- Name – Frank Ross
- Political Party – Scottish National Party
- Ward Corstorphine/Murrayfield
What is your story?
I first became a Councillor in 2012 following a very successful career in the private sector running several large organisations and specialising in business turnaround. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
I entered politics as I wished to put something back into my community and believed that the skills and experience that I had built up over my private sector career would be beneficial to the city council, taking an 80% drop in earnings to do so.
I was first appointed Economy Convener following the death of Cllr Tom Buchanan and I served for three and a half years before being appointed SNP Group leader and Depute Leader of the Council.
As a councillor I have served on the boards of several council companies (including Marketing Edinburgh and the Edinburgh International Conference Centre) and was instrumental in delivering the St James Quarter development for the City. I was political lead on the Edinburgh Guarantee and regarded by business as the go to politician when they wished to engage.
When I was re-elected in 2017 with an increased first preference vote I was appointed as Lord Provost which is a great honour and privilege.
In this role I have led our international engagement through our twin city network, Eurocities and the strong Consular corps in Edinburgh. I supported business and academia in their developing contacts in China, and have built on the work of my predecessor developing the civic life in Edinburgh, and specifically developing inter faith relationships in this context. I have worked with many local groups and charities across the whole city to promote their individual programmes – currently I am chair/president/patron/member of over 90 organisations in my role as Lord Provost). I have been president of the OneCity Trust enabling more than £600,000 to be distributed to citywide groups over the last five years, and I led on the Edinburgh 2050 vision project, chaired the Lord Provost’s commission on Veterans in the City.
What are the main issues you will campaign on – both as a party and personally?
The party focus on eliminating poverty, achieving net carbon zero and providing affordable housing are ongoing works that will require specific focus over the next five years.
Central to this, given the resource constraints that we know we will face, is to utilise the power, in conjunction with our own considerable resource commitment, of the private sector to the benefit of the City. Specifically we need to ensure that all business delivers on the real living wage and eliminates zero hour contracts.
Job opportunities and training need to be available to all, but specifically those furthest from the job markets. To that end we need to seriously consider re-establishing our dedicated Economic Development function – a specific request of business in order that they have a single point of contact.
The private sector also has the resources and the interest in supporting the building of affordable and, more importantly, social housing. We need to find an effective way to harness this resource and bring it to bear for the benefit of the City.
Low Emission Zones need to expand across the city, and the issue of single occupancy cars entering the City needs to be addressed.
Personally, I will continue to focus on supporting all the constituents in my Ward. I have a particular focus on delivering a community centre, which we currently lack, and will focus on the Community Asset Transfer of Westfield House in Corstorphine.
The large concentration of housing built in the West of Edinburgh is a real concern for the residents of Corstorphine/Murrayfield and I will continue to work to ensure that the correct level of infrastructure is provided eg public transport, schools, health centres etc. I will also be working to ensure that these developments do not increase the levels of traffic through the ward with resultant noise and air pollution issues.
Community Councils are an important part of our democratic environment and we need to work with them to develop a framework whereby both resources and responsibilities can be devolved to them in a meaningful way.
What do you consider to be your or your party’s achievements or legacy during the last council session?
Edinburgh currently leads the country in delivering additional affordable housing and has laid a strong foundation for further delivery.
The way the the Covid pandemic has been handled over the last two+ years has been exceptional. Our focus on continuing to delivery basic services to maintain a societal structure is a tribute to the hard work of everyone in the Council but in particular those at the front line of service delivery.
New school build and refurbishment of existing schools has ensured that pupils are receiving their education in top facilities. The roll out of IT hardware to pupils has been a success in addressing the digital gap which has appeared in education over the last years.
There is a report prepared for the March council meeting providing much more detail in this regard.
Personally, I have worked hard to deliver the much need pedestrian crossing at Kaimes Road and the community café and accessible toilet in Roseburn Park and I am delighted that funding for both has now been secured and work underway.
I believe that I have worked well with my community councils and focused on delivering the issues that they have raised for the benefit of the local community.
In my current position of Lord Provost I have managed to balance that civic role, the role of Lord Lieutenant and that of a ward councillor, despite the totally different challenges that these bring.
What is the thing that few people would know about you?
I have been selected to tour Canada in 2023 as a member of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
