You may have noticed an uptick in the number of roadworks taking place around the city in recent months. While these can be frustrating, they are important in improving the state of our roads. Most of these repairs are carried out by the council, however, many are undertaken by utility companies such as Scottish Water or BT. 

These can often cause frustration to residents as they can seemingly drag on for months with very little work being done, causing huge congestion and delays, especially to public transport. 

In response to resident complaints about the speed of repairs, Edinburgh Labour is cracking down on such practices. In England, local councils can charge up to £2500 per day for utility companies to “rent” the road while works are ongoing. We are now calling on the Scottish Government to give us similar powers so we can make utility companies work smarter and faster, getting better value for money for their customers. It’s time for the Scottish Government to help us get residents moving again. 

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Welcome to my new monthly newsletter. It’s been a busy month on the Council, with the new year’s budget set, and the first test tram reaching Leith. I will update you on the new budget, what the SNP leadership contest means for Edinburgh, and what I’ve done this month, plus any upcoming roadworks in the ward in this edition.

As always, do not hesitate to contact me with any issues on mandy.watt@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Edinburgh Council Budget

The council recently set its budget for the coming financial year and you may have seen reports that Labour’s budget failed to pass. I’d like to explain here how this occurred, and what my view on the new budget is. The SNP government has drastically cut funding for local authorities, meaning Edinburgh Council started with a £76 million hole in its finances. Despite this, we had devised our budget with many popular and fully costed provisions to improve the city. Unfortunately, this was brought down by Green councillors, who decided to vote for the Tory budget in order to undermine ours. This put the Labour group in an awkward position, needing to make a quick decision on which budget we would support instead. Between the two remaining options: the SNP budget and the LibDem budget, we decided to support the LibDems. There are many provisions in this budget that Labour supports, and were also included in our proposals. These include: – A projected £7 million cut in education funding will be avoided.£11 million will be spent fixing our roads and pavements, and £3 million on cleaning them. – More money will be spent on to tackling climate change, including £2m on flood prevention measures. – Parks and greenspaces will get £3 million for improvements – King’s theatre will be saved from closure by a £3 million grant. Due to the huge cuts in funding from the Scottish government, Council Tax will need to rise to 5%, and parking fines will also increase. These measures are necessary to fill the huge shortfall in funding from the SNP-led Scottish Government. Edinburgh continues to receive some of the lowest Government funding of any local authority – £1,786 compared to the Scottish average of £2,221. It’s important to stress that the budget is a financial proposal and doesn’t change Council policy. Labour does not support taking all of the financial proposals forward, particularly those related to compulsory redundancies and believes that Council delivery of waste services is the best value for our city. Labour opposes any changes to these Council policies, and we will be taking action over the coming weeks and months to revisit the budget and make alternative financial proposals.

SNP leadership contest – what it means for Edinburgh

While the three contenders for First Minister debated independence, people and services across Edinburgh are in crisis. Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes, and Ash Regan have all spoken about the need to eliminate poverty, yet have all served in a government which has been slashing local authority funding at every turn. The Edinburgh Poverty Commission, which reported in 2020, highlighted three key areas in which action must be taken to reduce poverty: affordable housing, healthcare and secure, well-paid jobs. These issues are largely or solely under the control of local councils, and Labour Councillors will be doing all that we can to make a difference, but the Scottish Government has denied us the funding needed to properly address these problems. Edinburgh continues to receive some of the lowest Government funding of any local authority – £1,786 per head compared to the Scottish average of £2,221. Edinburgh Labour will keep pushing the new First Minister to give Edinburgh a fair deal. Now Humza Yousaf has won, it’s time for his government to start living up to its promises, to stop talking and start delivering. The cost of living crisis has pushed people into poverty across the city, and the First Minister needs to give us the funding to tackle these problems.

Five things I’ve done this month. Roads and Potholes – I know that the conditions of Edinburgh’s roads is something that frustrates many of you. I visited the council’s Roads Team, with Council Leader Cammy Day, to discuss how we can make rapid progress towards fixing Edinburgh’s roads. We watched the new JCB Pothole Pro machine in action and I was very impressed by the skill of Gary the guide and Andy the driver. Definitely not something that I would attempt myself! Hogmanay Winter Festival – We’ve secured the approval for Unique Assembly to do a further year of the Christmas Market. They’ve learned a lot from stepping in at the 11th hour last year and have proposed a few welcome improvements. I’m pushing for a greater spread of events around the city and greater environmental sustainability. Retrofitting Strategy – I brought a motion to update the council’s retrofitting strategy to include a dedicated council team, with training and apprenticeships, to retrofit council homes and make them much more energy efficient. Read my motion here. International Women’s Day – Featured in a video thanking all the women who work with the council. Women are 70% of our workforce but there’s still a gender pay gap and too few women in our senior leadership team. Watch the video here. Senior Leadership – I had the pleasure of welcoming Dr Deborah Smart, our new Director of Corporate Services, an excellent addition to the team and one which addresses having too few women with leadership roles in the council. She will help deliver better services for all residents.

Upcoming roadworks Residents often contact me to air their frustrations with the lack of notice given about upcoming roadworks. Every month, I receive notification from Council officers about upcoming works in Morningside ward. I plan to start sharing these in this newsletter, so people have advance warning of works taking place in their area. I have attached this month’s report below, or you can view it online here.

Morningside Fact: In the 18th century, the area between Canaan Lane and Newbattle Terrace used to be home to a huge manor house and 18 acres of grounds. Nothing of the house remains except the stone falcons which used to adorn the gates. They now reside in Edinburgh Zoo, see if you can spot them!

Thank you for reading the latest issue of my newsletter! As always, if you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I recently brought a motion to update the council’s retrofitting strategy to include a dedicated council team, with training and apprenticeships, to retrofit council homes and make them much more energy efficient. This would lower bills for council tenants, and help reduce our emissions.

Read my motion here.

Motion By Councillor Watt – Retrofitting Strategy

“Committee:

Notes the two Design and Development Commissioning reports related to the retrofit and refurbishment of several council-owned blocks that are on today’s agenda.

Asks that a report reviewing the council’s retrofitting strategy be brought to Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work in two cycles to include:

1.    A sustainable, best-value approach to retrofitting and major repair programmes by investing in upskilling and recruiting staff;

2.    How best to put in place a progressive apprenticeship programme that secures our future workforce;

3.    Consulting major stakeholders, like trades unions, about a revised strategy;

4.    Clearly identifying what additional costs may be required to deal with issues like ventilation systems, asbestos in older buildings and other challenges that could arise during retrofit and refurbishment projects; and

5.    How external funding might be accessed so that the cost of retrofitting does not need to be funded from our tenants’ rents.

6.  Further asks that the report to Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee is referred to this Committee for consideration of any financial implications.”

Women’s safety in public places is incredibly important because too many amazing women have been killed or traumatised by violent or abusive men.

Walking home, running in the park, waiting at a bus stop shouldn’t put women at risk of being attacked, given there’s things that can be done to prevent it.

Please take part in the consultation that is being held following a motion that I put to Council last year:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/news/article/13504/residents-help-sought-to-shape-the-way-edinburgh-addresses-women-s-safety-in-public-places?fbclid=IwAR3zKe7TE3xunAk4Gd1wje2GiPe3NWerY3J1rFMJFfQT4c-SZTcvQh0TyuI