Yesterday was Council Budget day. I thought it would be useful to outline the budget proposals put forward by the Edinburgh Conservative Group, which are obviously key to outlining how we would like to see the Council operate more effectively going forward.
The fully-funded proposals put forward at the Council budget meeting by my colleague, Conservative Finance Spokesman Cllr Iain Whyte included:
A 1% Council Tax cut;
Details of the £61m wasted by Labour and the SNP when they rejected partnership with the private sector to provide better services and details of how this can be re-instated;
Plans to reduce management layers and unnecessary management posts in contrast to the Council’s increase in posts of over 300 in the last year despite austerity budgets;
An end to the war on motorists and boost for City Centre businesses with a freeze on parking charges;
A trial of powered compacting bins with a view to reducing street litter;
Withdrawal from CoSLA the ineffective councils umbrella group making a considerable saving in future years and mirroring the approach of Aberdeen and Dumfries and Galloway;
Plans for further efficiency savings to reduce the risk of overspends or major cuts to public services in the coming few years.
Additionally, in response to a presentation by the Edinburgh Tenants Federation, the Conservative Group put forward proposals to cap Council rent increases at the level of inflation. Unfortunately, Labour and the SNP rejected this proposal and proceeded with a large hike for tenants.
