Update from Lorna Slater, your Green MSP for the Lothian Region

In March I was delighted to be re-appointed as the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity under the new First Minister, Humza Yousaf. This reappointment follows a party Council meeting where members agreed unanimously to continue with the Bute House Agreement (BHA).

We worked with Council to convene a meeting on the day of the SNP leadership announcement so that members could give a clear steer on how they wanted the party to react to the SNP leadership election.

Patrick and I are very excited to build on the successes of the BHA thus far and deliver even more for the people of Scotland and our environment. Humza Yousaf has made clear that he will continue the vital work that we are doing to deliver for people and planet.

It hasn’t always been easy. You might have seen recently that the Tories in Holyrood tabled a ‘vote of no confidence’ in an effort to remove me. This was simply a political game and a stunt. This was unsuccessful but we know it was never designed to work - it was designed to intimidate me, and it didn’t succeed in doing that either.

The latest polling has the Scottish Greens winning a record number of MSPs in the next Holyrood election - some even say we could win three MSPs in Lothian! We are only growing stronger. As a branch I’m really looking forward to developing an election strategy and a system for selecting and supporting our candidates and delivering a larger MSP group.

I’d also welcome feedback on other formats or communication styles for the month updates to branches or if there is anything else I can do to ensure I’m available to members for questions or discussions.

Ministerial Update

We’re making progress towards a new national park, the Circular Economy Bill has been laid before Parliament and the Natural Environment Bill will go out for consultation over the Summer. We’ve also secured another round of the Nature Restoration Fund and the Recycling Improvement Fund which will be game-changing for Scotland.

Work that everyone will have been watching unfold is that of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, which was due to launch this August. Unfortunately this was rendered inoperable on time after Tories in Westminster refused to grant permission to the scheme under the ‘Internal Market Act’.

The Tories using powers that they awarded themselves after Brexit to sabotage a policy that they don’t like. In doing so they have hugely and irreversibly undermined devolution while costing millions of pounds worth of investment and hundreds of jobs.

The decision to effectively block the scheme will also have a terrible environmental impact at a time when we need to be reducing emissions and taking climate action. It would have been a game changer and would have represented a massive step forward for our relationship with recycling and waste.

A wonderful - and very newsworthy! - visit I want to share is my recent trip to the Isle of Rum. I had a great time visiting islanders and hearing their views on the future of the state-owned Edwardian palace Kinloch Castle.

At COP15, the UN’s Biodiversity Conference I spoke for Scotland on behalf of sub-national governments around the world, pushing for ambitious outcomes, power and resources from all in order to tackle our nature and climate crises.

Co-leader and MSP Update

Our office helps hundreds of people every month with a variety of issues. We have helped constituents fight for over £6,000 of social security benefits from the DWP, helped house homeless families across the Lothians, supported Ukrainian refugees access the support they need, push against vital bus services being cut, and helped over one hundred people with accessing the healthcare they needed coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I could not do what I do without the hard work, support and initiative of my MSP office staff. Kayleigh, who you may also know as Cllr. O’Neill, manages my office ensuring all day-to-day activity runs smoothly. We also have Zayneb, our Campaigns & Comms officer, and our Casework officers Kelly & Nariese.

This month we also said goodbye to Cami who was my Parliament assistant and first ever member of staff. He won’t be going far however as he will now be working full time with our central team and party to do Digital Comms.

As co-leader I had the great privilege of speaking on Calton Hill at the Our Republic Rally. I spoke about the chance to replace them with an elected head of state who can speak up for the powerless.

This year we have started ramping up our local engagement and campaigns thanks to our new Campaigns and Communications Officer. With the help of local councillors we are looking to open up our Holyrood Park work again which will look at old legislation around the city’s historic green space.

In West Lothian we have begun work to help the biodiversity, safety and save the beauty of Linlithgow Loch. Our team have held a number of stakeholder meetings and will be formally engaging with the community very soon. We are also supporting campaigns around bus infrastructure and the work to save Howden Park Centre which is a community theater that hosts local shows and youth groups.

Annual Report 2023 (July 2022 to June 2023)

The past year has seen the branch move much more fully out of COVID-19 restrictions, returning to hosting lots of in person events but maintaining the option for many to be accessed online, with some excellent events and member engagement. At the start of the year we planned a busy programme, foreseeing that this would be an election-free year and of course that was not to be, with an unexpected by-election campaign in Corstorphine - Murrayfield providing an opportunity to build and develop our campaigning capacity in West Edinburgh.

This was the first year of trialling our new branch structure, with a smaller core committee and four working groups (see below). Overall this has worked well and is a model we will continue with, although some groups had limited capacity at times as a result of members dropping out or posts being unfilled from the start of the year. This challenge of encouraging more volunteers to become active on the committee is likely to be an issue again next year.

Despite this, yet again, the committee has done an amazing job of making the branch activities, events, communications and campaigning work really well. We would like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has played a part in this over the past year.

Corstorphine - Murrayfield By-election 2023

The first by-election of the Council term was held on 10 March in Corstorphine/Murrayfield ward. We had an excellent first-time candidate in Chris Young, and the West Edinburgh Greens led an energetic campaign, with a large number of leaflets delivered and areas canvassed for the first time in a ward that we have never previously targeted.

We secured 417 votes, 5.1% of the total. Although this represents a slight fall on our 2022 vote share, this was no reflection on the campaign, and appears to have been driven by a combination of external factors.

Policy and Campaigns

In addition to supporting the by-election campaign and developing new ways of sharing Councillor reports to members, the working group started the process of building capacity for branch members to campaign on local issues, outwith elections. The aim of this is to raise our profile and that of issues we care about, as well as try to achieve specific campaign wins. Following discussion at two branch meetings and with local teams, the overall theme of public spaces was agreed as the first campaign theme, with housing one for future action. Several specific public spaces campaigns were identified and some actions started, although this remains something to build on next year.

Events and fundraising

This year we moved to a mixed programme of some online only events with several branch meetings as hybrid events with an option to attend in person or join online. Our regular venue has the technology to make this possible and feedback seems to be that this works well and is something we should continue.

This year our branch meeting calendar was again very varied - thanks to Mariusz and other members who helped to organise these.

• Our first meeting of the year in July focused on housing, with talks from Patrick Harvie, Living Rent and Cllrs Ben Parker and Alys Mumford, providing a good opportunity for members to ask about the detail of our housing policies

• In September and November we focused on local campaigning, exploring what issues members would like to campaign on in the city. This resulted in a focus on public spaces for this year and interest in working on housing after that.

• Our October meeting gave an opportunity to hear about Green Yes and the Party’s approach to the next independence campaign

• 2023 started with a new members’ welcome event in January

• Our February meeting themed on Unionising Your Workplace was an excellent chance to hear from SGP Trade Union Group members and external speakers, who were able to offer advice and experience

• March was a busy month with a Q&A with Lorna Slater MSP giving members a great opportunity to hear more from Lorna on the detail of her work and a film showing of The Oil Machine

• In April we focused on cooperatives, hearing from a great range of speakers from a wide variety of Edinburgh based coops on how they operate and the benefits of this model

• May saw us focus on the Council’s mobility plan, with time for members to discuss how they would like to see space prioritised in the city’s high streets

In addition to our monthly meetings, committee members have organised a regular programme of Green Walks, which have been really popular as a way for members to explore the city and socialise outwith meetings. A very successful Auction of Promises was also held in December, raising £1200 for the branch as a result of members' generous donations and bids.

Membership and local teams

Our Branch work plan set a target of 2000 members by the end of the year. As of June 2023, the number of SGP members in the Branch was 1981, including 144 in West Lothian. These numbers are slightly down on last year but this may be a result of a clean up to the records by Party staff of lapsed members following the election. From the membership perspective the working group focused on supporting the local teams to contact new members and coordinated the “Getting to know the party” branch meeting in January 2023.

The working group also undertook a ward team survey, supported the branch structure review that is being promoted at the AGM and assisted teams in skills sharing between teams.

Members of the working group also contributed to the Corstorphine Murrayfield by-election campaign, helping the West Edinburgh team with elements like planning delivery runs.

Communications

The quality and frequency of communications this year has continued to be very high, with regular e-newsletters, Green News, a new events calendar and social media output ensuring members and others are well informed about the Branch’s activities. Particular thanks again to Alison and other members of the communications group for all their work on this. Thanks also to our Councillors for trying out some new formats for sharing their monthly reports on their work, which have proved popular with Edinburgh Branch members.

Branch Workplan

At the start of the new committee year, the committee developed a workplan to guide our activities over the year. Actions are designed to help us achieve four aims:

• A. Increase the number of elected Green representatives

• B. Build our movement

• C. Run effective campaigns on our issues

• D. Operate in a transparent, inclusive and effective way

Some key actions that were achieved this year were:

• Drafting an election strategy for 2022-27 (which will be the topic for our July Branch meeting)

• Carrying out a review of branch structure (which has resulted in the motions to be considered at the AGM)

• Carrying out a local teams/member/activist survey

• Creating and promoting a calendar of branch wide Green events

• Identifying two branch wide campaign themes to run to May 2024 (public spaces and housing)

• Writing an MOU for the Branch and the Edinburgh Councillor Group

• Revising the methods of reporting to members by Councillors

Some areas that we have identified as a priority but where we did not make as much progress as we would have liked because of capacity will remain a focus next year. These include:

• Candidate development

• Improving accessibility of our activities

• Delivery of local campaigns

Other Committee Business

Other committee activities over the past year have included:

• Representing the Edinburgh Branch at all National Council meetings

• Holding a workshop to develop our Branch work plan

• Meeting with our Lothians MSP and the Co-convenors of the Edinburgh Councilor Group to ensure good communication

The branch was saddened to hear of the passing of long-standing member Bill Brockie in June. Bill played a key role in building our party in Edinburgh and led a remarkable life. You can read a tribute to Bill’s life from Gavin Corbett here.

Treasurer’s Report

This year it has not been possible to provide a report in advance of the AGM, as the outgoing Treasurer has been unavailable. The committee will work with the newly elected treasurer to ensure proper handover and a 2022-23 report will be made available at a later date.

Rob Gowans and Zoe Clelland

Branch Co-convenors

June 2023

We are pleased to publish below report which showcases what we have done during the last twelve months.

After a very busy period during Edinburgh local elections the branch members were happy to catch their breaths but afterwards got quickly back to work organizing in its local area. Below is a list of our accomplishments.

Elections

At our AGM 12^th June 2023 the following party members were elected to the Sub-Branch committee:

• Co-Convenors: Tara Coldwell Brock and Mariusz Cebulski. Proposer: Fraser May, Seconder Ian McCormick.

• Membership Secretary: Ian McCormick. Proposer: Katy McCormick, Seconder: Tara Coldwell Brock.

• Ordinary Member: Lennie Sefton. Proposer: Susan Rae, Seconder: Mariusz Cebulski.

• Ordinary Member: Nick Gardner. Proposer: Susan Rae, Seconder: Caro Wilkinson.

• Social Media Secretary: Michael Tucker. Proposer: Tara Coldwell Brock, Seconder: Ben Moverley Smith.

• Secretary: Ben Moverley Smith. Proposer: Lennie Sefton, Seconder: Max Wagner.

Expansion and renaming of the branch

The Leith and Leith Walk sub-branch started working closely with the neighbouring Fort ward during the local elections, helping the party gain its first councillor there. Even after the successful election it was realised that the local Forth team still needed help in keeping Green presence and momentum in the area. Because of this the two parties continued to cooperate sharing resources and volunteers. At some point the idea of an official merger started to be discussed. After discussing the matter with our members, councillors and Edinburgh Branch a decision was made that the existing Leith and Leith Walk sub-branch should merge with Forth ward. This has been completed March 2023 with the sub-branch changing its name to North Edinburgh and Leith Green Party.

Meetings

The branch continued to run monthly meetings every second Thursday of the month until this year, when after surveying our members, a decision was made to move meetings to second Monday of the month, as that was the preferred day to meet. With COVID restrictions being gradually lifted throughout 2022, the branch started organizing hybrid meetings and continued to do so. In some cases, the monthly meetings were replaced with social events like litter-picks or pub outings.

Events

The branch organized a stall at Edinburgh Climate Festival and Leith Gala in 2022 and 2023. The most recent Gala was very successful with a lot of visitors asking about our party and taking part in a survey about short term lets.

The branch also started regular litter picks in the area as a way to engage our members, promote the party and help local environment.

Finally, the branch might have taken its first step in direct action when we stopped drivers doing an illegal turn on Leith Walk, alongside other community organizers.

Membership

The membership of Leith and Leith Walk seems to have flatlined at 393, almost the same as it was at the start of this committee's term (390). This is not the full story as the national party went through all membership data in 2023 and removed people not paying their dues and thus no longer members of the party. This means that our last year's membership number was overinflated, which obscures the fact that 56 members have joined since June 2022.Forth ward has 81 members and has grown by 9 members in the last twelve months. The total membership of Norh Edinburgh and Leith Green party currently stands at 474.

The co-membership secretaries Ian and Tara continued to engage new members by sending welcome emails, calling them and organizing new members meetings. They have provided a warm welcome to all members which helped engage them with the party.

Achievements of the membership committee are:

• The committee agreed a job description for the post of membership secretary.

• The membership secretary wrote a new member welcome procedure to ensure a structured approach to contacting new members.

• The membership secretary created a new member tracking form on Greenbox. It is being used to improve new member communications.

• All 57 new members were contacted with at least an email welcome and where appropriate, a phone call.

• A new member social event was organised in May with two new members attending. All new members from January were invited including a hand delivered invitation.

• A Leith and Lieth Walk member survey was undertaken to engage members and find out the type of activities they were interested in and any barriers they faced. The survey received 42 responses (about 11% of membership).

• A report was produced summarising the results of the member survey. Actions taken as a result included re-introducing Green walks, running litter picks, and changing the day of meetings.

• At the start of the year Leith and Lieth Walk sub-branch had 401 members. There are currently 467 members in the combined North Edinburgh and Leith sub-branch.

• The membership secretary gave a membership report at every sub-branch meeting to keep members aware of issues and successes.

Membership goals for this year are:

• Review job description taking regard to other committee positions filled following the AGM.

• Review member welcome procedure in order to improve process and increase the number of new members we speak to.

• Continue to use tracking form in order to ensure that all new members receive an appropriate welcome.

• Consider hand delivering a welcome letter to new members as a matter of course.

• To organise a new member social event every three months.

• Carry out 2023 membership survey in July/August for Leith, Leith Walk and Forth. Review and refine questions in questionnaire. Aim for better response rate.

• Better analysis of the survey in order to encourage greater member engagement.

• Develop actions to increase membership. In particular to organise an invite a friend to join campaign in January.

• Aim for all reports to be written and stored on Greenbox.

Finances

The branch expenses were driven by room hire in Leith Community Center and Out of the Blue Drill Hall (200 pounds) and sending bulk text messages to our members to encourage them to volunteer (83 pounds). We’ve also paid 50 pounds to reserve our spot at Leith Gala but those were covered by donations taken at the event.

Green News

Our party newsletter “Green News” continues to be one of the best ways of spreading our message to voters. We’ve organized deliveries both in Autumn and Spring delivering about 15 thousand leaflets in our sub-branch area.

Councillors and MSP work

The North Edinburgh and Leith Sub-branch is proud to have 3 elected councillors as well as be home to MSP and Scottish Government minister. All four were happy to share their work and achievements from the last 12 months.

Lorna Slater

• • We have now had Greens in government for two years, and there has been some difficult times recently with the DRS and the obfuscation by the UK Government. There is expected to be more tough times ahead with the introduction of new Green policy and the anticipated reaction of the Press. However, to get real change, we just have to keep pushing as a party.

Kayleigh O’Neill

• Portfolio: focus this year on access and mobility. Work has been put into income maximization for the people of Edinburgh, making sure people due income support have the info required. Funding has also been approved for a dropped kerb programme in Edinburgh. This is needed as of 17,000 kerbs which need to be dropped only 50 have been done so far. A policy motion has also been approved that the new city plan will have a gendered lens that puts women at the forefront of policy.

• Ward: this year has mainly been dealing with requests and information on bins, parks, green spaces. Kayleigh also took on the task of doing a dropped kerb audit of her ward.

Susan Rae

• Policy: Susan has been working with councillor Ben Parker on housing policy where they have split the portfolio. Susan has taken on social housing where due to her work £5.5 million has been awarded to fix all the lifts in the high-rise buildings around Edinburgh. Susan has also been in contact with Edinburgh University to try and get a response regarding the university’s housing policy over the summer months.

• Licensing board: Susan has mainly spent her time dealing with licences for short term lets, and dealing with adult entertainment venues, where she will be organising sessions on how to organise unions in precarious working environments.

Chas Booth

• Ward: There has been a great response to the save Pride Bridge campaign, where the council has agreed to find a community solution. The paid parking extension has been underway, and although there have been a few bumps, Chas and the council officers have been working through the issues. The LTN has received a positive response, people are very happy about the reduction in traffic and newfound tranquillity at the shore.

• Planning Committee: There has recently been guidance received on Short Term Lets (STL) planning applications, and it is still difficult to get an STL in mixed areas where it would lower the amenity of the area.

Plans ahead

The new committee will meet soon to discuss the sub-branches committee for the next twelve months. This will include figuring ways of improving membership, getting members involved in our work, planning or campaigns and events.

This motion instructs the Edinburgh Branch to help convene a short-life working group of members to meet with the Green Councillor Group between May 2024 and May 2025 to monitor and evaluate manifesto progress. The Councillor Group has committed to facilitate this process if the branch approves this motion.

Additionally, Edinburgh Branch should approach other Lothian branches and MSP to discuss the possibility of replicating this process for Holyrood manifesto progress and priorities.

Agrees that the Branch Committee and Councillor group will consider how, between them, they can facilitate additional opportunities for members to engage with the work of the Councillor group, and to discuss how the Councillor group can be more open and transparent with regard to their working, beyond current reporting requirements. This might involve Councillors hosting regular sessions to discuss policy / manifesto topics with interested members, or “open” sessions in the City Chambers for people to visit Councillors and learn more about their work, publicised by the Branch Committee.

In the Standing Orders:

Delete references to ‘Local Teams’ in 2.2.5 and 2.2.8

Delete section 3 (Local Teams)

Amend section 4.2 (Sub-Branches Formation and dissolution) to read:

“4.2.1. The formation and dissolution of a Sub-Branch shall be agreed by a simple majority of those present and voting at a quorate and properly convened Branch AGM or EGM.

“4.2.2. If a Sub-Branch is no longer able to meet these standing orders, it can agree with a neighbouring Sub-Branch to merge with that Sub-Branch.”

Delete section 4.3.1

Amend section 4.3.2 to read: “Sub-Branch office bearers shall inform Scottish Green Party members living within the Sub-Branch area of the meetings of the Sub-Branch.”, and move to end of section 4.7 (Office Bearers)

Amend section 4.3.5 to read: “Sub-Branches shall be represented on the Branch Committee sub-group responsible for Sub-Branch and membership support.”

Amend section 4.3.6 to read: “The representative on the Branch Committee sub-group can be any member of the Sub-Branch, and shall be selected at a Sub-Branch meeting.”

Delete section 4.3.7

Amend section 4.7.1 to read: “Sub-Branches are encouraged to elect office bearers, but are not required to do so. If the Sub-Branch elects Co-Convenors, at least one of them must be a woman.”

Amend section 4.8.1 to read: “Sub-Branches will be allocated a proportion of branch funds. The specific proportion will be determined by the Branch Committee.”

Amend section 4.8.5 to read: “Sub-Branches will operate to a budget agreed with the Branch Committee. This may include a proportion of branch funds or fundraising income related to Sub-Branch members.

After section 4.8.5, insert:

“4.8.6. One Sub-Branch office bearer must take responsibility for liaising with the Branch Committee over financial matters. Sub-branches without elected office bearers will not be entitled to control their budget.”

In the Constitution:

Amend section 3.3 to read: “One Branch officer must be nominated to process membership changes, updates and services. To this end the nominated Branch officer will liaise with Sub-Branches and the SGP Executive as required.”

To note the outcomes of a branch structure review, conducted by the Branch Committee, in consultation with local teams and sub-branches:

Minimum base of actions for sub-branches

While the branch will continue to provide support with activities like canvassing training, guidance on how to contact new members and other support and guidance, sub-branches will play a key role in local delivery of branch activities. The following are suggested minimum expectations for the role of sub-branches. These should be considered as guidance, rather than rules, and there is a degree of flexibility about how sub-branches should operate.

• Membership - keeping track of members and welcoming new members.

• Campaigns - delivery of materials, planning delivery routes, know how to organise and deliver a canvassing event

• Communications - help spread work about councillors and MSPs, attend events to increase visibility

Currently, sub-branches are required to hold an AGM and elect at least three office bearers. It is proposed to loosen this requirement, so that sub-branches are encouraged to elect office bearers, but are not required to do so.

Removal of distinction between local teams and sub-branches

Currently the branch has two separate types of local group – local teams and sub-branches. Whilst this distinction was helpful when local teams were being encouraged to form for the first time, now the system has been in place for eight years with an established set of teams, the distinction is no longer as useful. It also creates an additional layer of complexity to our structure, and many members are unclear or confused about the practical difference between them, or what they mean.

It is proposed to remove the distinction, and have one type of local group – sub-branches. All existing local teams (or any future amalgamation of existing local teams, should they decide to merge) should be considered as sub-branches.

The branch standing orders and constitution should be amended to reflect this, by removing the local teams function and making appropriate amendments to the sub-branches section to reflect the proposals in this document. Two further motions are proposed to the AGM to accomplish this.

Financial autonomy of sub-branches

The branch constitution provides for sub-branches to have some financial autonomy, but this has largely not been put into practice.

It is proposed this is achieved by creating a line for each sub-branch in the branch budget that they would have discretion on how to spend (e.g. for room hire for meetings). Expenses and costs would be paid by the branch Treasurer. The specific amounts of each sub-branch’s budget will be decided by the next committee.

It should be noted that the national party constitution does not allow sub-branches to have separate bank accounts.

Mergers of some existing local teams

A number of wards have consistently struggled to establish a local team, despite numerous efforts over a number of years. This is often linked to having smaller numbers of members.

It is proposed to facilitate mergers between some wards in this position with neighbouring local teams (to form sub-branches) with the aim of ensuring active sub-branches in every part of the branch area, who are capable of carrying out the minimum base of actions above. Following discussions, the following line up has been agreed with local teams and sub-branches.

Sub-branches in Edinburgh and West Lothian

To agree that the following are the sub-branches in the branch area:

• West Lothian (all wards in West Lothian council area)

• West Edinburgh (Corstorphine/Murrayfield; Drum Brae/Gyle; Almond)

• North Edinburgh and Leith (Leith; Leith Walk; Forth)

• City Centre and Inverleith (City Centre; Inverleith)

• South West Edinburgh (Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart; Sighthill/Gorgie)

• South Edinburgh (Morningside; Colinton/Fairmilehead)

• South East Edinburgh (Southside/Newington; Liberton/Gilmerton)

• Portobello/Craigmillar

• Craigentinny/Duddingston

To agree that Pentland Hills can be added to one of the sub-branches following further consultation with local members, without requiring a further motion to a General Meeting.

To agree that the names of the sub-branches can be changed by agreement with sub-branch members, without requiring a further motion to a General Meeting.

This motion instructs the Edinbrugh Green Party to trial a Members Participatory Budget, where part of the branches yearly budget would be spent on projects decided on by a vote of all the parties members.

ANNUAL REPORT

From the Co-Conveners
On 6th May 2022, you elected 10 Green Councillors for Edinburgh. Since then, it's been a whirlwind year full of political instability - not just in Westminster and Holyrood, but here in the Council too. Despite the challenges, we have worked hard to honour the promises we made to branch members (and the public) to use our platform to fight for climate justice, to tackle inequality and to build a city which works for everyone.

Casting our mind back to a year ago, it's funny to think about what we now know. The year started with lots of negotiations, as Councillors and branch members worked together to prepare a proposal to take Greens into administration for the first time with the SNP group. Whilst this was ultimately unsuccessful, as a last-minute Labour deal with the Tories and Lib Dems handed them control of the Council, we remain proud of the robust, transparent and democratic process we went through to try and get the best deal for the people of Edinburgh.

Since then, the group has been taking every opportunity to fight for climate and social justice - whether that's by interrogating the crises in health and social care, winning more action for biodiversity, or scrutinising the use of private companies for Council business. We've worked with all parties - and none! - to achieve real, tangible changes for our constituents, as well as trying to change the very structures by which we do politics, talking about culture change, access and inclusion in Council practices.

Our Councillor group is an extension of our branch, and nothing we achieve would be possible without our members. We want to particularly thank Zoe, Rob and the rest of the Edinburgh Committee who have been unfailingly supportive, as well as Green MSP Lorna Slater, her staff team, the central office and the network of Green Councillors across Scotland. Special thanks too, to Chas Booth and Jule Bandel who have taken on the role of Communications Officers for the group this year - spreading the Green message through press stories, twitter threads, and memes (yes, really).

The year is ending as it began in many ways - with a Labour administration relying on votes from right-wing parties to maintain control of a volatile and lively Council. We don't know what the future will hold for Edinburgh Council, but we hope this snapshot of our work over the past year will demonstrate that - however and whenever we can - Greens will be steadfast in our fight for positive change across the city.

In solidarity,

Alys and Ben

Green Group Co-Conveners

COUNCILLOR ALYS MUMFORD

Name: Alys Mumford
Ward: Portobello / Craigmillar
Portfolio: Finance & Economy
Committees: Policy and Sustainability committee; Finance and Resources committee; COSLA Leaders (representing all Green Councillors in Scotland); Edinburgh International Conference Centre Board; Edinburgh Award Panel

Biggest achievement from Portfolio:
The first thing I did, in my first Committee, was to bring a motion calling for the council to adopt a gender-budgeting approach. Looking back on it now it was probably trying to run before I could walk, but we managed to get it passed and I think we are slowly getting the message across that economic decisions impact on different groups in different ways!

Biggest achievement from your committees:
While we weren't able to get our budget through Full Council, we were successful - a few weeks later - in passing our proposals for the fees and charges for the council. This meant that we increased parking charges across the city in order to reduce the cost of things like funerals and creating a fund to help community groups access Council venues.

Most challenging thing:
As group Co-Convener, alongside Ben, I’ve been pushing hard to improve council business practices, and to tackle the systemic discrimination which is built into them – last minute deadlines, opposition to hybrid meetings and resistance to the use of technology to name but a few. It has been exhausting to have to keep raising the same issues, but we now have agreement that there is a need for a radical review of how we do things, and I’m looking forward to working with officers to make some positive improvements – we have a long way to go to make the Council more accessible!

Council snack of choice:
I was a fan of the pink custard we had one month (because it matched my hair at the time - intentional, I'm sure)

Most cringe thing you accidentally said on the record?
I described our tactical voting at budget time as 'shenanigans' to a reporter, and it's stuck...

Best compliment you’ve received?
A lovely Councillor from another party emailed me to thank me for something and said at the end "yer some wummin" which made me smile then and still does now!

COUNCILLOR ALEX STANIFORTH

Name: Alex Staniforth
Ward: Craigentinny & Duddingston
Portfolio: Empowering Communities
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Policy & Sustainability, Finance and Resources, Culture and Communities

Biggest achievement from Committee:
I ensured that an in-house option for operating ‘mid market rent’ properties will be considered at the end of the next contract term.

Biggest achievement from your ward:
I asked for planters installed at the Seafield end of Portobello Prom, stopping people from using it as a car park and allowing better access for pedestrians and cyclists.

Most looking forward to next year:
Getting the night-life coordinator position approved and appointed to the benefit of everyone involved in our night time economy.

Most disappointed not to have achieved (yet):
Our (joint SNP/Green) plan for a more progressive form of council tax didn’t quite get over the line in terms of the legal limits of our powers – but set a good foundation for next time.

Funniest moment you’ve witnessed at Council:
Alys unable to control her laughter when a Tory councillor pulled a face at Finance and Resources committee.

Council snack of choice:
Chocolate-covered coffee beans, my only way of ingesting that sweet, sweet caffeine for the long days of full council.

COUNCILLOR BEN PARKER

Name: Ben Parker
Ward: Morningside
Portfolio: Climate and Environment
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Policy & Sustainability committee; Housing, Homelessness & Fair Work committee; Climate and Sustainability All Party Oversight Group; COSLA Environment & Economy board; Edinburgh Community Solar Co-op

Biggest achievement from Portfolio: In February, I successfully brought a motion to declare a nature emergency. Since then, we have seen nature be given a much higher profile in the Council – for example, we now have a dedicated “climate and nature emergencies” section for officers to complete in all reports they bring forward. Relatedly, there’s also been a renewed focus on trees and tree maintenance / protection in the Council – especially in relation to events in parks – and this is certainly in response to the high level of scrutiny we’ve applied to this issue. I’m now at a stage where officers and Councillors from other parties are proactively getting in touch with me about nature / tree related issues – that feels like good evidence that I’ve carved out a niche over the year!

Biggest achievement from Committee: I’ve been pleased to push officers on issues relating to accessible housing at Housing, Homelessness & Fair Work committee and we’re expecting a large programme of work to come forward on this issue over the next year.

Most disappointed to have not achieved yet: There have been a number of occasions where the ugly policy of “no recourse to public funds” has reared its head – either through casework or at committee. Because of this toxic UK government policy, the Council is limited in support it can offer some people in need and the powerlessness I have felt on these occasions has been as frustrating as it has been heart-breaking. On a more positive note, I have been proud to raise this issue at committee and Full Council and we have made good connections with campaigners working at a UK wide level on the issue as a result of this.

Council snack of choice: Given the reaction of colleagues (and my part in nearly killing off a Council officer who is allergic to citrus fruit during a meeting), I have come to realise that my Council “snack” of eating at least one full pack of satsumas a day is abnormal / excessive.

Best compliment you’ve received: On more than one occasion I’ve had meetings with officers who have said words to the effect of “We always know that you will read the papers thoroughly and ask the detailed and difficult questions” – that makes me feel like I’m doing my job properly!

COUNCILLOR CHAS BOOTH

Name: Chas Booth
Ward: Leith
Portfolio: Planning
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Planning Committee; Development Management sub-committee; Licensing Board; Local Review Body (1), Local Review Body (2)

Biggest achievement from Portfolio:
I worked with colleagues and stakeholders, including Living Rent, to strengthen planning guidance on short term lets to make it clear that STLs which lead to a further reduction of amenity for residents in mixed areas would not usually be granted, along with further changes.

Biggest achievement from Ward:
Succeeded in persuading Transport Committee to grant a reprieve on the council’s plans to demolish the Pride Bridge over Lindsay Road in Newhaven, and agreed to work with the community to find an alternative way forward.

Most disappointed not to have achieved (yet)?:
Along with colleagues, I brought an amendment to Planning Committee to change the council’s definition of “affordable housing” to remove some of the tenures which Greens don’t feel are really helping people on low incomes, specifically golden share and intermediate rent. This amendment was unfortunately voted down by Labour, Lib Dem and Tory councillors.

Council snack of choice:
Coffee and biscuit from the member’s lounge

Best compliment you’ve received:
As part of an email thanking me for my work to support the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood: “I don't think we had realised quite how intrusive the traffic noise had become until it was largely gone. The change really has been quite dramatic.”

COUNCILLOR CLAIRE MILLER

Name: Claire Miller
Ward: City Centre
Portfolio: Health & Social Care
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Integration Joint Board (health & social care), Transport & Environment Committee, Group Risk and Best Value Committee, Joint Consultative Committee (the joint trade unions)

Biggest achievement from Portfolio:
I have been working really hard to bring out into the public domain a range of different issues in health & social care which had been going on behind closed doors without public scrutiny or democratic decision making. I’ve been successful in raising awareness of the empty council care home at Drumbrae, stopping consideration of closure of four other council care homes, showing the impact of budget choices, and procurement of private sector care against the political direction of our council for community wealth building and in-sourcing.

Most challenging thing:
I’ve found it really hard to get to grips with the way the Integration Joint Board governs health & social care. We’ve been advised not to be political and elected members make up only a small portion of the board, but it’s a highly political subject and residents quite rightly view us as their representatives when we make decisions about care homes, GP surgeries, mental health services and much more.

Most looking forward to next year:
Now that I have learned more about the different health and social care services that the council and NHS offer to our residents, and I’ve also taken on the role of ‘climate champion’ for the IJB, I feel excited about working towards meaningful changes and using my position to make improvements.

Weirdest email/request:
On the day Humza Yousaf was elected as Scotland’s new First Minister, I received an email from a constituent who had wasted no time and written to him immediately about potholes, only to be directed by the FM’s office to contact their local ward councillors. I have to have admiration for both the resident who decided that this was the ideal moment to get his attention, and also the staff in the FM’s office who decided just as fast that it was not.

Council snack of choice:
An americano and a cake from The Milkman on Cockburn Street will always help me through any hangry moments.

COUNCILLOR DAN HEAP

Name: Dan Heap
Ward: Sighthill/Gorgie
Portfolio: Culture
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Culture and Communities; Gorgie Memorial Hall Management Committee.

Biggest achievement from Portfolio: Crossing both portfolio and ward, the possible closure of the West Park Place studio in Dalry is a major threat to arts provision in the SW of the city, and to the livelihoods of the resident artists. I got Council backing to hold talks with the studio operators and the artists, with a view to keep the studios opening, and it is unlikely the Council would have done this without me stepping in.

Biggest achievement from Committee: There have been lots of smaller and medium wins that add up. With Alex and the input of other Green Councillors, we’ve strengthened the environmental and climate oversight of the festivals and other big events. I was also pleased to be able to get support to expand tennis ball recycling at the newly-refurbished tennis courts that are opening in the next year, and to get the ball rolling on a slavery and colonialism audit of the museum collections.

Biggest achievement from Ward: Despite having a majority opposed to it just hours before the vote, I negotiated unanimous support for a motion to ensure Gorgie Farm remains free to enter and in non-private sector hands when it reopens.

Best compliment you’ve received: It is always a nice surprise to get genuinely grateful e-mails from constituents you have been able to help. Recently, I got the council to formally congratulate a new theatre group that has just launched and which is having its inaugural performance in Saughton Park in my ward. They seem genuinely touched that I had gone to the effort to do so, and I found that touching too. I’ve had similar experiences with the West Park Place artists and constituents who have reached out for help with housing and other issues.

Most “we’ve got this” moment:
There have been several Culture and Communities Committee meetings when Greens have brought in more policy changes tabled at the meeting, despite being the second smallest group. It shows how much prep and hard work we do, relative to other, often better-resourced groups.

COUNCILLOR KAYLEIGH O’NEILL

Name: Kayleigh O’Neill
Ward: Forth Ward
Portfolio: Equalities
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Planning Committees, Education, Children & Families Committee, Edinburgh Waterfront All Party Oversight Group, Forth Green Freeport cross-party sounding board

Biggest achievement from your portfolio:

As Equalities spokesperson I have worked across every committee and with all portfolio holders. My personal achievement is starting my Dropped Kerb campaign where I will be auditing every street in my ward and reporting this to the Council to take action on.

Biggest achievement from your committee:
In Planning committee, I am most proud of the instances that I have raised accessibility as a factor or issue when determining applications. Officers have told me that this is an area they now think of and take seriously when reporting – a small but major win!

Most challenging thing?:
The most challenging part of being a Councillor so far is the extremely dated attitude of what a Councillor should be and how one should act!

Biggest surprise this year:
The biggest surprise of the year has to be my resilience as a young disabled women in politics; being an elected official is a difficult job, but I could not be more grateful of where I have gotten to and where I’ll go next.

Council snack of choice:
My committee treat is a hot cup of hot chocolate from the Member’s Lounge coffee machine – no matter how warm it is inside and out!

Best compliment you’ve received:
The best compliment I have received came from a student at an event I was sponsoring with Trinity Academy. They told me that my work is “so simple and boring but so important!” I’m taking that as a compliment.

COUNCILLOR JULE BANDEL

Name: Jule Bandel
Ward: Inverleith
Portfolio: Transport
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Transport and Environment Committee, Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee, Transport for Edinburgh board, South East Scotland Transport Regional Partnership

Biggest achievement from Committee:
I have terrible memory, so I’ll go with a recent example: I got committee to agree that parking your bike in a secure cycle hangar should on principle be cheaper than parking a car – seems pretty intuitive, but some car parking permits still cost less than the annual charge for a cycle hangar! We are now going to explore various options for making cycle hangars more affordable.

Biggest achievement from Ward:
The piece of casework I’m proudest of was helping a young autistic constituent get their reasonable adjustments at school reinstated. I spent a lot of time emailing and phoning people about it before their first day of term and it was such a relief when I heard the school had reconsidered their decision.

Most challenging thing:
Although councillors are supposed to work (and are paid) part-time, the workload has been much higher than I was expecting. It’s been challenging balancing this with the degree I’m still trying to complete, and a lot of the time I’ve felt like I’m half-assing* two things, so I’m looking forward to being able to really focus on councillor-ing once I’ve handed in my dissertation.
*Editor note: Jule might feel this way, but this is definitely not how it is perceived!

Best moment you’ve witnessed:
Long days in committees are exhausting, and councillors tend to stop having a filter around 4pm which is when things often get funny. My personal favourite moment was the Lord Provost asking councillors “are we all agreed?” after the Tories proposed something and Susan – who was joining online and had forgotten to turn off her mic – loudly bellowing “No!!!” from where she was displayed on a huge screen.

Most cringe thing you’ve accidentally said on the webcast:
Trying to end a speech about supporting better bike storage in schools that I didn’t prepare in advance: “It’s got bikes! For kids! What more do you want!”

Best compliment you’ve received:
I’ve developed somewhat of a reputation at Transport and Environment Committee for always having a thousand questions on the reports at Agenda Planning Meetings – Scott Arthur may make comments about it, but I’m taking it as a compliment that I’ve done my homework.

COUNCILLOR STEVE BURGESS

Name: Steve Burgess
Ward: Southside-Newington ward
Portfolio: Education and Pensions
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Education, Children & Families Committee; Pensions Committee; Corporate Parenting Board; Placing in Schools appeals panel; Consultative Committee with Parents; Steering group on Learning for Sustainability; Committee on Pupil Student Support; The Royal Company of Merchants Endowment Trust; Torness Local Liaison Committee

Biggest achievement from your portfolio?:
I secured backing from Education committee to set up a steering group to develop Learning for Sustainability in schools which includes Climate & Nature emergencies. Every school will now have a teacher with half-a-day a week dedicated to developing their school’s activities. We are also looking at ramping up 1.5MAX to develop climate projects between schools across the world.

Biggest achievement from your ward:
Won approval from Culture & Communities committee for a proposal to turn a disused bowling green in Prestonfield into a community growing garden. A local consultation led by Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust is happening later this summer.

Most looking forward to next year:
As part of ‘Project Forth’ Lothian Pension Fund officers are proposing to do away with the council Pensions committee and replace it with a ‘professional’ board which would remove democratic oversight of pensions investments by councillors and any chance of achieving divestment. We are hopeful this will be rejected by the council.

Most “we’ve got this” moment:
It’s been amazing to see how capably our newly elected, young councillors - several in their 20s (!) -have taken on key roles, including Co-Convenership of our group with enthusiasm and energy – the future is bright green indeed!

Best moment at Full Council:
A standout moment this term was when Susan and I held hands under the desk in full council as we voted to keep the Tory budget in the ring in order to oust Labour’s climate-unfriendly budget. This resulted in a perhaps the most staggering event when the Labour Group then voted with Tories for the LibDem budget which included support for compulsory redundancy and privatisation of council services but at least it contained essential funding for climate work!

COUNCILLOR SUSAN RAE

Bio (all essential)

Name: Susan Rae
Ward: Leith Walk
Portfolio: Housing
Committees you sit on (inc. Relevant boards): Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee; Regulatory subcommittee; Licensing subcommittee; Jean F Watson Bequest committee; Lothian Homes Trust, Edinburgh Living LLP; Baillie

Biggest achievement from Committee:
I was irritated to have to raise concerns about lengthy delays to lift repairs again but I'm now pleased that the Council is finally taking action and we have commitment to a multi-million pound investment for new lift repairs over the next 5 years.

Biggest achievement from Ward:
I'm excited about the tram project now being complete in Leith, but I'm also proud of the work I've done with Leith Chooses. Post-COVID, it has been a very challenging landscape and despite cuts to budgets, we've been able to secure a future for Leith Chooses, including extra funding for next year.

Most surprising thing this year:
That a wee boy in a hatchback thought that, from a standing start, he could knock over a 5ft woman (me) stood in the road as a human bollard blocking a pedestrian crossing at an old left turn (London Road). I was not expecting that this year I would have to literally put my body on the line for this job but there we are!

Most looking forward to next year:
The decline and fall of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative pact, and final fall of the Conservative Government in Westminster! But also, the introduction of a pavement parking ban which will finally see us be able to take some action on Leith Walk against the worst offenders.

Best moment at Full Council:
I never pre-write my speeches and on budget day I was so horrified about how things were playing out that I did stand up and speak to our proposal for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). I explained that the only way to get rid of poverty is to get rid of the HRA / make fundamental changes to how it works!

Funniest moment you’ve witnessed at Council?:
When Alys and Ben submitted our amendment to the Business Plan, Kevin Lang (leader of the Liberal Democrats), inflated with righteous indignation, railed against the amendment on the grounds that they had done too much work and it was taxing for him to read it all. Better still ,he then felt compelled to apologise for his comments at the next Full Council meeting.

This report covers South East Edinburgh Greens' (SEEG) activities over the period June 2022 to May 2023.

Membership

Our membership has increased from 233 to 241 members in our two council wards.

Meetings and events

It’s been quite a quiet year, with no elections, so we’ve been happy to see some new folk coming to recent meetings and events. It’s also been useful to have the chance to discuss local issues and what we can do practically to campaign on these.

Sub-branch Meetings

Our meetings have been mostly hybrid this year. We had our first in-person meeting in July at the Charteris Centre. The venue wasn’t ideal for online attendees and was expensive, so we returned to Nelson Hall as soon it was available in October.

Some of the topics we’ve discussed: Diversity and Inclusion in our sub-branch, the politics of the Festival, Car Free Holyrood Park campaign, Sheriffhall Roundabout Public Inquiry and Holyrood Park Road.

Festival Stall

Some new members came to a meeting to talk about their concerns around the lack of support for artists and performers in the cost-of-living crisis, and how exclusive the Festival had become because of accommodation costs. An outcome of this was a stall on The Meadows during the Festival where we promoted our policies which support artists and performers, and gathered views about the Festival from people passing by and stopping for a chat. The stall went well and lasted all day, despite the weather.

Joint Meeting with South Edinburgh Greens

In March we headed over to Morningside for a special meeting with SEG where we shared our ways of organising and campaigning experiences, and generally had a good blether. It was a great meeting. Thanks to SEG for suggesting this.

Co-operatives Meeting

The April Branch Meeting on Co-operatives took place in Nelson Hall and SEEG members were pleased to support the meeting with volunteers (on the door, providing refreshments, setting up the hall and tidying up). With people active in co-ops speaking about their experiences, members found it a really interesting and eye-opening event.

South Side Green Walk

SEEG took our turn doing a Green Walk around the South Side in May. We wandered around looking at some of the area’s less-known history in tucked away places, and talked about how the community was nearly lost during the 60s and early 70s to plans for a six-lane highway right through it and University developments. We started off at The Causey, home to a local public space campaign members support. Over 20 people (members and friends/family) came along and most stayed for the whole walk (which was quite long!) and ended up in Summerhall.

Public Space campaigning

SEEG members attending the branch meeting on local public space campaigning in November, reported back to our December meeting that fruit growing and unloved greens spaces had been discussed in their group and it was decided that we should send an email out to members to see if they had green spaces locally that could be better looked after and used by the community.

There wasn’t much response but we have been looking at areas along the cycle path from the Innocent Railway to the Skelf bike pump track. The first area we’ve been exploring had already thrown up complicated ownership issues.

We also have an ongoing interest in a Car Free Holyrood Park campaign and have started to look at how the four-lane Holyrood Park Road could be better used as a public space.

Green News

We delivered editions in autumn and spring:

• Southside-Newington: 13,000 and 12,000

• Liberton-Gilmerton: 5,000 and 6,000

It’s acknowledged that we are struggling to maintain full coverage of Southside-Newington with numbers of delivery volunteers declining.

Appendix – Office Bearers 2022-23

The following people were elected as office bearers at our AGM on 9 June 2023:

• Ola Olsinova – Co-Convenor

• Guy Johnson – Co-Convenor

• Breck MacGregor – Branch Committee Representative

• John Palmer – Minutes Secretary

• Steve West – Membership Secretary

• Alison Neathey – Admin Secretary

• Caroline Barr – Social Secretary

Introduction

SEG is a sub-branch formed of two wards in the south of Edinburgh stretching from Bruntsfield Links to the Pentlands. Morningside has c.200 members and Colinton/Fairmilehead c.50.

Morningside has had a Green councillor since 2007 (Alison Johnstone 2007-12, Melanie Main 2012-22, Ben Parker 2022-). https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=2657

Morningside has four councillors in total (currently Green, Labour, Lib Dem, Conservative). Colinton/Fairmilehead has three (currently Labour, SNP, Conservative).

Colinton/Fairmilehead has never been a target ward, although we do stand candidates there (Helen McCabe in 2022).

SEG Activity 2022- 23

Maintaining SEG after the 2022 election campaign

The first SEG AGM was held on Thursday 9th June 2022 at the Eric Liddell Centre. This was a hybrid meeting. Helen McCabe and Ellie Levontine were elected as Co-convenors. Emma Willson was elected Vice-convenor.

In addition to the three ‘office bearers’ (as required by the standing orders), we planned to have a small group of members who were prepared to be additional ‘Organisers’. Together they would form an active team who could support each other to run SEG, and support our councillor.

Emma and Helen swapped roles in September 2022. Aideen McNestry joined us as an Organiser, and Susan Logie continued to coordinate Green News in large parts of Morningside as in previous years.

Green News in Morningside

In conjunction with Ben we produced and delivered two editions of Green News.

Autumn/Winter 2022: 6000

Spring 2023: 6000

We decided to establish a target area which we would deliver to consistently this year and in the future. The Greenest polling districts were chosen - ie those where we came first or second in the 2022 elections. (If we were to increase our delivery capacity then we might be able to extend this area in the future).

We had a limited number of delivery volunteers with a few people doing a large amount.

We held four Green News Action Days in conjunction with East Lothian Greens. The students helped us deliver to the tenements of Marchmont which was a great help. We hope this will become a regular thing.

Communication with SEG members

Aideen checked the Forest database for new members and emailed them a welcome letter designed by Steve West.

Emma monitored the SEG Inbox and replied to emails.

Emma sent out updates to members (via Forest) and provided SEG content to the branch newsletter where possible.

We continued with the WhatsApp group. We have around 20 members signed up at any one time.

SEG Monthly Meetings

All our SEG meetings were in person this year. Due to an ongoing problem of finding a suitable venue in Morningside - that is accessible, interesting and affordable - we initially held monthly get togethers at the Cameo Bar in Tollcross. From December it was decided to hold four meetings a year at the Eric Liddell Community Hub instead. Cllr Ben Parker attended all these meetings.

Liaison with the Branch 2021-22

Aideen, Ellie and Emma all acted as SEG reps on the branch committee during the year, attending branch meetings and following activity on Slack. Emma was also a Policy Officer on the branch committee. Aideen attended Local Teams and Membership working group meetings - and volunteered to send welcome letters for local teams without the capacity to do so.

We held one Green Walk for the branch (March 2023) and some of our members helped organise and/or attended those run around the rest of the city.

Cross team activity

• SEG and SEEG ran a stall on the Meadows in Summer 2022 and held a joint meeting in March 2023.

• SEG invited the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart team to their December social.

• We helped initiate a get together of local team organisers at The Crannie in Spring 2023.

Community activity

One or two members attended some community council meetings and engaged with other groups such as Living Streets and Marchmont Neighbours.

Membership

Diversity: it seemed that a slightly wider cross section of society was represented at meetings than in previous years, although there is still a lot of work to do.

Membership numbers remained roughly the same.

• June 2021: 242 (198/44)

• June 2022: 257 (207/50)

• June 2023: 252 (203/49)

Finances

SEG did not have a budget (or a Treasurer) for 2022-23. We decided to keep things simple and either ask the branch for reimbursement, or ask suppliers to invoice the branch directly. Members contributed to refreshments at meetings. We received funds from the branch for:

• Eric Liddell Centre meeting room

(3 sessions @ £52.00, 1 session @£72.50)

• Refreshments for Young Greens Action Day £34.00

• Elastic bands for Green News £10.00

Total = £272.50

2023-24

New team

The second SEG AGM was held on Thursday 8th June 2023 at the Eric Liddell Centre. There were 5 people in attendance and Aideen McNestry was elected as co-ordinator for 2023-24. Cllr Ben Parker gave an update of his year as a Councillor and the group discussed future campaigning, including thoughts about the upcoming General Election.

Future plans

There was a smaller than average turnout at our AGM and members at the meeting considered what more could be done next year to encourage people to get involved whilst also being realistic about what could be achieved. It was agreed that we would try to resource monthly meetings - budget / venue dependent - and also review our approach to Green News delivery as 6000 has been a difficult number to get out this past year. We also discussed how greater integration with the wider branch might help us to galvanise more members, and we discussed a need to receive support from the branch to upskill new coordinators on how to send mail outs using Forest, as well as other tips / tricks of how to be an effective local organising team.