Interactive: Statistics don't show what the councillors did

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ONE of the most damning observations about statistics is that they measure that which is measurable rather than that which is important.

While I applaud the Evening News (25 June) for seeking to scrutinise the time spent by councillors in meetings, I fear it confirms that maxim.

I know of one councillor who attends a lot of meetings but says nothing, far less anything of significance. I know of another councillor whose attendance is even better but who routinely ignores e-mails and letters from constituents.

The information provided says nothing of the number of meetings a councillor is expected to attend. Is it better to attend 90 per cent of 50 required meetings or 80 per cent of 100 required meetings? More importantly, it says nothing of what councillors actually did with that time. Did they meekly play the role of lobby fodder? Or did they actually scrutinise what came before them?

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh


Difficult to make meetings add up

IT is a shame the figures used by the Evening News in compiling a league table of councillors' attendance at meetings contained some inaccuracies.

I attended 73 out of the 88 planning sub-committee meetings. That is 11 more than the figure the Evening News figures credited to me.

Two other things need said. Although Cllr Tymkewycz was placed top of the list he has attended fewer committee meetings than me.

Actually, my calculations indicate I attended at least twice as many meetings as he did.

There is more. Many of the committee meetings where my absence has been recorded is because I have been on other council business which is not included in the list checked.

Reworking the table accurately, and showing the number of meetings attended rather than a percentage figure, would make it look rather different. But then, I know your readers will appreciate attendance doesn't always equate to effectiveness.

Cameron Rose, Conservative Councillor, Southside/Newington


Don't be so quick in spending cash

IT has been interesting to see that the debate continues on whether or not Portobello High School should be rebuilt on Portobello Park.

It seems Edinburgh City Council is pushing ahead with the plans, commissioning architects and surveyors to prepare a planning application. I can't help wondering if this is an appropriate use of public money, given that there are still at least two major obstacles.

The first is that the legal authority to build on the common good land is yet to be confirmed through the courts, and secondly, the council has still to fulfil its undertaking to find replacement green space to replace any space lost on Portobello Park.

Surely the council should be addressing these matters, before spending thousands of pounds of tax-payers' money drawing up plans that may never materialise.

Charles Douglas, Duddingston Park South, Edinburgh


Fraud mother is a deplorable woman

ANNE Marie Cockburn, the mum who pretended her three kids were severely disabled so she could claim more than £20,000 in benefits (News, 24 June), is none other than a lying fraudster.

This devious woman told tax credit bosses that she, her partner and three kids were all affected by disabilities to get more cash.

Her crime was committed only two months after she was released from prison for fraud. She deserves to be severely prosecuted for defrauding the benefits system and should hang her head in shame. What a deplorable woman Cockburn is.

Mrs June Fleming, Hercus Loan, Musselburgh


Watch out for the PC police officers

THERE was a time in Scots Law when a person wearing a police uniform in a public place could rightly be regarded by the populace as either a real police officer on duty, or someone illegally impersonating a police officer.

Now, it seems, that the person strolling down your High Street in police uniform may also quite legally be a stripogram performer or someone up from England to take part in a political parade.

So today in Edinburgh, if you have a crime to report; a lost child; a found purse to hand over; etc., be careful which "police officer" you speak to.

And if you take that "officer's" number and complain to the local chief constable that the "officer" did not promptly and properly deal with your incident you are going to look foolish when told that the "officer" you complained about was not a real on-duty police officer but was only wearing a police uniform in Edinburgh for a "celebratory day" out. Silly you!

You may even find yourself instead being interrogated about your diversity views and opinions by Scotland's new politically correct police.

After all, according to a police chief inspector "every chief constable in the UK has given permission" for this misuse of police uniform. (can they legally do that with uniforms purchased with public money for local policing purposes?).

We must also now expect Scottish chief constables to give similar permission for uniformed police officers to proudly take part in trade union marches; Orange Order marches; political party rallies; anti-war marches and other demonstrations. They can hardly refuse. Can they?

Retired police officer


Stub out shops that break the law

IT was disappointing to read that one third of shops are still floutingh the law by selling cigarettes to under-18s.

It's time to come down heavy on these and remove their ability to trade. There's no point in having anti-smoking campaigns if greedy retailers are going to let the side down.

A Morris, St Leonard's Lane