Latest news from the Council Leader Jane Meagher.
Working together to tackle poverty
I still find it shocking that around 80,000 Edinburgh residents are struggling to make ends meet with one in five children in this city living in poverty. This is despite years of effort and hard work from our teams and partners across the city to try to tackle the root causes of poverty and inequality.
It was timely, then, that I recently joined those with lived experience, third sector organisations and community partners at the End Poverty Edinburgh Annual Conference to hear about what more we can do to tackle the drivers and stigma of poverty.
Speaking at the event, I was clear that we can’t do this alone and praised everyone who had contributed to the Poverty Commission’s latest End Poverty annual progress report, many of whom have first-hand experience of living in poverty. This important work has rightly been highlighted as a leading example of best practice by the Improvement Service.
I also highlighted our efforts to raise awareness and take-up of child maintenance payments and other benefits to make sure families get all the support they’re entitled to, while also developing a new three-year action plan to promote fair work and tackle in-work poverty – which is sadly far more common than you might think.
We’ve kick-started some of the most innovative and effective projects in the country – such as our Ask and Act programme, Umbrella Hubs and the NESSie collaborative – but I strongly believe we can make more of a difference with the right relationship with government. I have this week written to the First Minister to ask for funding adequacy, flexibility and security over the longer term.
As we head into the winter months, a time of year that can put even more pressure on struggling households, we must work even harder together to tackle this scourge on our society once and for all.
Granton Waterfront marks major milestone
With hard hat on and spade in hand, I joined the First Minister and representatives from Cruden Homes to mark the start of construction on the next phase of work to transform former industrial land into a new coastal town and community at Granton.
It was inspiring to meet young people from nearby Craigroyston High School who are gaining hands on construction skills on-site and qualifications at Edinburgh College as part of our award-winning pathways programme.
This latest milestone forms part of our £1.3 billion regeneration of the area – one of the largest public sector-led and environmentally friendly projects in the country. Almost half of the 847 new homes planned for this phase will be affordable, forming part of our once-in-a-generation £1.6 billion investment programme to tackle the city's housing emergency. The new community will also include a primary school, leisure and recreation facilities and Scotland’s largest coastal park.
I was able to see first-hand the positive progress we’ve already made in the area: the delivery of hundreds of new sustainable and affordable homes, the restoration of the iconic Granton gasholder to create a new city park and the transformation of the former Station building into a new home for local artists and other small businesses, to name just a few.
Keeping the city safe this Bonfire Night
As we count down to Halloween and Bonfire Night, I want to recognise the huge amount of work being carried out by colleagues across the Council, Police and blue-light services, Lothian Buses and other partners to prepare for this year’s celebrations.
Having endured some horrific scenes across the city in 2023 and 2024 in particular, I was pleased and relieved that last year’s events passed off without serious incident and that the vast majority of people enjoyed them safely and responsibly. It really did feel worlds apart from what had gone before.
Alongside Police Dispersal Zones, the expansion of our Firework Control Zones is an important step in responding to the issues raised by our communities – and in helping to reduce the risks associated with fireworks. But this is only part of the solution and we’re supporting community-led events across the city and our schools’ teams are partnering with local groups to create alternative options for young people.
Please play your part by being considerate of your neighbours, older and vulnerable residents and pets and, wherever possible, attend an organised display rather than setting off fireworks yourself.
Bonfire Night should be an opportunity to bring people together, not put them at risk. By working together, respecting the rules, and looking out for one another, we can make sure this is a safe and positive experience for everyone.
Leading the way with the Visitor Levy
As the UK’s first local authority to introduce a city-wide visitor levy this summer, I was pleased to share our experiences at an event with leaders of other Core Cities interested in following suit (now that the UK Government has given them powers to do so).
They should be greatly encouraged by our experience so far and, while we won’t receive the first payments from accommodation providers until November, we haven’t waited around to start delivering on our promises.
Beyond the many wide-ranging projects and programmes already underway, we’re now investing more in maintaining Edinburgh’s streets, public spaces and local infrastructure to the high standard our residents and visitors expect. You’ll soon see more of our new street cleansing patrols, vehicles and other new equipment in action across the city as litter, weeds and graffiti are removed – creating a cleaner, greener and more welcoming environment for us all to enjoy.
We’ve also just launched a new £3.8 million fund to support improvements to our public cultural and heritage buildings, with a particular focus on making them as welcoming and as accessible as possible.
The Core Cities roundtable also included accommodation providers and bookers, and I was grateful to them for their constructive feedback on their experiences of administering the levy so far. We’re fully committed to ongoing engagement with all partners and providers, as we’ve done from the very start.
Addressing violence and abuse at work
I’ve been concerned to hear about the recent rise in violent incidents in our places of work, and to see the effect this is having on our colleagues. Whether in a school, a library, one of our locality offices or on the street, no one should feel unsafe at work. I’m determined to address this head on and have been working closely with our officers and Trade Union colleagues to look at what more can be done.
I was pleased, then, to have made a public commitment in signing UNISON’s Violence at Work Charter late last month – demonstrating just how serious we are about tackling this issue.
Through signing the Charter, we’ve committed to not only making our workplaces safer but also looking at what else we can do to prevent incidents happening in the first place. This includes carrying out more detailed risk assessments for staff working in vulnerable situations and taking steps to make sure that those who work on their own aren’t put in harm’s way.
would encourage anyone who experiences violence or abuse at work to report it as soon as they can so we can provide them with the support they need.
A great place to live and work
Ending with some positive news, I’m pleased to report that we’ve made the shortlist in two categories at this year’s COSLA Excellence Awards.
Our work to introduce the Visitor Levy features in the ‘Leading Innovation’ category, while our Whole Family Wellbeing Parent Panel is in the running to win under ‘Strengthening Communities and Local Democracy’. Good luck to all involved!
Meanwhile, our multi-million-pound investment in Cables Wynd House and neighbouring Linksview has also been shortlisted, this time for the Architects’ Journal Retrofit & Reuse Awards. The work on the two Category-A listed buildings was recognised in the ‘Future Reuse’ category, with the projects set to make them not only fit for the future but warmer and more comfortable places to call home.
I also want to congratulate everyone at Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams for being named UK Operators of the Year at the National Transport Awards in London earlier this month – a brilliant double for our newly-integrated transport companies.
And in another win, Edinburgh scored the number one spot in the UK’s best city to visit categories in the annual Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards survey.
Anyone who lives in, or has visited Edinburgh, can testify to the high praise received from readers who said the city is ‘good-humoured, open-minded, and pulsing with creative energy’ and that it ‘caters to both first-time visitors and seasoned fans of the Scottish capital alike’. Couldn’t have put it better myself!