Readers' letters: Relief at removal of parking levy threat

Workers in Edinburgh will no longer have the prospect of a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) threatening their jobs.

Business will no longer have to contemplate moving outside the city or face crippling WPL bills.

The SNP, which ran the City of Edinburgh Council in a coalition with Labour said, before the May elections, that they would introduce WPL.

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However, in a surprise move Labour changed sides and with the Liberal Democrats and support from the Conservatives, seized control of Edinburgh Council and quickly confirmed that there was no prospect of WPL being introduced

Even better, a Labour source confirmed that no Labour local authority has any inclination to impose WPL. The Greens will not be pleased.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.

Scotland’s hands tied on energy deals

Alastair Murray misunder-stands the offshore wind auction (‘Scotland’s energy deal was a poor one’, letters, May 31).

As Scotland’s shoreline is owned by the Queen, the Scottish auction was run by the Crown Estate Scotland, an independent entity whose income passes to Scottish Government via a Consolidate Fund.

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The auction was for a ten-year lease, not a sell-off of assets. Energy policy is reserved to Westminster and the much higher grid connection costs imposed on Scotland by Ofgem mitigated against the bid price from developers when compared to England.

It will take a decade or so to see the results in terms of power as the first off-shore turbines are not expected to be active until about 2030.

The benefit to Scotland’s economy in terms of job creation and infrastructure development will be around £24-£25 billion. With the borrowing powers of a normal country, an independent Scotland could have done things differently by entering into joint venture schemes with developers.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh.

Funding cuts must not harm children

The Scottish Government’s resource review, which highlights a spending gap of around £3.5 billion by 2026/27, points to highly challenging times ahead for our public services.

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The Fraser of Allander Institute noted that councils will see real term cuts of 7 per cent between 2022/23 and 2026/27, the implications of which are highly disturbing for those with additional support needs (ASN) who we support.

Those with ASN make up around a third of our children and young people, including autism, dyslexia and mental health problems, many of whom were already facing considerable barriers to support and not receiving the care they need when they need it.

While we have witnessed a more than doubling in the number of these individuals over the last decade, putting an immense strain on services, there has been a cut in spending on additional support for learning and a slashing in specialist educational support.

Covid-19 has had a further major impact, denying care to many, and with these latest swingeing public service cuts we are potentially facing a ‘lost generation’ of vulnerable children and young people.

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We would urge the Scottish Government and newly elected councils to work together to ensure that those children and young people with ASN are made a priority, able to access the necessary support to allow them to reach their full potential.

Kenny Graham, Lynn Bell, Stephen McGhee, Niall Kelly, The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition.

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