Independents cry foul as more than 40 councillors set to be frozen out of decision making at Edinburgh Council

The council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee will take on the powers of full council until September 1.

Clockwise from top, Lesley Macinnes, Adam McVey, Cammy Day and Kate Campbell all sit on the Policy and Sustainability Committee.

A select group of senior councillors are set to take over control of Edinburgh as plans to change the way the city is run are outlined.

Edinburgh City Council’s Leadership Advisory Panel (LAP), which is made up of the leaders of each political group, is set to pass a report which will see the council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee (P&S) replace full council until at least 1 September.

Such a move will see 43 councillors, including the Lord Provost, frozen out of decision making, with three independent councillors in the Edinburgh Party of Independents (EPIC) left with no democratic voice at all.

The council said the recommendation has been made due to the emergency nature of the COVID-19 crisis and the technological barriers to holding a virtual full council meeting.

It added a return to normal would have a direct and negative impact on front-line services due to council resources being stretched and “under considerable pressure”.

If the report is approved, planning decisions will be made by the reconvened Development Management Sub-Committee from 1 May, the Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee could be reintroduced by mid-June, with other executive committees including Culture and Communities and Education being reinstated from 1 September.

Such a decision would mean no full council meeting until at least September, with P&S meeting once a fortnight, meaning the majority of councillors will be frozen out for the equivalent of eight full council meetings.

Gavin Barrie, secretary of EPIC, said the situation was unacceptable.

He said: “It is just a ridiculous situation. I can understand why they are reducing the size of committees but what I can’t understand is that some of us will get no ability to influence or question the administration for the equivalent of eight full councils.

“By anyone’s determination having no voice whatsoever has got to be unacceptable.”

However, a council source blasted the group for “moaning” and said: “If EPIC members wanted a voice, perhaps they should have remained members of the political parties that they stood for and were duly elected by the public instead of resigning and taking the huff.

“Instead we see the same moaning and griping of self importance rather than concentrating on the real issues that we are all trying to cope with during this national emergency.”

EPIC could see themselves represented on P&S however if a planned Conservative motion is passed at LAP on Thursday.

Conservative leader Iain Whyte added that they also wanted to see the Lord Provost involved in proceedings.

He said: “Given that this is replacing the full council we will be looking at ways of including the Lord Provost in the committee and whether that is possible.

“We think that is important and we need the city to bring its civic head and civic nature into the recovery phase, and having the Lord Provost involved will be really helpful.

“We also believe committees should be proportionate to the makeup of the council. that is a principle long held by the council and we should be restoring it at the earliest opportunity.”

Deputy leader of the council, Labour’s Cammy Day said: “It is disappointing that the Tories are unable to trust their own leader to make decisions on their behalf during these emergency times, nor have they made any suggestions about changing committees or who should them at any previous discussions.”

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Our focus remains Edinburgh’s response to the emergency situation, providing important front-line services to support our most vulnerable residents.

“At this time, with lockdown measures still in place, it’s unrealistic for us to return to business as usual and I hope people appreciate why this is the case.

!However, we do understand the need for enhanced scrutiny and broader political involvement in decision-making so we are working on a phased approach and this will begin with the reinstatement of our Policy and Sustainability Committee.

“This will increase the number of elected members currently involved in direct decision-making to 17. We will then phase in the other committees as soon as possible, starting with the Council’s main scrutiny committee - chaired by an opposition member.”

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