2021-24 Council Budget Engagement

Overview

Covid-19 has changed all our lives – immensely, and abruptly. The past few months have been incredibly tough for us all, and there continues to be great uncertainty about what will happen next.

The pandemic’s impact has also shone a light on the health of our people and planet, highlighting the need to protect and support the most vulnerable in our communities.

As we each continue to navigate the challenges and changes, likewise we at the Council are having to refocus and potentially redesign our services for a post-Covid Edinburgh – and we need your help.

Our priorities

We deliver a vast range of services – more than 700! - to people who live and work in Edinburgh. This year alone, we will spend more than £1 billion on services and investing in our priorities.

We’ve committed to ending poverty and becoming a net zero carbon city by 2030, while improving the wellbeing of our whole city. Now, more than ever, we must hold on to these commitments.

The challenge

Responding to the pandemic has seen people pull together across communities. Council staff too continue to pull out all the stops to keep essential services going and support the most vulnerable through these unprecedented times.

But this all comes at cost – greater demand on services, higher costs of service delivery and a reduction in our income, through areas such as leisure and transport, has resulted in a £47.5m gap at least in our budget over the next three years.

So, once again, we’re faced with prioritising how we spend our budgets, rethinking how our services are designed and delivered – and where we can make savings.

How you can help

Every year we listen to residents’ views to help us manage our budget and we will continue to call upon the knowledge and understanding we’ve gained from what you’ve told us up until now. 

Now, we need to hear from you again. What services you have valued over recent months and what services and support do you want to see protected? Where do you feel we could do better or where could we make savings with as little impact on residents’ lives as possible – particularly those most in need of our support?

Please take the time to complete this short questionnaire. Your views really do make a difference.