The City of Edinburgh Council met to discuss a range of issues, including motions on health and wellbeing, asylum seeker support, and heritage strategy, as well as several reports and questions on topics from polling districts to fleet vehicle charging. Councillors approved a motion to issue a cross-party statement in support of asylum seekers and refugees, and requested several reports on topics including adoption allowance rates, a potential Pests and Vermin Task Force, and street furniture protocols. Additionally, the council congratulated local individuals and groups on their achievements.

Asylum Hotel Protests

The council agreed to issue a cross-party statement to the press outlining concerns and welcoming new community members. This was in response to a motion by Councillor Jane Meagher regarding asylum hotel protests. The council also requested a report to the Policy and Sustainability Committee within one cycle outlining:

• The council and partners' level of preparedness to respond with support and protection to any increase in intensity of protests or to any violent protests on this issue.
• The steps being taken to protect and enhance community cohesion across the city.
• A public media campaign in Edinburgh to reinforce the importance and benefits of immigration to our communities and to our economy.
• The work done by organisations in the voluntary sector.
• Details of communication and engagement with asylum seekers, such as clear advice on what to do in the event of a risk to safety, explaining which public and third sector organisations would take action, and outlining possible response plans.
• How plans have been developed to be trauma informed.
• Impact for other residents who may be at risk or impacted by events, including but not limited to people of colour, and people living in temporary accommodation.

Supporting Health and Wellbeing

Councillor Alys Mumford raised a motion on supporting health and wellbeing for people in Edinburgh. The council requested that budget proposals prepared for political groups cover spend relating to health and wellbeing, including but not limited to:

• Funding for community organisations to undertake preventative health and wellbeing work
• Initiatives to tackle health inequalities within different directorates, for example housing and education
• Capacity to create a public health function within CEC or in partnership with others.

The motion noted that Scotland's health is worsening, and that the strongest influences on health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, which are the responsibility of the council. It also noted that Public Health Scotland cite the climate emergency as a growing concern which will impact our physical and mental health, and have a disproportionate impact on more vulnerable groups.

Edinburgh Heritage Strategy

Councillor Margaret Arma Graham proposed a motion asking officers to prepare a report for the Culture and Communities Committee in three cycles detailing how a more wide-ranging Heritage Strategy can be developed. This should include recommendations on:

• How the council can create and lead on developing a user-friendly framework of co-operation between the council and Edinburgh's communities, designed to capture, share, and promote our wide-ranging social, natural, and industrial heritage at local and citywide levels.
• Protecting, promoting, and preserving our unique remarkable Industrial Heritage to include our historic brewing industry and iconic structures like the Portobello Kilns as examples; and
• How best to promote, preserve and enhance the natural environments within Edinburgh's parks and green spaces which is a key part of our shared heritage.

The motion acknowledged that the City of Edinburgh has a Built Heritage strategy which incorporates significant information around how we preserve our treasured buildings within Edinburgh's World Heritage Site, and which is regularly reviewed to ensure the criteria for being a World Heritage site continue to be met, and that Edinburgh also has a newly developed World Heritage site management plan which will help protect the buildings within the World Heritage Site.

Adoption Allowance

The council requested a report (within two cycles) to the Education, Children and Families Committee covering several aspects of adoption allowance:

• A timeline of Edinburgh's adoption allowance rates, including the date of the last increase.
• The current number of children receiving adoption allowance in Edinburgh, how consistent this figure is and the projected number for next year.
• The annual cost to the council of providing adoption allowance.
• How much funding is received from the Scottish Government for adoption allowance vs. how much the council currently spends on it.
• How the eligibility criteria and means testing for adoption allowance have responded (or not responded) to rising living costs, including whether thresholds have been updated to reflect inflation and current financial pressures on families.
• The cost to the council of increasing adoption allowance to:
  • Match the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA)
  • Match the average rates paid by other Scottish local authorities.

Councillor Fiona Bennett, who proposed the motion, noted that Edinburgh's current adoption allowance rates range from £58.07 to £118.66 per week, depending on the child's age and means testing, and that these rates have not increased in over a decade, despite inflation and rising living costs. She also noted that Edinburgh's rates are significantly lower than those offered by other Scottish councils, such as North Lanarkshire and Aberdeen, and are well below the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) used specifically for fostering and kinship care.

Pests and Vermin Task Force

The council agreed that the Transport and Environment Committee will receive a report in two cycles setting out how a Pests and Vermin Task Force could be set up to coordinate efforts between the different teams responsible for various elements which will help control pests and vermin in the city, for example pest control, waste and cleansing, environmental health and parks.

Councillor Kate Campbell, who proposed the motion, noted the prevalence of pests and vermin infestations across the city and the particularly devastating impact they can have on people's homes, health and wellbeing, and that often there are multiple approaches that need to be taken, especially where nests are located in public areas and often exacerbated by abandoned waste, overgrown foliage and fly tipping.

The council also agreed that a site meeting will be set up with residents from Niddrie Marischal Grove, ward councillors, council officers from each of the above teams, and the Service Director for Operational Services, to review the situation along the Niddrie Burn and put in place an action plan to tackle the persistent issues they are facing with rats, clear the area behind their homes of fly tipping and set up regular maintenance so these issues do not recur.

Street Furniture

The council requested a Business Bulletin update to the next suitable Transport and Environment Committee setting out any bench removals which have taken place in 2025, and why, by ward. It further requested officers prepare a protocol for the siting, relocation and removal of benches, for approval by Planning committee, within 3 cycles.

Councillor Mumford, who proposed the motion, welcomed the reinstatement of benches at Kirkgate, Leith but noted with concern that these benches were removed without consultation with ward councillors or local groups.

Congratulatory Motions

The council congratulated several individuals and groups for their achievements:

• Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan MacLean on their record-breaking crossing of the Pacific Ocean.
• Inverleith Pétanque Club on achieving its 40th anniversary of playing pétanque in Inverleith Park.
• George Watson's College Pipe Band on their success at the 2025 World Pipe Band Championships.
• The Edinburgh Tenants Federation (ETF) on its 35th anniversary.

Questions

Councillors posed a number of questions to committee conveners and the Leader of the Council, covering a range of topics including:

• Converting the current community grants process (Item 10.1)
• The proposed Greenbank Firework Control Zone refusal (Item 10.2)
• Winter Festivals air pollution monitoring (Item 10.3)
• Voluntary Firework Sales Moratorium Scheme and Associated Marque (Item 10.4)
• Artificial Intelligence Contract (Item 10.5)
• Derelict Sites (Item 10.6)
• Non Domestic Rates on Former Debenhams (Item 10.7)
• Local Authority Early Years (Item 10.8)
• City Mobility Plan (Item 10.9)
• Keeping Place Briefs Updated (Item 10.10)
• Play Park Upgrades (Item 10.11)
• Station Road Parking Restrictions (Item 10.12)
• A90 Bus Priority Measures (Item 10.13)
• Money Spent Tram from Granton to BioQuarter and Beyond - Consultation for Strategic Business Case Development (Item 10.14)
• Safety of Council Heavy Operated Vehicles (Item 10.15)
• Progress Towards Net Zero Edinburgh 2030 (Item 10.16)
• Applications for Primary and Secondary Schools (Item 10.17)
• East Mayfield-Dalkeith Road-Priestfield Road, Southside Newington (Item 10.18)
• Litter Control (Item 10.19)
• Strathfillan Road, Southside, Newington (Item 10.20)
• West Mains Road, Southside, Newington (Item 10.21)
• National Entitlement Cards (Item 10.22)
• Holyrood Park Movement Strategy (Item 10.23)
• Guidance on Supporting Trans and Gender-Diverse Workers (Item 10.24)

• HRA Land (Item 10.25 and Item 10.26)¹

• Quality of Pavement Surface Treatment Works (Item 10.27)

• Advertising and Sponsorship Policy during the Tour De France Gran Depart 2027 (Item 10.28)

• Fire Work Control Zones (Item 10.29)