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Edinburgh Best Value follow up February 2016 podcast transcript 
I’m here with Douglas Sinclair, chair of the Accounts Commission, to talk about a report on the City of Edinburgh Council.
Douglas, can you tell me what this report is about…
Yes, it is a follow up to a report 15 months ago when the Commission expressed serious concerns over Edinburgh’s financial position, including a £67 million gap in savings required to meet future funding levels.
What have you found?
The council has made significant and encouraging progress in a number of areas. Edinburgh now has a clear strategy for reducing its spending through changing the way it delivers services and reducing its workforce. 
Councillors and senior managers now have a shared understanding of the problems and the actions needed to solve them, which will include some difficult decisions. Changes include a new ICT contract, more online transactions and a new workforce strategy which will see a reduction of five per cent of total employee numbers by the end of next month, saving the council £25 million each year.
So what does this mean for the public?
Well, as you know,  every council are required to balance their books so they can continue to provide key services the public need and expect. So they have to keep budgets under control. In a nutshell, the council is now on a far sounder financial footing than it was a year ago. It has had to make tough choices on reconfiguring services and that hasn't been an easy time, not least for its employees.
Edinburgh is not out of the woods yet and it is still early days with many of its planned actions. But it is in a much stronger position to meet the challenges that lie ahead.
So what do you want to see happen next?
Well the Commission does have specific concerns about the degree of risk around progress and delivery of the council’s plans. So the council needs to build on progress and deliver the various initiatives already under way. And like all councils, Edinburgh faces uncertainties about future finances and service demands 

Douglas, thank you very much.