National Gallery of Modern Art

Went over to the National Gallery of Modern Art this afternoon with our visitor - good exhibition currently on at the moment, which I'd highly recommend ...

... lots of interesting exhibits, but needless to say the (in)famous 'sheep in formaldehyde' was definitely attracting most attention!

Bank Holiday weekend ...

Friend from Aberdeen down for the Bank Holiday weekend, so in tourist-mode for the next few days!

Stayed pretty local today, with visits to the canal, Harrison Park and (of course) the allotment ;-)

Group Away Day

Spent most of this morning at a 'Group Away Day' event ...

... used the 'Engine Shed' as the venue for the meeting - excellent facilities, and a really good lunch ;-)

Breathtaking hypocrisy

Council Meeting now finished - concluded around 4pm. The one significant debate was on trams - here's a quick summary (I'm paraphrasing!):

• Lib-Dems moved a motion to dump tram line 1b, but proceed with line 1a
• Tories moved an amendment to get a further report in one-cycle on line 1a costs
• Labour moved an amendment to get a further report in two-cycles on line 1b funding possibilities
• Labour and Tories conjoined their amendments and Greens agreed to back that position
• SNP moved, and shouted loudly about, an amendment to scrap the whole tram project

So, let the voting commence:

• SNP amendment was defeated and fell
• sensing that their Lib-Dem colleagues were therefore about to lose the next vote ...
• ... SNP joined the Lib-Dems in the second vote and supported proceeding with tram line 1a
• that position was therefore carried and Labour/Tory/Green position fell

I know I shouldn't be surprised, but in 10-years on the Council I've never seen such a two-faced position as the Edinburgh SNP adopted on trams in today's debate.

In short - they moved an amendment to scrap the whole project, but when they realised their Lib-Dem partners were about to lose a vote they supported the continuation of tram line 1a in complete contradiction to everything they had said in the debate a few seconds before.

Truly breathtaking hypocrisy.

... and we wonder why people are switched off politics :-(

Abuse of power

Four deputations have been turned away from today's Full Council Meeting - yes, told to come back to another Committee in a few weeks time ... why? Well, because of this Standing Order:


Standing Order 28(3)
If, in the opinion of the Lord Provost, a motion submitted for consideration at a meeting of the Council falls within the remit of a Committee of the Council, the Lord Provost may direct that motion be remitted to that Committee for consideration, including any request for a deputation to be heard on the matter.


This relatively NEW Standing Order was added by the current Administration back in June 2008 - we objected at the time, knowing full well it would be abused eventually.

It was abused today.

Stunning political leadership?

I have to tell you about a set of "questions/answers" coming up later at today's Full Council Meeting (see item 5.8) ... one of my colleagues, Ewan Aitken, has tabled this set of three queries:


QUESTION NO 8
By Councillor Ewan Aitken to be answered by the Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee at a meeting of the Council on 30 April 2009

Question (1)
What proposals have been discussed to increase your cuts to youth work sessional hours in the city?

Question (2)
Who have you consulted about these cuts?

Question (3)
What impact assessments have you carried out on the possible effects of your proposed cuts?


--- and here is the answer that Ewan has now received:


Answer
Senior officers are currently preparing a range of options (including impact assessments) to reduce projected expenditure in Community Learning and Development to bring it into line with the approved budget for 2009-10. Sustained and proper examination will be given to any recommendations brought forward.


I'll decipher that for you - "I'm politically in charge of a budget; the Department set that budget back in February 2009 with my explicit political approval; that budget is fixed; and it's now the end of April 2009 and I still have absolutely no idea how we're going to make the savings we agreed two months ago".


Truly stunning.

More on the CPZ proposals ...

I should have mentioned in yesterday's post, that I will be attending the Transport Committee Meeting at 10am next Tuesday - and any members of the public can also attend: just go the reception of the City Chambers on the High Street (Royal Mile) ...

I'm not a member of the Committee, so don't have a vote, but as one of the local Councillors whose Ward is affected by these proposals I do have the right to speak to the report --- a right I will be exercising!

... I've already had a significant amount of feedback from yesterday's post, and also from having e-mailed the report to hundreds of residents. The feedback so far does back-up my earlier thoughts on this, with quite vocal support for trying to see something happen around Harrison Park - and also Craiglockhart Terrace (in particular), which I didn't mention yesterday.

I will certainly follow these points up at the Committee next week - and please do get in touch meantime if you have any further thoughts on this: andrew.burns@edinburgh.gov.uk or 0131 529 3287.

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater ...

I've mentioned the very local parking woes affecting parts of the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart Ward on several occasions before - see here and the links therein ...

... well, the report which was supposed to address all of this is now out - here (it's large!) - and will be debated at next Tuesday's Transport Committee meeting (Item 22 on the Agenda).

I say 'supposed to' because, as you'll see if you glance at the report, all possible extensions to the CPZ are simply being abandoned. All of them.

I'm not opposed to some local areas being dropped - it's been pretty evident from the Shandon Colonies feedback I've had (for example) that there is little local support for a CPZ there. But other areas - specifically around Harrison Park - have shown a significant level of support for inclusion in the CPZ (49% for compared to 15% against - see page 9 of the report) and yet no recognition is being given to that - and no alternatives are being put forward?

After nearly two-years of debate and consultation, this will be welcomed by some but will undoubtedly be disappointing for many others ... all the talk of 'flexibility' and 'creativity' when considering solutions has simply vanished with the complete abandonment of these proposals.

Classic example of 'throwing the baby out with the bath water' :-(

Shock, horror - Councillor suspended

This event was the lead 'Scottish Politics' story for most of yesterday evening, and early this morning, on the BBC Scotland Politics web-site ...

... what on earth did the man do - there are a few more details here --- but a 6-month suspension?

Wonder if we could get the 'Aberdeenshire Conduct Committee' to put on some training for the Standards Commission for Scotland??

Full Council week

As mentioned last week, its April's Full Council meeting this coming Thursday - main agenda can be found here ...

... difficult to judge how long the principal decision-making body of the Council will last this month - precious little new business of any substance on the agenda yet again: 'trams' and the 'hub initiative' being the two main exceptions. But quite a few questions and motions; several of which I'm sure will attract some deputations to the meeting?

It does appear to be the pattern now - as much formal (and politically difficult) business is being kept away from the Chamber as possible; given the 'challenging mathematics' of the Council make-up.

Little wonder questions and motions are being used so extensively to try and extract political information ...

Allotment update

Managed to get an all-too-brief spell down at the allotment earlier this afternoon ... bright, clear weather.

And, as you can see, lots of growing now apparent: broad beans; spinach; onions; garlic; potatoes; carrots; beetroot; peas --- all going strong :-)

Not to mention the flower-beds, and the pond!

--- and still plenty of 'planting-out' to come over the coming days and weeks.

Scottish Mining Museum

Made our first ever visit to the Scottish Mining Museum earlier this afternoon - thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family, even the adults!

Would definitely recommend it as an excellent day out.

It's all relevant

Totally shocked at the lack of prominence for this story in most mainstream press today :-(

--- and not even much mention of this :-((

Sorry - momentarily forgot that everything is London's fault.

Tram Line 1b cancelled

Well, hardly a surprise, but not good that the report which confirms the 'shelving' (in reality, its about to be cancelled!) of Tram Line 1b has today been leaked to many local and national news outlets BEFORE it was made available to most elected Councillors.

Personally, putting that point of local democracy aside, I think what's about to happen at the Full Council meeting next Thursday will be a huge mistake.

The 'bottom-line' is all that now counts - never mind regeneration, the 'business case' is ALL that matters. Its called knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

North Edinburgh is about to lose out on a huge scale, a lost opportunity that will costs tens-of-millions more to regain --- or, more likely, a lost opportunity that next Thursday will be gone forever.

Blinded by ideology?

You have to give it to the Nationalists here in Scotland - they know how to whinge!

Strip all the hyperbole away and here are the facts on the "Scottish Government's" Budget for the next few years:

• funding for the Scottish Government in 2008/09 was £33.3billion
• funding for the Scottish Government in 2009/10 is £34.8billion
• funding for the Scottish Government in 2010/11 will be £35.5billion

OK, OK - I got my figures here slightly wrong :-(

But the last figure above: £35.5billion for 2010/11 - does now take account of all the 'much-debated' efficiency savings - is higher than this year's budget ... and double what the first, First Minister had available in 1999.

Despite constantly espousing that this is a new political era, why can't the Nationalists just actually get on with governing the country in a constructive fashion?

--- I'll tell you why: doing such doesn't suit their main political goal.

Budget choices ...

A difficult day for the Chancellor - to say the least.

But given all the circumstances --- the majority of which are impacting the wider world and not just the UK --- do you really think that George Osborne would have included half of this in any budget he had been in charge of, under such economic conditions as those of today?

I know the answer to that question, and I think most fair-minded people do also.

Privatisation; by any other name?

I've never been one who believes in the "all public good" - "all private bad" philosophy of service-delivery, but what's been leaked to the local press today has all the hallmarks of a dash to save money, without proper consideration being given to the longer-term consequences.

I'm frankly not that surprised at the local Lib-Dems contemplating such wholesale outsourcing (and I accept that it is still - at this time - only being contemplated) but I will be surprised if their SNP coalition partners actually go along with this on the scale being hinted at ...

... I certainly hope that some senior SNP Councillors make their position clear before any of this becomes a 'fait accompli'?

Budget day ...

UK Budget day.

I'm going to resist the temptation for instant pontification and pause for a day ...

... before posting further thoughts on the detail of what's actually announced.