Hello Governance Team.

Again, congratulations on taking the election programme close to the finishing line.

The EACC Members Board met yesterday evening to discuss the election results. I understand you have planned for Saturday 26 April an in-person 'induction' event, offered to two persons per community council, with two online sessions (offered to all) then scheduled for 28 and 29 April. While 39 community councils have taken shape, the election outturn is not an especially strong one, albeit better than feared on 26 February, one day before the nomination closing date. Recognising that, we would respectfully offer the following observations:

1] It is absolutely important that the new community councils get off to a well-supported and inspiring start. A live, collegiate, 'get to know one another', introductory event is the way to go. But you need more than one event to overcome the 'two representatives per community council' bar. The Members Board asks you to make provision for two additional live meetings so that as many community councillors as possible can hear and feel a positive, uplifting story to the undertakings they are about to assume.

2] EACC has a part to play in that story. It is an integral part of the build-out of the community empowerment and engagement initiative, led by CEC Andrew Field and his team. Accordingly, the Members Board requests a participatory role for EACC in the scheduled induction events alongside Governance, to be in the position to add further perspective to community council work at this time and to point to EACC as an important networking facility for all community councillors.

3] With that in mind, I would ask you to offer at your earliest convenience an advance notice of the intended shape of the induction events - what is being covered by whom and which Ward councillors will be in attendance. EACC would wish some 'air time' over the course of the proceedings.

4] A community councillor's role is a formal one, within a legislative framework. You are aware, nevertheless, that the bureaucratic 'formalities' to be observed in community council procedures are a source of exasperation to many participants. While these have to be recognised, they must not dominate the tone or mood of the induction events. Be very careful not to suck the energy from the new community councils at the very outset. Quite a number are thinly-staffed, at or close to quorate level. Let's not have community councillors come away from the induction meetings with the dominant feeling being that they have bought in to an administrative quagmire on reporting and on engaging co-opted assistance. It wouldn't take many people to walk away to put their community councils under real pressure right at the start of term.

After a number of difficult years, there is the opportunity to set community councils off on a stronger footing. EACC earnestly wishes to work with all CEC divisions to that end. EACC asks to play a part at these induction events to further that intention. We look forward to hearing from you.

On behalf of the Members Board

Ken Robertson, EACC Secretary.

(cc Douglas Tharby, EACC Deputy Chair)

(PS: Of the 39 CCs which have formed, 11 are at 'minumum' quorate level, or 'minimum plus one'. Can you send me the breakdown from the 2019 elections for the purpose of comparison?)

Community Council Promotion and Elections on 27 March 2025

The City Council promotional flyers somewhat blandly style the elections as a chance to ‘make a difference for your community’. In truth, it’s about putting balance back into ‘local democracy’. It’s about putting a considered check on elected Ward Councillors and on City Council managers. Their priorities, joint and several, are not always the here-and-now priorities of your local community. Their conversations, joint and several, can leave your community way out of touch. Your ‘place’, your ‘space, your neighbourhood amenity, get left behind. As a city resident, you have a community voice by right. You have to use it - or lose it.

You want to take up a position on your community council? Go to this City Council website as a starting point: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/community-planning/community-councils/2

On this page (Section 2), you’ll see that you can take a position as an Elected Member (EM) or as a Nominated Representative Member (NRM) of a properly constituted Local Interest Group such as residents’ association or a local voluntary or amenity association. Each community council has an allocation of EM and NRM seats (in the ratio of 2:1). Under a sitting Ward Councillor as Election Returning Officer, EM and NRM candidates are appointed to fill their quota. If the candidate numbers exceed the EM or NRM quota, appointment is by CEC-arranged ballot on the 27 March.

Make a note here. To cover the fine detail on election and appointment procedure, you have to get to grips with the governing documentation for the framework for community councils. This is the Scheme for Community Councils (‘the Scheme’). There is a link to this document towards the bottom of Section 2. The appointment process for EMs begins at Para. 6.1, and for NRMs at Para 6.15 (continued in Schedule 2 to the Scheme).

Make another note. Be clear on the eligibility requirements for EM membership (resident in your community council area and named on its Electoral Register) and for NRM membership (active involvement in a local interest group registered with City of Edinburgh Council). You'll see there is related provision for the appointment of young people aged 16 and 17. 

You just might be in some doubt on where your residence is with regard to your community council. On the City Council website, move forward to Section 3; scroll to the bottom to look at the directory of community councils and to the interactive map of community councils.

Section 3 also sets out the election timescales. The nomination papers will be published on 5 February. I expect them to be made available on the website that we are looking at here. They have to be returned by 27 February, completed by you and by a Proposer and a Seconder who are on the Electoral Register for your community council area. (Self-nomination is not permitted.)

You may have to name your community council to download the nomination papers specific to it. There will be detail to fill in. You may have some running about to do. You want to take a decent look at the Scheme document itself. Community councils are a serious undertaking, operating by way of government legislation with statutory undertakings. All-in-all, the time window for all of this is quite short.

At this point, a good number of Edinburgh’s community councils are under existential pressure. Retiral and attrition of existing members along with low public awareness and a wider apathy together put the future of some community councils in doubt. They must have a minimum number of appointed EMs to be quorate and viable. In terms of Edinburgh's community councils as a third leg of ‘local democracy’, this is surely a case of ‘use them or lose them’. You could make all the difference!

Ken Robertson, EACC Secretary, 31 January 2025

Notice of election 5 February

Nominations close 27 February

Election 27 March

New Community Council Term 28 March

Promotion of elections

1) CEC-led ‘drop in events in local libraries.

See the current programme on the Council website.

Community Councils – The City of Edinburgh Council >>> Community Council drop-in events.

Can you take part in these alongside Council Officers?

Can you arrange your own promotional / awareness events over December to mid-February?

What promotional assistance do you need?

2) Active Promotion.

On 22 October, CEC Governance gave some detail on how they could help (individual) community councils raise their local profile. This is alongside the more general 'awareness programme' which the Council is now embarking on. Further information emerged on 12 November in response to some specific queries. Governance can assist with printing and the provision of promotional materials (by way of the CEC Print Unit, for example). You can also get advice and guidance on promoting your community council on social media (Facebook, Instagram). Governance can offer a 'tool kit' which includes draft social media graphics and posts and also draft newsletter content. There is a listing of local media organisations and local community publications that you can contact to get your own election message into the neighbourhood.

The detail offered by Governance is well worth looking at. Go to the EACC site and to EACC Papers >>> Community Council Support . (The link is here:  http://www.edinburghcommunitycouncils.org.uk/index.php/eacc-papers?folder=Community%2BCouncil%2BSupport ) Select the 22 Oct 24 and 13 Nov 24 files to download.

From CEC Governance (4 November) in relation to a community councillor query:

"Is there any real point or value in a CC?

We consider community councils to play an important role in grass roots local democracy.   As well as representing their community to the City of Edinburgh Council, community councils have the opportunity to undertake a wide range of activities and events to  enhance the well-being of the areas they represent and promote the individual identities of their community.

The Council values community councils and the Lord Provost has recently committed to formally recognise and convey the Council's gratitude for all the work and service given by Community Councillors to their local communities and the City of Edinburgh before the current Community Council term concludes.

What can a CC achieve or influence with CEC and does CEC listen and act ?  

Community Councils provide a key role within their local communities providing a wealth of local knowledge and experience that the Council can tap into to deliver better services. Community Councils understand their local needs better than anyone and the Council will make better decisions when community councils are engaged with the decision-making process. The Council, working in partnership with community councils will help to plan and deliver better local outcomes.

Community councils have a statutory right to be consulted on local planning issues. The City of Edinburgh Council’s Planning Service sends out a weekly list of all planning applications submitted. While there is no statutory requirement for local authorities to consult community councils on licensing matters, community councils are considered as ‘competent objectors’. Community councils may appoint representatives to attend meetings of the Licensing Board and speak in support of objections.

The public including all Community Councils were invited to provide their feedback during the statutory consultation of the Scheme for Community and Councils and their boundaries which ran from August 2023 and closed on 21 August 2024 with the results reported to Council on 26 September 2024.  The Governance Team noted specific feedback received from you relating to proposed boundary amendments which were consulted on and subsequently taken forward along with a scheme amendment enabling Community Councils to determine their own names.

In this CC's experience much effort put into matters with no positive outcomes.  

We were sorry to hear that you do not believe that your community council has achieved any positive outcomes. The current financial environment in the public sector is difficult, with maintaining services a significant achievement never mind, improving services and outcomes. One key method of delivering better services and outcomes in times of financial difficulty, is closer partnership working including community councils. This is a key aim of the Chief Executive, and the Council wishes to work with Community Councils and other partners to identify how it can better work together to improve the City.    

Please note that we have no local drop in point nor local meeting facilities in our area unless we rent a room at the Church hall

We understand that Community Councils are able to make use of community centres in Edinburgh to hold meetings albeit they may not always be in specific Community Council area’s.  If you are interested in exploring this option further then please contact Community Empowerment and Engagement via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "

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:

<<<

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 .

>>>

End/KR

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

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.

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.