Agenda and minutes

Including any notices of motion and any other items of business submitted as urgent for consideration at the meeting.

Members should declare any financial and non-financial interests they have in the items of business for consideration, identifying the relevant agenda item and the nature of their interest.

If any

The City of Edinburgh Council of 29 April 2021 – submitted for approval as a correct record

Leader’s report

Motion by Councillor Mary Campbell - Deferred Start Funding - referral from the Education, Children and Families Committee

Revenue Budget Framework 2021/26 Update - referral from the Finance and Resources Committee

Edinburgh Integration Joint Board - Contract Living Wage Update - referral from the Finance and Resources Committee

20 West Shore Road, Granton, Edinburgh – Proposed Ground Lease Acquisition and New Lease - referral from the Finance and Resources Committee

By Councillor Macinnes – Clean Air Day

“Council:

Acknowledges that every year air pollution causes?an estimated?36,000?deaths in the UK and that in Edinburgh there are around 200 deaths each year attributable to fine particulate matter.??The World Health Organisation, the UK Government, Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council all recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental health risk we face today, with a particularly significant impact on children’s health.

Agrees that transport is a significant contributor to air pollution in Edinburgh.

Supports Clean Air Day , which is supported by Environmental Protection Scotland and Global Action Plan, on 17 June 2021 and encourages people to leave the car at home and to walk, cycle or take public transport if they are travelling to work or school, or work from home.

Recognises that choosing to walk, cycle or wheel or to use public transport is a highly effective way that individuals can actively contribute to improving Edinburgh’s air quality.

Suggests that residents on clean air day:

1)         Avoid non-essential, polluting deliveries – instead, choose cargo bike deliveries, bundle orders, choose ‘click and collect,’ or shop locally.

2)         Don't idle – if people choose to drive, they should turn off their engine whenever the vehicle is stationary, particularly outside schools.

3)         If people are intending to purchase a car please consider if a combination of sustainable transport choices, including electric bikes, public transport and shared car clubs, could substitute effectively for a car, or whether an electric car, particularly important for those with mobility issues, could be a better choice.

Is committed to improving air quality and encouraging better health and well-being through public transport, active travel and investment in electric vehicle infrastructure as part of a green recovery from COVID-19, and in tackling the climate emergency.

Asks that to mark Clean Air Day the Council uses evidence-based arguments on its social media channels to:

1)         Improve public understanding of air pollution and its sources.

2)         Build awareness of how air pollution affects our health.

3)         Explain the easy actions we can all take to tackle air pollution on Clean Air Day and in the longer term, and thereby help to protect the environment, and our health and that of others.”

By the Lord Provost - Proposal to Sign a Friendship Agreement between Edinburgh City and Kunming City (Yunnan Province)

“Council notes:

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has a long history of working with China and Yunnan in particular, dating back more than 100 years and continuing to this day.

RBGE is twinned with the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), and jointly established the Lijiang Field Station, the UK’s first joint scientific laboratory in China.

RBGE’s living plant collection contains more than 1,600 Chinese species – the largest collection of Chinese plants outside of China, and RBGE’s Chinese Hillside showcases Chinese plants to about 1 million visitors each year.

The fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD) will be held in Kunming, Yunnan on the 11-24 October 2021.

The Edinburgh Declaration will be presented at COP15, and at the parallel 7th Global Biodiversity Summit of Local and Subnational Governments (co-organised by ICLEI and Kunming City government) in Kunming.

The Edinburgh Declaration itself focuses on the critical role of cities, regions and non-state governments for biodiversity conservation – and this itself directly aligns with the green recovery, addressing the biodiversity crisis, and enhancing city environments for the human health and well-being.

This international landmark event will focus on the agreement of a new global strategy for biodiversity for 2021-2030.

RBGE has requested that the City of Edinburgh considers signing a Friendship agreement with Kunming City in support of their ongoing work and that notes that signing a Friendship Agreement between Edinburgh and Kunming City before or at COP15 would add profile to the Edinburgh declaration, and Scotland’s role in international biodiversity conservation.

This Friendship Agreement will provide impetus and visibility to the role of cities and subnational governments in addressing the biodiversity crisis and the climate emergency. The Friendship Agreement would bring additional profile to the Edinburgh Declaration, and also build on, strengthen (and celebrate) the existing collaborative links in biodiversity and conservation between RBGE and scientists in Yunnan.

A Friendship Agreement, linked to biodiversity conservation, and the Edinburgh Declaration aligns directly to the international priorities of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Nature Scot, and Scottish Government. It also aligns to the biodiversity conservation work of Edinburgh City Council.

Agrees to sign a Friendship agreement between City of Edinburgh and Kunming City and instructs the Lord Provost to work with RBGE to do so.”

By Councillor Staniforth – City of Edinburgh Council Rejects Photo ID for Voting

“Council notes:

That in this year’s Queen’s Speech the Westminster government have set out their intention to introduce a photo ID requirement for voting.

That this would only apply to UK wide general elections and would therefore further separate the requirements for voting in Scottish local and parliamentary elections from those for Westminster elections creating confusion as to which paperwork is required for which election.

That following the 2019 UK general election only four people were convicted of voter fraud and that the electoral commission states, “the UK has very low levels of proven electoral fraud.” Therefore there is no need for any further measures to combat electoral fraud, especially if those measures risk voter disenfranchisement.

That there is no form of photo ID currently available for free in the UK and that therefore demanding photo ID to vote is demanding that people pay to vote.

That adding any further requirement to vote will disenfranchise some voters.

That those least likely to have photo ID, and therefore most likely to be disenfranchised by a photo ID requirement, are those under 30, families on low incomes and disabled people.

Council therefore:

Will reject any proposal to be involved in a pilot of photo ID for voting to the fullest extent the law allows.

Will refuse to administer photo ID for voting to the fullest extent the law allows.

Will respond to any consultation on photo ID for voting with an unequivocal statement against it.

Calls on the council leader to write to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary stating Edinburgh City’s objection to voter ID laws and to any law which will disenfranchise Edinburgh’s citizens.”

By Councillor Corbett - Bridges and Investment in Craiglockhart and Colinton Dells

“Council

1)         Recognises that Craiglockhart and Colinton Dells are one of the best-loved green spaces in Edinburgh.

2)         Recognises that restrictions on travel and guidance to exercise locally since March 2020 has hugely increased footfall demand in an area already popular between the Water of Leith Visitor Centre and the Colinton Tunnel.

3)         Notes that for all of that time, and longer, whole sections of path have been closed off because of the closure of two bridges in poor condition – the “pipe” bridge at Katesmill and the bridge near Redhall Mill Weir; and that there is no plan to re-open them.

4)         Notes the bridge failures are the most obvious sign, but not the only example, of the need for investment in the Dells area – also including paths, steps, walls and historic structures; and that the deteriorating condition of this valued blue-green corridor is causing increasing local anger.

5)         Welcomes an offer by Water of Leith Conservation Trust, partnered by local community councils, to marshall a community fundraising effort to tackle the “pipe” bridge which has been closed longest; and that therefore agrees that the council should support that process by providing a detailed specification and cost.

6)         Agrees that action by the City Council is long overdue and therefore agrees that a report be submitted to Culture and Communities Committee in two cycles with proposals to assess and address investment needs in the Dells, with the initial priority to replace the decking on the Redhall Mill Weir bridge to allow it to be re-opened.”

If any

By Councillor Miller - Location of Personal Injury Collisions – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Howie - Public Play Parks – for answer by the Convener of the Culture and Communities Committee

By Councillor Howie - RNIB Spaces for People Response – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Webber - Juniper Green Primary School - Road Safety Action Plan – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Rust - Try and Modify – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Rust – Planters – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Rust - Bike Life – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Johnston - 5G Masts – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Mitchell - Spaces for People - Ferry Road – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Whyte - Edinburgh Road Reports – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Burgess - Citizen Engagement with the Climate Emergency – for answer by the Leader of the Council

By Councillor Gloyer – Potholes – for answer by the Convener of the Transport and Environment Committee

By Councillor Booth - Cycle Parking – for answer by the Convener of the Planning Committee

By Councillor Booth - GME Secondary School – for answer by the Leader of the Council

By Councillor Booth - Private Sector Rents – for answer by the Convener of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee

By Councillor Booth - Gaelic Medium Education – for answer by the Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee

The City of Edinburgh Council, is requested under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the public from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

The Committee, under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, excluded the public from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs [xx] of Part 1 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.