Latest news from the Council Leader Jane Meagher.
A vote of thanks
I want to begin by congratulating our 13 newly elected MSPs who will represent the city and the Edinburgh region at Holyrood following their success in last week’s Scottish Parliament election – but also to commiserate with those who stood but weren’t elected.
In particular, I want to wish our fellow councillors, Kate Campbell, Simita Kumar, Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill, and Sanne Dijkstra-Downie the very best of luck in their new roles. They will of course be a loss to the Council, but I have no doubt they will work hard for the people of Edinburgh.
For my part, I will continue doing the same and look forward to working with our new MSPs and the Scottish Government to address the challenges we face as a city and as a nation – not least around tackling poverty and finding solutions to our housing and climate emergencies. Crucial to that, of course, will be making the case (once again) for a fairer settlement for our capital city and, more widely, for a long overdue review of the funding formulae for local government.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work of our colleagues (and others) who made sure the election ran so well. It’s a complex and painstaking process that takes months of careful planning, and our teams delivered it with typical professionalism – as was clear from the smooth running of Friday’s count. Making sure our residents can exercise their democratic right is one of the most important duties we carry out as an organisation, and I’m grateful to everyone who played their part.
Edinburgh is our home
I was encouraged by the diversity of our new group of MSPs – which I’m glad to report represents the overall make-up of our city’s population. Edinburgh is becoming ever more culturally diverse, with a quarter of all people coming to Scotland choosing to make the capital their home.
Of course, none of this is new: we are a city of migrants. Many of us are migrants or have migrants in our families. Many have lived here for generations and some of the city’s best-loved institutions are only here thanks to incomers. We all benefit from this, and our city and its culture are all the better for it. The same is true, of course, in the other direction, with many people choosing to leave Edinburgh (and Scotland) to contribute to other societies across the world.
Unfortunately, however, with a rise in racist language, political rhetoric and high profile anti-immigration protests across the UK, we know that some in our communities are understandably feeling uneasy or unsafe. Everyone has the right to feel comfortable in their home, on their street, and in their neighbourhood and we need to remind ourselves of the importance of community spirit and tolerance.
That’s why I’m delighted to be launching a new campaign – ‘Edinburgh is our Home’ – on Council channels and elsewhere next month. This citywide effort will see us working with our partners across all sectors to share real-life stories of people who have come to Edinburgh and made it their home. It will showcase and celebrate the positive contribution immigration makes to our city and promote Edinburgh as an inclusive and welcoming place, with a particular focus on the individuals and organisations who help make this possible.
I’m looking forward to getting started with the campaign and am hopeful that it will promote understanding, acceptance and interest in our city’s many cultures and communities. Please get in touch if you would like to share your story or know someone else who might.
Building momentum
When we set our Council Budget in February, I was clear that tackling the housing emergency and doing more to prevent poverty should be at the very heart of our plans.
I’m confident, then, that the record £1.6 billion we committed towards more affordable homes and better temporary accommodation has clearly demonstrated this commitment. As did our decision to restrict the Council Tax rise to the lowest in the country, freeze most fees and charges, and protect the frontline services residents have told us matter most.
Three months on, I’m encouraged to see this already translating into new homes on the ground. The latest figures reported to councillors show nearly 1,500 affordable homes were completed or purchased in the last financial year – beating our target of 1,368. And with a further 994 homes approved for construction and work started at over 1,000 more, we’re well on track to deliver on our promises. We also spent close to £74 million on affordable housing last year – the highest annual investment in the programme’s history and well ahead of the previous high of £55 million.
Alongside this investment in the future, we’re maintaining support for those facing homelessness today. Last month we agreed funding to keep Bethany Christian Trust’s Welcome Centre open year-round through to March 2027, providing emergency accommodation and a route to longer-term support for 64 individuals who would otherwise be sleeping rough.
These are not small numbers, and they reflect an enormous amount of planning, partnership and hard work from officers and our housing association and third sector partners.
Collaborating to innovate
I was delighted to represent Edinburgh at the 12th CityLab Conference in Madrid late last month. Described as the ‘preeminent global cities summit’, the event attracted over 1,000 delegates, all of whom were keen to make connections, discuss our shared challenges, and discuss what we can do to solve them.
I was struck by both the great interest and affection in which Edinburgh is held by our peers – and I have no doubt this helped me to build relationships with leaders from across the UK and Europe. It was inspiring to hear from speakers including Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain and Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, amongst others.
Some of the key themes I took away from the trip include: the urgent need to improve access to high quality, affordable housing, and the role that this plays in health, wellbeing and achieving Net Zero; the role of AI and the need for us to support our workforce to use it effectively; the importance of communicating issues around climate change in language that resonates with our residents; and the potential for innovative finance models to help fund better solutions – it’s clear that cities own many of the problems, but they don’t have a monopoly on how to solve them.
Learning from the conference will help our new i-team with their remit to develop ambitious pilots that bring real and measurable benefits for our residents, while helping us to do things better as a council and as a city.
Top of the class
We should all be proud of the teachers and school staff who work so hard to teach, nurture and inspire children and young people across our schools every single day, and it's always good to see when that hard work is recognised.
Fionnuala Glover who teaches history at Holy Rood RC High School, was named Scotland’s most inspiring history teacher in the inaugural Inspiring History Teaching Awards in March. Her lessons have been described as ‘vibrant, creative spaces’ and the judges acknowledged her use of digital technology in the classroom. Fionnuala is now in the running for overall UK winner at a ceremony at the Tower of London in June, and I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her the best of luck.
Meanwhile, I was also pleased to hear that South Morningside Primary School has been shortlisted to become primary school of the year at the prestigious TES Schools Awards – the only school in Scotland to be nominated in this category. Celebrating those making a measurable difference to pupils, staff and communities across the UK, the awards take place on 19 June, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for them too!
One billion and counting
The Edinburgh International Conference Centre’s latest Impact Report shows the venue once again punching well above its weight for the Capital – hosting 175 events, generating 173,000 delegate days and contributing £76m to the local economy in 2025 alone, taking the EICC’s total economic impact to £1 billion since it opened. A remarkable milestone.
The report also makes it clear that this growth has not come at the expense of wider responsibilities – emissions are around a quarter below the industry benchmark, food waste is down by a third on last year, and the new EICC Impact Network is already connecting more than 30 local organisations, schools and charities to the conferences hosted in the city.
My congratulations to Chief Executive Amanda Wrathall, who will shortly mark her first year in post, and to the whole EICC team for delivering yet another great set of results.
Winter wonderland
Edinburgh’s Winter Festival has once again shown the value that major cultural events bring to this city – not only in attracting visitors from across the world, but by delivering significant benefits for our economy and local businesses. I’m pleased that our residents and communities have also seen some of this benefit through increased free tickets and ride passes, alongside record charitable donations that are helping support local causes across the city.
With the most recent report also showing longer visitor stays and higher spend, £241 million generated for the local economy and close to £50,000 raised for our chosen charities, I want to thank Unique Assembly for their work in delivering another highly successful programme of events and attractions.
As Edinburgh continues to welcome growing numbers of visitors, it is essential that the benefits of tourism are felt across communities and that the city remains well-maintained for those who live and work here year-round – and I’m looking forward to the difference the Edinburgh Visitor Levy will make once it comes into effect in July.
Culture, community and lots of tartan!
And finally, having represented Edinburgh and Scotland on the world stage at New York’s 25th Annual Tartan Parade in April, the Lord Provost was once again donning his national dress as we welcomed the return of The Edinburgh Tartan Parade to the city last weekend.
Joining Grand Marshal for the year, Eilish McColgan, plus Grant Stott and Gail Porter, he led over 2,500 clan members, musicians, pipers and dancers through our streets to celebrate Scotland’s culture, communities, heritage and inclusivity. It’s encouraging that an event that only began last year already feels like a natural fixture in our city’s cultural calendar.