New council budget makes partial withdrawal on funding cuts
Edinburgh City Council unveiled their new budget last week amid speculation over cuts targeting Edinburgh’s voluntary sector.
The Lib Dem/SNP coalition has been subject to widespread criticism over the past few weeks due to intended cuts to a range of schools, community projects and charitable organisations.
Councillors last week were met with cries of “no more cuts” outside the Lothian Chambers by Unison members, the city’s union representing Council and voluntary sector workers, who protested against the proposals.
But despite a continued freeze on council tax, the new budget promises refurbishments to a range of city leisure facilities, including £21 million to be spent on the Commonwealth Pool, as well as spending on the rebuilding of city schools.
The council tax freeze has been made possible by a £6.9 million fund made available to councils by the Scottish Government, in exchange for local authorities' help in meeting the SNP's manifesto promise on the issue.
In addition, a number of the charities expecting to suffer from slashes of around 75 per cent in funding have been spared. However, many more are still going to be affected by major cutbacks.
Despite the budget’s aims to improve services for the elderly and young people, individual schools will have to make efficiency savings of up to 1.5 per cent which works out at roughly £2.5 million city-wide.
Tina Woolnough, a leader of the campaign group Parents in Partnership, along with other spokespersons from six different organisations, appealed to the council for more to be spent on their respective organisations, but to no avail.
Other cuts that will be going ahead include the scheme Go4It and Play4It, the city’s school holiday activity camps which are popular among young people and parents alike. Significant cuts to other community learning groups are set to result in the loss of several jobs.
Labour and Green councillors have been active in the multiple campaigns that have surrounded the run up to the setting of this year’s budget, with a number of them voicing concerns about how the current plans will affect those who need help the most.
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