Council elections 2022 – SNP launch manifesto calling for a European capital for the future

A core SNP policy in the election manifesto just published will be a congestion charge levied on commuters travelling from outside the city.

This is proposed as one way to discourage those living outside Edinburgh from driving into the city centre. No Edinburgh resident will have to pay, and the revenue raised will be invested into schemes such as park and ride facilities. The SNP also recognise that some people rely on cars and they will set up an Accessibility Commission to find ways to help older and disabled residents use cars in the city.

Building on the progress made and the leadership they have held in the last five years, the SNP promise investment in services that “matter most” and investment in the solutions to climate change and the proposed congestion charge is one of the ways they plan to do it.

The Edinburgh SNP group unveiled their manifesto online today, choosing not to field large groups of would-be councillors posing for the cameras as other political groups have done. Instead the 36 page document is published as a guide to what will happen if the SNP group are returned to power in the capital. There is a lot in it arranged under various headings from Housing to Transport, play parks to social care, waste collection to parks and antisocial behaviour.

The message the group wants to give is that they will be working to create a modern European capital – one which is affordable, liveable, and sustainable. The SNP have been in power for the last ten years along with the Labour group in Edinburgh. Now they are fielding 25 candidates the 17 wards across Edinburgh. Four sitting SNP councillors are standing down for one reason or another – Ethan Young, Alisdair Rankin, George Gordon and Ellie Bird.

Their list of candidates is they say gender balanced and is “the strongest team they have ever put forward for election”.

We spoke to SNP group leader, Adam McVey about the manifesto and you can listen to that conversation here.

The programme which the SNP intend to put to voters in Edinburgh includes:

• Reaching net-zero by 2030, fifteen years ahead of the Scottish target and twenty years ahead of the UK.
• An almost £3billion programme of council house building, refurbishment and repair to boost supply and address heating costs and damp.
• Rent controls in the private rented sector to ease the cost-of-living for tenants.
• Planning mechanisms to return holiday lets to ordinary use and boost supply of private rental homes.
• Helping residents retrofit homes with a new Green Deal, including financial help and other support for insulation and district heating.
• £10million more on waste and recycling, especially street cleaning with new teams tackling trouble spots as well as fly-tipping and graffiti.
• Planting 150,000 more trees and aiming to have a million trees by 2030.
• Reducing rush hour commuting into the City of Edinburgh from outside the local authority area by creating a congestion charging zone at the boundary.
• £120million for maintaining roads and pavements.
• An approach to cycling based on closing gaps in the existing network with permanent, high-quality routes that are separated from motor traffic throughout the journey.
• An education investment programme comprising new schools and investment in all existing schools to improve quality and expand where needed.
• Progressing plans to extend the tram service north to Granton and south to the BioQuarter.
• Introducing a tourist tax.
• Setting up an Accessibility Commission, appointing an independent chair and working with them to recruit a diverse group who can ensure disabled people are at the heart of considerations when delivering the council’s programme.

Cllr McVey said to The Edinburgh Reporter:”There is going to be a lot of change. The people of Edinburgh really deserve a council that works for them, that puts them at the heart, tackles the big issues that we need to, reduces poverty, helps people to take advantage of the opportunities in our city, fights climate change and improves our core services. But at the heart this city is the best city in the world. We think that and we have thought that since forever. But we need to make it better.

“That is going to require change and we offer that. We offer I think one of the boldest most ambitious manifestos and one of the best set out, if you look a some of the specific actions that we’ve got in specific areas of council services I think we are laying out our plans very clearly to the people of Edinburgh.”