THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL MEETING 6 24 NOVEMBER 2016 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Item no 5.1 QUESTION NO 1 By Councillor Rose for answer by the Leader of the Council at a meeting of the Council on 24 November 2016 Freedom of Information Question At the Council meeting on 27th October 2016, in response to Question No 3 asking for the numbers of appeals to the Scottish Information Commissioner against City of Edinburgh Council Freedom of Information responses, the Leader of the Council provided a table showing annual figures from 2011 to 2016 which added up to 100 occasions. In a response to a secondary question about how many of those appeals had been successful or partially successful, a table was provided by the leader showing 72 such occasions in the same period. In a follow up question the leader was asked if he agreed that losing 72% of appeals suggests a defensive culture when more openness could save public time and resources? The leader claimed that the figure quoted in the follow up question was not contained in the answer. He then went on to claim that the Council loses only 0.53% of appeals (when the true figure supplied by the answer is 72%). Does the Council Leader accept his repeated error, and that the true figure is 72%? Answer At the October Council Meeting, I said in response to the Q3 supplementary question: “we only lose 0.53% of the overall number of appeals that come against us”. That was an error – and I should have said: “we only lose 0.53% of the overall number of requests that come against us”. My confusion was simply around the initial written questions asking for raw numbers (not specific percentages), and I regrettably made a mistake in my verbal response. Item no 5.2 QUESTION NO 2 By Councillor Mowat for answer by the Convener of the Planning Committee at a meeting of the Council on 24 November 2016 Building Warrants Question (1) What income is received from building warrant fees in each of the last five years? Answer (1) 2015/16 – £4,271,386 2014/15 - £3,394,030 2013/14 - £3,263,659 2012/13 - £2,284,514 2011/12 - £2,211,428 Question (2) What is the cost of providing the building warrant service in each of the last five years? Answer (2) 2015/16 – £2,078,297 2014/15 - £2,037,026 2013/14 - £2,010,605 2012/13 - £1,933,805 2011/12 - £1,947,293 Question (3) What time did it take to grant a building warrant in each of the last five years? Answer (3) Essentially we are not required to measure this time prior to the introduction of the new performance framework. Consequently, I have only been able to show the period of time for a warrant to be granted from the figures submitted through the Web Platform to the Scottish Government for the whole of 2014/15, 2015/16 and the first two Quarters of 2016/17 in the first table below. Only six authorities are currently able to measure the breakdown in this time i.e. how much time an application spends with the verifier and how much the application is with the applicant /agent. Averaging the six authorities’ figures, however, I have been advised that the breakdown is around 70% with the applicant and 30% with the verifier. Edinburgh Average days to issue a warrant 2016-17 (Q1 and Q2) – Average days - 93.82 2015-16 – Average days - 83.61 2014 -15 – Average days – 65.67 Question (4) How many complaints have been received about the building warrant service in each of the last five years? Answer (4) We are awaiting a report from the Capture system and cannot answer this question at this time. If this is available before the Council meeting it will be provided. Item no 5.3 QUESTION NO 3 By Councillor Rust for answer by the Convener of the Culture and Sport Committee at a meeting of the Council on 24 November 2016 Christmas Lighting Question (1) What is the Festive Lighting budget for the current and each of the past three years? Answer (1) £140,000, unchanged for the last (approx) 10 years. Question (2) Who installs and manages Festive Lighting in the city? Answer (2) Installed under a tender / contract procedure via Procurement and overseen by the Public Safety team. Question (3) Who plans the provision of Festive Lighting in the city each year? Answer (3) The Public Safety team. Question (4) Which locations in the council area have had Festive Lighting in each of the past three years? Answer (4) Summarised in Tables 1 and 2 below for Christmas Tree and Lighting provision. Table 1 shows locations where festive lighting provision has been removed this year due to repair/replacement requirements. Table 2 shows locations receiving provision of festive lighting (same as in previous 3 years). Question (5) What is the cost of repair/replacement of unused stock, including column mounted features, held by the council? Answer (5) The cost of repair and / or replacement of the lighting column features is estimated at £27,000, although accurate costings from the market have not been conducted yet (figure based on last obtained costs). Each year there are unknown variation costs to the base tender figure based on damage that has occurred over the year to permanent lighting installations and which occur during the duration of the Festive period due to weather damage, vandalism etc. This means that some repairs and replacements have to be made at the beginning of the annual install and during the period of the offer on a call out (hourly rate) and repair / replace basis (purchase of equipment). Although standard hourly rates for this are agreed during the tender period the actual cost is estimated Table 1 – Festive Lighting Provision Removed in 2016 due to repair/replacement requirements City Chambers Star Lawnmarket poles Tron poles High St to C Chambers poles N Bridge to J Knox poles Festival Square Stafford St George Street catenaries Morningside Columns Tollcross Columns St. Patrick's Square cols Gorgie / Dalry Road Corstorphine Newbridge columns Kirkliston columns South Queensferry columns Davidson Main's columns Kirkgate columns Portobello columns Table 2 – Current Festive Lighting Provision Mound tree Cockburn St Victoria St Festival Square tree Boulevard permanent trees x3 (Festival Sq) Festival Square permanent trees x8 George Street power supply x8 George Street catenaries Grassmarket tree Oxgangs tree Bruntsfield tree (permanent) Morningside tree Tollcross tree St. Patrick's Square trees Prestonfield tree Marchmont tree Haymarket Tree Gorgie Farm tree Gorgie Memorial tree Corstorphine tree (permanent) Stenhouse Cross tree Colinton tree South Queensferry tree Davidson Main's treelights Drylaw tree Newhaven permanent trees Dean Village permanent tree Stockbridge tree Kirkgate tree Restalrig tree Portobello tree Parliament Square City Chambers tree Princes Street Gardens Rose Street Item no 5.4 QUESTION NO 4 By Councillor Whyte for answer by the Convener of the Health, Social Care and Housing Committee at a meeting of the Council on 24 November 2016 Homelessness Question (1) What is the cost of provision of services to homeless people in each of the last five years: ( 2012/13 – 2016/17) a) In-house provision b) With external partners through SLA’s/Grants/Procurement – broken down by partner Answer (1) SUMMARY OF HOMELESSNESS EXPENDITURE/ INCOME 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 IN-HOUSE/ NON THIRD PARTY 15,856,876 15,345,469 15,077,528 18,045,627 EXPENDITURE THIRD PARTY EXPENDITURE 38,962,607 37,727,030 38,220,431 36,533,619 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 54,819,483 53,072,500 53,297,959 54,579,247 INCOME (38,620,78) (36,719,86) (37,152,802) (34,808,482) Appendix A provides a detailed breakdown of expenditure by partner agency. Question (2) What different service areas of the Council support the homeless directly or indirectly and in what ways? Answer (2) The Council provides a range of services as detailed below: • Homelessness services provide free housing advice and homelessness assessments. This includes ongoing case management until the Council can discharge its duties by making an offer of settled housing. • The Temporary Accommodation Service provides a range of temporary accommodation until the Council can make an offer of settled housing. • The Family and Household Support Service helps tenants to sustain their accommodation, and also supports homeless people in temporary accommodation. • The Young Person’s Service supports all 16-17 year olds and care leavers up to the age of 25 who present as homeless. • The Access Point is a multi-disciplinary service. Homelessness, social work and health services are co-located to ensure that those with multiple and complex needs receive a holistic service based on their individual circumstances. • The Planning and Partnership Service is responsible for the contract management and funding of private and third sector organisations, which provide both temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention services. • The Council provides both internal and external advice services to deliver financial advice, including welfare rights and debt management. • Housing management services provide opportunities for early intervention and prevention of homelessness. Question (3) How many people/households were registered as homeless in Edinburgh in each of the years 2012/13 - 2016/17? Answer (3) 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Apr-Oct Assessed 4231 3997 3875 3504 1927 as Homeless Question (4) What estimates do we have of numbers of people in the following categories in each of these years: a) homeless but not registered b) sleeping rough c) people asking for money on the streets Answer (4) a) The Council does not hold data on thi group b) The number of people who have presented as homeless following sleeping rough the night before for the last 3 years is given below: 2013/14 – 126 2014/15 – 100 2015/16 – 107 c) The Council does not hold this information.