Edinburgh Council sets 2016/17 budget
Competition – Culinary Masterclass
Lord Darling of Roulanish makes his maiden speech
Fire Service CPR sessions
Very dear haggis!
The council held a lengthy meeting yesterday when they listened to six deputations, eventually setting the spending guidelines for the next financial year. Despite calls from the Green Group to increase council tax the Capital Coalition proposals to live within a static council tax situation for this next year were passed.
The Capital Coalition claim that local government finance has fallen by 7% in real terms, but while it will work to protect frontline services, around 2,000 jobs will go at the council. It is hoped that the redundancies will be made on a voluntary basis with the enhanced terms that the council already announced. Since the Holyrood budget was announced last month the council has had to make more savings in this budget than previously thought, and now these savings total £85.4 million in the next financial year.
Some libraries and museums will have restricted opening hours but Finance Convener Alasdair Rankin told us he was proud that none would close.
The Edinburgh Reporter NEWS from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
The current administration will set one final budget next January just ahead of the council election in May 2017.
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Our latest competition could take you to Queen Street for a foodie masterclass. Enter now!
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We were reminded the other day that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP for Edinburgh South West, Alastair Darling has now taken his seat in the House of Lords. Now known as Lord Roulanish he made his maiden speech just this week and mentioned Edinburgh during it: “The need for revision and for questioning of the Executive is essential. I live in Edinburgh, where the Scottish Parliament is getting more and more powers. It is unicameral. It was never designed to be run by one party. As that Parliament gets more and more powers, the lack of questioning and scrutiny will become an increasing problem. We should bear that in mind.”
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The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service want you to learn how to save someone who may be having a heart attack.
Station Manager Jonathan Miller writes:
“The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service now has instructional dvds and mannequins which can be made available to members of the public at our fire stations with a view to teaching them how to conduct CPR. This is in partnership with the British Heart Foundation and is in line with The Scottish Government’s pledge to save an extra 1000 lives from out of hospital cardiac arrest by 2020.
“I aim to run two sessions a month (one at Tollcross and one at Liberton, dates to be confirmed) , also, in addition to this my crews could attend any groups interested in this input. The group would simply need a venue with dvd player and screen. The attached gives details of the initiative, and also a poster which can be displayed or perhaps put on respective NP websites. Let me know if you have any questions, thanks, Jon
Jonathon Miller/Station Manager/Response and Resilience/Edinburgh South Central/Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Tel-01312294510 mob-07715808121
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Macsween of Edinburgh, pioneers of Scotland’s national dish, has created the ultimate Burns Night masterpiece this year by unveiling the world’s most expensive haggis. Across the globe, haggis is the star of any Burns supper, but this year Macsween has taken the dish to a new level and created a culinary treasure fit for royalty.
With a price tag of £4,000, the gastronomic showstopper has been handcrafted to the unique Macsween family recipe but with an infusion of rare ingredients, painstakingly sourced from Scotland and the far corners of the earth. The list includes Highland Wagyu beef, raised on a Perthshire farm where all cattle has its own name; white summer truffle from France, considered ‘diamonds of the kitchen’ by chefs the world over; and black pepper (tellicherry) from India, which can only be grown at a latitude of 2,000-3,000 feet above sea level. For extra decadence, the haggis comes with edible 24 carat gold to sprinkle on top.
The luxury haggis is available by commission only.
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
