Edinburgh Council treats motorists as Public Enemy No 1 while failing to hit its own targets – John McLellan

Under orders from Edinburgh Council high command, council officers have been prowling the streets to impose the Spaces for People restrictions on driving and parking and then fire-fighting the inevitable outcry from residents.

The Spaces For People project in Edinburgh has proved controversial. (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

An elderly lady with a serious illness called our office in tears last week because the changes have left her isolated, but people like her are just collateral damage as supposedly temporary emergency measures are forced through in a race against the vaccine roll-out which will render such emergency schemes redundant.

As the virus retreats, the SNP-Labour administration’s Public Enemy No 1 is the private motorist, so we are accustomed to their councillors covering their ears and shouting la-la-la when residents and businesses complain bitterly about the disruption.

But contrast the aggressive pursuit of these policies with the laid-back attitude towards failures in other services.

This week a report from the council’s audit function stated that 61 out of 126 commitments, as of October, had missed the agreed target dates.

Thirty key actions should have been completed a year ago, little things like improvements to school admissions policies, homelessness advice, licence fee systems, and third-party contracts. Some of them are in the same department which is responsible for Spaces for People, like the road services improvement plan.

Faced with this litany of, putting it politely, under-performance, the response of the SNP-Labour administration was just to note the report. They are more interested in changing how you lead your life than improving what they do for you.

John McLellan is a Conservative councillor for Craigentinny/Duddingston

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