What will your vote get you?
Promises galore in the parties’ manifestos
WHETHER OR not the 2022 council elections will be affected by national politics remains to be seen, but the council is responsible for more than 700 services in Edinburgh, affecting each and every person living in the city to some degree.
The usual talking points are things like bins, potholes and social care, but many have said that the amount of funding that Edinburgh receives from The Scottish Government is less than the national average. Most parties have asked for “full and fair funding” so that the council can deliver the services it is required to.
Edinburgh Conservatives say that the Scottish Government has “systematically and destructively underfunded local councils”, with Edinburgh often receiving the lowest block grant per head of population of all 32 local authorities.
The Communists’ Manifesto says that proper funding for councils is needed, saying that the SNP and Green government has cut real council funding by £377 million despite the Scottish Government’s own 2020/21 budget being underspent by £580 million.
Edinburgh Labour ask for The Scottish Government to “give our city the powers and resources it needs”, and to give powers back to local council level.
LOADS OF RUBBISH
Rubbish collection and opportunities for recycling are often the subject of complaints.
The current administration plans to create new communal bin hubs in the World Heritage Site of the New Town, as well as in Leith. This has been both a surprise to many residents and a bone of contention.
The Cockburn Association in their manifesto say that the council’s plans for new waste hub collection are “lacking in design integrity” and are insensitive to the areas within which many are placed. They want greater attention to aesthetics and heritage considerations for all projects in public spaces.
CLEAN CITY
Edinburgh Conservatives want to spring clean the city. They say they will cut through complex layers of management and redirect resources to basic frontline cleansing and maintenance with an enforcement team to deal with fly-tipping, dumping around bins, litter and dog fouling. They will introduce a graffiti taskforce to clean up public spaces and end the £35 per year brown bin charge for garden waste. They will scrap the special uplift charge to reduce fly-tipping and will review the need for the “costly and ineffective” bin hubs which are proposed for communal bin areas. They suggest putting communal bins underground, and will retain gull proof bags in the New Town. They will also pull up the weeds on streets with a clear timetable of action and will improve the schedule to maintain litter bins - enhancing the reporting system with QR codes on bins.They will clean the gullies regularly and also scrap the booking system at recycling centres.
The Greens will take robust action against fly tipping with extra environmental wardens to tackle litter, graffiti, dog fouling and will support community clean ups - pressing The Scottish Government for further powers if needed. They will improve bin collections and recycling, and increase street cleaning carts in neighbourhoods.
Edinburgh Labour promise to take steps to extend food waste collections to all homes, reduce plastic waste going to landfill by encouraging schemes such as reusable nappies and period products, and they will investigate ways of recycling plastic film. They will put extra resources into waste collection to increase the frequency of emptying street bins and also undertaking street cleaning.
Liberal Democrats will “deliver clean local environments” and they support the Scottish LibDems campaign for the introduction of a new restitution order. The proceeds of this will help victims with the cost of cleaning up fly-tipping. They will support measures to reduce waste and embrace the development of a circular economy.
The SNP will spend an extra £10 million on street cleaning and waste collections over the next five years, improving action on graffiti partly by creating more spaces for street art and murals. They will increase recycling rates through education campaigns, improve the recycling service and the enforcement against businesses which dump waste illegally. They will also address litter and fly-tipping and support locals who wish to clear weeds without using pesticides. They would like a local levy on wasteful packaging for home delivered items.
None of this answers whether this is a load of hot air, or some real action will result of course. Read more of our extensive council election coverage online - including live from the count.