Edinburgh is a beautiful city but has stark health and wealth inequalities. The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified this. Only a radical re-think of how we operate as a council will start to redress these inequalities.
We will tackle poverty and inequality. We will build a strong local economy that supports fair work, encourages local spending and uses the land and property of the council to ensure that all communities benefit. We will also encourage cooperative enterprises to provide services.
We need to get the basics right – the core responsibilities of councils impact directly on the lives of our citizens, wherever they live in the city. We need to invest in pavement and road maintenance, ensure regular and reliable lifting of bins, keep our streets and parks clean and attractive. We will work with local communities to make sure the infrastructure of the city works for them. Edinburgh Labour will put the well-being of the people of Edinburgh at the heart of our work
Services that meet the needs of Citizens
Technological change has made it possible for many transactions with the council to be carried out online. The Covid pandemic has accelerated these changes. While this works for many, there are others who, for various reasons, cannot access online services. Edinburgh Labour commits to ensuring that telephone and face to face services remain available to those who need the.
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Edinburgh Labour will:
Put additional resources into increasing the frequency of street bin emptying and street cleaning services.
Stop charging for bulk uplifts.
Enforce the toughest penalties for fly tipping and dog fouling.
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Edinburgh Labour will:
Take steps to extend food waste collections to all homes.
Reduce plastic waste going to landfills by encouraging such schemes as use of reusable nappies and period products.
Investigate ways to recycle plastic film.
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Edinburgh Labour will:
Make neighbourhoods safer with good street and footpath lighting.
Press the Scottish Government to give councils a stronger role in local policing plans and funding to enhance community policing.
Provide resources for community warden services to take robust action on anti-social behaviour.
Make provision of safe travel home for staff a condition of licensing in the night time economy.
Prioritise women’s safety on public transport and in public spaces.
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Edinburgh Labour will:
Retain and improve our network of public libraries and community centres.
Give local communities better access to school sports and leisure facilities when not in school use.
Upgrade existing public toilets and increase the number across the city, including in parks, all to meet accessible and changing room standards.
Deliver a programme to upgrade public parks and play facilities.
Expand the network of community gardens and food growing initiatives.
Caring for our Citizens
Social Care is broken. It needs proper funding. Instead of addressing the funding gap, the SNP Scottish Government has come up with a bureaucratic plan which will centralise care services. Scottish Labour in contrast has a plan for care that concentrates on investing in improved and extended services.
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Increase provision for respite care to relieve strain on family and friends.
Go beyond ‘personal care’ hours and provide help with housework, shopping and companionship.
Provide additional funding for home adaptations in council homes, and lobby the Scottish Government to provide more grants for private renters and homeowners.
Make more provision for accessible homes in new build projects, and work with government and lenders to assist older homeowners on lower incomes to secure such homes.
When existing home care contracts with private companies come to an end, replace them with the provision by the Council or local voluntary organisations, with the aim of having at least 50% of the provision provided by the Council.
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Ensure that when external contracts for the management of council care homes come to an end, they are taken back into council management.
Keep council care homes open, and start a programme of upgrading to meet the most up to date standards.
Expand council provision of long term care including building new care homes where needed and acquiring care homes from private providers.
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Improve employment terms and conditions for paid carers, including an immediate pay rise to £15 per hour. and increase training and career
Only about 25% of young carers identify as such and receive help and support. Edinburgh Labour will find ways to reach out to Young Carers in Edinburgh and ensure their needs are identified.
Children and Young People
The attainment gap in education, which was widened during the pandemic, needs to be addressed as a priority. This inequality profoundly affects the opportunities for our children and young people.
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Expand early years’ provision in council-run nurseries, to provide wrap-around childcare for ‘0-to-5-year olds’, and provide resources for additional activities such as parents’ groups.
Provide space in nurseries and schools for health visitors and other professionals to focus on health prevention and early identification of additional support needs
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Increase the number of qualified pupil support assistants to guarantee support for all nursery, primary and first and second-year high school classes, and improve their pay and terms and conditions.
Provide study space and develop personalised and targeted tuition programmes to enable pupils to catch up.
Co-ordinate organisations providing out of school care and activities clubs to ensure all 5- to 12-yearolds can access them.
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Prioritise play provision for the under 8s in both formal and informal education, such as Play Rangers.
Work with the voluntary sector to ensure the availability of good quality informal youth work provision that meets the needs and aspirations of young people in their communities.
Continue the comprehensive programme of enhancing school buildings, including modifying buildings to meet the climate emergency.
Construct all new school buildings to standards that support Edinburgh’s aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030
Tourism
Edinburgh is rightly popular with visitors from around the world, but over-tourism affects the quality of life for residents and the quality of the visitor experience. A balance needs to be struck
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End contracts with large scale events organisations for events such as the Christmas Market and Hogmanay and develop smaller-scale events throughout the city, in partnership with the community groups and local artists and performers.
Introduce a presumption against using public spaces and parks for commercial purposes where there is not clear community support.
Make a payment of the Real Living Wage a condition of any council contracts for events and press the Scottish Government to support councils in making it a condition of all licences for events that are issued.
Help local traders, artists, community groups and musicians to take advantage of the business opportunities offered by the Festivals and events.
Work with the summer festivals to deliver more events in local communities
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Use the new planning and licensing powers to control the numbers of short term lets in the city, and put in place effective enforcement.
Ensure that all Council planning and licensing policies give substantial weight to the needs of residents while still encouraging business and tourism.
Work with businesses and trade unions to improve pay and conditions in Edinburgh tourism and hospitality sectors.
Implement a tourist guide licensing system and limit the number of tourists on individual walking tours.
Establish a new tourism body for the city that includes local community representatives as well as the tourist industry and councillors.
Skills and Jobs
Edinburgh Labour will ensure a strong focus on the recovery of the local economy; a recovery that puts residents’ needs at the forefront of the council’s actions and addresses the climate emergency.
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Working with colleges, schools and universities to provide the skills training essential to support the task of tackling the climate emergency so that local people are able to benefit from the new jobs which will be created to adapt heating systems and insulate buildings in both the private and public sectors.
Investigating the possibility of working in partnership with green energy companies to create jobs locally.
Building up a programme to revitalise local high streets and shopping areas to support local jobs and businesses.
Ensuring fair employment practices by continuing our commitment to the Hospitality, Festival and Construction Charters.
Making payment of the Real Living Wage a condition of any council contract.
Supporting local businesses and local jobs by designing Council contracts or grant applications to make it easier for small businesses, social enterprises and co-operatives to be successful.
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Direct council provision of council services, retaining those currently provided directly and bringing back into the council those that had previously been contracted to external providers. This will improve the quality of services, and the working conditions of those who carry out the work.
Establishing worker or community-led cooperative models of service delivery where direct provision is not appropriate.
Using expensive agency workers only when there is a short term need.
Offering chances for council employees to get good qualifications, opportunities for promotion and moves to other areas of work, to provide better opportunities for local people.
Pushing the Scottish Government to fund a fair pay settlement for council workers who provide the essential services we all rely on, and giving trade unions good access to enable them to support their members.
Proposing that the Lothian Pension Fund divest from fossil fuel assets and invest in renewable energy assets and other sustainable and ethical sectors to create a more financially and environmentally sustainable pension fund whilst benefiting the long term interests of its members.
Housing and Communities
Our city has an acute shortage of homes that people can afford to buy or rent, homes need to be upgraded to meet the climate emergency and we want to create thriving mixed communities.
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Start a programme to build at least 25,000 council-owned homes within 10 years, including enough accessible and larger family homes to meet needs. We call on the Scottish Government to match fund the investment coming from tenants’ rents.
Establish a directly employed council construction team to build and fit out new council homes.
Use all suitable unused council land for building council homes, together with appropriate community facilities.
Work with partners to secure other public land to use in a similar way.
Require 35% of housing on development sites to be for council or housing association homes, with a target of 70% of these being for social rent.
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Implement planning policies to ensure new developments are carbon neutral.
Establish a ‘Tenement Taskforce’ to give residents and owners information and support to speed up insulation and energy efficiency renovations.
Put pressure on the Scottish Government to use the landlord registration and licensing systems (for HMOs and short term lets) to place obligations on landlords to upgrade energy efficiency.
Push both Scottish and UK governments to provide financial assistance to low-income owner-occupiers to help them to carry out energy efficiency work.
Upgrade council homes to keep them warm and help reduce fuel bills, using organisations like the Edinburgh Solar Co-op and supply from renewable sources where possible. We will press the Scottish Government to match fund the investment being put in from rents
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ake Edinburgh a short term letting control
zone to limit the numbers of short term lets,
Building Homes that People can Afford
Edinburgh is the least affordable city in Scotland
in which to buy a home, leaving many trapped
in a private rental market that is out of control.
Only 14% of housing in the city is for social rent
compared with a Scottish average of 23%. Bold
action is required from all layers of government.
Edinburgh Labour will:
● Start a programme to build at least 25,000
council owned homes within 10 years, including
enough accessible and larger family homes to
meet need. We call on the Scottish Government
to match fund the investment coming from
tenants’ rents.
● Establish a directly employed council
construction team to build and fit out new
council homes.
● Use all suitable unused council land for building
council homes, together with appropriate
community facilities.
● Work with partners to secure other public land to
use in a similar way.
● Require 35% of housing on development sites to
be for council or housing association homes, with
a target of 70% of these being for social rent.
BUILD AT LEAST
25,000
COUNCIL OWNED
HOMES WITHIN
10 YEARS
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
www.edinburghlabour.com 9
and pressure the Scottish Government to
strengthen the licensing scheme to allow
councils to limit the number of licences.
● Strengthen policy on Houses in
Multiple Occupation (HMOs) to improve communities for tenants and their neighbours, including limiting the number of licences in some types of building or area.
Protect the city’s tenements by extending the ‘Missing Share’ scheme to include work such as stair lighting, and upkeep of communal outside space.
Commit to no more green belt land being allocated to development.
Support effective planning restrictions on the number of purpose-built student accommodation blocks within a community council area.
Press the Scottish Parliament to reform the planning system to give communities rights of appeal.
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Implement rent controls as soon as the Scottish Government provides workable legal powers.
Take a tougher approach to landlords who fail to carry our repairs or take part in communal repairs, seeking legal reforms where needed to assist tenants to get action, and to impose clear penalties on landlords not meeting obligations
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Improve the Repairs Service for tenants by building up a dedicated internal repairs team with qualified tradespeople, apprentices, call handlers and surveyors. We will work towards this team taking on 90% of repairs.
Initiate a review of the system of allocating tenancies.
When new-build council homes become available, give priority to council tenants who are overcrowded or need an accessible home.
Check directly with tenants every year that our priorities align with theirs and meet regularly with their representatives.
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Implement measures to ensure temporary accommodation is suitable and takes into account children’s educational needs.
Strengthen the Homelessness Prevention Team and assist people to register as being at risk of homelessness without delay.
Make immediate referrals to the charities and social enterprises that can provide practical help, such as furniture, to people being permanently rehoused.
Put in place further support for survivors of domestic abuse, including the option of returning to their own home once it can be made safe for them
Greener, Safer and Accessible Travel
Edinburgh Labour has a profound tradition of delivering significant environmental projects; all of which are helping to ensure that current, ambitious carbon-reduction targets for our city will actually be met.
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Increase funding for road maintenance year on year.
Increase the pavement maintenance budget by 20%.
Work with Transport Scotland to secure additional funding for road improvements.
Establish a fast track repair service for dangerous potholes.
Press for, and use, powers to make utilities, contractors and developers responsible for the quality of their road repairs.
Unless there is an emergency, coordinate utility works and Council road maintenance to minimise disruption.
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Increase spending on Active Travel to 15% of the council’s transport budget.
Increase the pedestrian crossing budget by 20%, and review timings to cut waiting time and ensure the less mobile have time to cross.
Review winter gritting plans to ensure key walking routes to bus stops, schools, GP surgeries etc are prioritised.
Improve and extend a network of safe and protected cycle routes, filling current significant gaps.
Restore a cycle hire scheme, if sponsorship can be found.
Fully involve local communities in planning traffic calming and management schemes
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Keep Lothian Buses in public ownership.
Protect and improve Edinburgh’s bus network. We will review all routes, oppose plans to remove bus stops and invest in bus shelters.
Speed up the transition to electric buses.
Ensure all new buses provide space for both wheelchairs and buggies.
Work with partners, including Scottish Government, neighbour councils and ScotRail to implement through ticketing on buses, trams, trains and any bike hire scheme.
Create an Edinburgh Transport company, to develop and deliver an integrated transport network for Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Investigate the feasibility of creating a comprehensive and integrated transport system using the bus network, planned tram infrastructure and underused or disused rail lines, such as the South Suburban loop.
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A commitment to work in partnership with business and our neighbouring local authorities to find a solution to commuter parking, including improved public transport, park and ride schemes, restrictions on commuter street parking in residential areas, restricting parking spaces in new office developments and other measures to help meet our net-zero carbon target.
Increasing provision for electric vehicle charging, through planning requirements in new build homes, and by creating hubs in all neighbourhoods.
Replacing Council cars and small vans with electric vehicles.
Monitoring the introduction of low emission zones to ensure neighbouring areas are not affected by increased traffic and pollution.
Developing low traffic neighbourhoods but ensuring there is proper local community involvement in the plans
