Just who is in charge?

Well - the Council meeting did indeed finish earlier than last month --- a 1.15pm end of proceedings!

Most significant division of the day came over the report concerning the review of funding to third parties ... you can see the full report here.

There was a pretty healthy debate in the Chamber, and the Administration won the vote obviously, but there is a clear worry about this whole process that is simply not being recognised by those supposedly in charge ...

... amazingly, during the exchanges, it transpired that the politicians responsible for this report seem blissfully unaware that Officers are happily telling all-and-sundry that Voluntary Sector funding is reverting to annual-awards for the foreseeable future and that three-year funding is off the agenda?

This despite previous - very clear - decisions to move as many voluntary sector grants onto a three-year footing as possible.

Does make you wonder just who runs this Council.

Tollcross Community Council

Tollcross Community Council this evening - Annual General Meeting, and all seems to have gone smoothly with the nominations process ...

... very pleased to be able to report so, as this year's local Returning Officer for the Community Council :-)

Full compliment of 12 individual Community Council Members nominated, and also 2 Local Groups representatives - leaving space for up to a further 4 Local Group reps.

Main discussion of the night was on the new alcohol regulations that have come into force - these appeared to be, I was personally pleased to hear, pretty much supported by the local community ... at least in Tollcross!

A cynical game

I mentioned the SPICe briefing that puts the lie to the Nats constant whining about the (NOT) reducing Scottish-budget for 2010/11 a few days ago - details here.

Well, just to prove the scale of their 'chutzpah' the Scottish Government have put out a News Release today pressing for the same form of 'capital acceleration' this year as they received last - details here.

I'd be willing to take a gamble that the Westminster Government gives them such - despite the puerile political games going on?

If they do, it will say a lot about the respective levels of political maturity within Westminster and Holyrood ... and, as ever, I trust that voters are quite capable of making their own judgment on who is trying to respond to current economic circumstances constructively and who is playing a particularly cynical political game given the seriousness of all the circumstances.

Help needed ...

I have a terrible confession to make ... this morning, whilst reading The Scotsman, I found myself in total agreement with a Tory MSP :-(

I may have to rapidly reassess my allotment-obsession :-((

Recession - what recession?

Talking of 'light agendas' ...

... have a quick look at this one for the Economic Development Committee meeting next Tuesday --- you know, that Committee which should be the cutting-edge of the Council's response to the recession?

There are seven actual reports on the agenda - and every single one is entitled as a 'Progress Report' :-(

Inspiring stuff.

Full Council this coming week ...

Full Council this coming Thursday (15th) ... main agenda can be found here; and papers via searching on CPOL.

I probably shouldn't say it, but agenda looks incredibly light and I reckon the meeting could even finish earlier than last month?

I've actually got a (flexible!) ticket for the 5pm train to London that afternoon, so am hoping for as few points-of-order as possible ;-)

National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day today - some details here - with this year's theme being "Heroes and Heroines".

I'm not really one for heroes ... everyone who makes it through the day is a bit of a hero as far as I'm concerned ... but in the spirit of National Poetry Day I'll raise a shout for Charles Darwin.

I've mentioned my admiration for his work before, and earlier this week I managed to see "Creation" the film about his life, which I would highly recommend. And so here is an extract of a poem by Darwin's own great-great-granddaughter, Ruth Padel, entitled:

"More Funny Ideas About Grandeur"

'There is grandeur, if you look
at every organic being
as the lineal successor of some other form,
now buried under thousands of feet of rock.
Or else as a co-descendant, with that buried form,
from some other inhabitant of this world
more ancient still, now lost.

Out of famine, death and struggle for existence,
comes the most exalted end
we're capable of conceiving: creation
of the higher animals!
Our first impulse is to disbelieve -
how could any secondary law
produce organic beings, infinitely numerous,

characterized by most exquisite
workmanship and adaptation?
Easier to say, a Creator designed each.
But there is a simple grandeur in this view -
that life, with its power to grow, to reach, feel,
reproduce, diverge, was breathed
into matter in a few forms first

and maybe only one. To say that while this planet
has gone cycling on
according to fixed laws of gravity,
from so simple an origin, through selection
of infinitesimal varieties, endless forms
most beautiful and wonderful
have been, and are being, evolved.'

(February 2009)

Impossible to believe?

No - not Cameron's speech today ...

... but this BBC story, from several months ago, which a colleague has just sent me.

I have to say, that as someone with two sisters I find the thesis of this research almost impossible to believe ;-)

Minds made up?

As regular blog readers will know, the current local school closure programme continues to roll on towards a final decision at the December 2009 Full Council Meeting ...

... one of the four Primary Schools currently being considered for closure is Drumbrae, and all the consultation details can be found here. And, if you look at the 'summary of the proposals' (page 2) it's evident that a new, larger Nursery is to be built at Clermiston Primary School IF Drumbrae closes.

Fair enough - except today, numerous Councillors are awash with angry e-mails from parents at Clermiston because they've been told by workmen on the school site that the foundations for a new Nursery are being prepared right now??

... someone, somewhere better have a good explanation to convince these parents that minds aren't already made up about the closure of Drumbrae :-(

Networking for all - even at the Council :-)

Well ... who would have believed it?

... I put up a post about my '100th Friend' on Facebook, and have a little whinge about the ongoing lack of access to said-programme within the City of Edinburgh Council network ... and what happens?

... just this morning, Facebook is now accessible from within the Council :-)

I've also noticed that Bebo, YouTube and other networking sites have likewise all been unblocked :-))

Lets hope that 'Blogger' isn't now blocked in some act of surreal administrative revenge??

100 friends?

High excitement here at the Really Bad Blog ... just reached my '100th Friend' on Facebook ;-)

Just imagine how many there would be if I could access the damned programme at work?

--- obviously all part of delivering the "Smart City Vision with Infrastructure Optimisation Model" ... minus Facebook :-(

ERS Scotland ...

Interesting discussion earlier today, over in (what was a sunny!) Glasgow.

Plenty of life left in the Westminster PR-campaign yet! I'll try and blog more about it all soon ...

Fountainbridge streets full of beds

No, I'm not joking ...

... just a few pictures from local Fountainbridge streets, indicating all too-graphically what the ever-increasing fee for bulky uplifts is doing to many, many tenemental streets across Edinburgh :-(

... first picture is on Dundee Street, second one from Bryson Road.

As I've already said on several occasions, it really is time for a complete re-think of this whole policy-area ... the current Lib/Nat Administration have indeed made a right mess (sorry) of it.

weekend Guardian & Glasgow today ...

Interesting article about Edinburgh in the 'Weekend Guardian' on Saturday ... paragraph 7 contains a timely reminder of what could have been; or could still be?

On a lighter note (maybe not!), off to sunny Glasgow this morning to meet up with other electoral reformers for a general catch-up on where now after that conference promise of a post-election referendum?

Back to work for a rest ;-)

It's definitely 'back to work for a rest' tomorrow ...

... we've been looking after two of our nieces, aged 4 and 1, for the whole weekend ;-)

Every minute been a joy --- of course.

more on that Budget ...

First bullet-point at the top of Page 3, in this SPICe briefing is a bit of a shocker ...

... that 'capital acceleration' has a lot to answer for :-(

Mind you, you have to admire the Nats pure-brass-neck ... they ask for extra capital monies to be brought forward; trumpet how much good they're doing with the additional money; and then use that capital acceleration as a means of claiming their budget is being cut in the next year!

You couldn't make it up ...

... except, the Governing Party of Scotland did.

2010/11 Budget - more money for Councils

Some disclaimers to start with:

• this post is about the 2010/11 Local Government budget in Scotland
• it's not about any other aspect of the Scottish Budget
• and it's not about any other (future) years
• and it's based on the figures released a few weeks ago

OK - now put all the political shouting about the overall Scottish Budget to one side and here are the unquestionable facts for the forthcoming financial year as regards Local Government:

• the 2010/11 Scottish Local Government budget is going UP from £9,589.9million last year to £9,809.0million this year (see first table here)
• that's an increase of £219.1million in cash (nominal) terms
• in 'real' terms the 2010/11 figure relates to about £9,664.0million
• that's a 'real terms' increase of £74.1million (from the previous year) for Scottish Local Government
• so, Scottish Local Government is getting a 2.3% cash (nominal) increase
• and, Scottish Local Government is getting a 0.8% 'real terms' increase next year
• see table 1, on page 2, here for confirmation of these facts
• the figures here (as above) correlate to the official figures here, from the first bullet-point above

Yes - you've got it ... Scottish Local Government is getting MORE MONEY in real terms (not just cash terms) in 2010/11 as compared to 2009/10.

Remember, this post is not about future years - but the unquestionable facts above may well be worth remembering in the gathering political hysteria as we move towards setting our own Local Council Budget for 2010/11 in early February ...

NP event ...

Neighbourhood Partnership (NP) event yesterday was very good ... possibly better than being in Brighton ;-)

... seriously though - the trick is going to be translating a lot of the energy and positive enthusiasm evident yesterday into the actual NPs at a local level?

I think a bit of this change is already happening at my own South West NP - spreading such change across all 12 NPs will be a much bigger challenge for sure.