The Edinburgh Reporter February 2024

55

Martin P McAdam

Watching the pennies

By STAFF REPORTER

THE DOGS Trust will open the doors at

their West Calder rehoming centre on 17

February to give the public an

opportunity to see for themselves the

work they do.

Craig Burt, Supporter Relations Officer

at Dogs Trust West Calder, said: “We are

looking forward to welcoming the public

to our centre to learn more about Dogs

Trust and hope anyone with an interest in

our work and our amazing dogs will join

us. Staff from various teams including

Education; Dog School and Home from

Home fostering will be on hand to chat

and answer any questions and I will be

hosting tours on the day.

“Of course, a visit to our Rehoming

Centre wouldn’t be complete without

seeing a dog or two so anyone interested

in adopting a canine companion is also

encouraged to come along. Our rescue

dogs can be viewed until 4pm with

centre staff again being on hand to talk

about our current residents.

“We hope that anyone who attends

will leave the event with a deeper

understanding of our work and what is

involved in finding forever homes for our

fantastic rescue dogs.”

Parking and entry are free to the event

which runs from 11am – 2pm.

Refreshments will be provided.

The team at Dogs Trust West Calder are

currently caring for 59 dogs with 47 at

the centre and 12 in foster homes. Y

You can see all the dogs patiently awaiting a

new abode here: http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/

westcalder

Council leader claims the city is “lowest funded council in Scotland”

By PHYLLIS STEPHEN

THE CITY OF Edinburgh Council decides how

it will carve up the £1 billion which they spend

each year at a series of meetings ending with a

full council on 22 February.

Last year the minority Labour

administration proposed a budget which was

not approved by the 63 councillors. Instead the

Liberal Democrat budget was passed after the

Edinburgh Greens strategically split the vote.

Instead of bringing down the administration

it meant that, for example, the council had an

additional £11 million to spend on transport.

The council says that it has now carried out

improvements on the largest area of roads and

pavements in one financial year, thanks to the

additional capital investment.

Far from being phased by the apparent defeat

on last year’s budget, the Council Leader Cllr

Cammy Day said: “It was still the same

envelope of money. I would argue that our

budget was more progressive, but across the

political parties there’s not huge differences in

what we are trying to do. After core services

and statutory obligations like child protection

and older people’s care for example, it leaves us

little wriggle room. I keep repeating my mantra

that we're the lowest funded council in the

whole of Scotland.”

BIG FREEZE

In a shock announcement the First Minister,

Humza Yousaf said last autumn that Council

Tax on a national level would be frozen, and

that it would be fully funded for all 32 local

authorities. The lack of notice has been

criticised by Cosla. Even the Scottish

Government only learned about it in a message

from the First Minister’s office on the day of the

announcement according to an FOI. Cosla says

that the £144 million which the government

has set aside “does not fully fund a council

tax freeze”.

COSLA Resources Spokesperson Cllr Katie

Hagmann said the Local Government’s core

revenue budget was cut by £63m from the

outset, leaving “just £81m compensation for a

council tax freeze. As a result, Local

Government is faced with the reality that the

funding offered for a council tax freeze only

equates to a 2.8% rise.”

After a meeting of Council Leaders COSLA

said that the principle that councils should be

able to set their own council tax level should

remain. It is not yet certain that Edinburgh

Council will freeze the rate of council tax paid

in the capital, and other local authorities are

said to be considering the possibility of raising

rates - but that is not without possible penalty.

The council administration has already

allocated funds for their Arms Length

External Organisation, Edinburgh Leisure,

so that it can resume paying its staff the Real

Living Wage and keep all venues open, and also

to continue to pay around £8.2 million into the

Education Budget to avoid cuts to funding to

head teachers for classroom supplies and

school improvements.

VISITOR LEVY

One way that the council believes could

improve its position is by introducing the

Visitor Levy now making its way through

The Scottish Parliament. This could raise more

than £25 million each year. The government

has said money raised would be reinvested

in facilities and services that are “substantially

used by visitors, benefitting tourists and

local economies”.

The Council Leader told The Edinburgh

Reporter: “I have always said that the money

some of that the Visitor Levy should be should

be used to support the responsible growth of

culture in the city. We know that some of their

festivals are struggling.”

But Cllr Day also proposed that some of the

proceeds could for example be invested in

parks. He said: “For example Pilrig Park has

been used for festival performances in the past.

We could use some of the money to upgrade

that park to be one of our premier parks. It

could then be a potential venue for future

festivals, but also an even better park for people

to enjoy all year round. There’s a win for the

growth of responsible tourism and there’s a win

for the local community.”

Man’s best

friend is just

waiting for you

Council Leader,

Cllr Cammy Day

GET IN TOUCH

TODAY!

For advertising and editorial

enquiries please email us on:

editor@theedinburgh

reporter.co.uk

Supporter

Relations

Officer Craig

Burt with Zeus

the pup