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02/02/24: Community Policing: Maintaining contact.
This is an extract from a 23 Jan 2024 letter to EACC Chair, Steve Kerr, written by Superintendent Samantha Ainslie of Edinburgh Division. The letter follows up on a November 2023 meeting and it gives context to, and information on, current community policing arrangements. Do note the website and Facebook links:
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Resonant with your own comments, I also found the meeting helpful, and I wish to acknowledge at the outset that we enjoy the great privilege of policing with and for our local communities, and that I fully appreciate the role and the support provided by Edinburgh’s Community Councils, individually and collectively.
Please be assured I understand that community policing representation at Community Council meetings is very much sought after and valued, however, as variously communicated, as a consequence of City of Edinburgh Council’s revised funding arrangements, circa 1 April 2020, we have been unable to commit to attending the meetings. Notwithstanding which, should community officers be unable to attend, we have given an assurance that officers will provide a locally focused snapshot report / newsletter, with this arrangement being well-established.
Noting your reference to the reports being uniform in nature, whilst serving an analogous purpose i.e., providing news, updates, useful contacts, an outline of local policing activities and our response to localised issues and themes, the content will vary, quite rightly so, informed by the bespoke nature of ‘place’ and reflecting our diverse communities.
That being said, I thought it helpful to include an outline of divisional scrutiny arrangements, and consequently, each newsletter will now provide the following standardised narrative and easily accessible links:
On a quarterly basis, the Divisional Commander attends and provides both a written and verbal report to Edinburgh Council Culture and Communities Committee, during which scrutiny is provided in terms of the Division’s performance against the Local Policing Plan and other ongoing or emerging issues.
Edinburgh Division Scrutiny Reports can be found:
Item 7.1 - Police Scotland Edinburgh City Division Scrutiny Report April 2022 to March 2023.pdf
This meeting is also freely available/accessible to view live or retrospectively.
Our Local Police Plan 2023-26 outlines our local Divisional priorities and is accessible via the Police Scotland website:
Edinburgh - Police Scotland
Members of Edinburgh Division’s Senior Management Team routinely respond to queries received from Elected Representatives, including MPs and MSPs and constituents’ concerns across a broad spectrum of topics.
From a locality perspective, each of the 4 Local Area Commanders chair local Community Improvement Partnerships and also form part of the membership of Locality Community Planning Partnerships. These fora are focused on addressing local concerns in partnership.
Police Scotland’s Quarterly Performance Report for the Scottish Police Authority, and performance statistics by council and Policing Division, can be accessed here.
As a signpost, Edinburgh Division’s performance data can be found on the ‘Data Div6’ tabs.
Recorded and detected crime data at Multi-Member Ward level, Road Traffic Collision (RTC) data (casualties and circumstances), and Stop/Search data can be found via
https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/how-we-do-it/crime-data/
https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/how-we-do-it/road-traffic-collision-data/
https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/how-we-do-it/stop-and-search/data-publication/
This raw data can be filtered to provide more accessible information, however, crime data is only provided on an annual basis.’
Advice and information, across a range of crime prevention themes, are available on our website Advice & Information - Police Scotland , and additionally, our Senior Management Team, and Road Policing colleagues, provide Edinburgh focused commentary within a regular Edinburgh Evening News ‘Capital Cops’ column. Not forgetting the regular local policing updates provided on our social media channels, including our Facebook page https://en-gb.facebook.com/EdinburghPoliceDivision .
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End/KR
31/10/23: Scheme Boundary Review: Size distribution of Edinburgh Community Councils 2011
Community Council population size; based on 2011 Census.
Leith Central | 25,099 |
Corstorphine | 23,387 |
Gilmerton/Inch | 20,319 |
New Town/Broughton | 18,136 |
Merchiston | 17,834 |
Grange/Prestonfield | 15,700 |
Leith Harbour and Newhaven | 14,580 |
Craigmillar | 13,799 |
Northfield/Willowbrae | 13,235 |
Southside | 13,148 |
Liberton and District | 13,073 |
Stockbridge/Inverleith | 13,052 |
Morningside | 12,788 |
Drum Brae | 12,429 |
Craigentinny/Meadowbank | 12,420 |
Granton and District | 11,813 |
Portobello | 11,581 |
Marchmont and Sciennes | 11,539 |
Gorgie/Dalry | 11,273 |
Tollcross | 10,859 |
Wester Hailes | 10,848 |
Leith Links | 10,351 |
Murrayfield | 9,553 |
Queensferry and District | 9,479 |
Fairmilehead | 9,309 |
Craigleith/Blackhall | 8,920 |
Trinity | 8,721 |
Old Town | 7,875 |
Firrhill | 7,716 |
Hutchison/Chesser | 7,702 |
Sighthill, Broomhouse and Parkhead | 7,568 |
West Pilton/West Granton | 7,509 |
Currie | 7,494 |
Colinton | 7,213 |
Cramond and Barnton | 6,953 |
Stenhouse, Saughton Mains and Whitson | 6,282 |
Craiglockhart | 6,076 |
Balerno | 5,927 |
West End | 5,810 |
Muirhouse/Salvesen | 5,168 |
Drylaw/Telford | 4,563 |
Silverknowes | 4,309 |
Juniper Green | 4,242 |
Longstone | 3,968 |
Kirkliston | 3,660 |
Ratho and District | 3,346 |
Total | 476,626 |
13/10/23: Resourcing a Community Council
A good number of Edinburgh Community Councils presently feel they are in straitened circumstances, low on participants and finding it difficult to meet their support needs on admin and, notably, on IT and media. The City Council and, at a higher level, Scot Gov have a long-declared commitment to the nurture and support of 'local democracy', led by Community Councils. On the context of the now-current Scheme Review, there is every incentive for a Community Council to make clear its concerns, opinions and needs. On the issue of practical support, here is a repeat of part of the 6 August EACC update, which covered the early stage of the Scheme Review.
Resourcing of a community council (2019 Scheme, Paras 11.9 and 11.11):
- Contemporary ‘support needs’ for a well-functioning community council nowadays centre on IT, on website maintenance and repair, on technical assistance with AV equipment for hybrid meetings, all alongside the minuting and reporting of community council proceedings.
- The absence of such support blunts a community council's effectiveness in its core role and its ambition, especially when 'something goes wrong'.
- The need for CEC operational support now goes well beyond 'additional support services/resourcing, such as photocopying and distribution of community council minutes and agendas and (also) free lets of halls for community council meetings', as offered in the 2019 Scheme Review.
- There is a case for a (much) stronger CEC commitment to dependable, core operational back-up of community councils' governance and administration work.
- What new avenues of operational (and financial) assistance can CEC look to introduce in this current Scheme Review?
END / KR
Feb 2021: Websites and Mobile Applications Accessibility Regulations
The Cabinet Office Government Digital Services have issued notification that Scottish Community Councils are subject to The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 under the definition of “bodies governed by public law” and “public sector body”.
It is appreciated that Community Councils will not have been aware of this categorisation and the consequences arising from it. However, the Cabinet Office recognises that many small organisations will not have the capacity to comply with the legislation in the same manner as large scale public bodies, but they do expect you to comply with the requirements. Below are the 3 stages that Community Councils will need to carry out.
Read more: Feb 2021: Websites and Mobile Applications Accessibility Regulations
Apr 2020: Covid: CEC Key Contacts List
City of Edinburgh Council has supplied a comprehensive list of key contacts which can be found HERE
May 2018: Data Protection and Community Councils
On 25th May 2018 the new General Data Protection Regulations come into force.
EACC will be identifying what Community Councils need to know and action they should take to comply. The City of Edinburgh Council has published guidelines and on initial examination these appear to be daunting and honourous. Initial discussions with the author of the guidelines suggests this should not be so and only involves taking basic steps to comply with the regulations.
It is our intention to provide further information which Secretaries and other Office Bearers need to take to ensure compliance.
Oct 2020: The Edinburgh Poverty Commission report launch
The Edinburgh Poverty Commission’s successful final report launch can now be viewed online via this link.
We’ve had a fantastic response to the report, so please do continue to share our links and tweets on social media.
Apr 2020: Covid: General information for Community Councils
Information for Chairs and Secretaries
Planning
The Council’s Planning Service will be restarting certain activities in the coming weeks which will allow more applications to progress. The Scottish Government have been clear that they wish the planning system to continue to function during the lockdown, so that there is a pipeline of consents ready for when construction resumes.
Read more: Apr 2020: Covid: General information for Community Councils