Council housing: 'The 'no' vote is still costing us all dearly'

FIVE years ago Edinburgh City Council was mired in the worst result it had received in a ballot since the congestion charge referendum.

The city's council house tenants had refused to transfer to a housing association landlord, and in the process ensured that 2 billion worth of investment in housing would not be made available to the local authority.

It had been hoped that a "yes" vote would bring thousands of homes in decaying housing schemes up to the levels demanded by the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by 2015 and 310 million of debt would be written off. The "no" vote was, said the politicians, a disaster for Edinburgh.

But there appears to be good news today with the announcement that 30m will be spent next year on upgrading thousands of homes. This comes on top of the demolition of flats unfit for habitation and the start of work building new homes in Gracemount, Sighthill and Pilton.

Yet no-one should be fooled that this is happening without cost. The city council is borrowing millions to do the work. As a result, rents will continue to rise by 2.7 per cent above the Retail Price Index to cover the costs – and a lot of that will be picked up by the taxpayer through housing benefit payments.

Furthermore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has steadfastly refused to wipe out the housing debt, which currently stands at 1.1bn.

While tenants enjoy their new houses or upgraded homes they should realise that their "no" vote is still resonating in the city's coffers and costing us all dearly.

Cell phones

IT is incredibly disturbing to learn that prisoners within the supposedly secure walls of Saughton Prison are still able to apparently threaten and intimidate people through a social networking internet site because they have access to banned mobile phones.

John and Philip Graham are killers yet appear to have easy access to one of life's perks – a mobile phone with a camera function and internet capability.

The Scottish Prison Service and the criminal justice system not only have a duty to lock up the likes of the Grahams, but to protect law-abiding citizens from them at all times – not just when their phone batteries are flat.

It is not the first time the SPS has had to investigate how such contraband is getting into its jails, but it's not enough to say that Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, Brigadier Hugh Monro, has stated his "intention to look at the issue". Action is what is required.