Council splashes out on new beginning

Services for pensioners and vulnerable children will also be boosted, while dozens of extra police officers are set to be recruited.

The budget has been unveiled following a year of cutbacks as the city council struggled with a financial crisis.

But having finally balanced the books, the ruling Lib Dem/SNP administration says it is now able to start afresh in April with an increased grant from the Scottish Government and plans to clawback millions more from a crackdown on bureaucracy.

Council tax levels will be frozen as expected, and city leader Jenny Dawe also indicated for the first time her willingness to freeze rates for the subsequent two years, providing the Government offers adequate compensation.

The administration's first budget – due to be adopted at a special meeting today – does still include cutbacks, including plans to axe community learning staff, force individual schools to make efficiency savings and do away with the popular GO4IT and Play4it school holiday schemes. But other savings, such as slashing grants for charities and voluntary bodies by 870,000, are set to be largely dumped. Some organisations will still see their funding cut, though the majority – including the Gorgie City Farm – will be safe.

The budget also includes:

21 million to meet the funding shortfall for a revamp of the Royal Commonwealth Pool.

A record 60m over three years for roads, pavements and streetlights – a rise of 4m a year.

6m to help get a refurbishment of the King's Theatre off the ground.

3m for between 80 and 90 new Edinburgh police officers.

19m over three years to repair broken school windows, roofs and other facilities.

13m extra funding for vulnerable members of society, including children in foster care, adults with learning disabilities and pensioners.

&149 A promise of 33m over six years towards the refurbishment and rebuilding of five new schools.

The city council's finance leader, Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, said the proposals would help reverse years of decline in the city's schools, roads and sport venues.

"This council needed to get its finances back on an even keel, and we have made huge inroads with that in our first budget," he said.

"However, I'm delighted we've still been able to announce new investment in some of the city's most valuable facilities."

Councillor Dawe, the Lib Dem leader, said critics who predicted the coalition would not survive have been "proved wrong". She said: "Despite tight constraints, this is a milestone budget for Edinburgh, created in the best interests of Edinburgh residents.

"We are looking after our city and the people who live in it, especially some of our more vulnerable citizens."

At one point in the past year, the council's financial crisis had become so bad, there were warnings of a 25m overspend – with no money in the reserves.

The administration said its increased investment will be possible thanks to a crackdown on bureaucracy and waste – expected to save around 25m – on top of a "better-than-expected" cash deal from the Scottish Government.

The health and social care department will benefit from one of the most significant cash boosts, with 13.3m designed to provide more foster care places for children and pay for more home helps and care home places.

In the education budget, five schools included in the "third wave" of major upgrades – Boroughmuir, Portobello, James Gillespie's High Schools, St John's Primary and St Crispin's Special School – will be allocated 16m in the three-year capital budget, with a promise of a further 17m over the subsequent three years.

However, 12 major school development projects worth 6.7m will be "deferred" for an unspecified time, as the Evening News revealed earlier this week.

Also revealed in the News, the council will find 3m for new spectator stands at the Tattoo, and more than 5m for the refurbishment of Glenogle Baths.

The 37m refurbishment of the Royal Commonwealth Pool was facing a funding gap of at least 10m, but this will now be met from the council's capital budget.

The budget also includes 1m for a National Photographic Centre, subject to matching funding from elsewhere; 3.5m for a new library at Drumbrae, and a 5m investment in parks, pitches and pavilions. This comes after campaigners, supported by the Evening News, put pressure on the council to improve sports facilities.

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Initial funding to rebuild and refurbish five crumbling schools has been pledged by the council as it bids to persuade the Scottish Government to back the project.

The 16m over the next three years will be supplemented by another 17m in the following three years, accounting for around 20 per cent of the total costs.

Around 19m will be spent to improve schools' "fabric", such as broken windows and leaking roofs – an increase on previous years.

Headteachers will have access to 800,000 to cover increases in energy bills, but they will have to make efficiency savings.

The popular GO4IT and Play4it school holiday schemes will be scrapped, although an additional 100,000 will go to community centres to run local events. No community education centres will close, but learning and development posts will be axed.

ELDERLY AND VULNERABLE

An extra 6m has been earmarked to improve the care of pensioners in the city. The money, which comes on top of usual funding levels, is likely to pay for more home helps, as well as financing care home placements – a turnaround from the cutbacks seen over the past year.

Other plans include an extra 5.8m per year to help vulnerable children, including those in foster or residential care.

SPORT AND LEISURE

FUNDING has been secured in the council budget for a major overhaul of the Royal Commonwealth Pool.

A 21 million investment will fill the cash shortfall for the 37m project, without selling off any land at Meadowbank Stadium.

This will also leave at least 6m for improvements at Meadowbank, with more cash available should the Scottish Government help finance the Royal Commonwealth Pool revamp.

Land could still be sold off specifically to pay for a major redevelopment at Meadowbank.

The Capital budget also includes 5m for the refurbishment of Glenogle Baths, the same amount for parks, sports pitches and pavilions, and 3.5m for a new library at Drumbrae.

ROADWORKS, TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

THE council has pledged to spend 60 million over the next three years on improving roads and pavements.

City leaders described this as a record investment, with figures indicating the current spend is around 16m a year.

About 2.4m over the same period has been earmarked for cycling, walking and safer streets, alongside 3.9m for street lighting repairs.

In the transport budget, there will be a reduction in cash for two supported bus services – Lothian Buses number 18 and 13 – but the number 38 route will have an increased frequency.

Scottish Government cash of around 36m is set to help increase the supply of affordable housing, with another 32m used to upgrade the city's housing stock.

FESTIVALS AND CULTURE

THE Edinburgh International Festival is to receive a cash boost, with an increase of around 160,000, taking the council's contribution to 542,000.

Funding for the Winter Festivals will remain at around 800,000, but an additional 200,000 will be put aside for other festivals.

Around 6 million is to go towards a revamp of the King's Theatre, which is designed to attract investment from other sources in a bid to secure a 20m overhaul.

Plans for new 15m spectator stands at the Military Tattoo will be boosted by a 3m council contribution, and 1m will be set aside for a national photographic centre in Edinburgh, subject to similar funding being found elsewhere.

Around 115,000 will pay for additional staff to allow for museums in Edinburgh to open on Sundays.

The Inspiring Capital brand is to continue for another year, with funding of 350,000, despite reservations about its effectiveness from some councillors.