Exclusive:Should Edinburgh get extra funds to deal with the festivals and royal visits?
Miles Briggs MSP says the capital needs more support to deal with large gatherings.
Scottish ministers are being told to allocate extra money to Edinburgh to help it deal with the extra pressure of the festivals and royal visits.
Miles Briggs, Conservative MSP for the Lothians, says a capital city supplement needs to be reintroduced in Scotland to make sure Edinburgh is able to cope with the growing pressure large gatherings put on its public services.
Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “The council, the health board, all public services in Edinburgh are costing more and there is more pressure on them than ever.
“As a capital city we have a lot of additional duties with huge public gatherings like royal week and the Edinburgh festivals, yet Edinburgh is the lowest funded council and health board per head of population and there is a housing crisis.”
A capital city supplement was introduced in 2011 as part of the SNP’s budget negotiations - however it has not been continued on.
Mr Briggs said: “I think we need to have a capital city weighting because Edinburgh is struggling with extra pressures with things like litter collections.
“It is time we did a full review of funding for councils and tie that into the wider conversation on fair funding because what’s happening in the city is becoming more and more expensive to deliver.
The population of the Lothians region is expected to grow by 84 per cent by 2033, but Mr Briggs worries the area is not getting the funding it needs because it is seen as a “wealthy” part of the country.
Mr Briggs is due to question Finance Secretary Shona Robison on this idea in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “This year, councils - including Edinburgh - received a record £15.1 billion, up 5.5 per cent in real terms.
“Edinburgh has also had additional funding for its capital city status since 2008/09, currently £9.3m a year.
“From summer 2026, the visitor levy will provide significant new revenue, helping the city sustain and develop facilities and services substantially used by visitors, including managing the pressures of major cultural events and royal visits.
“NHS Lothian’s resource budget increased by 42.2 per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2025/26. Despite this investment we are continuing to work with all health boards to address financial and operational pressures across the system.”
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