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[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:03:37]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:03:43]
Good morning everyone and welcometuesday this month's meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council which will be broadcast live on the internet like to remind everybody present that the live broadcast will be stored as part of the Council's webcast archive and will be capable of repeated viewing i have the discretion to terminate or suspend filming if in my opinion owing filming to continue would prejudice the proceedings of the meeting
members are reminded cameras are activated by the sound system and you must switch on microphones when speaking and off when finished speaking
before we commence today's proceedings I would like to welcome the head teacher hours noble and the children from sheen's primary school
who are coming to visit us today and who are going to entertain as I think with three carols which is great and while they are setting up I would also like to welcome and currently held primary school who are now assembling in the public gallery there here on a visit to see how you behave Council meeting
so no pressure there for the cancers
i think we'll just let everybody settle in before we before we start
it is good to see young people actually interested in coming along to see how the
the civic heads of the capital city carry out their business
could be interesting
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:05:42]
the while they are settling down any Councillors who know them can get over the waves know itat the way the good stuff thank you those recognise people up there is evidence they activate
I was obviously a point well spent
ok ok for all settle down though
go settle down then we'll handover titian's primary school will
the thing for me
5 pupil performance assistant and a former pupil safety later in cedar recently back from Brexit
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i'm Q
it is my wish list was a well please find its way through every boy
this is the time a tyre for harmony that bloodmobile investor
everybody is saying
the joyful noise
ratio is legendary v song
let there be peace on earth but if your old I then let it shine let it shine
every voice to be heard that could be released on earth i valued the sweetness out the sound and referral to the PTA together we can brave goodwill to every word that some are related
the necessary information
and when issues arise as saying this man that I was writing up thousand registered law is lead them in songs like maybe please let it killed i can manage that
The voice to be heard the piece surrounding her hands we will always be a let there be peace on the North
I heard it in sleep one eye is legit i see what i see on that christmas night what did i see what it had seen star in the sky shining also high at five star in the sky on christmas high i incurred and sees blood and I was asked what advice he wants it i see are not Christmas na was what I see was when I see sham had shown that helps run game incentives have when they are then use of question is
I included 3 plus what did I hear her are not place must die what did I hear a child is all of iran singing songs of joy well to name that famine pursue this
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A drills are taking soundings until I well today that child grant aid
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that is attractive
my answer that we have always had to take a chance on her way to charity weather say is that I will say it again there really exercise is here every admiration 0 of stagnation or operation
this reply now come on and show it is Christmas let people know it just be glad now show at christmas is here can nominate DASS as we have had to take a chance on the wintery weather today he doesn't have examples saying it dutka Christmas is here
this is a nice to have a clear way
this feeling
that was basically it is us
this is here
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[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:12:26]
thank you thank you all very much that was absolutely fantastic event you hear from the applause that everybody appreciated that i think we've got a small reception for young people to have some nuisance or mince pies and things will go away and enjoy that not only for the children and thank you again and you have a very merry Christmasi
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:13:16]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:13:18]
just before we move on to the order of business just to remind everybody we will have our break approximately eleven thirty and one which will be approximately one o'clockItem 1.1 Order of Business
Item 2.1 Declaration of Interests
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:13:29]
thank you all promise there was no change to the main agenda circulated item 2 and agendas declarations of interest the councillors' code requires members to publicly declare an interest in items being discussed at today's meeting is clear financial or non-financial are there any from the Conservative Group[Cllr Cameron Rose (Conservative) - 0:13:51]
[Cllr Cameron Rose (Conservative) - 0:13:53]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:13:55]
lord provost 9 point 9 as a governor of the School referred to Lord[Cllr Phil Doggart (Conservative) - 0:13:58]
Provost 9 point 9 as the parent of a child at the school[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:14:04]
labour Group None thank you SNP[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:14:14]
Green Group and Liberal and Lord Provost and have a declared a[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:14:15]
non-financial interest in Item 8 point 4 as it relates to myself i showed a move myself from the Chair for the item on the Deputy Lord Provost will take that itemItem 3.1 - Deputation
Item 3.2 - Deputation
Item 3.3 - Deputation
Item 4.1 Minute of 23 November 2017
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:14:27]
thank you there are no deputations item 4 point 1 is the minute of 23 November for approval as a correct recordItem 5 - Questions and Answers
Item 5.1 - By Councillor Osler - Pedestrian Crossings within the City
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:14:35]
can I thank here Item 5 as questions 5 point 1 As by cancer onslaught[Cllr Hal Osler (Liberal Democrat) - 0:14:44]
on pedestrian crossingsthank you very much indeed thank you very much convenient for answer my question however I have a slight issue with the answer you are given I asked about the working cones for these are not entirely sure what is i'm talking about is underneath pedestrian crossings there's a little hole that little rotating cone goes in and so for partially sighted individuals when the green man goes on because there's no beeping the rotating cone rotates so that they know when to cross the road the problem I have is that i appreciate the fact that five hundred ninety six traffic signals might have been installed with these but actually not all of them are working quite a few that are missing a classic example being
Craigleith retail Park area none of them are working so I would really appreciate if we could actually sit to identify where the working cones are and where they aren't because this is very very important individuals to allow them the ability to be able to cross the road without actually needing somebody else to enable them
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:15:43]
thank you for your supplementary because i couldn't agree with you more I think this kind of technology is of vital importance in terms of providing independence and ability for people to lead the lives in an appropriate way I will come back to you on an individual basis and if necessary to the Chamber with information about the working accordance if there is a problem a widespread problem will put in place a programme to make sure that those are fitted correctly thank youItem 5.2 - By Councillor Jim Campbell - ICT Service Availability
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:16:11]
5 point 2 years by Councillor Jim Campbell on ICT service availability[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 0:16:17]
thank you Lord provision thank the Convener for the answer i've no[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 0:16:19]
supplementary but i don't know if other Members mightItem 5.3 - By Councillor Brown - Road Repairs
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:16:25]
5 point 3 by concern for you in on a road repairs[Cllr Mark Brown (Conservative) - 0:16:30]
[Cllr Mark Brown (Conservative) - 0:16:31]
no follow supplementary questionsItem 5.4 - By Councillor Jim Campbell - Edinburgh 2050
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:16:38]
[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 0:16:41]
5 point 4 Councillor Jim Campbell Edinburgh 20 fifty thank you Lord[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 0:16:43]
Provost thank you for your answer I was wondering Lord Provost in the light of us trying to get this conversation going and involving our business communities in that conversation taking our city forward to 20 50 i was wondering Lord Provost what advice you might give us in this Chamber about how we could conduct that conversation to inspire our business leaders to give us some money to take this conversation out to the public[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:17:11]
the first meeting of the new Steering Committee was only two days ago and is represented the representative on the steering committee include the Federation of Small Business and indeed the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce once we have the program phooey identified and detailed we're more than happy to share all this information with councils so that everybody can help take it forward across the cityItem 5.5 - By Councillor Hutchison - Planning Documentation for the Visually Impaired
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:17:41]
Councillor Hudson planning documentation for the visually impaired[Cllr Graham Hutchison (Conservative) - 0:17:47]
thank you Lord Provost a fabric of either for his response and congratulate him on his new role in relation to the answer to part xii could the Convener please provide our timeframe for review which has been undertaken[Cllr Neil Gardiner (Scottish National Party) - 0:18:03]
thank you so much for your kind words a timeframe of two cycles would be sufficient to believe[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:18:17]
5 point 6 by Council hutchison transient visitor levy[Cllr Graham Hutchison (Conservative) - 0:18:23]
thank you Lord Provost and thank you to consider for his answer of sortsi
i'd like to commend the Convener first of all there was a commitment in the SNP manifesto to introduce a transient visitor levy and obviously vs 4 states in C not true i would ask Lord Provost if we can perhaps excuse or conveyed our show you can put down a hollywood and explain to Derek Mackay Hotelkeeper manifesto commitment on taxation
Item 5.6 - By Councillor Hutchison - Transient Visitor Levy
and that in relation to Part 1 of the answer which talks about a meeting in february two thousand and seventeen Councillor McVey is quoted from the question Time event which was held is seeing Edinvar was liaising with London on this policy now and often cancel mcveigh's helpfully sent on 10 says in his answer Councillor weight that leasing means a process which is ongoing at the moment however beyond sausages but there's nothing happening and nothing has happened since feb this if we can clarify about police and then far in the first part of bands are says no approach has been made Councillor Cammy Day quoted in the held on the 27th November says we have made a formal application to sort the cans office to look at any potential for joint initiatives
obviously this Budget process today has been conducted under a veil of secrecy and it seems to be continuing can you please shed some light on us for us for computer and explained what is actually happening
[Cllr Alasdair Rankin (Scottish National Party) - 0:20:08]
I can approach to thank Councillor Hudson for his supplementary on the broader point of taxation i think it's pretty clear what the taxation powers of the Scottish Parliament are plenty of areas which we would look toconsider the tax situation if we had those border powers we don't have a great deal more than the new contracts and if you look at the drop of the Scottish block Grant and indeed that for Whitehall Departments in general it's not surprising that the Finance Secretary should be looking at the possibility of raising further income in order to support the public services which so many people in the city value i think we will see today because we've doing this almost in real time because the finance secretary is due to release his figures for the Local Government financial Settlement at some point today so we'll see what he's decided but if there's any truth in what we're hearing from the media then there may be an increase in income tax for some proportion of the electorate and that would be as I said when I presented the Budget to Council in the past that this really to do with a necessity rather than choice and if we are to maintain services without making draconian cuts something of this sort would seem to have a justification but will wait to see what he has to say and I think it does open up a broader line of criticism of the Government in terms of its its austerity approach which is fundamentally not changed since 20 10 and the evidence of the failure of that policy because it is all around us we can see that the UK economy is now growing at a slower rate than any other g seven country growing more slowly than the the european union as a whole
and a great deal of that is to do with a policy which has nothing really to do with actually supporting the economy and everything to do with trying to
pulled down the deficit in a way which has got less to do with financial probity and much more to do to try to shrink public public sector and public services in general on the grounds that this is somehow going to lead to the private sector coming up with a much better economic performance and we've failed to see that for seven years so I think we issued the finance secretary in a rather difficult position and i think he's trying to make the best of a difficult position which has been placed in as have Whitehall Departments in general be placed them by by this austerity policy which has been going on for far too long on this specific point if I may have about the transient Visitor Levy I think is quite reasonable for any administration to have
confidential discussions with any other party on trying to put in place the most effective and most well thought out tax in terms of transit visitor levy or whatever else you want to call it that tracks and so on
there will come a point of course when we see where our representations gets too and we hope that we will get the result that we want it's quite clear is that there's a very substantial majority in this Chamber for a transient visitor levy but I think it's incumbent on us to come up with a proposal that makes the most sense for this city and enables us to conduct our business support public services in the best way we can we can talk about whether or not it's going to be a possible are complicated to for example are supporting the cultural offer of the city or whether or not it
those more broadly and supporting infrastructure and that you can understand for what I said that that there's a whole range of possibilities and is a different amounts of money that could be raised depending on what structures we choose to adopt and bringing forward a transit this so I would I would encourage everyone in the Chamber to support that move because I think it can only help the finances of the city and help our cultural offering and perhaps a quarter infrastructure as well
Item 5.7 - By Councillor Mowat - Low Emission Zones
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:24:07]
Councillor Marriott on low emission zones[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 0:24:12]
thank you Lord Provost andI can open as i thanked the convenient for her response and apologise for overlooking this tucked away in the Business Bulletin i don't know if the Convener is aware that a search using the Council's IT system
lavish nsaids does not actually bring this item up previously it has been the practice that when there is emotion buyer camps on a matter they are consulted or informed when a response is forthcoming and I wonder if the convenient would agree with me that this notification should be extended to items featuring in the Business bulletins if only to present prevent excessive questions at Full Council
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:24:54]
thank you for your supplementary Councillor Mylet i would do anything to prevent unnecessary questions at Councilalthough I think so far are we making a fairly good fist of answering all of them regardless of merit and on this on this particular one I agree with you it was unfortunate that it did as you put it slipped into the Business Bulletin but as you can probably gather in terms of this topic is very much a moving feast on this one were developing the process we're looking at it very carefully and will set you not wanting
for me
twenty precipitate action on it and this is a topic that will be coming back to report through Transport and Environment on a quite regular basis as really towards the establishment of a low emission zone in in Edinburgh and it's an initiative that six dreamily welcome settling on my part and from the Scottish Government to be playing this degree of effort into the four cities Initiative
and it's something which I think will benefit Edinburgh enormously once you've established the parameters and understood the steps needed to create an effective Alizade in Edinburgh thank you
Item 5.8 - By Councillor Lang - Building Warrants
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:26:09]
[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 0:26:12]
[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 0:26:14]
Grimshaw lang Building warrants and I thank the computer for his answer and add my congratulations to him for his appointment to m speaking of unnecessary questions M I hope he will share my frustration that despite repeated requests for this information from myself directly to officers and it was not forthcoming which is why I felt I had to table this question to the Convener and can I ask as a supplementary m whether the figure that he's provided as an answer is this average time generally getting worse is it getting better or is fairly static and is there any departmental target and for a turnaround time and how does thattarget compared to the actual figure
[Cllr Neil Gardiner (Scottish National Party) - 0:26:56]
again I thank the Councillor first kind introduction words in terms of the supplementary questions that the figure is fairly static andthe additional supplementary in terms of a target there is no departmental target but we have a clear objective to reduce the time spent on applications so in order to bring this about there's a dedicated Plan reporting team has just been put in place for small applications there's also links with other local authorities shared surfaces and also those overtime within the department to move the backlog
in addition to this sort of set up focus groups with customers that these include so practitioners small enlarge architectural practices as well as house builders
the point of these focus groups is to learn from the customers how we can make improvement and sharing with them information and methods which may assist them in making applications more smoothly
so we do take this matter very seriously and we're moving at onwards I hope that answers to questions
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:28:08]
cancelling parking[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 0:28:11]
I thank the Committee for this answer and I have no supplementary to[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:28:15]
this oneItem 5.9 - By Councillor Lang - Parking
Item 5.10 - By Councillor Lang - Davidson's Mains Roundabout
[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 0:28:20]
counselling again on Davidson means roundabout sorry I do on this one and I fight the Convener for her answer and I hope that she will understand that there has been concerns about the sound of it for some time and that those concerns where exacerbated by The terribly tragic incident that we had and in davidsons' means m in me of this year and can I just ask the Convener whether a decision has been taken in principle on whether changes are required at this rome debates and or whether that decision has still to be taken was just trying to understand as I tried to explain to the people before it's just whether there's going to be a consultation on the detail or has a decision actually been taken as to whether the road maybe left as it is[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:29:10]
thank you came to align them I can confirm that no decision has yet been taken on this particular roundabout and whether or not it acquires change partly in response to what was clearly a tragic incident and it'll be considered as part of the Council's work on road safety and in conjunction with any accident report which is not yet forthcoming[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:29:31]
COUNCILLOR budget so and still waiting[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 0:29:36]
[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 0:29:38]
thanks very much my question was about whether the Council will install efficient LED lighting and tenements stairs to replace less efficient lighting colleagues may be aware that the Council's electricity bill for a tenement stair lighting is around 1 million pounds a year installing LED lighting would reduce that Bill as wellas cutting climate changing pollution are welcome the Conveners answer that approval has been given for a spend to Save project to do this or that it wasn't clear from the written answer when the replacement on tenements their life will begin our welcomed the progress that's been made on Council house stairs and I wonder if the Convener would be willing to provide an update in the next Business Bulletin for the Transport Environment Committee[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:30:29]
yes i think that's an entirely reasonable request case that major so thank you for that I will do so at my understanding is that the work is due to be completed by the end of this year so thank you[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:30:40]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 0:30:45]
5 12 has become so Aldridge on potholes no supplementary on thisItem 5.11 - By Councillor Burgess - Stair Lighting
Item 5.12 - By Councillor Aldridge - Potholes
Item 5.13 - By Councillor Aldridge - Carbon Monoxide Detectors in Sheltered Housing
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:30:47]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 0:30:50]
Councillor Aldridge on carbon monoxide detectors and sheltered homes[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 0:30:52]
thanks very much Lord Provost unfancied Convener for the answerwhich was relating to carbon monoxide alarms in sheltered housing at The put prompted my question was rather disturbing email air that local councillors in my Ward received a while back where my constituents said that after that his mother was staying in sheltered housing locally that after contacting the Council he was informed that they had received an email saying that they do not have to mean teen the carbon monoxide detectors
I note from the responses that this is not the policy of the Council I just ask the Convener if he could ensure that staff are aware that the policy is that the carbon monoxide detectors will be maintained because these are vulnerable people who may be unable to change batteries themselves if its battery driven
[Cllr Gavin Barrie (Scottish National Party) - 0:31:51]
thank you for the supplementary Oxley clear that they should be[Cllr Gavin Barrie (Scottish National Party) - 0:31:54]
maintained all to seek officers to clarify the position and i'd like to be copied and i'm sure they're watching online today i'd be clouded copied on any response to give to the staff who are responsible for this action[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:32:09]
COUNCILLOR Staniforth on volunteer you sat edinburgh's hogmanayItem 5.14 - By Councillor Staniforth - Volunteer Use at Edinburgh's Hogmanay
[Cllr Alex Staniforth (Scottish Green) - 0:32:15]
thank you Lord Provost I thank the Convener for his answer confirming that Council officers were in discussion with underbelly on their hogmanay ambassador programme have i am sure you would agree that there has been a lot of confusion in some anger over that problem of over that programme would he therefore support the idea of a report calling for a best practice on volunteers and volunteering that can be applied to all our future procurement contracts so that when the Council is asked if Council contractors volunteering is ethical we can say that it is without fear of confusion or doubt[Cllr Donald Wilson (Labour) - 0:32:53]
thank you Lord Provost the answer to that is yes i'm very happy to support guidelines being brought forward and deedthat the french society are bringing forward their own guidelines and so this will be a parallel with that and of course we are in Air preparation stage of the french report which will be brought forward and I am also happy to ensure that gains in volunteering included as part of that
Item 5.15 - By Councillor Miller - Parking in Pedestrianised Bollarded Areas
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:33:22]
Councillor Miller parking in pedestrianised bollard areas[Cllr Claire Miller (Scottish Green) - 0:33:29]
thank you Lord Provost and thank you to the computer for her answer to my question m i had been contacted by quite a lot of local residents around areas where there are bollards to protect pedestrianised areas but the bollards because they are currently broken and are unfortunately not and keeping cars out in the data that I have been provided by the Convener with M does show that unfortunately even though I asked for and had agreement from parking that they would increase the coverage in those areas that didn't actually happen so I was wondering if I could ask the Convener if she's shares my concern that we need to protect these valuable pedestrian zonesand my concerns that residents are losing confidence in the Council resolves to maintain and protect the zutons and therefore which he worked with me to ensure that until physical barriers are being stated that we put in place measures to ensure that we can target and tick it was repeated offenders
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:34:30]
I apologise but i couldn't actually hear that last part of the[Cllr Claire Miller (Scottish Green) - 0:34:36]
question if you wouldn't mind repeating at police of course it was to ask if he would work with me to ensure that until the physical barriers m r reinstated in these areas that we put in place measures to ensure that we target and ticket the repeat offenders that we knew where parking there[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:34:52]
thank you very much particularly the repetition I apologise m yes i mean clearly the issue of selfish and illegal parking and with it shouldn't take lease is an endemic problem across the city and in this particular instance i'd be happy to work with you to try and see what we can do about targeting precisely that behavior thank youItem 5.16 - By Councillor Rae - Parking Enforcement in Leith Walk
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:35:15]
Grimshaw re asked about parking enforcement and Leith Walk[Cllr Susan Rae (Scottish Green) - 0:35:22]
thank you Lord Provost thank you Convener m i also want an answer to my question and I would echo what my colleague to say it but I would like to point out that my constituency lease walk is suffering from severe abandonment issues in the employees walk abandonment is what seems to pass for parkingwe have terrible issues with double parking particularly in relation to the wall and also there seems to be an issue with cycle paths wage being confused with parking lanes for christmas we would quite like to see for christmas f we could have targeted for v p offenders to it would meet my consent is very happy
but we are so distressed and confused by this abandonment and double park in the air park and has its own twitter account and so if we could see some enforcement and increased enforcement and they would appear their Twitter account as the lesser striped enforcement officers I can see them there if you go to lease slash park so I would really appreciate working with you and now thank you
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:36:45]
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:36:47]
thank you very much Councillor Ray and you raise a number of very interesting pointsLeith Walk has traditionally had amazing levels of display or pesetas i'll just refer to as selfish and illegal parking and we have of course some limitations and how we can deal with that but I have been talking to our parking team about targeting efforts and as much as we possibly can and i would see this is something which bothers me across quite a lot of my remit because the actions that were having to take mitigation against whether it's applying additional enforcement in a particular area
whether it's adding to you know collections of litter bins etc etc this is down to individual human behavior and the Councillors mopping that up and and if if any of the councils are hearing from people who are complaining about cycle leans about things that I believe intrude on their rights to park or to take any of those other actions are some to consider making that point to them that we want people to be here we want people to sit within the rules not because of some kind of draconian Council but because it makes a city work better in each Leith Walk work better if people can get up and down whether it's by bike or whether it's on pavements and the not having to what can we around badly parked cars and so I agree with you about the requirement for targeted efforts and I would be very happy to sit down and talk with you about some further measures
Item 5.17 - By Councillor Jim Campbell - Safety of School Estate
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:38:22]
[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 0:38:26]
Councillor Jim Campbell safety of school estate thank you Lord Provost I thank the Convener for the answer to a different question and I wonder if I could ask the Convener if he has attended a briefing with officers and where it was a detailed three instances of school building failures where the reasonably foreseeable worst-case injury may well have been life threatening that was to instances of Victorian school buildings where the ceiling failing only days after students had vacated the building and one instance where a rugby ball sized piece of concrete fell from the ceiling and would have hit a girl in a toilet cubicle had it not been stopped by the metalwork of the suspended ceiling so I would like to know if the Convener has attended that briefing and I would like to know if the Convener can give this Council an assurance that these are the only three instances of potentially serious incidents that have happened in the schools estate since may two thousand 14[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:39:26]
I can get yes i have been briefed and also for instance and offer[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:39:30]
incentives have been dealt with the thing is fraught through me a little bit was a reasonably foreseeable worst-case injury that phrase is not something that the official views so there may be some confusion or measured against these fees and since I have been reported to me we have dealt with[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:39:50]
[Cllr Stephanie Smith (Conservative) - 0:39:54]
Councillor Smith on School consultations I thank the Convener presents are no supplementaryItem 5.18 - By Councillor Smith - Schools Consultations
Item 5.19 - By Councillor Webber - Proposed School Merger South in West Edinburgh
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:39:58]
Councillor Webber proposed school merger and software Statenborough[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 0:40:05]
I thank the Convener further to his answer make sure i've got the rate of people here are half i'm just go okay and thanked Councillor Parry for your opportunity flooded here to meet with the officers and to review the two structural reports and compare them and we would like to note that this question it was alluded to that we have got was reports no but the reason I put the question that was quite a long time getting reports published but can I also ask the computer to confirm that I can attend along with an independent experts given i'm not qualified in that i'm a biochemist given any structure serveon structure to be carried out by a particular party may have a built in bias and the outcome perhaps geared towards that objective which is why after all in the commercial property world both buyers and vendors have their own surveys carried out[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:40:54]
[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:40:55]
this mater was raised at a meeting a hard worker appearance last night how do we justify or if we get a severe support how do we make sure it's correct what I did say to them at the time were repeat here these are two independent consultants or give that report and I said to them at the time if they are unhappy about it we've got another independent consultant report did say to me that might provide the same bias because we as a Council paying for it so I if there are any other way I can reassure you that these structural reports are correct then please tell me were happy to doItem 5.20 - By Councillor Laidlaw - Strategic Reviews
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:41:32]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:41:34]
5 torrentors by Council Legal and strategic reviews[Cllr Callum Laidlaw (Conservative) - 0:41:36]
[Cllr Callum Laidlaw (Conservative) - 0:41:38]
thank you approach to thank the Convener for his answer although I suspect there used very plain speaking cancer perry and have little to do with what was a fairly florid response here's this choice to get the Council select from a number of priority ratings when deciding upon the nature and urgency of the works required by condition and priority information subsequently feeds into an overarching prioritisation matrix that helps inform strategic asset management decisions i was unclear as to whether or not the tables in that question where the Strategic Asset Management decision decision matrix or not so i don't know if there can be no might be able toCouncillor but really it's the numbers i have the supplementary question on i thought it strange that in 20 15 curry Community High School goddess condition score of eighty two putting it well into Band senior in Band A 4 epic bambi sorry work nearly into Band Aid for condition while at neighbouring Balerno god are shocking fifty 5 a grade C in fact worse than Trinity academy and those figures were updated for this year are visible owners had a little bit of remedial work it's now sixty two middle grade B perfectly acceptable carriers dropped twenty four points so all the way down to a lowly fifty eight now it was admitted Education Committee this week that there needs to be at least a million pounds spent on immediate remedial works for curry so I would ask the Convener if perhaps we should be looking one such remedial works are completed at doing another condition assessment because it may not surprise anyone that the condition review might go up and we might see what we've seen with bellona so I think maybe a Nefyn ATOC is all that is required rather than complete demolition and Q
[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:43:12]
the question so much as i'm so that new own built answer what I suggest we do why suggest we do given the two tables and actually asked forterms answer three that's what I got originally was quite a short answer and say look out won't do because somebody's going out of the question but even if you ask me a question about this are still currently so I suspect we should do is that we should call about color working group briefing but anybody in this Council who won't understand these figures because they are quite detailed and go quite precise and be very difficult for me to stand up here and try to answer that question so i'll organise a working party or a briefing for all councillors room to understand these figures
Item 5.21 - By Councillor Whyte - School Cash Plea
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:43:55]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:43:57]
Councillor Waite asks on school cash plea[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 0:43:58]
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 0:44:00]
lord provost the council leaders and so indicate by a mission that he is not return to the Scottish Government seeking funds for the Council for schools as was publicised in a press release on the 1st of December this strikes me Lord Provost being a bit like Council day on tourist tax where the press release said one thing and as we've heard this morning the formal responses anotherso given this Lord Provost and given that today's Budget d wouldn't it have been better for the council leader to contact the Scottish Government in advance of that budget given the deciding the settlement today what discussion has the Council Leader had with Councillor D on this whose publicly suggested the Scottish Government should be funding local government and edinburgh to higher level and perhaps most importantly for the public of Edinburgh will he give an assurance that he will end this approach of delivering fake news via the Council's press machine
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 0:45:03]
thanks very much Lord Provost i think my answer was actually fairly self-explanatory in terms of the process we're going through with the as good as comment but i'll reiterates it just in case Councillor Waite don't understand them and when we per presley's in terms of the philistine obviously the element of this which is as if you like blamed in terms of our approach between buildings as in our facilities management approach the difference between how we address the full capital requirement and some of the buildings that need replacedas a distinction between how buildings are taken forward i community centres and schools and its that that's particularly relevant for how we can solve some of these problems with engagement and gaining capital funds from the Scottish Government has written to the Education Secretary asking them for the meeting to make sure that when weaves additional ways of funding are available he understands edinburgh's position in edinburgh's requirements as part of that in terms of the wider budget
continuously engaging with the Scottish Government have been engaged in the last week with dead mci on what's coming later this morning other meetings other conversations with other government ministers obviously as you would expect Lord Provost are not going to go into those in any great detail I have written to the Scottish Government to make sure that when those waves of funding on available that our schools estate is
as good a position as possible to receive that funding
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 0:46:35]
lord provost could ask a supplementary if the Council Leader has written as he indicates can he tell us why he didn't then release that letter given that it's a matter of public interest or does he expect Councillors to have to ask under freedom of information rules to gain information[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 0:46:58]
thank you so much promise to remember the good old days when a Member would just write and ask for something rather than pretending that they have to submit a freedom of information request if cancer way once i information more than happy to share the letter[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:47:14]
Councillor Bruce ask about wiggins Special SchoolItem 5.22 - By Councillor Bruce - Woodlands Special School
[Cllr Graeme Bruce (Conservative) - 0:47:20]
I would like to thank the Convener frozen so no further supplementaryItem 5.23 - By Councillor Young - School Internet Provision
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:47:25]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:47:27]
[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:47:29]
COUNCILLOR young school internet provision thank you very much work community for your answer them cut a couple of them a plaintiff i mí him one of them is around a if you could convey year your level of trust in the accuracy of the list is provided in the report of the scheme and move of at least one school for example that has a has a huge problem with their what wi fi provision and has been which has been raised twice with CGI and that's rules when plainly but it doesn't appear on the list saw what my first part of my supplementary is can you m can you commit to getting that list of you'd please to make sure this competitive and the second part is the around Royal High School which does appear on the list which I know has particularly long term problems A which date back to the way in which the infrastructure set up for the wi-fi indeed by way of example they have two hundred iPads are currently sitting in a cupboard unable to be used by the ACE to pupils because of the fact that they don't have a reliable wi fi service so that the second part of my supplementary is to ask if we can get please are a breakdown of the detail of the action plan mentioned in the answer aim in which to address both the issues at the Royal High School and indeed at Queen's fairly aim plainly which is also in my ward and i'll leave other councillors to the saved actually want to take on skills that cute[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:48:42]
[Cllr Ian Perry (Labour) - 0:48:44]
thank you for your supplementary This is an interest in answer to your question because if you look at page one you've got to answer one hundred percent of primary schools are connected to wi fi answer to one hundred percent of secondary schools are connected to wi fi when we turn the pages as a whole list of schools which had often problems with wi fi why suggest we do is to get a report to the nexteducation children families which goes into all our detail because clearly this is not satisfactory and we need to go i know it may be another committee which are looking at the CGA contract that we need to find out and schools what actually happens or not i'll coauthor report next committee to detail all that the what you were talking about an overly also has problems
[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:49:30]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:49:30]
that's great thank you Councillor Young on consider how close reportItem 5.24 - By Councillor Young - Queensferry Halcrow Report
[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:49:34]
[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:49:35]
thank you very much just flicking between the different bits of information had to say so I just wanted to ask the computer if they can understand the frustrations and to appoint kind of anger are felt in the community that after four years and that's with four years having passed since the Council invested a fairly substantial amount of money in twenty seven almost twenty seven thousand pounds but the only actual tangible outputs we have the establishment of a working group and initiating a tender and that secondly can say other than the High Street project which were now seeing some progress on it can the Convener see what other recommendations or actions have come from the new infrastructure that was set up for other parts of Queensferry[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:50:18]
and there is a lot in that question so if you'll excuse me i'll take it bit by bit yes I do agree with its been avail long time I understand that the strenuous attempts to M 2 A get the Works underway through a scheme framework contract which then the contact was about to be awarded from the contractor then had had particular issues and that had to stop so that that led to the tender being advertised on the open market are to ensure that best value could be achieved and an H insert settling explained some of the degree of delhi attached to itthis will sound like i'm not listening this morning I apologise that's
[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:50:56]
not the intention but could I ask you please to repeat the second part[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:50:59]
of your question certainly when we have long supplementaries it's perfectly reasonableother than the High Street project which is now under way as you mention
what other recommendations or actions have come from this new infrastructure group that has been set up for other parts of Queensferry
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:51:16]
M might say excuse me my understanding is it is recommending improved footpath and pedestrian links from The Lawn towards the High Street and that this will be considers Fees 2 of the town centre improvement plans i will however come back to you on a more individual basis with more detail out of that report[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:51:37]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:51:38]
consider young answer very combustion traffic study thank you very[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:51:44]
much and since I am submitting the question I have had contact from Council officers to progress it so no further supplementary thank you[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:51:49]
it comes to promote on traffic management or tone Community Council[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 0:51:55]
[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 0:51:57]
thank you Lord Provost Onthank I thank Convener for her answer could she inform the Council one when and who first presented her with this dossier to when she arranged a meeting with the Old Town Community Council to discuss it and three how the discussions about the dossier will be followed up and how any actions will be tracked thank youItem 5.25 - By Councillor Young - Kirkliston Traffic Study
Item 5.26 - By Councillor Mowat - Traffic Management Issues - Old Town Community Council
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 0:52:18]
thank you Councillor Mowat and you'll have to forgive me i can't remember exactly who approached me with it but i've had it for a short period of time and a meeting was arranged by my a policy adviser and took place earlier this week it was a very productive meeting I thought and indeed I was able to express considerable sympathy with the issues that are raised in that dossier quite a lot of the work however that will need to be undertaken to take care of some of those issues is broadly underwaythere are 1 for example and the comments about m rubbish and waste on the streets and some of that links into the treadaways contracts were working to try and find a way round some of those issues so excuse me
one part of the dossier for example talks about the size of vehicles refuse collection vehicles on the streets causing particular problems in certain streets
won't do want to work
[Cllr Susan Rae (Scottish Green) - 0:56:27]
[Cllr Alex Staniforth (Scottish Green) - 0:56:43]
[Cllr Joan Griffiths (Labour) - 0:56:47]
[Cllr Claire Miller (Scottish Green) - 0:56:50]
[Cllr Neil Ross (Liberal Democrat) - 0:56:58]
[Cllr Louise Young (Liberal Democrat) - 0:57:00]
[Cllr Gillian Gloyer (Liberal Democrat) - 0:57:02]
[Cllr Alasdair Rankin (Scottish National Party) - 0:57:08]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 0:57:19]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 0:57:22]
[Cllr Karen Doran (Labour) - 0:57:28]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 0:57:38]
[Cllr Alasdair Rankin (Scottish National Party) - 0:57:53]
[Cllr Norman Work (Scottish National Party) - 0:57:58]
[Cllr Denis Dixon (Scottish National Party) - 0:58:01]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 0:58:02]
[Cllr Gillian Gloyer (Liberal Democrat) - 0:58:04]
[Cllr David Key (Scottish National Party) - 0:58:06]
[Cllr Neil Ross (Liberal Democrat) - 0:58:09]
[Cllr Alison Dickie (Scottish National Party) - 0:58:10]
[Cllr Claire Bridgman (Scottish National Party) - 0:58:14]
[Cllr Mary Campbell (Scottish Green) - 0:58:17]
[Cllr Susan Rae (Scottish Green) - 0:58:22]
[Mr Nick Smith (Head of Legal and Risk) - 0:58:24]
[Mr Andrew Kerr (Chief Executive) - 0:58:34]
[Cllr Susan Rae (Scottish Green) - 0:58:36]
when I went[Mr Andrew Kerr (Chief Executive) - 0:58:42]
[Cllr Derek Howie (Scottish National Party) - 0:58:44]
[Cllr Neil Gardiner (Scottish National Party) - 0:58:48]
[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 0:58:51]
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 0:58:54]
[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 0:58:55]
[Cllr Maureen Child (Labour) - 0:59:01]
[Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour) - 0:59:06]
[Cllr Gordon Munro (Labour) - 0:59:09]
i[Cllr Stephanie Smith (Conservative) - 0:59:12]
[Cllr Marion Donaldson (Labour) - 0:59:14]
[Cllr John McLellan (Conservative) - 0:59:20]
[Cllr Karen Doran (Labour) - 0:59:22]
[Cllr Joan Griffiths (Labour) - 0:59:24]
[Cllr Ashley Graczyk (Conservative) - 0:59:27]
[Cllr Catherine Fullerton (Scottish National Party) - 0:59:35]
[Cllr Eleanor Bird (Scottish National Party) - 0:59:37]
[Cllr Norman Work (Scottish National Party) - 0:59:40]
[Cllr Graham Hutchison (Conservative) - 0:59:45]
[Cllr Graeme Bruce (Conservative) - 0:59:48]
[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 0:59:53]
i[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:03:29]
if everybody can start taking their seats please[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:03:57]
if ever they can take their seats please so we can recommencewe will recommence with Councillor McKenna's giving her answer to the supplementary but just to advise everyday with just a frequency change that goes on normally unnoticed this time didn't so just to every understand why we were there
the shops
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 1:04:24]
thank you Lord Provost i'm trying very hard not to take it personally that it cuts out whilst I was speaking to two m. To aim augment the answer had started to give some of the issues that were raised in this A d'arcy from Middleton Community Council which I subsequently discussed with them and sent round for example plus street clutter and in particular I boards and there will be a report coming to transport Environment Committee about what we may be able to to do around that and that's a key surplus a number of the other issues that that action has been taken and is in the pipeline to help address those and I would be happy to meet with the all tankers Councillor again once a little bit further down the road and we can explore some of these issues in more detail and a phone of a helpful I hope with the indulgence of both cancer and the Lord Provost if you wouldn't mind if I wonder if I could add a little bit to something which affects not only the old town but the way the city as welli'm pretty sure that quite a lot of the Councillors are finding that inboxes are filling up this morning with reports of ice and falling and various other problems sitting on the roads and pavements i think it might be worthwhile just mentioning exactly what happened yesterday and what our response was to that m m to give you some idea of the of the degree of effort we put into it and clearly there was rain forecast for yesterday afternoon as a result the glittering m function was not planned because then we would just have lost the glitch to the green and it would have caused them more trouble than it was worth when the meat rain did not materialise the Met Office change their advice run about five thirty
and we started to get calls of problems coming in and U-turn sudden drop in temperature and so that some glitches from seventeen thirty urine in response to those those they reports coming in but at that point also are a full night shift was mobilised and from it from around eight o'clock onwards and the what through the night in order to prioritise all the six hundred miles worth all priority 1 roads pavements and cycleways one hundred and twenty two tons of salt was put down last night and using seventeen gutters and clearly will be continuing to monitor the M situation today as we do every aim D during this is the cautious that these winter months and i'm conscious however that not everyone will feel that the Araud on their particular piece of pavement has been prioritised i understand it causes a great deal of distress across the city sometimes but I want to reassure the Chamber that were doing as much as we can within the parameters of the resources that we have thank you
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 1:07:08]
item 6 is the leaders reportItem 6.1 - Leader's Report
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:07:15]
thanks very much Lord Provost there's just a few things that I want to speak to them for something that is worth mentioned this is budget day and the ScottishI non-sexual will be announcing details of the Budget later this afternoon and indeed cost has been briefed on the outcome as we speak at what progress on getting a live feed from some of the confidential information and i'm confident that they approaches have been made by me and other Council leaders across the country and other partners like the unions like the cheers and leaders of the IDP is across Scotland in HSS will have borne fruit and that despite the very challenging Budget backdrop of a two hundred million pounds Term cut and the Scottish Government grant that we will see a positive as possible budget response i wanted to pool at the strands of some of the points that have made millitas put together and talk about education because
obviously some of the bricks and mortar debates that were having Lord Provost are centred around m new provision and an enhanced provision but the key driver for us is obviously as pollinate the tenants of quite a few questions to the administration earlier on the agenda is obviously to keep our buildings safe open and secure for our people population but the funding at the funding and central part of our education policy is to narrow the attainment gap and to structure our school estate in a way that does that is a part of the motivation and the rational rationale we have for going forward so isn't for us just a case of finding the right bricks and mortar 8 parts of the city is about making sure we structure of education provision in a wee which enhances our ability to narrow the attainment gap across the city I wanted to just highlight that the money that's trickling instil from the sleep
at the weekend I think it will probably more than 4 million pounds by the end of the day is currently more than three point seven million in total on its west put that into context of the Scottish Government money which was announced that 50 million pounds for five years to do very similar things to help support organizations to help support local authorities by providing additional help and support for people who are homeless into a more positive secure tenancy
that's what provision to wish everyone a happy new year and happy festive periods especially to those in the Council who we work in over the festive period which m we shouldn't forget about and can I just point out that tomorrow is national Christmas jumper to work day and can I commend Councillor Brown for committing to a day and compliment him under these cases
and without proper some of it is a question
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:10:25]
cultural weight[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 1:10:27]
thank you Lord Provostthe Council Leader and happy to wish everyone the compliments of the season hope they have a very merry Christmas and a prosperous 20 18 both here in the Chamber in those listening on the webcast
lord provost what might not be so happy is the budget that the Council Leader has talked about today in last year's budget the SMP maidir political choice to cut Local Government funding despite seeing that overall budget in the Scottish Parliament increase in real terms this year Lord Provost despite what the council leaders just suggested the Scottish Parliament independent researchers and the Scottish Parliament have confirmed that next year's block grant for 20 18 19 will again see a small increase in real terms given that the Council Leader says he has been in touch with the Scottish Government about matters does he expect to at least see Local Government funding be maintained in real terms Lord Provost and what does he think the prospects are for Edinburgh
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:11:40]
they very much Lord Provost i think it's important that the outcomes that we've set out as an administration and it comes at the Scottish Government have state they arethere are political programme on our maintained that advanced and that's what i hoped to see I hope to see the challenges that we have an IG be part of the Budget announcement later in the afternoon i hope to see at the attainment of work that we are trying to drive forward as a Councillor as an administration being a central part of that announcement so that the priorities we have the outcomes were trying to derive our front and centre of the Budget announcement and are not only protected but enhanced
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 1:12:22]
lord provost thank the Council Leader for his answer in terms that it came but he indicated areas which in the past have seen some resources come but have all been ring-fenced and very specific Lord Provost what we are asking him to do stand up for the independence and authority of local government i know his Liberal coalition partners often say the same things and he seems rather odds with themhe seems to put off
challenging the Scottish government about the importance of local government as the Finance can we did in the Council has put off dealing with the longer term budget issues for the Council to next year rather than starting to address them know even though he's been in post for five years Lord Provost is this a symptom of a magna approach to administration from the SNP and Edinburgh and when will the Council Leader and his party wake up to the needs of our citizens
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:13:30]
tableau potential espanol Lord Provost for won't be responding in spanish and it's no i mbliana points to four year Budget Framework that we are going to be putting forward to take us right to the end of this Council will give us a strategic look at not only what we provide no but what we should be providing in future it will prioritise the areas of budget spendwe think are worthy of
absolute protection or as a C enhancement and it will identify areas where we think with our list of priorities and priorities of others like the Scottish Government there scope to either provide services in a different way or indeed find different models which enable us to meet the savings that are required because of the increase in demand that we all experience through your homelessness services more taken a whole host of approaches to try and address that problem onto the GB in the continual Edmunds increase we are working with other partners to make sure that those services are structured in a way that makes sense so in terms of the GB in terms of homelessness we are not waiting until next year before we come up with the plans that we need to do to take forward those services and cost effective outcome focussed we were doing that work right now we're also doing the work right now on that four year Budget Framework but it takes time to create that sort of sense of
am of perspective across this entire organisation because it's a big organisation so if we started that work after this Budget Lord Provost would be right up against it in terms of trying to make sense of also will do not work no we're trying to tear up a sensible for year framework where we can take decisions hopefully they'll be cross party buy-in to that process so that we can disagree on one or two items every year in terms of our budget but the broad themes of services that we want to put front and centre and make sure are protected and enhanced hopefully those broad if not all party agreement for that
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:15:35]
total budget[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 1:15:38]
thank you Lord Provost thank the Leader for his report the Leader has mentioned in his remarks that this afternoon the Scottish Government will be announcing its draft Budget for 20 18 19 including how it intends to fund Council deliver local services everything from schools to social work to road repairs and bin collections does the Leader share with me the frustration that the Council's ability to deliver these local services and the investment our city needs is almost entirely dependent on how the Scottish Government decides it wants to treat Local Government and does he agree that the Council itself should have far more say in how funds to pay for local services are raised[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:16:25]
thank you Lord Provost m i don't think i'm oetting myself by saying the council tax is not my preferred method or framework of local taxation I think all of us probably agree that we would want more say more control over the level of decision making we have over an hour and Business rates Council Tax or local other form of local domestic taxationand actually a bigger sum than the roughly fifty percent that we control right now i don't think you'd expect any local Councillor anywhere in the entire country to disagree with that principle people should decide at the maximum amount of decision making at the lowest level possible that is what's driving our commitment to locality introductions that's what's driving our commitment to participatory budgeting and that's what we pledged in our manifesto to try and work with the Scottish Government to bring as many functions decision-making and financial decision making powers to this Council as possible
[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 1:17:24]
if we could just press the Leader bit further on that I wonder if the Leader would agree with me that the Council specifically the Council should have freedom to decide on other Levies he mentions a tourist tax in his report and the compelling case for the for the transient Visitor Levy and that's welcome but there are other Levies such as private parking levies which are available to councils in England already the Council should also be free to decide the level of an band rates of a Council Tax low we agree Council Tax needs to be replaced at the moment councils should be given far more say into the level and the band rates are council tax and would he agree that councils should also have far more say over non-domestic rates in other words does the Leader look Leader agree that councils in scotland should actually have the same powers as many local governments do in the rest of Europe[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:18:23]
they've much Lord Provost workplace parking levy is in our Programme for administration at something were actively pursuing a number of conversations ministerial level but withinwith the Scottish Government officials also in terms of the tourist tax is also part of our Programme for administration and we are driving that forward with key partners in the city and again at a number of conversations with various cabinet ministers and other Ministers and the Scottish Government's drive that forward in terms of council tax bands i
mean broadly agree with the sentiment but is not the tax that personally I would want to see so I would maybe we want to see a more fundamental rethink in terms of business rates let's not forget that the SNP has given local authorities the power to vary business trees we can declare
be fairly specified actually in our approach to reduce business rates in areas of deprivation for example to try and kickstart further businesses moving their kickstart economic growth target areas of our economy that we think can grow and by facilities that reduction so we do have that ability to tamper with business rates to best suit our economy in edinburgh the thing we can't do is increase the business rates from where they are now and the process right now being an independently leads one in terms of the rateable value i think is a good principle to hold two but whether the increase 3 as well as a decrease rate comes to Local Authorities I think is a matter of further consideration
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:20:05]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 1:20:08]
cultural thanks very much lower Protestant with your indulgent as kind of a two part question the First is seeking an early clarification from the leader who in a previous response made reference to examining different models of service provision to get better value and I was just wondering if the Council could elaborate a little or not and whether that might also include for example the possibility of outsourcing certain services to the voluntary sector social enterprise or the private sector as Part 1 of the question the other one is is is moreeven more topical and unsure has not escaped the Council leaders notice that today we experienced quite a lot of black ice around the city
indeed one of our group is the bruises to prove it but we are aware from the various tweets have come through that a number of school buses this morning were unable to collect pupils because certain roads on their roots had not been gritted i'm not trying to attach any blame here but what I am asking is whether the Convener of Transport and yourself as leader and the leader would be prepared to review the PRI prioritisation of gritting routes to ensure that they cover the routes covered by school buses to ensure that school pupils can attend school
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:21:33]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:21:35]
can I thank Councillor Armitage for his question on the second point more than happy to look at it and see if we can prioritise those routes and M prouty one to try and make sure that that happens as one of the first priorities in a written regime and in context of air came socouncil services we have an existing Council policy that is part of our programme on a presumption against outsourcing and a presumption in favour of in-house delivery however one of the things that the process will draw in the next few months as we go forward and try and plan where we go with all our Council services is really task ourselves the question not only what she'd as do we want to enhance which it is to want to protect but which it is does the Council continue to do and there may well be areas of service that the Council that the Council is not in a position to deliver anymore i think we should say that openly and honestly and then have that debate politically to see if there is synergy across all services
and our political groups to see if there's a way forward
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:22:41]
[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 1:22:44]
go to a day i thought reversed and can I also add my christmas AND NEW YEAR where she stayed on in the Chamber and the city could also support Corsham kinison commend our officers who overnight had an urgent response today sits been in their city and and covered most of it and done a great job mechination was last week I had the privilege as you may have heard too small on a visit in 20 whole Primary School simply as a local Councillor and nothing elseWill the Council to join me in celebrating the great work that you do in debate in just the last few weeks coast of Burton I went and visited them and hear the work they are doing them in that discussion we heard whether they think that waters more precious than gold should people be punished for dropping litter and then came about that and tends to be a bit Local Government and settlements employees so brilliant bunch of young people who have done a great job we're whose hugely impressed by the contribution especially one young people who assured her support for Labour and this hatred and dislike of the Tories lead out of the future in the city
the Council to join me in saying thank you to the P 5 who were here this morning are currently going through the Chambers and an assurance that they could be leaders of the future of the city
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:23:50]
thank youthank you very much Lord Provost more than happy to join Councillor D and wishing them all the best thanking them for their efforts and also i might stop them for some debating skills and Lord Provost going forward more than happy to them to watch the way on becoming the leaders of the future and then hopefully this city will have a home grown leader rather than this Paisley body that oversees before
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:24:17]
[Cllr Mary Campbell (Scottish Green) - 1:24:22]
Councillor Mary Campbell thank you Lord Provost I would like to ask the Council Leader and he has heard of this big area women and heard stories it's been recently published by sexy Women's Aid and was mentioned in a reception that Lord Provost was did last week I would like to hear from the Council Leader if he agrees with me that everyone working in the Council should buy this book and read it because it's a real insight into these women's lives[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:24:46]
I very much slow process of absolutely shocked to Women's Aid does an absolutely fantastic jobacross the city I would absolutely encourage everyone to buy the book and understand that because they received some National Lottery funding that every penny raised from the sale of the book goes back into shafting supporting women that otherwise wouldn't have recourse through financial benefit systems etc. so i'm more than happy to buy myself and encourage others to do the same
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:25:15]
total government[Cllr Gordon Munro (Labour) - 1:25:20]
thank you Lord Provost A and A I would like the fact that we got both cars and receive a season's compliments and i return on with my jumper which says jerry Christmas which is an early christmas present for my daughter marriedi'd like to return to a familiar theme and one that is actually being repeated the small learning and LL the Leader said that he would make robust representations to the Scottish Government with regards to the case for edinburgh a case which is made all me all that much stronger and I hope that it has made these points to derek mci that we have made two hundred forty million worth of cuts we have one thousand four hundred forty six less full time equivalent staff Audit Scotland of c eight weeks they expect Edinburgh to make a further one hundred forty two million worth of cuts over the course of this administration and I Grant Revenue reduction of 59 million
and their answers you see that we were planning for four years and that is the right and responsible thing to do but the Government are only given one year settlements so I asked the and robust representations it makes the case that we need to be able to plan for four years and that this should be able to do that so what Robert us representations of Unit what form of the taken have they been direct of the benign and direct email tweet i don't know as i've been a nudge awake about the settlement have you asked for fear fuel funding for Edinburgh have you asked if they will implement the Commission report from two thousand and fifteen which the Scottish Government that in conjunction with COSLA which looked at local government
reform for funding and I think that that is probably the most important thing that he could do and those robust representations and I ask that you continue to make them but what has he done over the last month and what will we continue to do
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:27:15]
thank for much slower progress i think i have engagement with the democratic will of ministers every few days m on various topics of had very robust dialogue with the Scottish Government but the thing I would remind the Chamber about is in terms of the three and four year settlement Local Government grant makes up something like a quarter of what the Scottish Government will spend in any given year so as to pretend that with the Scottish Government being given a three-year funding settlement by Westminster they would be in a position to give a three-year funding settlement to the rest of local government in scotland i don't think is a sustainable position until Westminster changes use and i'm feed on the substantive point Councillor Gruen i don't disagree a lot on this issue but the bit we do disagree on is working someone rule is shoving the political muscle if you like them because is aiming at the Scottish Government as if the Scottish Government could secure a four year funding settlement for local government and not have any risk and that would be a just a normal political choice would be open to them and have been nothing to worry about they could do that and then the next year Westminster cut their budget by 10 or 20 percent or something and then there are in a position where the NHS police other core services are in fundamental inability to to go forward so if Westminster gives the Scottish Government a three-year funding settlement or a four year funding settlement or anything else in the Scottish Government will then be in a position to respond to it but we have asked that question i have personally asked that question i'm not going to go into the details of exactly what I said when an underfloor medium or otherwise don't publicly tweet budget discussions Lord Provost more Supertram here everyone groaning m so i'm going to continue to do what i've been doing for the last five months which has engaged constructively Edinburgh's case in terms of making sure that on one specific the floor mechanism is maintained and making sure the across the board are services not outcomes are not only protected but enhanced will need to be[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:29:27]
Councillor Kate Campbell[Cllr Kate Campbell (Scottish National Party) - 1:29:30]
thank you Lord Provost and asked the Leader if he would like to join me in welcoming recent positive developments in relation to homelessness and we've had almost one hundred and fifty thousand pounds in extra resource from the Scottish Government Action Group to tackle rough sleeping in Edinburgh this winter there was huge awareness than millions raised for support services by everyone who took part in sleep in the Park last weekend we've had a fantastic commitment from as index of two hundred and seventy five additional homes for people who are homeless and are Monday our Task Force met to agree outcomes and priorities and these include looking at how to implement housing first in the city has to improve temporary accommodation and also a commitment that by the time the Taskforce reports in June will have no families in BMV while this is all very positive does he agree that there is still a lot of work to do and that we must continue to work with partners to keep tackling homelessness and rough sleeping as a priority for the city[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:30:28]
Campbell for question i think there's been a huge amount of progress in the last 10 years in particular in reducing the number of people presenting as homeless but absolutely I completely agree there's a huge amount left to do in the rise in bed and breakfast accommodation in particular over that same ten year period is a matter of great concernabsolutely welcome and this is why we set up the task force Lord Provost to go away and look at achievable short-term medium term and long term commitment and the commitment and then come to by the task force just last week on ending families in Bed and breakfast by june i think is incredibly welcome and I congratulate the members who are on the task force for four articulated in such a details fast moving fast m
hopefully outcome and I look forward to congratulate them on their achievement of that comes in
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:31:29]
total Cook[Cllr Nick Cook (Conservative) - 1:31:33]
Buxworth provostwhat progress the Federation of Small Business survey showing that 79 percent of small businesses in Scotland or against increases and income tax therefore disappointing and SNP income tax paper at least two of the options which see the Scottish Government raise income tax
the basic rate of income tax on people earning just twenty four thousand pounds particularly in a city like edinburgh where we no cost of living is high does the Leader think it's fair and progressive to raise the basic rate of income tax on people earning that amount of money keeping in mind that we're talking about our nurses are bus drivers maneouvre aardman walkers and shop managers across edinburgh is it fear progressive to do that the people on this income level
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:32:26]
this must thank kids kick for the question this process as a process about political choices and it's about making sure we get an equitable solution not only in terms of tax but in terms of the money available to Local Government any chance and other key services acrossthe city when I meet the chief of police in Edinburgh economy met the chief of any chase and the lothians there's common concerns across our public services in terms of the money that is available now the way public sector
funds are available to the Scottish Parliament either more money can be made available by the UK Government or they can increase taxes and that's their choices or they can reduce spend to some other area there are three ways of addressing the challenges case recruits leader stood up and said does he think we're going to get a good Budget in Edinburgh were only going to get a good Budget in edinburgh there's more resources available in one of those three things happened so the Tories may want to clarify what the position is that they want a low tax low spend economy that means we have to implement further spending reductions in Local Government and across public services or do they want to try and buy into an equitable solution that has maybe some people paying a little bit more but has our public services protected as best they can
i think our party not only in this Chamber but in the Scottish Parliament and others support an equitable solution where a little bit is is taken from every piece of that jigsaw to make sure that we end up with a truly equitable positive outcome not only for people and their families but for the public services that all those people and their families who rely on
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:34:18]
[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 1:34:20]
Caroline thank you Lord Provost can I just firstly thank the Council Leader for the answer that he gave too close to Oldrids just a few months ago and agreeing to review the priority routes for for gritting so that we can try and include and school bus routes as as my other ward Councillors will testify to we've had some big problems this morning and with buses not being able to pick up pupils and people's been returned home so i'm very very grateful to him for that for agreeing to that review and the question that I did at plan to ask as the Councillor will be aware i've reason a number of occasions and in the Council Chamber the issue of the janitorial review and the concerns which existthis review kids firstly cut the income of some of our front-line hardest working staff and also potentially leave some Community Centres unsustainable in terms of the service that they can prevent the last Council meeting the Finance convener said he expected the consultation to end on the 24th November and that there will be briefings for elected members in December now given the fact that we are now midway through december with relatively little time left before Christmas can the Council Leader tell me if it still envisage that those briefings will take place and is it still the expectation that I decision paper will come to the Finance Committee next month
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:35:46]
can I thank Councillor Lamb first question Time line that was articulated by Councillor Rankin is still holding so I would expect the briefing this month and the same at decision Time wing 2 to follow have met with parents have met with them on with their kinsmen raw Community Centre in my ward we are aware of the issues is about making sure we can work bestwe can and we're going to continue to do that
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:36:10]
controls[Cllr Hal Osler (Liberal Democrat) - 1:36:14]
thank you all protest and media would really do like to join me in congratulating the for S 6 pupils from the Edinburgh music skill here success we secure places that are all Conservative scotland this is not only a fantastic achievement for them the school and for all those who supported them on this journey is also of huge benefit to us as a cultural city i'm sure the Leader will agree with me that this shows once again how fantastically it is that we can actually support this school with its full budget allocation[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:36:46]
thanks very much of of course we did agree to support the school that is food budget allocations so I can do anything anything other than completely agree with Councillor or absolutely am more than happy to join in congratulating those four people was a wish them all the best in their studies such a national prestigious institution[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:37:05]
[Cllr Callum Laidlaw (Conservative) - 1:37:08]
thank you were promised after extending my christmas wishes to the Chamber I am going to return to form and bang on about taxis being Scottish Budget day i've had a number of constituents contact me about the pressures they face due to the rising cost of taxis something many can ill afford despite working long unsociable hours spike providing the backbone of our city's economy now it may not be for the Council to meddle with certain taxis but the taxis I am referring to are the black chariots that help us all home at this time of year after often more than one or two averagesno
I was disappointed and so were many in the trade and a number of my constituents that when the recent age limitation of taxis and private hire cars consultation report went to transport environment the many protestations around LPG conversion of taxis that many submissions from trade from industry were ignored and we had once again simply to note that the recommendations to change to euro 5 emissions from 1st December 20 18 and euro 6 from 20 20 and that fails to note that LPG conversions have been used successfully in Birmingham and London and in cities across the country to meet those of governance standards without the huge additional costs on taxi drivers so can I ask the Councillor if that if at this time of the year when taxi drivers often faced passengers who are Mary maudlin or just plain manky that he will support them in the inn in their wishes to look at this alternative he will support our licensed trade and who understand it or trade that relies on using specialist accessible vehicles cannot make the move
as casework says cannot make the move to using cheap high recalls light Private Hire or have to make these changes so can I ask for its support and looking at this option and has agreed to move this forward
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:39:06]
the votes m because the lead was citing are decision that committee that have not caught with Yes All catch up with the decision on the broad principle is absolutely right that the vehicles that are travelling up and down streets all day long sometimes double-shifting sometimes I think the triple shifts in some of the carsit is absolutely right that there are the highest environmental standards possible because for us to meet our equality obligations and that is absolutely crucial but more than happy to look into the
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:39:43]
decision that was taken by a Committee costata[Cllr Scott Arthur (Labour) - 1:39:45]
thank you Lord Provost just want to return to the question and answer from Councillor Munro meanthe City leader rightly pointed out that the Scottish Government should be concerned about provision of your healthcare education and policing right across the country but often remains Councillor McVie that actually have quite a substantial part of the Budget and socially conservative delivering those services within the city last year that it mci boasted that has budget this tax policy was going to be marginally different from what the Conservative set and Westminster marginally different this year appears these is red Jeremy Corbyn manifesto
and is also listened to the progressive voices in the Scottish Parliament which were represented in this Chamber and on the left wing here and it seems we are going to have a different budget this year and so far i think that's that's a positive thing I have to say but I do one done in his repeated representations what he said about the impact of the monastery different budget we had last year what impact this had on our ability to deliver social care education and even in my own ward where the support for children with special needs is under severe pressure who represented
what representations in meet on that budget
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:41:19]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:41:21]
they for much on the two specifics that king Arthur mentions i to be in that attainment OBS welcome the additional money that was given last year the money that was given directly to skills made a fantastic contribution in a fantastic way different SA of ways i know that the schools in North Edinburgh collaborated with organisations like the citadel which is driving up not only attainment ISA attendance which is the first part of Gatton any sort of attainment for thosechinta skill in terms of ITV there was more money made available 1 the conversations and the Chief Executive myself hard worth in H S was around an additional funding that we could potentially look at as securing from the Scottish Government to help us address poor are short term acute issues and get that service back onto or from fitting so i'm and i don't share the view that last year's budget was Aldermen women nos two instances that kids are mentioned specifically I think there was some positive news to welcome donation was more money for local government because to do every year you would expect me or anyone else in this room to say anything else but do I think it was balanced to support not only local government but our NHS services are police services can all the challenges that a number of people have number organisations have within the city yes or do you all promised and you only have to look at some of the claim starts coming out of
OF THE police information to see that we are not the only organisation in the city with challenges that we need to face up to and i think it's absolutely right Scottish Government approach of being balanced of making sure that all public Sector organisations have a fair crack of the whip and make sure that their outcomes can be delivered as best
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:43:08]
I can I think that balance approaches broadly working closer together[Cllr Phil Doggart (Conservative) - 1:43:12]
thank you Lord Provost and thank you to the Council Leader for his report and may I also wish him and his colleagues merry Christmas and i'm sure the Council Leader will have read with the same concern I had the reports in the financial press at the start of the week regarding the financial viability of Four seasons care homes which has four homes in the City of Edinburgh in the same week that the Health and Social Care Partnership provided evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee about the challenges of care home provision in edinburgh does the Council Leader have any contingency plans for[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:43:56]
additional care provision if the worst happens to Four seasons[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:43:58]
thank you so much net Council along with a GP in NHS our time to source additional care home capacity through securing places over the short term and if we need to address as wellwith Councillor Taggart is incredibly worrying situation particularly for the people occupying that that we will follow a similar line to secure additional places in the short term it is worth noting that those can be almost prohibitively expensive but within the IT been within the Council and Cannock Chase we would all be absolutely committed to making sure those short term arrangements would be in place
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:44:37]
transfer Cameron[Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour) - 1:44:40]
thank you are Protestant me i to an extent everyone in the Chamber peaceful joyful and meaningful Christmas when it when it comes just Departments and she's departs I attended the quarterly meeting of the Edinburgh Development Forum and my question to the Leader arises from from that meeting and the Forum comprises senior representatives of a Local Investment development community and the chamber of commerce my question to the Leader is what can the Council due to urgently and meaningfully address the issues of deep an ongoing concern to members of the Dáil Development Forum and the sector of the industry they represent which are really getting in the way of major projects being considered determined and delivered in this city projects which are residential and commercial which the people of Edinburgh so badly need if we are going to sustain the level of our economy's growth in a way that meaningfully tackles rising inequality and poverty and also so that we can ensure that all of our citizens have access to the quality jobs and housing which such growth can bring whilst delays and planning systems and other systems calls financial delays developed 2 2 2 2 developers A also cost us as a city in terms of getting our housing targets mate getting developments delivered and if developers who we need to work with closely are you having to spend more and more and more into Leeds going on that means they're less inclined to keep investing in our city and it means that our city it's harder for our city to 12 and it's harder for us to deliver for those people who do not badly need to enter it to become economically active and who still[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:46:31]
badly need a roof over their heads thank you Lord Provostcome on to the question I am aware of claims gardeners new planning computer is taken forward
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:46:41]
actions to try and shorten the timeline of some of the major applications to make sure that they can bequickly as quickly as possible move through the system because i've have had the same concern from industry in terms of the length of time that has taken the cost implications and everything else is worth however
please note that in all my conversations with developers their aspiration despite not is to still invest in the city and is worth making the point and reiterating the point that this city is still a hugely successful one in terms of investments people are not being two tier deflate from making those investments of course people have concerns and asking us to address issues which will could have worked through but in terms of whether people are still wanting to come here and waste in a way that helps them make money and helps us address some of our key priorities for the Council come in terms of housing development being particularly important to the city I think this is still a city where you call it a no brainer situation to come and invest in and ultimately that's what's driving up own investment figures making are still the best place to invest in the entire UK
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:47:58]
outside LondonCouncillor Webber
[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 1:48:03]
[Cllr Chas Booth (Scottish Green) - 1:48:06]
when voters look perverse Lord Provost point of orderin terms of Standing Orders 15 point 1 Standing Order state than the
[Cllr Chas Booth (Scottish Green) - 1:48:12]
total time allowed for questions and answers to the Leader should be no more than forty minutes the questions as answers started at seven minutes past eleven I make that in excess of forty minutes can ask you to rule on this matter please[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:48:26]
as I do for every meeting and for everydebate i time how long it takes I start the clock when the Leader invites questions when he has delivered his report which are believed to be the appropriate time
currently including your intervention confused
we are sitting at we are currently sitting at thirty seven minutes fifty seven point two six seconds
I was going to ask Councillors to allow it to go slightly over once we had heard from Councillor Weber and apologies for the interruption because only have four more speakers unlike in the last Council when I did stop at 40 minutes when I had twelve speakers still to speak so i'm quite happy at this moment in time there were within the time allowed within Standing Orders and I would at this moment in time as Councillor is just to give me a bit of flexibility fell over the last four names on my list to give their questions
[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 1:49:43]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:49:45]
[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 1:49:45]
Councillor Webb thanked ular process that's no pressure at all this had better be a good question ok so thank you again okc
[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 1:49:55]
ok so unfortunate that last night was reported to me that there was a meeting where Councillor Parry and Councillor Dickie would entail invited to attend a meeting along with the current high school parents and Partnership Group teachers and representatives from the union and at this meeting it appears that Councillor Parry intimated that all the councillors were in agreement with the proposals outlined in the informal interesting exercise for the southwest education and catchment review that they were published before they were published on the 24th of Novemberso can the Leader for Leader clarify if this is in fact the case and why Councillor petty would suggest this in my response to our brief briefing was anything but agreement and if Councillor petino recognises her statement last night was incorrect at this meeting that he now acknowledges that the actual repossessions OF THE three councillors and the wear and attendance at the briefing Councillors Bruce lying and Weber and apologise to the Chamber and the parents and carry for this misinformation
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:51:02]
for much of what was good to see so badCOUNCILLOR have I got a question
I mean for a member to call another member of our meeting when there's no money there's no information and I think is projecting an appropriate if i'm honest Lord Provost is quite difficult for me to comment or anyone else to comment on that came so parents actually seem that characterisation of what we said is wrong
I believe that as a local ward m
Councillor Barry
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:51:34]
[Cllr Gavin Barrie (Scottish National Party) - 1:51:36]
thank you Lord Provost as we sit here today there's a remembrance service six month point 9 quilt without service of notice many clean words to be said about everybody who did the very best at that time to lessen the impact of flooding to the amount of seven days ago the anniversary of 15 years old from the cowgate fire took place and I remember very well the atrocious conditions on the many thanks that were given to those who responded to thatI would like to wait a little bit for the new and wait Leader of the Council to thank everybody who will give up their time in the coming weeks over the festive period i remember messing many christmases New years away from a family providing the service and would like to invite him to pre thank everybody who agrees to work at that time of year and Mrs. Overend up family time
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:52:32]
one hundred percent agree with what Councillor Barry St in fact just teevan correct cannibis words i know that many people m will have to work quickly agree or not or so and our thanks are particularly to those that are given up time with their families time with their loved ones to be part of the organisation that will keep us safe this winter i know that they'll be a lot of police working for example Hogmanyin fights speaking to the police chief in Edinburgh know that many police have actually lost a day in lieu in they'll have to try and find a team to take it through the next year and so I hope they find an advantageous time and pay back because our grateful thanks to our City are absolutely ought to those that are local spectacular events during this time a year to go ahead I am absolutely willing to congratulate and admire those many changes in the police and fire and didn't the council staff who will be providing core services on christmas day and throughout the festive period
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:53:43]
[Cllr Alex Staniforth (Scottish Green) - 1:53:48]
COUNCILLOR Staniforth thank you Lord Provost and thank you for allowing these questions to continue Councillor Booth spends Councillor Booth spends a lot of time with me on Planning Committee and will do anything to avoid hearing me speak againit's no surprise that there have been several questions on grit today as anyone out for a walk last night needed true grit both literally and figuratively my question is on information i'd like to ask the Council Leader what information is available to residents in communities on the location of their nearest grit bins and on which roads and paths the Council prioritises so they can choose a safer route and what guidance is therefore communities and residents on what they can do to help in a snap freeze a snap and expected freeze such as we had last night
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:54:37]
for much of that information is available on the website and are more than happy to share the LINk Core ask Councillor McKenna's to share their linked to that in terms of location of grit bins m and indeed the air the gritting schedules and understand earlier than scheduled in the morning wrote to will be gritted earlierthere are regular twitter updates on travel information that will encourage anyone who is on twitter to follow the americans on Twitter account so you get that information in real time said in moving and keep the city safe and I would say on the grit bins are a member or progress been community meeting when someone said that the grit bins for about thirty and when you stick your hand and you can pierce at very very easily so if anyone does think that grip and M has completely frozen over and you can't get access to it just give it a good thuds with anyone's first should break the body or over and supply enough credit for your local street
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:55:36]
[Cllr Cameron Rose (Conservative) - 1:55:40]
[Cllr Cameron Rose (Conservative) - 1:55:42]
and finally thank you Lord Provost I thank the Leader for his report and wish him a happy Christmas and everybody else as well in the leaders earlier comments Lord Provost he seemed to characterise tax and spenders a zero sum game is he familiar with the principle of the laffer curve and does he accept that it might have at least some effect on the amount of tax raised and therefore the amount available to be spent[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:56:10]
myeconomic student days are just coming flooding back to me a lot of promises just come from
absolutely but in terms of the way our financial structure than Scotland actually the economic success isn't as tight as it should be in terms of the amount of money available to the Scottish Government to release a way to resolve that will promise is just full fiscal autonomy and I look forward to came so those joining are our position on that going forward
Item 8.1 - Operational Governance - Review of Council Contract Standing Orders and Guidance on the Appointment of Consultants
Item 6.1 - Leader's Report
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 1:56:42]
that takes us on to Item 7 on the agenda which is the item on appointment a coalition motion has been circulated understand the intention under the vacancy on the address ignores the point or nominate cancer Cameron is agreedthank you
Item 8.1 - Operational Governance - Review of Council Contract Standing Orders and Guidance on the Appointment of Consultants
ITEM 8 is reports it point 1 is the report on the Council Contract Standing Orders and Guidance on appointment of Consultants
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:57:13]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:57:15]
gentlemen thank you so much i won't take too long to process just to highlight two changes i think can report that I think are helpful one is an internal change of delegated authority or permissions if you like within the Executive Director and Head of Service level i think the increase in spend or in permissions for Heads of Service will make us more fully are more able to respond and hopefully get quicker better outcomes without going through an overly bureaucratic process and other processes under three roles and responsibilities and terms of briefing late to membersearlier on in the procurement process i think one of my frustrations and shared by many Members been on the Finance Committee for five years is that sometimes when we get these level of decisions they are currently in the process and our scope for decision is fairly limited i think that briefing early on is a better way of making sure that elected member involvement is as at an early stage as possible to make sure going forward we have full confidence in full support and the procurement processes and conclusions
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:58:19]
[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 1:58:22]
the Council comes to the second formal first[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:58:23]
are there any contributionsPeter agreed thank you
Item 8.2 - Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave for Councillors
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 1:58:30]
8 point 2 years report on maternity paternity and adoption leave for[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:58:36]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 1:58:38]
Councillors can surely be thanked for much lower promised again would take too long I think it's important that this came from Sinn as a modern workforce modern workplace rather and this Chamber is seen as a modern workplace and that people are not put off coming into politics to make our Chamber more diverse than it is right nowin terms of making sure those supports that people would expect going into any situation are there in terms of how this has focused we are essentially Lord Provost copying homework of Middleton Council passed a similar motion bring quite as far ahead in the process of resolving this than coming to a conclusion for a national change as we talked so essentially Lord Provost were being asked to join the chorus of voices making this Council and this Chamber in particular are more warden workplace to be out of the Chamber unanimously supported
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:59:28]
[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 1:59:29]
[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 1:59:32]
i'm justify that Lord Provost i think this or just to be clear on the status of Councillors in terms of being employees or or elected Members and I think that it will bring that information forward I think is consuming VC do we need to do all we can to support people who in came sought acquired Paternity maternity and other types leave some have to second thisItem 8.3 - Monitoring Officer Investigation
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 1:59:49]
are there any contributions are happy to accept a paper[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 1:59:56]
ITEM 8 point 3 is a report on the monitoring officer investigation[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:00:01]
constructively[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 2:00:03]
just formally Lord Provost a law but just see when these instances obviously welcomingthis not to happen but when it does happen we need to make sure we
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:00:13]
learn lessons we changed practice and in this instance that's what we've done[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 2:00:16]
today the former provost[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:00:17]
any contributionsItem 8.4 - Standards Commission for Scotland – Decision of Hearing Panel – Lord Provost Councillor Frank Ross
appendix out to people
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:00:26]
ITEM 8 point forward as the Standards Commission for Scotland decision of a hearing panel Depute Convener will chair the meeting[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:00:45]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 2:00:49]
i'll just formally moved the report[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:00:53]
it's a coastal habitat agree The there to note the reportItem 9.1 - Motion by Councillor Graczyk – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
thank you
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:01:39]
thank item Lane as motions their name point 1 by comes a classic international Day of persons with disabilities[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:01:50]
COUNCILLOR classic to move your motion[Cllr Ashley Graczyk (Conservative) - 2:01:54]
thank you and tell him and the application is made clear that the hours to 1 m m alone table like the sameto make it possible for and even in the Council following the money and really we are grateful for the care of the staff in a minute they're accommodate in the sub title and they are a million
I am grateful due to poor for the first time to notice move at a time when we are not in the know you were well in May within about and I for one or two I can then ensure he was
to say that I to pore means a lot to moving thank you probably know that DOJ actively 8 am to agility thank you for that and thank you
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:03:06]
and to second the motion financial products[Cllr Stephanie Smith (Conservative) - 2:03:09]
are there any contributions[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:03:14]
cancer[Cllr Derek Howie (Scottish National Party) - 2:03:18]
rightvery briefly and Lord Provost thank you legislate to echo and support everything which can serve drastic can say thank YOU CAN progressing
i
Item 9.2 - Motion by Councillor Hutchison - Scottish Ambulance Service
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:03:38]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:03:40]
we are happy to accept the motion thank you 9 point 2 to motion by[Cllr Graham Hutchison (Conservative) - 2:03:47]
Councillor Hutchison on Scottish ombudsman's service vehicular provost[Cllr Graham Hutchison (Conservative) - 2:03:51]
i'll be brief because I think I can hear Councillor Booth forming the theme tune from County DownI was fortunate enough to attain the station aim a few weeks ago at the start of November and hosted by the scottish ambulance service even the City Chambers providing basic training on the use of defibrillators and on CPR
two hours of my time could help several years to someone's life should the circumstances are car any one of us could stumble upon someone who saw the southern cardiac arrest or any time and the chain and provided was extremely valuable I would urge any Council are in the Chamber who never had the time to attend one of which stations to do so a future date and i was deleted a couple of weeks after attending the station to hear but sandy who held the station here and our colleague via infinitely had won the team of the year award
staff and volunteer Awards 20 seventeen and that's why I have brought this motion forward move this motion mining
[Cllr Mark Brown (Conservative) - 2:05:04]
the second law promised late to almost formallysupport this motion but also just like to see a big thanks to all our emergency services in specialist team of the year where the tremendously selfless shift to help attain to a whole host of incidents and accidents that something so was run away from thank you
Item 9.3 - Motion by Councillor Webber - Woodlands Special School
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:05:32]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:05:36]
don't see any contributions happy takes it to people great cancer[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:05:41]
webber's motion on with one special school so well thank you thank[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 2:05:43]
Lord Provost at Woodlands School is a special school in carry and it was opened in two thousand and eight pervades personalised education for secondary aged learners with a wide range of learning disabilities and the school currently has seventy five learners and the come from across the whole city it set an attractive campus in a beautiful wooded area named rules would who was one of my biology teachers are we back in the 19 eighties and this is shared with curry Community High School the link with cuddy Community High School extends much further than just the utilisation of their sports facilities that offers of this success the proximity allows pupils unlike any other special school to experience and share the school gate experience and there's been timetable alignments permits sharing of break times and this all adds to the Woodlands pupils feeling of being part of a wider educational and school communitythe Head teacher Mrs. angelina lombardo and her staff have an created an incredibly nurturing and high achieving environment that exuberance and energy allows pupils to grow into themselves creating strong energetic and caring young adults who are a credit to their families and school classes are small catering for individual needs and have always at least one pupil support assistant to ensure minimum disruption but maximum self expression
the school emblem as an acorn and it really does endorse this message as it reflects the growth of the pupils into strong capable individuals with a real sense of belonging
from the janitor to the head the whole school is geared towards getting the best out of the pupils and this is most definitely rewarded by her pupils represent their school and under Mrs. lombardo's leadership the schools won so many awards including having Arts displayed on our very lovely Trans who thought i would be condemned being positive about trams and whether you go there's most recent award reflects the depth of talent within the school as they've gained the extremely prestigious Gold school sports award something that not many editor of schools have managed to do
in addition to the sports Scotland Gold award recognised in this motion that also had recent successes in the national junior swimming championships for learners with disabilities where several of the pupils have won gold medals this school is life affirming and the pupils are so proud of it and their personal and collective achievements and we are also incredibly proud to have them in curry they have very quickly become part of a community helping out at our Dementia Café for example and they continue to make a difference there and I will just caught my passionate community council chairman Alistair mckillop and my final sentence in my opinion one of the best schools in edinburgh mainstream or any other
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:08:28]
and the second[Cllr Callum Laidlaw (Conservative) - 2:08:31]
we were promisedItem 9.4 - Motion by Councillor Jim Campbell - Waste Data Innovation
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:08:33]
are there any contribution happy to accept a motion carried thank you[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:08:39]
9 point 4 metres by Councillor Jim Campbell on Waste Data innovation[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:08:45]
[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:08:47]
Campbell thank you Lord Provost eb thank you i am for accepting are considering the motion without amendment I would like to thank officers for putting together the data that the Business Managers receive every day that's very helpful we've done some number crunching we reckon it shows that failure rate between about five percent and seven percent although we have struggled to get under the skin of the different datasets so therefore putting those together and reporting them on a daily basis i think will assist everyone and I look forward to the day we can make that publicly available to members outin the city
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:09:24]
the second motion[Cllr Andrew Johnston (Conservative) - 2:09:28]
formally second is i want to thank Councillor Campbell for bringing this forward I think anything we can do to increase awareness amongst the population of Edinburgh where things are going wrong and over tackling it is to be welcomed[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:09:38]
[Cllr Andrew Johnston (Conservative) - 2:09:41]
let any contributions Councillor McKenna's[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 2:09:43]
New Station would like to suggest that we refer this motion to transport environment which I think is a click police to expand the discussion around this and i should hasten to add that when we look at those some of those are the reasons behind and some of the worst uplift issues and there's a whole variety of them not all of them under the control of the Council for example bins protecting their own D bins contaminates indian allows me bins frozenit is is I gather al got your seasonal issue but certainly one of them but I think it would be much better if we explore this at Transport and Environment Committee in greater depth and so I would suggest that a fair bit to their thank you
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:10:30]
can I just clarify one thinks i'm just looking at the actual motion where the report is being asked to go back to transport and violent but it doesn't make it clear who are the results of the investigation go and I think what Councillor McKenna's are seeing is that the investigation should result should also go to Transport and Environment without the acceptable Councillor Campbell[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:10:50]
lord provost S K[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:10:53]
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 2:10:56]
we are happy to accept a paper with the Lord Provost can I clarify[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 2:10:57]
COUNCILLOR McKENNA seem to be suggesting that the motion go to transport environment or hope that's not the case because the motion calls for a report to transport environment which could include the information you've just referred to and it strikes me that having that reporting information will enhance the discussion at transport environment and sending the motion for debate without that information to transport environment only delays matters put off till magnano Lord Provost[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:11:32]
[Cllr Lesley Macinnes (Scottish National Party) - 2:11:33]
Councillor McKennaI believe that if it a fair the motion to transport an environment that gives us the chance of a better shaped the whole discussion allow us to enter in a great deal more detail
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:11:46]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:11:49]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:11:49]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:11:53]
in which case we would require a seconder for that verbal amendment[Cllr Karen Doran (Labour) - 2:11:56]
from the Lord Provost[Cllr Karen Doran (Labour) - 2:11:58]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:11:59]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:12:01]
are there any other contributions Councillor Aldridge thanks Lord[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:12:04]
Provost this is ridiculous example of the administration trying to kick something down down the path kick the kind that don't like what there is absolutely no reason at all why we can't agree the motion today and for the Transport and Environment Committee to look at what all of the detail that comes up as a result of it is absolutely nonsensical not to take a decision today[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:12:32]
[Cllr Nick Cook (Conservative) - 2:12:37]
are there any other contributions were percent like to be a[Cllr Nick Cook (Conservative) - 2:12:39]
contribution as well when I simply echo what work but Lib Dem colleagues said in this in an efficient way to do business a world are calling for a report to transport Environment Committee and Assembly are determined history should annotated to alter its report all share in except in his motion as it's been percent it doesn't really seem to be a major difference your other than trying to hold things up in close up Council procedures in Council business[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:13:05]
[Cllr Adam McVey (Scottish National Party) - 2:13:07]
i don't in any other case if amoebic comment i mean these these types of motions weidler helpful they should be dealt with at Executive Committee level that better shaped executive committee level they provide opportunities for Members to scrutinise and ask officers to better shape that report that's come imbibed we don't disagree with a report coming back but we think there's actually probably a stage that the Conservatives are messing by bringing its full Council and not the Executive Committee so we're habits and a fair the motion to the executive committee have to be there to make sure that heads in a positive way and make sure that we best flame what comes back and that work is not done based at full Council is done at the Executive Committee[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:13:45]
COUNCILLOR after[Cllr Scott Arthur (Labour) - 2:13:48]
or Protestant so the new boy here but this is the fact that Councillor Campbell accepted that this should be referred to TYC not carry any way in this discussion[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:13:57]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:13:59]
A Councillor Campbell was merely accepting what i felt was the clarification Councillor Carter and that was subsequentlyfollowed up by Councillor McKenna's
[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 2:14:13]
COUNCILLOR LYONS thank you Lord Provost this feels like weeds' all over againand if we remember that we had a motion m on wheels which was discussed and debated in this Council Chamber and the administration decided to defer that motion to the Transport and Environment Committee and when that motion then appeared at the Transport and Environment Committee the motion as pretty much without any division if I recall was approved unanimously so all that was achieved was deleted when there wasn't a genuine attempt to try and deal with an issue in a positive spirit and try to deal with it in some sort of urgent fashion though my understanding is that i'm happy to be corrected if i'm wrong that my understanding is that whilst there was a meeting of the Transport Committee in January that is dedicated to deal with the issues that sit around Piccadilly Place and that there is not a normal Transport Committee until February so what we're probably looking at here is delaying this until feb i began in March I think even worse March so what we're looking at is potentially referring this delaying it until March and then instructing council officers to do something about it really when this Council needs to be much quicker much more efficient much more open a nimble and being prepared to deal with concerns that come from our constituents are we to stop kicking things into the long grass
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:15:52]
Councillor Burgess[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 2:15:55]
very much Lord Provost while we very much support the the aim of this motion and we do feel that the detail of the report would be better discussed at transport Environment Committee before we call for that report soit's are at full Council when we don't have the opportunity to question officers about it to interrogate what should be in the detail of the report so we will be supporting referral to two Transport Environment Committee at the earliest possible place
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:16:33]
are there any other contributions touch cancer mode[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 2:16:40]
and a brief contribution just to say that it is fatuous in the extreme to say that there needs to be more discussion about the shaping of[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 2:16:49]
this report is pretty clear it's one issue an investigation and also the merging of two sets of data to improve efficiency and reporting back how you're going to shape this and some an argue over the angels of ahead of the pin in here i know not what you will get up to at the Transport and Environment Committee it must have changed since I sat on it that the substantive point as made by Councillor Lamb is this committee does not need at least until March so to delay something it that the only intent behind this must be to kick this into the long grass and not want to do the work the committee doesn't meet until March with calls for a report back in two cycles this is not going to come back until the second half of next year when it is a simple technical item that we're asking for it is absolutely ludicrous we say magnanimous indiana i think this is just the neverendum of the Committee this Council is never ever going to get anything done is it scared of taking decisions and improving services[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:17:51]
[Cllr Maureen Child (Labour) - 2:17:55]
COUNCILLOR child again we have the misconception of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats absolutely nothing happens in this Council of the City unless somebody stands up and talks about it[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:18:11]
[Cllr Chas Booth (Scottish Green) - 2:18:13]
Councillor Booth thank you Lord Morrow's achieve this very brief i mean we had a Transport and Environment Committee what last week if the Tories were so concerned about this they could have brought this matter to transport Environment Committee thenI would also briefly add more promise I think Councillor child made this point as well we are not the ones that do all the work in this Council at the Council offices that do the work and they are already working on this and indeed the motion acknowledges that Council officers are already working on this us Councillors meddling in their affairs is not necessarily going to produce a better a better outcome
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:18:54]
given given Lord Provost that they are they are already working on[Cllr Chas Booth (Scottish Green) - 2:18:55]
this are dealt withgiven that Council Officers are already working very hard on this and I think Lord Provost it's about time that we as Councillors acknowledged the hard work that Council officers put into trying to improve the way services are not committee in our city they need our support not the meddling from the Tories
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:19:12]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:19:15]
we all finished with contributionsI think we are
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:19:24]
tellers for Jim Campbell to sum up[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:19:29]
lord provosti'm always stare speechless
it's a big can I remind you lot promise that earlier in our meeting today you spoke about going to meet business people in january to ask them if they would contribute to our City vision in 20 15 Lord Provost if you have to go to that meeting and explain the every morning our business managers get two reports on waste collection
one for St bins and one for communal bins however they only contain the numerator
of the problem that we cannot get the denominator because officers have not been able to provide that when we've asked officers if they could combine those two figures into one figure they can't tell us quite what the different figures mean
and we have a very simple motion today which I wouldn't have thought was contentious i'm genuinely surprised that it's turned out this way very simple motion Officers are already gathering the data i've don't want to embarrass any of them and I do thank them for all their hard work in putting this together and what we want to do is add a little bit value to that data to make it a little bit more meaningful and our number crunching i shouldn't really say this but i number crunching suggests that some things might even be getting better so it seems very strange to me that you want to delay doing something that might actually shed some light on how well our waste services are performing and putting it into a format that members and their support staff who work very hard
can get a nice easy basis every day to share and then furthermore to see how that could be shared with the citizens of our city so they too can see how we're getting on its beyond me that this is such a contentious issue and i wonder Lord Provost if you had to speak to those businessmen in January and tell them that this simple decision could not be taken by this Council but had to be delayed until March what they would think
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:22:00]
the division bell will now be wrong and the vote will be in one minute[The Division Bell is ringing which indicates that a vote is about to take place - 2:22:15]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:22:54]
no progress item 9 point 4 does waste a data innovation in the motion which is on the agenda as moved by Councillor Jim Campbell second becomes her joints in the amendment from the coalition is to refer the motion to the Transport and Environment Committee those voting for the coalition amendmentit's after seven on for the motion
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:23:28]
20 for the amendment is carriedItem 9.5 - Motion by Councillor Mowat - Plastic Free Coastlines
ITEM 9 point 5 As the motion by Councillor Mowat on plastic to the
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:23:38]
[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 2:23:40]
course lanes are given Addendum has been circulated thank you Lord ProvostI hardly death to think what could erupt class of this
I think this is where this has been sitting actually something that i've been thinking about that for some time
it seems to be particularly timaeus to be introducing it to this meeting at the end of david attenborough's life on earth too and that wasn't really the intention that sometimes serendipity combined to give us perfect timing many of us and i'm sure many of our constituents will have seen the programme about what plastic is doing in our seas and I was approached by surfers against sewage to say would this be something that the Council would support i think this is something that the Council should support and I have have asked this and I think there are
it is working in partnership with a campaign group to do something that I think probably every Member of this Council would agree with to reduce plastic waste rubbish and litter we must always remember that we are a seaside town we have the wonderful Portobello and Newhaven harbours and Granton in in the AM
Leith and sylvan hours and all the bits that i'm probably going to forget Cramond an almond
Queensferry
anymore bring them in that these beautiful areas they are really valued as lungs for the city as areas for people to enjoy and to 2 to use it for leisure and other activities so I do hope that everyone Sport NI Councillor Burgess has put a small addendum to this wish I was wondering how grinch like i was going to be
and whether because i don't think i've ever seen a motion or an addendum that refers to the person who is proposing it in the Addendum twice that did set off my Inner grinch however it is Christmas and there are reports happening so I am willing to accept Councillor Burgesses addenda that I would also point out that I have the first motion on single use plastic bottles way back in two thousand and ten
cycling so I do hope that the Council today can support this motion and support the campaign that surfaces against surge are promoting for plastic free coastlines
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:26:11]
[Cllr Callum Laidlaw (Conservative) - 2:26:14]
to second the motion thank you Lord Provost as semi has said or we are a seaside city people often forget that i don't I live on the waterfront i've obviously represent Portobello the fungal role of the fourth with its beautiful beach and I think this is a long overdue motion i'd also ask Officers consider working with representatives from Ciba and also other Local Authorities I have previously been in contact with our representatives in muscle Borough looking at a joint issues that relate to the Protestant bone which we share across local authority saying this is a fantastic motion and I wholeheartedly seconded[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:26:48]
[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 2:26:51]
to move an addendum control purchased just very briefly lopes' very[Cllr Steve Burgess (Scottish Green) - 2:26:53]
much welcome cancer mowatt's motion in support of the sofa surfers against sewage basic free coastlines campaign and accepting my addendum about reports that are in the pipeline and I do look forward to the forthcoming reports to Committee on what can be done to reduce plastic pollution and move the addendumto second it and are formally Lord Provost
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:27:21]
are there any other contributionsItem 9.6 - Motion by Councillor Day - National Children’s Day UK 2018 and the Year of Young People
we are happy to accept the paper with the addendum agreed
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:27:30]
ITEM 9 point 6 of the motion by Councillor Day or National Children's Day UK 20 18 and give our young people and again I Gideon Addendum has[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:27:42]
been circulated casual dick thank the Bristol B V for think we all[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 2:27:45]
want to sell it the fantastic work that young people do in the city in our schools and our communities given that the work had been to Committee just obtuse until i'm happy to move the second paragraph from a motion and on the third part just to make a Members briefing to celebrate let us know what we're celebrating in terms of National Children's DE and the younger was events[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:28:06]
the second the[Cllr Alison Dickie (Scottish National Party) - 2:28:10]
[Cllr Alison Dickie (Scottish National Party) - 2:28:13]
the motion cancer i wanted to stay second devotion to take a few moments to comment on it as well as I feel it is important to do so as a very young people are that's nice or that's nice you know often whether it has anything to do with children and young people this can be thought are actually can be the words said as well even introduce myself as a teacher in the campaign doors that's often that the action or that's nice and either as nice but also tells a story aside from the story it tells you about teachers and Jane dirt and are not go there and tells a story that our young people deserve to be more than just nice they deserve to be taken more seriously especially in regard to their rights and into their voice and all of our young people the national children's day and the use of young people recognises the importance of these rights and this voice and so to the child friendly city work we're about to launch next year as well that itself a young people need to be taken much more seriously that includes the rights to you know be safe and have healthy lives the right to be able to use their gifts and their talents and certainly the rights to be better involved in the decisions that impact on their lives you yesterday i visited the beautifully diverse grow in high school and I met with some of our young people and they've started up their own social enterprise to tackle the social isolation that actually Reeks across our modern day society and to build community is a social café with workshops and training that connects with different people across our community and taps into the different strengths and skills to build those interests in confidence and as a side of the table I was hugely impressed about what they had to see and you know in the struggles about social isolation and how to build that community and to embrace diversity and the very same visit i was blown away with the level of talent and the music school are young women who had used her music skills to write a song that really meant something like that homelessness and it was sung at social bites sleep out on a Saturday night the streets lights gave me to my home to my cardboard marches at least by the road where the people walk by and never blink an eye these are more than just all nice words these are words The Snitterby taken seriously need to input into our policy and to grow grow policy areas this talent this voices right across our schoolsevery single school and every single young person and already in my travels as vice Convener or sat down and had mature discussion and mental health on poverty on additional support and in the words of a young guy last week on building when you different the begin to dehumanise issue but we're all definitely needs of a better understanding of that these are words that can you know help shape policy and its politicians battle over education to score the next party-political point and with the help of the media and negative image of our schools and our young people has made its way out there and it's reduced morale and it needs to stop so on wednesday we moved the report for the year of young people were looking forward to the launch of that programme are looking forward to the launch of the child friendly city work can I finish by saying can I suggest that 20 18 is a year who become together across our party divides to seriously celebrate and help grow their amazing diverse talents of our young people across every single school and every single young person and that is the test that we better understand the rights of these young people to actually shape our policies and to do things in a different way not just some tokenistic contribution and on ice in policy can I suggest that we sit back and put them in the driving seat and just wait to be inspired and finally can I suggest that this happens every single year from that point on very happy to move this motion
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:32:39]
total amelia Campbell to move the Green addendum thank you i promised[Cllr Mary Campbell (Scottish Green) - 2:32:44]
i'd like to think i'm so day for bringing this motion to Full Council I am really hopeful that year of young people will give them a real chance to have their voices heard and to shape public policy and it was really great to read the report that did come to education children and families and i'm really excited to hear about the plans that the Council have going forward for that year so I move the support to emerge[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:33:04]
[Cllr Gavin Corbett (Scottish Green) - 2:33:08]
the second agreed addendum formula promise[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:33:11]
[Cllr Cammy Day (Labour) - 2:33:12]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:33:14]
till today you happy to have to send them an addendum are there any other contributionsCOUNCILLOR CAMPBELL
[Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour) - 2:33:19]
[Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour) - 2:33:20]
thank you very much Lord Provost will be brief and just in response to Councillor dickey's brilliant contribution just to meet and this will become more formal and unreported were widely Lord Provost unite knew that when we went to represent edinburgh university's conference we highlighted that in hosting that you'd of saturday's conference in November of next yearand we took a young apprentice with us and we made the point to all the city's assembled that we are inviting and encouraging cities who wish to come to join us at universities next year to bring our young person with them so we're top that the work and the contribution that carers particularly in Caistor day could include some sort of parallel work to encourage our young people to sort of embrace and become involved in that aspect of the Eurocities conference thank you very much
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:34:13]
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 2:34:19]
are there any other contributions Council thank you Lord Provost I just wanted to congratulate Councillor D on using his democratic right to bring forward this motion recognising this important work even though there may have been a Committee that discussed that the other day an opportunity where it could have been brought forwardand even though it's not calling for any new or additional action Lord Provost you see it is important that elected members get the opportunity to do that even where Officers are already working on these matters and maybe put their point across to the Chamber because it gets it out there to the public and shows how we're trying to improve services in this case for young people with their involvement in the city which we will join in very much applauding so I thank Councillor D for bringing this forward I hope the year of young people is particularly successful and I hope those young people will not that there are opportunities for have their democratic right and C and that they take those up thank you
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:35:19]
are there any other contributions now just ask the Clerk to sum up the[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:35:26]
position i cannot process the Council understand as a giddying the first paragraph of consultees motion in the second paragraph has been deleted the reference to a report in the third paragraph will be by way of a Members briefing and it's the inclusion of the text of the gideon Addendum[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:35:44]
we agreed to createItem 9.7 - Motion by Councillor Aldridge – Short Term Lets
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:35:46]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:35:49]
item No main point seven is emotion mccombs Aldridge on short term lets there's a gideon addendum and a coalition amendment circulated[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:35:59]
[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:36:02]
Councillor Aldridge thanks very much Lord Provost m in funding up i'm proud to be proposing that I will be meddling in business which is primarily been only that of officers up till now m. however and I think it is one of the clear duties of Local Authority Members both to have input to these things and to scrutinisehowever I do wish to be consensual and I do want to build on the part of consensus and I do recognise that Members from all parties have expressed concerns about the issue of short term lets in the city which effect i think Edinburgh in a far more dramatic way than any other city in Scotland and I think we all have to recognise that any effective and proportionate response to the problems with short term lets
are bringing about it will involve a very large number of departments of this Council and other stakeholders acting in a coordinated fashion and that's why this motion is about setting up a working group because and I have one slight issue with the Green addendum i'm quite happy with the thrust of it but in my view it would be much more appropriate for the working group to
report to the Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee since the range of Departments which need to be involved in the working group which includes planning regulatory Housing concern means it is more appropriate for that to be dealt with there Lord Provost
I am grateful to Councillor Barry who shared with me some of the work which has been going on behind the scenes on this matter but the the key point is that up until now as far as I can see there has been no political scrutiny there has been no political input and there is all party support for effective action on short term lets we all recognise there is a role for Airbnb is an equivalent in the city but we are all recognising that matters have got out of proportion out of hand and there are a number of residents
living in the midst of party flats or whatever and having their lives ruined so as far as i'm concerned Lord Provost
First of all I am not aware of any political oversight of the process to date and i think it's important that there should be political input and scrutiny i don't think there is any need to wait and see whether a working group is required because regardless of what the Scottish Parliament agrees there will need to be some form of working group some cross departmental coordinated approach and and involving external stakeholders and community representatives if we are going to get this right and and so on that basis Lord Provost i am very happy with the thrust of Councillor barry's amendment or have a disagreement with i think paragraph 3 of it when it suggests that we wait and see whether a working group should be set up and I would be more than happy to accept all the rest of that or m but a slight amendment if you like to what it's calling for to see that it accepts the setting up of a working group and notes the work that has been done by officers up to now because it really is important that we get things moving as quickly as possible people are having their lives disturbed very severely at the moment we are going to need to take action as a Council regardless of what the Scottish parliament decides and the time to do that is to start now so that we're ready for action as quickly as possible thanks very much on our progress
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:39:56]
[Cllr Hal Osler (Liberal Democrat) - 2:39:58]
[Cllr Hal Osler (Liberal Democrat) - 2:39:59]
to second the motion I formally second[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:40:01]
to approve the coalition amendment can do about it[Cllr Gavin Barrie (Scottish National Party) - 2:40:04]
[Cllr Gavin Barrie (Scottish National Party) - 2:40:05]
thank you Lord Provost thank you because Road which again I fully recognise really across this Chamber the school as a cause for concernyes you will see why a motion that the working group is not within our motion but not said to get this moving and get this going I would be happy to see the working Group perhaps meet after for no other reason perhaps to add to the list of things that we've said the report was considered coming forward to corporate polls in strategy so I would hope you would accept available reassurance that we part of where we
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:40:43]
go on us not like to formally move our amendment[Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour) - 2:40:47]
[Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour) - 2:40:48]
to second the amendment calls for Cameron thank you Lord Provost andin response to what Councillor audits have and I totally agree in terms of the importance of having an political input and scrutiny in the smarter is an important issue however i believe that is best served by something of a comprehensive report that the number of bullet points are calling for and that that does come within one cycle to Corporate Policy and Strategy and the reason that we've asked for that is because it meets before the housing and economy Committee I do agree with the sentiment of the and what the Green party is calling for in terms of it should also report to the housing and economy Committee because there is an anomaly in the governance of this Council in that the convenient and placing an economy does not sit on the corporate policy and strategy
committee so I would like to see a report first i'm not ruling out the establishment of a working group but I think it's important that all Councillors in this Chamber given the cross party sentiments support and concerns on this that we get a full and comprehensive report from our officers
the other thing is that
I think that Committees are properly established government and governance instruments of this Council and I therefore stronger than working groups and I would like to see our established Committees considered a report and decided because as I say in my discussions with Councillor A Councillor body about this motion
for me i like to have the information and to be able to make a decision on whether I need a working group and i'm not saying we don't but be what the constitution of that working group should be its remit at school and its membership and I think if we're good to agree i think there's there's I would caution agreeing the establishment of a working group without seeing that support the school and given that if this report is going to come which I hope it will to CPS in February onto the housing and economy Committee in early March that's too important Committees of this came so that gives the political input and scrutiny and that's not to say that we can also have briefings meantime by Council officers are for all elected members on the issue and ways in which we can do political work in advance of these committees i would just caution agreeing the remit school membership etc of a working group ahead of important political impotence kajouji coming to establish Committees thank you Lord Provost I second the coalition amendment
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:43:33]
to move the Glynn addendum Castlereagh[Cllr Susan Rae (Scottish Green) - 2:43:39]
thank you Lord Provost am the Greens are very supportive of further work on the regulation of short term rates and on a short term late working groupissue that in the interests of cross party co-operation and in the acquisition of knowledge and they see area that are parliamentary colleague Andy Wightman would be more than happy to share all of his information in relation to is very successful Homes first campaign
I am happy for the working group does report to C P and S Committee and to alter the ENVIRON Addendum and we would like the working group to me as soon as possible and I move the addendum
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:44:29]
the second degree then[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:44:31]
any contributions controlling[Cllr Kevin Lang (Liberal Democrat) - 2:44:36]
thanks very much Lord Provost is very briefly firstly I want just to make it clear that whilst it's often described that there was a particular problem with this issue in the City Centre is going to put on record the fact that I think this is a problem that extends right across the city and i'm obviously very fortunate to represent one of the most iconic picturesque attractive M communities not just in Edinburgh but anyone in Scotland and but also because of that the issues that we're talking about here very much future in an in the in the community of Queensferry as well and I have a great deal of sympathy i have 2 C 4 4 council officials particularly in the Planning team who I feel are trying to wrestle with complaints that are coming and frustrations which an emerging without any kind of consistent Scotland weighed Guidance why I very much hope that the review which the Scottish Government has established and the recommendations that I hope that will come forward and can be implemented fairly fairly quickly one thing that I have been left quite confused by in this debate so far the Lord Provost is so far we have heard from both the Convener and Vice Convener of the Committee and I think I heard the Convener see that he was a except are offering a verbal assurance that there would be a working party but we've had the vice Convener suggesting that she's not in favour of a working party I am a little bit confused now as to what the position of the administration is would be helpful to try and get some clarity on that and also to understand about looking at any textual change to the coalition's amendment particular third paragraph[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:46:25]
customer clinic[Cllr John McLellan (Conservative) - 2:46:28]
[Cllr John McLellan (Conservative) - 2:46:30]
I cannot produce a very brief will want to take up any more of a cancer booze tayman is absolutely necessaryon detrimental with the affairs of the Council on the M 1
just to 2 to see the short term lets we we accept absolutely that there is an issue that needs to be dealt with as we certainly except for communities across the city are in danger of being hollowed out by the excessive use of this but the envy in supporting in particular that the items laid out in the coalition amendment that a balance is struck and that recognises that short term lets have played a very important role in the success particularly of the festival over over many years in in meeting demand and that it's important i think that's in in formulating a policy that the the the benefits and the positives of the areas of this sector which do wish to behave responsibly
are properly recognised too thank you
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:47:31]
are there any other contributionsCOUNCILLOR about it
[Cllr Gavin Barrie (Scottish National Party) - 2:47:40]
you will be asked for clarification on quite clear the those who report to come forward and if the people named in a mock can convinced everybody named for instance i'm not sure the police of my children who entered us and bought the working groups that older people named unless certain what to look at not to see what else they might want to go into the report so that we'd have the people named in Councillor overage after deem to be suitable to be a nurseto look forward to see what they want in the report as well so the report would then follow corporate policy and strategy and I were talked out of corporate property Strategy recognise that a further one from a working group would be necessary that they would then establish it to make sure that that was carried forward at my admi do can feel that a suitable if posited for instance if it was a licence and issue that becomes a quasi judicial law it has to go to because it is a corporate policy can't deal with us and I look in a working group while i'm quite happy to see all the people that are necessary to make sure we got a full and concise report brought together to see what
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:48:51]
they want from that report of what they want another reportgo to know
[Cllr Claire Miller (Scottish Green) - 2:48:55]
thank you Lord Provost m i just wanted to add to this because I think m on reflection of when we were campaigning for this election i have a strong memory of sitting at a hustings where the City Centre candidates were all pretty much in agreement on this issue and i remember there not being an awful lot to choose between the candidates and have been quite difficult on the platform when we were trying to differentiate ourselves from each other on this issue and that the electorate were actually really struggling to see the difference between the different party groups and one of the things which I observed from that is the fact that we are we were very much in agreement that we should be taking action on this i think that just on that point it's very important to note that we are all very supportive here of the process which is taking place in hollywood we want to see suitable regulation coming forward and that will be very welcomed however i think it's very important that we act now with any powers that we have at any abilities that we have that we can find and for me that's the purpose of forming a working group and having a report come forward and so on that basis I would be very supportive of both and I am sure that my City Centre colleagues would agree with me on that[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:50:14]
contribution so consulted upon[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:50:17]
Frank serve very much will produce[Cllr Robert Aldridge (Liberal Democrat) - 2:50:24]
I suppose the two or three things arising from this one is that i had not anticipated it to be a matter of contention since there is unanimity in the Council about the need for action on short term lets and I think is rather disappointing that that has happened i do remain confused by the administration's position on this unfortunately and despite Councillor barry's attempt to clarify i think what I understand from itis that he is proposing a one off meeting which might then recommend the setting up of a working group that sort of when is the working Group not to working groups and it's a one off meeting which establishes a working group and that I think he is suggesting that that would happen prior to the corporate policy and strategy meeting and that we would then have the report which might include additional elements and further recommendations for hu who might be involved in the working group that's my interpretation of what is a rather confusing position from the administration I have to say I think the really important part about this is that we get on antique action that we recognise that it needs coordination across a broad range of council departments and across a broad range of stakeholders that there is political input to it which so far has been missing and political scrutiny of what's happening which has so far been nursing and of course that there is community input
in the process which has been missing so far so
I am very happy to accept the Green Addendum
on the basis of my understanding being correct foot Councillor Barry has been has proposed and only on the understanding that it is a one off meeting which will of the working group without it being formally constituted as a working group and it will happen soon then I would be relaxed about accepting the administration amendment but but i it would be helpful if the administration to get its act together before it got into the Council Chamber so basically
edinburgh set a very good example UK wide on its work on houses in multiple occupation before HMO licensing was brought in with a similar cross party group we led the way we showed the way right across the United Kingdom i think we've got a really good chance of doing that with this we've got the right people we've got the right expertise and if we get the right people round the table we can make a real difference so I hope that we can reach consensus on this and that a working group will be set up there will be a one one meeting of the working group that isn't the working group and that it will then transform itself into a working group if that helps administration overhaul
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:53:31]
i'll ask the Clerk to someone[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:53:37]
so we have the motion on an agenda there by consolidation second outcomes are also with intention of incorporating the gideon Addendum are with the change that the Committee refer TO BE copper policy and strategy and also understandabsorbing the coalition amendment as as circulated so great
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 2:54:05]
[Cllr Iain Whyte (Conservative) - 2:54:07]
lord provost can ask if that's an order given that there was a motion[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:54:13]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:54:15]
on an amendment moved AND seconded is it reasonable at this stage it everyone agrees the motion and movers in each case all agree which is why i'm presenting as as everyone has to sign up for that day that is 06 movers and seconders are giddy then we have a decisionItem 9.8 - Motion by Councillor Jim Campbell – Essential Repairs to School Estate
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 2:54:32]
thank you9 point 8 Councillor John Campbell's motion essential repairs to the school estate a coalition amendment and giving amendment have been
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:54:46]
circulated with Jim Campbell to move your motion[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:54:49]
thank you Lord Provost before I move the motion can I just seek your advice on the Green amendment the Green amendment makes reference to air the political groups having the opportunity to discuss in question the condition survey my political Group has not seen the condition survey so we could not have had that opportunity so matter as a matter of fact i'm not sure where that amendment would stand[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:55:25]
I think that potentially question will get to the point I move that[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 2:55:30]
amendment that becomes vowed at that point if you concentrate and[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:55:34]
moving your motion just know will deal with them and when it comes to[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 2:55:36]
the table thank you thank you Lord Provost you'll appreciate time new there as are many Members of this Counciland what I want to start with in this motion is just to mention to Council to remind Council that last friday we had a primary school fire
Overend Fife and unconfirmed reports suggest that was due to a catastrophic blow catastrophic oil boiler failure
boiler failure
and there was also a failure of the fire alarm system
thankfully nobody was injured and i'm sure Council with them all want to share their thanks for that but I think it does bring into rather sharp relief the states of buildings in the country in terms of our school estate
and we know from the reports at the briefing that we had from our property Services team that that problem is not unique to five
we know that we have got significant problems with our estates in this city to and we heard earlier from the convener of education families and children that he acknowledged the very significant accidents that could have resulted in a serious injury or worse and that we're luckily averted and probably largely due to luck
we are just going through the budget consultation process and the Council is seeking to close a 21 million gap in its budget revenue budget for next year it's consulted an eighteen and a half million and it hopes to find the other money i'm sure somewhere perhaps from a larger block grant
but what we also know is a very significant need for money has been identified to bring our buildings into a safe state of repair
that Bill might be as much as ten or maybe 15 million in the revenue account and it could be one hundred and fifty or two hundred million and the Capital accounts these are very very significant numbers
i'm sure an accountant will be able to fund those numbers for a year or two but it's not going to change the problem the problem is real
the problem has been built up over many years probably 40 or 50 years well beyond the term of most Members of this Council and certainly far before at least half of us were elected
I would argue that getting that information into this Council in January gives us the earliest opportunity to consider the way forward i would argue the sums are so significant that it will come to this Council sooner or later
and I suggest we bring it to this Council Chamber sooner because that will give us longer to think about the problem and to prepare a response
we are going to face some very significant budget choices
the Chief Executive came to our Group meeting last week and he acknowledged that the challenges we face with IT acknowledges the challenges we face with health and social care which will probably put extra pressure on the revenue budget and he acknowledged the problems with our buildings
I was also at the Health and Safety briefing with Councillor Rankin Councillor howie where it was made quite clear that once officers bring this kind of problem to the attention the Council it is our responsibility as Councillors it's the responsibility of this Chamber to ensure that we act appropriately and if we fail to do that then we must carry that responsibility and so for those reasons i think it's entirely appropriate that this Council asks for that report to come back within one cycle i understand that much of the information has already been compiled so it will not place an additional burden on officers and I think this Chamber is the appropriate chamber for it to come back to
so before I sit down so I do want to welcome the Administrations acceptance of the need to look to the longer term which I do welcome and appreciate that we might be going into looking at a five year horizon their four year horizon for budgeting but in terms of Building Maintenance we have to look at a longer term than that and we've only we've just seen how quickly things can change if we consider what happened it
the reports for carry high school in a matter of two years that significant change in expenditure that is necessary and I also know from my own constituency if we look at Trinity High School that the repairs that have been put into the tower there have only got a lifespan of five years so these sums and these commitments are going to spread over a five year period and therefore welcomed the decision to look at them over a longer period but I do hope that the administration on this motion
would allow it to come back to full Council so that we can consider it before we get into the budget process in February because this will be one of the big decisions that this Council makes in this term
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:01:23]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:01:25]
[Cllr Susan Webber (Conservative) - 3:01:28]
the second most it Councillor Webber formally thank you promised[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:01:31]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:01:33]
to move the amendment caution Councillor Rankin[Cllr Alasdair Rankin (Scottish National Party) - 3:01:38]
I very much slower growth i'm sure it's something which all of us in this Chamber can agree terms the school estatemaintained in a safe and sound condition and provides an appropriate learning environment for the children in the city
One letter of concern as administration because being clearly demonstrated by the fact that we've conducted the condition survey which covers all of councils estate and obviously the school estate is a component part of that as it means it must be
but I think Councillor Campbell will also be aware that there is a report which is due to come to Finance and Resources on the 23rd of January which will cover i think that the ground that his motion intends to and that is what I think is probably the right course of action and I think that that is what is essentially the purpose of the administration amendment and mentioning the administration and that I should add that we are happy to incorporate the agreed and then into our own so I think the implication perhaps some of what Councillor Campbell is saying is that the might need to be a separate report but I think actually one comprehensive report which covers the whole of the Council state and covers the ground that he mentioned in his motion would be the most appropriate way forward and therefore I move
[Cllr Marion Donaldson (Labour) - 3:03:00]
the amendment behalf Nicola[Cllr Marion Donaldson (Labour) - 3:03:02]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:03:02]
[Cllr Marion Donaldson (Labour) - 3:03:04]
and to second the amendment and councils should not that undertaken the condition surveys has been a major piece of work and I look forward to working with officers and Councillor colleagues to identify opportunities to improve our state following the F and R Committee in January so I am happy to second thecoalition
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:03:26]
drew the Green amendment capital corbel[Cllr Gavin Corbett (Scottish Green) - 3:03:30]
progress on just facilities quantify the questionnaire Councillor Campbell raised in relation to accuracy are in what work their amendment says as political groups are given opportunity to discuss the results the survey in and indeed Councillor Campbell has referred to some of the headline results some tiling a competent Niall tax-cutters architect even if that report hasn't been issued does such survey results have been given a briefing on opportunities to anything to 2 Councillor to cancel groups i should see that there's no disagreement fight the motion raises an absolutely critical issue as an issue that's going to dominate this Council 10and
it's about the condition of not just our school St although that's by far the largest part but also our libraries community centres and other public buildings not just how much we need to invest in them but also how well maintained to maintain better than they have in previous decades and that's why i think it's crucial crucial that we as a Council go about this focused and purposeful way i think set in motion a separate report on a slightly different timescale doesn't fulfil that purpose the organisers Resources Committee would be before the next Council
and we have an opportunity to discuss the details are worth officers present unable to be questions so i think that's the most appropriate way of dealing with very very serious issue that's been raised and that's you know i think if we're going to get to grips with this problem as a whole we should approach it an all party we do hope that that amendment seeks to do that
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:05:11]
[Cllr Mary Campbell (Scottish Green) - 3:05:14]
to second the Green amendment can be made a camel formally second[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:05:15]
are there any other contributions or see none Councillor Jim Campbell Right of reply[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 3:05:25]
thank you Lord ProvostI absolutely no difficulty at all with the report going to finance and resources and I aware and we were told that that was likely to happen a law we now have confirmation of it and what I was seeking to do is bring all even if it is the same report to this Council so that all Members have a chance to look at it and debate it I accept we can do that by looking at the Minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee but I think this is of such a scale that inevitably is going to come to this Chamber and I don't see that there is anything to be gained by delaying that I think the sooner it comes to this Chamber at the better position we will put ourselves in to make what are probably going to be some of the defining decisions of this element of this Council
I moved the motion
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:06:22]
the division bell will be run and avoid told in one minute[The Division Bell is ringing which indicates that a vote is about to take place - 3:06:35]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:07:30]
ok our promise item 9 point it's as a essential repairs to the school estate the motion which is on the agenda as moved by Councillor Jim mocambo second becomes a waiver the amendment is moved by Councillor Rankin segment Council Donaldson and incorporates the given amendment we become soccerbot sakmar Councillor Campbell and circulated so those in favour of the Joint amendment or composite men men become so Rankin[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:08:05]
forty three and four the motion are circulatedseventeen that the amendment is carried
Item 9.9 - Motion by Councillor Rose – Retiring Principal of George Heriot’s School - Cameron Wyllie
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:08:18]
last item is Item 9 point 9 A motion becomes arose on the retiring principal George head at school and i could in addendum has been[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:08:29]
[Cllr Cameron Rose (Conservative) - 3:08:31]
circulated as a ruse thank you Lord Provost I don't intend to detain the Council for long the motion that we have in front of me celebrates the retirement of a remarkable man a remarkable educator is a remarkable character actually and we're all will always seek to do it here in this motion is to recognise his valuable contribution to the life of Edinburghto Scottish education as the principle of george herriot's retires Cameron wiley
the motion just pulls out just a couple of points first of all the role he has played over many years with the Scottish schools debating scene and in particular has successful coaching of the scottish team that were runners up four times and the world championship during his tenure
it also recognises his part in the initiative taken to provide free education for some Syrian refugees a couple of years back and and indeed the establishment of Foundation fund so Lord Provost simply it's an appropriate point to mark the retirement A of somebody who has contributed hugely to Scottish and in particular Edinburgh education and this motion simply seeks to do that it is however remiss of me not to take the opportunity as the Green amend addendum does it to commend the teachers throughout the city and the work in schools throughout the city
and I would be very very happy to accept the Green addendum only just don't want it to be too limited and I just wonder if Councillor Mary Campbell would be happy if we change the word Council to the city's because i don't want to exclude anyone in the city from a commending of the work of education within the city so that in the first line we change Councillor Kane sorties city incorporating all education within the city but with that I would be very happy to accept the agreement
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:10:46]
[Cllr Graeme Bruce (Conservative) - 3:10:49]
to second the motion formally second[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:10:50]
to move the Green addendum estimated campbell thank their progress i'm[Cllr Mary Campbell (Scottish Green) - 3:10:57]
happy to join cancers in its good wishes for Mr. railings retirement and hope he enjoys it and as a new member of this Council I have already knew is that there's a tendency to thank those working in education when their head teachers and when the retiring and that is fair enough we know the hard work that they do and we would like to congratulate them I would just wouldn't like that to be the only thing we save education in the full Council so I wanted to make sure that we raised our thanks i'm completely happy to accept the editfor all the hard work that all the staff do and as Councillor carries all our schools are excellent schools in their all working to the best of their abilities to get good outcomes for children and for the city so thank you very much
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:11:33]
[Cllr Gavin Corbett (Scottish Green) - 3:11:36]
I second formally approachItem 9.10 - Motion by Councillor Doggart – Data Driven Community Empowerment
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:11:39]
the retreatItem 9.9 - Motion by Councillor Rose – Retiring Principal of George Heriot’s School - Cameron Wyllie
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:11:42]
[Cllr Jim Campbell (Conservative) - 3:11:46]
the Council Councillor Jim Campbell vehicular process would very quickly wanted to see that actually come and why they chose I first met him when he was a student teacher and I want to thank him because mentioned it cashman rule once i actually feel my agreed English twice and it had had it not been from Councillor were air for Cameron widelyteaching me later on I might never have passed my higher english i want to thank him for that and thank all inspirational teachers around the city for the difference I can meet because looking back in my life had i not passed my higher english that might have made a very profound difference
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:12:24]
we agreed thank youItem 9.10 - Motion by Councillor Doggart – Data Driven Community Empowerment
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:12:28]
so the decision is the motion with the inclusion of the Green addendum changing councils to cities19 as the motion by Councillor dogger data on community empowerment
[Cllr Phil Doggart (Conservative) - 3:12:42]
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:12:43]
[Cllr Phil Doggart (Conservative) - 3:12:44]
Councillor Towler to move your motion thank you Lord Provost and appreciate that a long contribution from anyone naval separate nori from his lunch so that's not not a good ideai'm sure the class of ninety five will not recognise that the work that is undertaken in the Council these days with our technology driven solutions to almost everything out why that while it seems that Councillors Aldridge and white have accepted that technology with gusto at looks as if evidence of the last five minutes suggests that Councillor child is still struggling
with with with with using these new fangled devices
i'm not suggesting that she wants to go back to the days of chalk and slit or even cwellyn papyrus but perhaps we should consider that sorry morning
changes in technology have a light the collection and analysis of data to be undertaken within a very short time tasks which would perhaps have been impossible in the past or indeed even if they had been possible there were required considerable resource the continuing changes in Data processing are not changing the way in which many businesses are providing services to their customers or indeed marketing their products to potential customers i don't think I need to say anything to Councillors about the impact of social media for good or ill and the way that social media can be targeted to influence outcomes that the government has already UK Government has already recognised the potential for the use of data by the establishment of the behavioural insights team and they know that the work of that team has already been looking at high public service delivery within local authority areas can change as a result of using data that is freely available as a result it would be somewhat unusual of this Council didn't wish to understand how the data that we have access to wouldn't have an impact on the delivery and in addition we also have the benefit of a a leading centre and add to the technology and Edinburgh University on our doorsteps so it would be again doubly disappointing if we ignored the changes that that institution would be able to help us with however there is a question around that it's important that any changes we undertake are appropriate for the Council services as a result we should not be rushing headlong into saying this is the way forward for us without fully understanding what those implications might be today's motion is only designed to be the start of a process and therefore are not asking for anything more from the Chief Executive he'll be glad to know that an initial outline of high Theatre innovation can be used in the Council it would be unwise to commit ourselves to any specific courses of action without exploring the implications for all of us but we shouldn't relate any potential benefits that we have i moved the motion
to second the motion
the Lord Provost formal second
[Cllr Joanna Mowat (Conservative) - 3:16:17]
and that any contributions[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:16:19]
[Cllr Alasdair Rankin (Scottish National Party) - 3:16:21]
just like to say on behalf of the coalition that we are happy to agree with this motion might be helpful if I add thatthis data innovation proposal is actually being separated into the City Deal and we have been working with our regional partners and with the universities to take this initiative forward and has comes to dog it says a great deal is yet to be finalised as you recognise it but that is in the nature of where we are mode and I think we will see some very useful and potentially quite a lucrative outcomes from this and in terms of employment as well so happy to agree with the motion
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:17:02]
[Cllr Alasdair Rankin (Scottish National Party) - 3:17:05]
re content to agree the motion read thank youItem 9.11 - Motion by Councillor Mary Campbell – To Commemorate the Edinburgh Members of the XV International Brigade
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:17:07]
[ Allan McCartney (Clerk) - 3:17:09]
9 of Governors motion mccombs amelia Campbell to commemorate the Edinburgh members of the fifteenth international replicate[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:17:15]
Mr. Campbellthank you Lord Provost and this was brought to my attention by a
[Cllr Mary Campbell (Scottish Green) - 3:17:20]
member of my word you actually organised a fundraiser to help maintain the memorial i hope this motion helps to further raise awareness of the work of Councillors and other countries who are making sure that the sacrifice of Edinburgh people who were willing to give their lives for others will be remembered by future generations thank you2 4 to second the motion
[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:17:38]
[Cllr Gordon Munro (Labour) - 3:17:41]
[Cllr Gordon Munro (Labour) - 3:17:44]
thank you Lord Provost I rise to second this motion I not just a[Cllr Gordon Munro (Labour) - 3:17:49]
as a member of the international Brigades memorial association but also to point out to Members of this Council that one of our number Tom Murray Councillor for a lot of 10 served in spain from January to September and 19 50 and you've got permission from the Group Whip to be absent from his duties within this Chamber I think that's an inspiring example and you can find out more and the book homage to caledonia which is written by daniel Godfrey published by with press from up the road there and that daniel is actually a construction as well as a personal friend of mine you can find out even more from me McDougall's voices in the spanish civil war that you will actually faint tom speaking in his own words a bit was experienced year it was known as machine gun Murray and its period of service and spain so there is a direct link from this Chamber to the motion is before us today and therefore I commend this motion to you[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:18:44]
contributions happy to accept the motion read thank you[Cllr Frank Ross (Scottish National Party) - 3:18:51]
that brings us to our concludes the business of the last Council of this year i've noted during the course of this Council we can have been various expressions of good wishes to various groups like to add my won kudos but before I do so i would wait to just ask all Councillors to take time to recognise those who are working through the festive period to allow us to enjoy the festive period with their familiesand also to remember those who are less fortunate than us at this time of year but with a date to give my best wishes for the festive period and hope that you all return refreshed and rejuvenated in the new year for what i'm sure will be an interesting two thousand and eighty
ResourcesShow agenda
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Item 1.1 - Order of Business
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Item 2.1 Declaration of Interests
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Item 4.1 Minute of 23 November 2017
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Item 5.1 - By Councillor Osler - Pedestrian Crossings within the City
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Item 5.2 - By Councillor Jim Campbell - ICT Service Availability
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Item 5.3 - By Councillor Brown - Road Repairs
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Item 5.4 - By Councillor Jim Campbell - Edinburgh 2050
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Item 5.5 - By Councillor Hutchison - Planning Documentation for the Visually Impaired
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Item 5.6 - By Councillor Hutchison - Transient Visitor Levy
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Item 5.7 - By Councillor Mowat - Low Emission Zones
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Item 5.8 - By Councillor Lang - Building Warrants
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Item 5.9 - By Councillor Lang - Parking
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Item 5.10 - By Councillor Lang - Davidson's Mains Roundabout
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Item 5.11 - By Councillor Burgess - Stair Lighting
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Item 5.12 - By Councillor Aldridge - Potholes
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Item 5.13 - By Councillor Aldridge - Carbon Monoxide Detectors in Sheltered Housing
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Item 5.14 - By Councillor Staniforth - Volunteer Use at Edinburgh's Hogmanay
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Item 5.15 - By Councillor Miller - Parking in Pedestrianised Bollarded Areas
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Item 5.16 - By Councillor Rae - Parking Enforcement in Leith Walk
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Item 5.17 - By Councillor Jim Campbell - Safety of School Estate
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Item 5.18 - By Councillor Smith - Schools Consultations
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Item 5.19 - By Councillor Webber - Proposed School Merger South in West Edinburgh
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Item 5.20 - By Councillor Laidlaw - Strategic Reviews
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Item 5.21 - By Councillor Whyte - School Cash Plea
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Item 5.22 - By Councillor Bruce - Woodlands Special School
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Item 5.23 - By Councillor Young - School Internet Provision
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Item 5.24 - By Councillor Young - Queensferry Halcrow Report
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Item 5.25 - By Councillor Young - Kirkliston Traffic Study
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Item 5.26 - By Councillor Mowat - Traffic Management Issues - Old Town Community Council
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Item 6.1 - Leader's Report
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Item 8.1 - Operational Governance - Review of Council Contract Standing Orders and Guidance on the Appointment of Consultants
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Item 8.2 - Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave for Councillors
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Item 8.3 - Monitoring Officer Investigation
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Item 8.4 - Standards Commission for Scotland – Decision of Hearing Panel – Lord Provost Councillor Frank Ross
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Item 9.1 - Motion by Councillor Graczyk – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
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Item 9.2 - Motion by Councillor Hutchison - Scottish Ambulance Service
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Item 9.3 - Motion by Councillor Webber - Woodlands Special School
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Item 9.4 - Motion by Councillor Jim Campbell - Waste Data Innovation
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Item 9.5 - Motion by Councillor Mowat - Plastic Free Coastlines
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Item 9.5 - Addendum by the Green Group
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Item 9.6 - Motion by Councillor Day - National Children’s Day UK 2018 and the Year of Young People
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Item 9.6 - Addendum by the Green Group
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Item 9.7 - Motion by Councillor Aldridge – Short Term Lets
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Item 9.7 - Addendum by the Green Group
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Item 9.7 - Amendment by the Coalition
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Item 9.8 - Motion by Councillor Jim Campbell – Essential Repairs to School Estate
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Item 9.8 - Amendment by the Coalition
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Item 9.8 - Amendment by the Green Group
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Item 9.9 - Motion by Councillor Rose – Retiring Principal of George Heriot’s School - Cameron Wyllie
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Item 9.9 - Addendum by the Green Group
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Item 9.10 - Motion by Councillor Doggart – Data Driven Community Empowerment
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Item 9.11 - Motion by Councillor Mary Campbell – To Commemorate the Edinburgh Members of the XV International Brigade
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Item 7.1 - Motion by the Coalition
