A Living Wage for council workers

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!

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!

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

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'

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

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

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?

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 ...

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 ...

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

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

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

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 ...

The countdown has begun :-)

Moving Edinburgh Forward

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 ...

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 ...

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

A Co-operative Council?

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.

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