Fantastic news for Edinburgh residents means that your Council has the lowest Council Tax for any city in Scotland

YOUR Council Tax bill will only increase by 2.3 per cent this year.

This fantastic news for residents means that Edinburgh has the lowest Council Tax for any city in Scotland and the rise was one of the lowest in the country.

And there is never a moment (as you will see below) – day or night – when we are not working for you. The increase means a band D level of £1,152 – equivalent to an increase of £26 a year or 50p a week.

Careful budgeting now lets us:

• continue investment in the city’s infrastructure to maintain its ascendancy as one of Europe’s most vibrant and prosperous cities
• maintain our financial stability so that Edinburgh residents do not suffer unreasonable fluctuations in services or the cost of
• Council Tax
• deal with the things that matter to you – clean and safe streets, good schools and caring for the most vulnerable people
• ensure that everyone gets to share the benefits of our growing prosperity.

1

Caring for people with learning disabilities

…an extra £3.7m over the next three years for people with learning disabilities.

2

Tough and effective action against crime

…three new Council-funded teams with six police officers each. Resources amounting to £500,000 a year have been allocated to this, which means an additional 18 police officers in three teams in the city centre.

3

Cleaner and safer streets

…£1m to create four new teams (in addition to the existing one) to clean up graffiti, remove chewing gum and hot wash pavements, seven days a week.

4

Keeping parks, pitches and playgrounds attractive and clean

…a grand total of £5.7m for green spaces. Edinburgh is frequently voted one of the UK’s best cities with cleaner, safer green spaces for people to enjoy.

5

Mending the roads and pavements in local neighbourhoods

…further investment in roads and pavements – £1m revenue per annum over the next three years and £18.7m capital over three years.

6

Equal pay

…some staff, such as home helps and cleaners, may be entitled to compensation where it is found they have been paid less than people doing other jobs rated of equal value, such as waste collection and road maintenance workers. Costs are difficult to predict but the current estimate is £33m for settlement payments and bonus buy out.

7

Huge rise in energy prices

…councils rely on energy to provide key services. We need it for waste collection and recycling. We need heating in our schools, care homes and leisure facilities.  We need it for street lighting and traffic signals. We need it to cook school meals and meals-on-wheels.

8

Operating efficiently

…£2.2m more will be raised by improved performance in Council Tax collection. We aim to be the top-performing Scottish city in 2006/2007.

9

Education

…£230 million will be spent on education in schools. The Children and Families Department is run by 7,100 staff, with 45,582 pupils taught by 3,598 teachers. More than £12 million will be used to continue initiatives under the National Priorities Action Fund including schools in the community, social justice, discipline and ethos, school infrastructure, national qualifications and nutrition in schools.

10

Events

…work on the new wing of the Usher Hall, as part of its £11.8 million Phase II refurbishment programme, will begin in autumn 2006. The iconic concert hall is scheduled to be completed in the winter of 2008 but it will remain open throughout the construction period and will have full audience capacity during the festival season.

11

Recycling

…the recycling target in the city will increase from 20 per cent in 2005/2006 to 25 per cent in 2006/2007. We are supported in this by Strategic Waste Fund money, which will be spent on a range of developments, including a continued expansion in the number of recycling points across the city and on-street paper and packaging banks for 60,000 households.

12

Environmental Health Night-Time Team

…tackling antisocial noise and undertaking food, health and safety and licensing visits, this innovative team has been awarded continued funding for the next two years of more than £1.3 million.

Take the easy way to pay

There is a new, easy way to pay your Council Tax – the Council Tax Payment Card.

We’ve replaced voucher books with the pocket-sized card which lets you pay at local shops and petrol stations as well as Post Offices and Council offices.

More than 130,000 households, who currently use voucher books to pay their Council Tax and non-domestic rates, will be sent handy wallet-sized plastic cards to use instead.

As well as being easier to use, the new card allows you to pay at any Post Office PAYzone or PayPoint outlet in the country. Many of these places are open long hours. The new payment cards cannot be used at building societies and banks.

Easy as the new card will be, there is an even easier way to pay – Direct Debit. You do not have to remember to pay or go anywhere. This means we can collect payments more cheaply and the money we save can be used for other services… and to keep your Council Tax down.

For more information about this scheme and how to set up your Direct Debit, visit www.edinburgh. gov.uk/counciltax or call the switchboard on 0131 200 2000 and ask for Council Tax.