Item no 1.1 + + EDIN BVRG H THE CITY OF COUNCIL

Leader’s Report

The City of Edinburgh Council 11 March 2010

1 Haiti Earthquake Disaster There has been an incredible response to the Edinburgh Disaster Response Committee (EDRC) emergency appeal to raise funds for the Haiti earthquake. Over f300,OOO has been raised. Through the international charity Mercy Corps, with its European HQ in Edinburgh, the funds will focus on the longer term, giving support to those affected by the earthquake to help rebuild their Iives . Several high profile fund raising events have taken place, including the sell out ‘Poets for Haiti’ event, led by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Don Paterson. This was an amazing event with a fantastic posse of poets giving their services for free to the delight of the audience at Scotland’s biggest ever poetry reading. Edinburgh Makar, Ron Butlin, was the first poet up, setting the scene with The Magicians of Edinburgh. What an excellent finale it was to the Edinburgh City of Literature “Carry a Poem” campaign. Other city organisations have also been involved in fund-raising including NHS , the , the Royal and staff within the Council. Over 20 schools across the city have used a variety of ways to help the campaign including ‘Hats for Haiti’ and ‘Pyjama Day for Haiti’ events and the donation of proceeds from school cafes. Much more is still required to support the longer-term rebuilding efforts in Haiti. Please support the appeal in any way that you can. Donations can be made at: www.mercvcorPs.org.uk/haiti or by phoning 0845 245 0686.

2 Fire

A major fire at Saughton Mains on 29 January severely damaged 16 flats and resulted in 15 homes being evacuated, a mix of privately owned and Council tenancies. Residents were transported to a rest centre and provided with food, drink, clothing and essential toiletries. Many are in emergency temporary accommodation and receiving ongoing support and advice. We are currently working with residents to look at more appropriate temporary accommodation.

1 A range of Council staff responded immediately to this incident and assisted with ensuring residents received immediate support and advice. Residents cannot return home at the moment, due to the safety of the buildings and also until the possibility of danger from asbestos is resolved. A 2-phase approach will be taken to carrying out the repairs which will take approximately 1 year.

Thanks to all the staff that helped deal with this emergency.

3 Innovative Finance

Attracting new investment to Edinburgh is critical to the city’s sustainable economic development and lies at the heart of the Council’s strategy. To attract investment, in what are still difficult and uncertain economic conditions, the City of Edinburgh Council has been exploring options for innovative and incentivised funding mechanisms to unlock economic development in key areas of the city.

Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) offers the potential to fund infrastructure delivery, driving growth and development, by capturing the “tax increment” from locally generated incremental business rates revenues that would not have arisen were it not for the delivery of enabling infrastructure. These revenues are used to meet debt repayments on the initial investment. The advantage of TIF is that it funds urban regeneration and major capital projects without raising taxes or diverting funding from other priorities. The increased local tax uplift can be re-invested in further improvements creating a virtuous cycle of wealth creation and development which invests in successful areas to expand both the local and national economy.

After detailed investigation and analysis, working in collaboration with Forth Ports PLC, a pilot TIF scheme has been identified in the docks area which we believe has the potential to act as a catalyst for economic development across the whole Edinburgh waterfront area. Without such investment there is a real risk that the development of Edinburgh’s waterfront could be delayed for a considerable period.

A proposal will shortly be submitted to the . I am confident that it will be approved allowing us to take forward in partnership this progressive, ambitious and exciting pilot project which the Council and the Edinburgh business community have long campaigned for.

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I was delighted to take a tour of the new wing at the Usher Hall, which is now open to the public. Despite some critics’ sour views of the extension, I believe it is a fantastic new addition to the grade A-listed building, completing the second phase of a major refurbishment of the Lothian Road concert hall.

2 The Usher Hall's refurbishment was made possible with the support of funding from the Scottish Arts Council, Cities Growth Fund, Scottish Enterprise, Heritage Lottery Fund, private donations, trusts and foundations. Since the venue reopened for last summer's Edinburgh International Festival, record audiences have enjoyed the wide variety of concerts and shows on offer. They have been enjoying greatly improved facilities including:

0 better disabled access; 0 lift access to all floors; 0 increased cloakroom and washroom facilities; and

0 new and improved bars.

It also boasts a new cafe/bar, a bigger and better box office area, new hospitality spaces and re-sited and extended office accommodation. Carefully chosen art works enhance the interior. The final phase of refurbishment work is ongoing. These Public Realm landscaping works adjacent to the Usher Hall will create a pedestrianised, flexible space which will revitalise the area and lend it an appealing, 'arts quarter' ambience. This phase of works is progressing well and I look forward to seeing the end result this summer.

5 Maximising Opportunities for Learning

EDGE 2010 On 25 & 26 February the Council hosted the Edge 2010 conference at . This brought together delegates from library, information services and the media from across the UK and beyond to discuss service delivery and promoting learning, digital inclusion and general good practice.

The conference also provided a platform to launch the Council's new 'virtual library' service: httD://vourlibrary.edinburqh.aov.uk/ which provides a range of online resources and services including links to the library catalogue, downloadable e-books and audio books and access to a blog, newsletter, online image library and community information. This will help the Council deliver first class library services to even more people in our communities, especially those who might not traditionally visit a library.

I participated in the second day of the conference and was very impressed by the content and scope of the programme. I was also encouraged by the considerable distances that some delegates had travelled, with participants drawn from the USA and New Zealand.

Citv Reads at Central Library A new project at Central Library is proving a great success in attracting new and younger audiences. The Reference Library is hosting monthly author events for audiences of up to 150 people. Writers have included lain Banks, A.L. Kennedy, James Kelman and Michel Faber.

3 In March Nobel prize winning author J M G Le Clezio will feature and in April there will be the opportunity to hear Ian Rankin on his 50th birthday.

In te r-School Recycli ng Cha I I eng e As part of our efforts to boost recycling in the city, several Edinburgh Primary Schools are participating in an inter-school challenge to increase recycling in their neighbourhood. The recycling collected from the red and blue kerbside recycling boxes in the area surrounding each school will be weighed and measured. The winners will be announced in June.

Duke of Edinburgh Award The numbers participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) has increased over the last two years. In 2007/08 over 1,000 young people took part and this has increased to over 1,200 in 2008/09. The Council has also been working with young people with additional support needs. Work in partnership with the Royal Edinburgh Hospital has allowed 24 young people with mental health issues to benefit from tailor made DofE programmes, which develop interpersonal skills and build self-confidence. There is also a programme at Castlebrae High School, encouraging pupils who are at risk from exclusion to become involved in the awards. Currently, there are 16 Edinburgh secondary schools involved in the scheme and four are in the process of joining. There are around 180 volunteer leaders.

Sporting Excellence The sporting talents of young people in Edinburgh are being recognised as more achieve sporting excellence. In 2008/09 over 80% of pupils attending the Sports Academy were selected for regional or national squads. Around 90 pupils from 19 Edinburgh secondary schools attend the academy, which features badminton, basketball, cricket, cycling and football programmes. The Council is looking to extend its sports academy to primary school age children and to collaborate with independent schools. Oaklands School Oaklands School ran a fantastic ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ event for National MOVE Day. This event stuck closely to the show’s format. I am delighted that it won the British National MOVE Award. It is a well deserved tribute to the school’s high aspirations for, and expectations of, its pupils.

6 Promoting Economic Development

The Economic Development Division is focussed on improving the economic performance and potential of the city. Over the last year or so it has made great strides in several areas. The Economic Development division reports:

4 Investment We have supported f326m of new private sector investment achieving more than half our target for the next three years and have supported 834 people experiencing some sort of disadvantage into work and training this year.

Citv Promotion Over the next 12 months, Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance (DEMA) aims to build on the success of the 'Edinburgh Sparkles' campaign. Essential Edinburgh, tie, DEMA and the Council have identified a budget of f200,OOO for this. This is an excellent example of partnership working. We all know that Edinburgh faces intense competition from other retail and visitor centres which often have much larger resources for promotion than ours.

DEMA has also established a working group of the five main Higher Education (HE) Institutions in the city to work on a co-ordinated approach to promotion; recognising the contribution that HE makes to the Edinburgh economy.

Help for Businesses In another example of collaborative working, the Council was recently contacted by Scottish Development International (SDI) regarding a major investor who has relocated in the city but had concerns about the state of disrepair of an adjacent site. As result of this contact, Capital Skills will provide some temporary landscaping until the site is redeveloped.

While the Business Gateway Service adds a great deal of value to the start up market, too few medium sized companies are being created or expanding in Edinburgh. This is indeed a problem across the UK. It is these companies which will drive job growth in the future and so it is of some concern that we are falling short of our target of 150 companies qualifying for intensive support through the Scottish Enterprise Pipeline for Growth. We are therefore launching a new service Gateway for Growth. We will identify those companies which are on the cusp of qualifying for the Scottish Enterprise programme and our team will offer its own, pre-Pipeline support. This will be in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce who are strong supporters and co-investors in this programme. We are also injecting new life into Creative Edinburgh Ltd providing support for a three point plan to develop services around: People (the development of new enterprise skills in Creative sector); Place (bringing on new incubator space as there are currently huge waiting lists); and Pound (new investment funding for small creative companies). Research Protection of the economy relies on up-to-date research and data. We are therefore working harder and doing more to understand the shopper and local visitor market for Edinburgh City Centre; the value of Edinburgh as an economic driver for Scotland and (in collaboration with a number of other local authorities, Scottish Enterprise and the Edinburgh Science Triangle) the economic case for a line to the south east of the city.

5 7 Improving Care for our Elderly and Vulnerable

Contracts for Care and Support Services Last month, Council agreed not to award contracts following the tendering of care and support services. At the meeting it was decided that the Council will review how it carries out tendering and produce a ‘lessons learned’ report. A new commissioning strategy will also be prepared. Customers have been informed that the advice they have been given previously remains the same: they will continue to get their service from their current service provider and the Council is continuing to accept and process Direct Payment applications.

Investing in Volunteers The Health and Social Care team at the City of Edinburgh Council has become the first in Scotland to achieve the UK Investing in Volunteers (IiV) award. This award reflects the commitment by the Council and department to providing a first class volunteer experience. The Council has a “team” of 110 volunteers all of whom were involved in sharing their views and experiences of volunteering. For more information visit www.investinqinvolunteers.ot-q.uk.

Foster Caring in the City Following on from last year’s success, a newly refreshed campaign for 2010 was launched in February. Carers are currently needed for children over five, for older children and teenagers. Foster care can be very rewarding with ongoing training and support. More information is available by calling free on 0800 174 833 or by visiting www.edinburqh.aov.uk/fosterinq.

Property Care The severe weather has led to a busy time for the Property Care team in City Development. The team are responsible for the Council’s property portfolio excluding Council housing and, in conjunction with sub-contractors, provide a 24-hour, 7 day-a-week service.

During January, the team dealt with 685 emergency calls, an increase of 27% compared with December. The problems included heating system failures, frozen and burst pipes, slippery pathways, power failures, blocked or frozen drains, leaking roofs and overhanging snow. Thanks to the team, many schools and care homes remained open during this very difficult period.

8 A Safe Clean and Sustainable City

Earth Hour 201 0 The Council has joined the Scottish Government, Cosla and the STUC in signing up to support WWF’s Earth Hour on Saturday 27 March. Across the world, local authorities, business, community groups and individuals are being encouraged to switch off for an hour to raise awareness of climate change.

Last year, I described the scenes to BBC World Service listeners as lights were switched off at landmarks across the city, with Edinburgh at the forefront of Scotland’s participation.

6 It was estimated that, in addition to the commitment of the Council and local businesses, around 3,000 local people made a personal commitment by “signing up” for Earth Hour. Looking forward to Earth Hour 2010, the big challenge will be to build on this and ensure more communities and local businesses “switch off for an hour. For more information visit www.wwfscotland.org.uk/earthhour. Open Space Strategy The Council recently published a city-wide open space strategy which aims to ensure that a coordinated approach is taken to protecting and developing the city’s network of open space. The strategy proposes green space standards for open spaces and suggests actions to meet these standards. The strategy covers issues such as the citywide green network, parks, multi-pitch sports venues, allotments and golf courses. It is accompanied by a series of action plans, one for each Neighbourhood Partnership area.

Consultation on the open space strategy takes place from the end of March until May. Details of the consultation and locations of public workshops are at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/openspacestrategy

Protecting Our Biodiversity The Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) 201 0-2015 for Edinburgh will be launched on 19 March. The plan was prepared by a partnership of organisations led by the Planning Service including public bodies, conservation organisations, community groups and land managers. To celebrate the LBAP and 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, a drop-in event ‘Biodiversity in Edinburgh’ is planned at the John Hope Gateway visitor centre at the Royal Botanic Garden on Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 March. The event is an opportunity to find out more about the LBAP, your local wildlife, how you can get involved with local activities in Edinburgh, and for children to take part in some fun activities. Edinburgh will also host the Spring meeting of the Scottish Biodiversity Officers Network. This offers opportunities to share experiences in biodiversity conservation and community engagement from across the country and to review the contribution of Local Authorities and LBAPs to the delivery of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Smart Meters The introduction of new technology to monitor the Council’s energy and water consumption will reduce the Council’s carbon footprint as well as saving the local authority an estimated f700,OOO a year. This is part of the UK Government carbon trading scheme, which officially begins in April 2010, and is designed to encourage participating organisations to become more energy efficient. The new meters will replace estimated bills with accurate meter readings and will allow the Council to closely monitor its use of gas and electricity as well as assisting with the identification of water leaks. The new meters will reduce administration costs, allow remote maintenance and improve budget forecasting and cash flow management.

7 Green Flag Edinburgh has been invited to become Scotland’s first Green Flag Authority. Preparatory work is underway to secure this unique status in recognition of the capital’s quality parks and green spaces. Management plans are being prepared for Gardens, and 14 other parks and gardens, with improvement plans underway for other parks and green spaces.

Zero Waste The Zero Waste project has just completed consultation ahead of applying for planning permission for the project site near Millerhill. Edinburgh and Council have purchased this site for developing as Zero Waste Parc (Prevention and Recycling Centre). More than 150 people attended 3 events and feedback is being analysed to inform the planning application. The Scottish Government is due to publish its Zero Waste Plan in May.

Find and Fix Roads staff are trialling night-time “Find and Fix” so that street lights can be repaired when most are on, and identification of those that are broken is obvious, rather than repairing during the day when all street lights are off and accurate identification of faulty lamps is difficult. Results suggest that this has led to increased identification of faulty lights and therefore speedier repair.

9 Providing Safe, Warm and Affordable Homes

Better Understanding Equals Better Homes Through the Economic Resilience Action Plan, the Council places considerable emphasis on working in partnership with developers to ensure that the city and economy continues to grow, with jobs protected and affordable housing delivered. To help develop our relationship with the house building industry and facilitate residential development in the city, a Planning Officer will be seconded to Homes for Scotland to develop new ways of working with the industry. This will help us become more attuned to market realities and will help house builders understand the direction planning policy is taking and the reasons behind it. A closer working relationship should have significant benefits in developing a mutual understanding to ensure that future Edinburgh homes are desirable and address the demands of occupiers.

10 Providing Modern and Integrated Transport

Transport 2030 Last month the Transport, Infrastructure and Environment Committee approved “Transport 2030”, a vision for which will make the city’s transport system one of the most environmentally friendly, healthy and most accessible in northern Europe.

The vision supports the economy and will respond to the population changes, environmental challenges, health issues and technological developments that we will face between now and 2030. Council staff and nearly 150 stakeholders have been involved in shaping these objectives.

8 Bus Service Operators’ Grant I welcome that the Bus Service Operators’ Grant will be increased to f66.5million in the next financial year. This administration lobbied for an increase in funding, which keeps down costs for bus service operators. This, in turn, reduces inflationary pressures on fares.

In particular, I welcome the decision to revise the scheme to provide incentives to operate low carbon vehicles, including hybrid buses. This will support the work being carried out by fin partnership with bus operators and the freight industry, to reduce emissions in the city.

Castlehill This month, in association with Historic Scotland, the Council will introduce a scheme offering environmental benefits to Castlehill, the “gateway” to the Castle, and improved access to the Esplanade. Under the scheme, coaches will have restricted access to the esplanade for an initial trial period. The top of Johnston Terrace will be a designated coach drop off point, with a mini at the junction of Castle Terrace to facilitate coach drop off and return. Changes will also be introduced to servicing arrangements to businesses on Castlehill to reduce vehicle activity and obstruction during the main visitor period. The intention is to provide a more attractive experience, with fewer large coaches and commercial vehicles on Castlehill which should also prove of benefit to nearby businesses.

11 Promoting and Celebrating Success

Best Small Citv It’s official, for the second year running, according to FDi Magazine Edinburgh is the Best Small City of the Future. UK Cities dominated the Small Cities category, with Leeds and Manchester featuring behind Edinburgh.

Edinburgh’s It is heartening when the Council’s work is acknowledged. I am delighted that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay was the winner in the Scotland Tribute Award at the National Outdoor Events Association Awards. The Association considered that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay had presented the best programme to date.

Communicators in Business Awards I am delighted that FACe, the Children and Families Department on-line newsletter won the award for the best e-zine and ‘It‘s In Your Hands’ project, organised by Health and Social Care was highly commended in the British Association of Communicators Awards. Congratulations to all involved.

9 12 Planning for the Future

West Edinburgh Over the last 18 months, the Council has been working in partnership with public and private stakeholders to bring forward economic development proposals for West Edinburgh. These include the growth of , development of the Royal Highland Centre and an International Business Gateway. In February two important milestones were reached. Firstly the completion of a transport study which identified the improvements needed to serve development in West Edinburgh. Secondly, the Planning Committee approved the Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan Alteration, an important planning tool in guiding development proposals at the Airport, Royal Highland Centre and International Business Gateway.

Leith Townscape Heritage Initiative Leith Victoria AAC Boxing Club recently reopened after a major refurbishment. The Club occupy a listed building owned by the Council. Through the Leith Townscape Heritage Initiative, the building has attracted funding of around f170,OOO from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland to undertake much needed roofing and stonework repairs. In addition, over the past 2 years, the Club has secured a financial contribution from the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership to undertake significant internal improvements.

“Exchange 2” Masterplan The Council has now approved a masterplan for the area around the Scottish Power substation at Dewar Place in the West End. The Exchange 2 masterplan, as a natural extension to the Exchange area, proposes a mix of uses which will support the City economy and ‘plans’ the last remaining element of the Exchange area. A new hotel, offices, residential units and cultural uses are all proposed. New public spaces and routes through the area will be also created with the opportunity to create a new bridge over the Western Approach Road connecting the development to Conference Square and the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).

13 Combating Racism

On 20 February I addressed the Scotland United counter demonstration to the Scottish Defence League gathering in Edinburgh. In total around 2,000 people turned up to the Scotland United demonstration and around 120 for the Scottish Defence League.

This strong show of support from across civic society and the political spectrum was a sign that the city will not tolerate any form of violent extremism, prejudice or intolerance and that many individuals and organisations support the multi cultural values on which the city is based.

I am especially pleased that risk of disruption or public disorder was minimised, due to the excellent partnership arrangements between the Police

10 and the Council. I was delighted to receive this message from the Scotland United event organiser, Aamer Anwar.

“I am writing to thank you for speaking at and opening the Scotland United event as well as to commend your staff for the role played in relation to the above demonstration. They provided valuable liaison over the course of a month that ensured a peaceful demonstration took place as well as ensuring a valuable exchange of information to ensure that the ‘mistakes’ made in England by Councils and the Police in dealing with the English Defence League were not repeated in Scotland. In particular I would wish to commend Nick Croft for the valuable liaison and assistance provided in the run up to the demonstration; this ensured a peaceful day with the desired result of exposing the Scottish Defence League for what they stood for. Saturday was an excellent example of how the community can work together in what were extremely difficult circumstances. I am grateful to Edinburgh City Council for their willingness to engage with the community. The fact that your Council and the Police took the action they did that day provided a role model for the rest of the UK on how to deal with the individuals of the Defence League. So in conclusion on behalf of Scotland United, I would simply wish to thank yourself and the Council as well as to pass on my admiration of the professionalism with which matters were dealt with.”

Whilst this event has now passed, the growth in far right extremism across Europe and the UK causes concern. It is therefore incumbent upon us all to remain vigilant and to continue the work to promote fairness and respect across the city.

Councillor Jenny Dawe Leader - The City of Edinburgh Council

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