We need more powers to help our complex capital city flourish - Susan Dalgety

The demands on the new Prime Minister are immense. To put not too fine a point on it, the country is in a mess, and Rishi Sunak has just two years to try and fix it before the next general election.

He could start by acting on the open letter this newspaper sent him last week. It called on him to be a “true force for change” and give city-regions, like Edinburgh, the powers to shape their own future.

It was music to my ears. I have long been a supporter of strong local government, not because I was once an Edinburgh councillor myself, but because I firmly believe that our country will only thrive if its cities flourish first.

Like any major city, Edinburgh is a complex conurbation that demands specific policies to meet the needs, not just of today’s citizens, but of those who will live and work here in 50 years’ time.

The trouble is, while Holyrood may be only a few hundred metres down the hill from the City Chambers, at times it feels as distant as Westminster, a few hundred miles away.

Since 2014, the Scottish Government has cut funding to local government by 4.2 per cent. Edinburgh alone faces a budget cut of £77 million next year. And as Audit Scotland pointed out in its recent review, the Scottish Government has not only cut council budgets, but tells councils how to spend much of what little resources they do give them, so limiting their ability to tailor expenditure to meet local needs.

These controlling tendencies mean that Edinburgh struggles to tackle some very serious challenges, like the need for affordable housing and a labour market shortage.

I would like to see the city given more powers to invest in joint ventures with the private sector. A city government must be able to underwrite development, whether it is building affordable housing for long-term rent or the transformation of brownfield sites.

Edinburgh can feel as remote from Holyrood as it does Westminster, with the city needing more powers to help it flourish, writes Susan Dalgety. PIC: CC/Alan Ford.

Edinburgh should also be able to better invest in its people. The city’s education chiefs should have the power to re-design the curriculum to meet the needs of industry – whether it’s AI or hospitality and culture.

We should be able to keep a core national curriculum but expand technical education. As King Charles said recently on the BBC’s The Repair Shop, the lack of quality vocational education in our schools is a “great tragedy”.

The answer to the city’s labour shortage should lie, not with civil servants in Victoria Quay, but with teachers in Liberton.

Key to strengthening local government is leadership. Edinburgh city region would benefit from a directly elected Mayor, a big personality for a big job. Someone who stands up for the city at home and abroad, who can hold Police Scotland and NHS Scotland to account for their performance, who has power to raise local taxes and the responsibility to deliver on a city-region business plan.

London, New York, even Manchester, all have their own directly-elected mayor, so why not Edinburgh?

I doubt if local government is anywhere near the top of Sunak’s priority list, but if he is serious about rebuilding our economy and re-energising our democracy, that is where he should start.