, Facebook page and a whole series of candidate blogs – all of which can be accessed from edinburghlabour.com

We have our first piece of city-wide literature being delivered to 150,000 households right now.

And we are actively telephoning and door-to-door canvassing in a major drive to engage with Edinburgh voters, to talk to them about our ideas to take Edinburgh forward.

And that does bring me to the key document on your chairs this morning – the ‘Moving Edinburgh Forward’ consultation document and accompanying Co-operative Council article.

I and my colleagues are utterly convinced that politics-as-usual is simply not an option and we’re taking a bold step today in throwing open to public dialogue our ideas and vision for moving Edinburgh forward, some 6-months before the election. I think it’s a completely unprecedented move.

And we will listen to all the feedback we receive over the coming months, and our eventual manifesto will reflect the dialogue we’re about to have ... Lesley, as our Transport Spokesperson, will specifically ensure that relevant transport groups, professional bodies and individuals are consulted in detail; Paul as our Education Spokesperson will do likewise for Education groups, professional bodies and individuals; Maureen as our Social Work Spokesperson likewise ... and so on.

I’ll highlight some of our ideas, all underpinned by the principle of developing a Co-operative Council – a Council that does things with its communities, rather than doing things to its communities.

So, to that end:

We’ll investigate and promote the development of a city-wide child care co-operative to help parent’s access affordable childcare.
We’ll aim to expand housing co-operatives as a way of expanding affordable housing and providing tenants with a bigger say in their community.
We’ll help households generate green electricity by promoting energy co-ops like the Edinburgh Community Energy Co-op – and we’ll make sure Council property is also used to generate green electricity as well

These are just three co-operative ideas – there are many more in the detail of the document.

We also plan to radically shake up how we engage with communities more generally:

We’ll establish a proper Budget Committee to ensure we have an open and transparent budget process, where everyone has the right to be heard.
We’ll discuss the role of Parent Councils and how they interface with the main Education Committee.
We’ll introduce a new ‘petitions committee’ which will allow citizens to highlight their priorities.

Again, these are just three new ideas – there are many more in the detail of the document.

The consultation document also has a host of innovative ideas concerning the local economy:

From developing and promoting apprenticeships, to ensuring that such apprenticeships are a key component in Council contracts.
From developing and promoting local suppliers, again directly assisting them through the imaginative and consistent use of local supplies for as many Council services as feasible.
From working closely with house-builders, ensuring high quality and fast delivery to market, in return for the development of ‘first-time purchase’ properties.

Again, just three ideas – there are many more in the detail of the document.

We will also press the Scottish Government to let Edinburgh keep a bigger share of our local businesses rates. We’ll lobby for fairer funding for Edinburgh housing and other needs. And we’ll spend our time doing what the city needs, not chasing centrally-set Government targets.

And if Edinburgh Labour is the largest party on the Council next year, we will get the city moving forward again and actively involve every party in Council decisions. We’ll make officials accountable to the city’s needs, not to rules made to suit them or the Government.

We will stop the tick-box target culture and focus on what people really want, empowering frontline staff to have a say in budget decisions, squeezing value from every penny.

Above all, we will not shrink from real city leadership.

Colleagues:

Our candidates are selected and in place.
We are actively campaigning and engaging right across the city, right now.
Our vision and ideas for moving Edinburgh forward are now in the public domain.
We will undertake a significant exercise in facilitating dialogue on these ideas, and we will listen to - and act on - all the feedback we receive.
We are ready, if trust is placed in us, to play our part in moving Edinburgh forward."

6-months to go ...

2011-11-03T00:04:00.013Z

The countdown has begun :-)

Moving Edinburgh Forward

2011-11-02T14:58:00.038Z

Just a few hours until we launch our Consultation Document outlining our vision and ideas for Moving Edinburgh Forward ...

... all the details can now be found on our revamped website, with a new twitter and facebook account to follow as well ;-)

http://www.edinburghlabour.com/
www.twitter.com/EdinburghLabour
www.facebook.com/EdinburghLabour

But, more important than all the new-media stuff, is the fact that from tomorrow we'll be working flat-out to have a constructive dialogue with as many individuals and groups as possible about their thoughts on our ideas.

And, in due course, that will all feed into the final production of our local manifesto for next year's elections.

Finance Committee yesterday ...

2011-11-02T09:18:00.022Z

Finance Committee meeting yesterday morning - main agenda here; and all the papers can be found via CPOL here ...

... one report of interest was item 14 on the "Strategic Spending Review 2012/13-2014/15", the detailed text of which you can find here.

Well worth looking at Appendix 1 of that report - landscape page, right at the end - which basically confirms that Council Officers are having to adjust their Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) to acknowledge the fact that the Council Tax Freeze is part of the grant-allocation this year, and is not being provided as truly 'additional monies' (as per the previous 4-years).

The line entitled, "Change in estimated level of Government Grant funding ..." makes the point.

Fairly surprising that more press attention (applies to the whole of Scotland) hasn't picked up on this?

The team to move Edinburgh forward ...

2011-11-02T00:37:00.026Z

I've had quite a few requests to list all of the Edinburgh Labour candidates who are now formally selected - as I mentioned a couple of days ago.

So here goes ...

... the full list of Edinburgh Labour candidates standing for the 3rd May 2012 Local Government elections (in numerical Ward-order) is:

Ward 1 - Almond Ward: Billy Fitzpatrick

Ward 2 - Pentland Hills Ward: Ricky Henderson

Ward 3 - Drum Brae/Gyle Ward: Karen Keil

Ward 4 - Forth Ward: Cammy Day and Vicki Redpath

Ward 5 - Inverleith Ward: Lesley Hinds

Ward 6 - Corstorphine/Murrayfield Ward: Tom McInally

Ward 7 - Sighthill/Gorgie Ward: Eric Milligan and Donald Wilson

Ward 8 - Colinton/Fairmilehead Ward: Eric Barry

Ward 9 - Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart Ward: Andrew Burns

Ward 10 - Meadows/Morningside Ward: Paul Godzik

Ward 11 - City Centre Ward: Karen Doran

Ward 12 - Leith Walk Ward: Angela Blacklock and Nick Gardner

Ward 13 - Leith Ward: Gordon Munro

Ward 14 - Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward: Joan Griffiths and Alex Lunn

Ward 15 - Southside/Newington Ward: Ian Perry

Ward 16 - Liberton/Gilmerton Ward: Bill Cook and Norma Hart

Ward 17 - Portobello/Craigmillar Ward: Maureen Child and David Walker

===

More details about each over the coming days and weeks ...

A Co-operative Council?

2011-11-01T21:36:00.016Z

Local newspaper have covered our arguments for moving Edinburgh towards being a Co-operative Council in the last couple of days: yesterday in a news-piece here, and today in an opinion-piece (from myself) here.

For ease of reference, I'll repeat the text of the opinion-piece below ...

The future of local services should be more Co-operative

Edinburgh is a mere six months away from the next local government elections, which take place on Thursday, May 3.

On that day, every voting resident of Edinburgh will have their chance to pass judgement on the previous five years of the current SNP/Lib Dem coalition that has run Edinburgh City Council.

I’ll leave that judgement for residents to make in due course, but here I want to outline some of the thoughts that Edinburgh Labour has for moving our city forward.

There is no doubt that the next few years will be exceptionally tough for local government, yet looking towards the local elections I and my Edinburgh Labour colleagues are determined to engage with residents on the kind of council they want to see. Unlike the Lib Dems and SNP, who pushed ahead with the Alternative Business Model scheme, we want to have a full and proper consultation. So on Thursday, we’ll launch a public consultation document on our ideas.

Central to our vision for moving Edinburgh forward, Edinburgh Labour wants to work towards being a co-operative council.

I do recognise that day-to-day challenges will remain, whether they are debates on how we actually deliver public services or on the completion of major infrastructure projects. But striving towards being a co-operative council could radically alter the way we – citizens and politicians – approach how we deal with, and solve, the challenges which will continue to face our city.

At their best public services have a fundamentally positive impact on the lives of individuals and communities. High-quality and responsive public services can improve the quality of a person’s everyday life, empower communities and maximise life chances. However, the public sector can only continue to make this positive difference if it responds to two major challenges we now face.

The first challenge relates to the type of relationship we need to create between citizens and public services. Increasingly communities and the state are recognising that the public sector cannot “do it all” and that citizens need to be part of the solution to the challenges our increasingly complex and diverse communities face. Underpinned by co-operative values we want to forge a new relationship locally between public services and citizens. This new relationship will enhance the way in which public services are provided and will ensure that they are increasingly designed around the needs of our citizens.

The second challenge is how we can deliver services which meet local need in a period of tighter funding. The recent severe recession has opened up a huge hole in the nation’s finances. Councils will be expected to do more with less. However, we recognise that it is all too easy to get distracted by meeting savings targets and balancing the books without thinking of the wider social costs. In Edinburgh we are committed to ensuring that any decisions we take around financial savings must be guided by a clear set of principles and values. I want to outline some of that thinking here, but space constraints do mean I can only scratch the surface of our proposals. Much more detail will be contained in the document we launch on Thursday.

However, we all know that too often this council says “consultation” when it’s just not listening, and its members already have their mind made up. It is time to work alongside local communities – they usually know best. So we’ll find a genuine way to collaborate with communities, giving local people more control of the services they use, and the places where they live, by putting council resources in their hands. A new “petitions committee” will also allow citizens to highlight their priorities, with the city budget set transparently.

Secondly, we’ll press the Scottish Government to let Edinburgh keep a bigger share of our local businesses rates. We’ll lobby for fairer funding for Edinburgh housing and other needs. And we’ll spend our time doing what the city needs, not chasing centrally-set government targets.

Thirdly, if Edinburgh Labour is the largest party on the council next year, we will get the city moving forward again and involving every party in council decisions, and ensuring positions on powerful scrutiny committees are allocated properly, with members of the public invited to attend. We’ll make officials accountable to the city’s needs, not to rules made to suit them or the government.

And fourthly, we’ll insist on breaking down barriers and bureaucracy because the resulting slowness exasperates individuals and businesses alike. We will stop the tick-box target culture and focus on what people really want, empowering front-line staff to have a say in budget decisions, squeezing value from every penny. Above all, we’ll not shrink from real city leadership.

This idea of a co-operative council draws inspiration from the values of fairness, accountability and responsibility that have driven progressive politics in this country for centuries. It is about putting the resources of the state at the disposal of citizens so they can take control of the services they receive and the places where they live.

In key policy areas such as childcare, energy and housing, we’ve seen co-operative and mutual solutions work elsewhere, and we believe they can work here too. Yet, the co-operative council is also not just about changing the council, it is about building more co-operative communities and realising that, for too long, the council has stood in the way rather than supported this development. A co-operative council seeks to do things with its community rather than do things to the community.

I hope, as a first step, residents will look at our detailed document when it’s launched on Thursday. We will listen to all the feedback received and ensure that our local manifesto for next year’s elections reflects the discussion we have over the coming months.

===

26-weeks and counting ...

2011-10-31T22:07:00.020Z

Just had it confirmed earlier tonight that our last 'Edinburgh Labour' candidate, for the 2012 Local Elections next May, has been formally selected this evening ...

... just over six-months to go and everyone in place :-)

Huge thanks to all those Party activists who have made this possible - the real work does though start now: and we have an extremely keen and talented team just raring to go :-))

A mere 26-weeks (or six-months exactly) from this coming Thursday 3rd November until Polling Day!

Can't come soon enough.

Ward 9 - all change?

2011-10-30T19:27:00.000Z

One news story that occurred during the half-term week ... and my self-enforced blogging-break ... was the announcement that my Ward colleague, Gordon Buchan, was not intending to stand again next May.

Despite our obvious political differences, I have to say I'll miss Gordon's company in Ward 9: assuming I get back-in myself of course?

He's been nothing but a pleasure to work alongside, and has been an extremely hard-working Local Councillor.

I do hope the Tories don't select anyone as effective for 2012 ;-)

More seriously - my very best wishes do go to Gordon for the future.

Hooray!

2011-10-29T00:03:00.016+01:00

Hooray!

Better-half now back from her month-long sojourn to the US ... junior is completely over-joyed ;-)

Blogging (not to mention life in general!) should return to some semblance of normality now - and pizza & beer is most definitely off the menu :-))