Issue - meetings

By Councillor Mumford – Operation Unicorn

“Council:

·       Congratulates officers and the Executive Team for successfully running Operation Unicorn;

·       Notes that as the capital city, Edinburgh was the main focus for mourners wishing to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth in Scotland, incurring significant logistical challenges and costs;

·       Notes that despite careful planning, last-minute changes to Operation Unicorn beyond the control of the council led to considerable extra work and costs;

·       Therefore calls for a report to December’s Full Council outlining the full costs of Operation Unicorn to the council, including but not limited to:

o   officer time, including detail of overtime worked by officers to deliver Operation Unicorn, whether appropriate time has been taken back for this and details of the impact this has had on wider council workplans;

o   costs associated with queuing and crowd management including sanitation, policing, and security;

o   details of overspend for Operation Unicorn, including costs incurred due to unplanned elements of Operation Unicorn, for example the change from train to plane travel and associated road closures.

o   where possible, separation of costs incurred for the facilitation of mourning Queen Elizabeth and for the proclamation of King Charles III

·       Additionally calls for a report to Finance and Resources Committee within 3 cycles outlining the costs associated with future planned visits from Charles III or other members of the monarchy that will be incurred by the council over the next year and whether this is covered in full by the Capital City Supplement;

·       Further asks for detail of equality impact assessments undertaken – both formally and informally – relating to activities surrounding Operation Unicorn, especially concerning the impact on access to the city for disabled people and older adults, and safety for women;

·       Finally, instructs the Council Leader and relevant Executive Staff to raise the costs of Operation Unicorn with the Scottish and UK Governments to: ascertain whether any funds will be received by the council towards this; make requests for this if not; and report back to all members on the outcome of this request.”