Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Midlothian Council could turn some 20mph streets back to their original speed limit a year after introducing the policy on hundreds of streets.
The local authority has introduced the lower speed on 800 streets across the county and is considering reducing it on some 60 mph and 40 mph roads.
A meeting of the council’s SNP administration cabinet on Tuesday approved a review of the new limits already in place with officers expecting a handful of roads could be turned back to 30mph roads.
In a report to cabinet they said speed monitors in place following the lowering of the limit had found a decrease in speed but a review needed to look at areas where it was not working.
They said three options were available – no change in areas where the speed limit was working, introducing additional control measures in areas with poor compliance which puts people at risk and abandoning the 20mph speed limit on roads with poor compliance and or causing motorists frustration.
It said: “Road Services anticipates between 1-2% of the implemented changes may need revision”.
Councillor Dianne Alexander supported the review which she said could see some of the arterial roads “returned to the 30 miles an hour limit”.
She said: “I think for most residential streets and arterial roads which run through our towns 20mph is the correct call. It is all about children walking to school and people of all walking abilities crossing the road and making our streets safer and feel calmer.
“But I also support the reviewing of a small number of roads where returning to 30 miles an hour is the sensible choice. This is a common sense Midlothian approach – keep what is working, fix what isn’t and do it street by street.”
Council leader Kelly Parry agreed with her cabinet colleague adding:
“I think this is a good example of us being a listening council. I think even people who were disgruntled by a road here and there were in general quite positive about 20mph zones particularly around schools etc.”
Cabinet agreed officers should carry out the review and introduce amendment as required as well as reviewing speed limits on arterial link routes between communities.
The report said: “These works will see some limits at 60’s and 40’s reduced to promote safety. Work on this has already begun on both Millerhill Road and Roslin Glen.”
You can read the report presented to the Midlothian Council Cabinet meeting HERE and watch the discussion at the meeting below.
Written by Midlothian View Editor, Phil Bowen
Midlothian MP Kirsty McNeill has backed the Labour Government’s new investment to provide training and work to young people who are neither earning nor learning.
Labour has announced new measures to support 16-24-year-olds across Britain and provide help for many of the 300 young people claiming unemployment-related benefits in Midlothian, to give them an opportunity to get on and contribute to the local economy.
By expanding its Youth Guarantee scheme with £820 million of new funding, the Government is aiming to tackle the problem and giving a brighter future to young people in Midlothian.
Labour’s investment will pay for new Youth Hubs to be set up across local communities. Youth Hubs are centres that offer support to young people, such as CV advice, skills training, mental health support, housing advice and careers guidance.
The package will also provide hundreds of thousands of new training and work experience placements for young people out of work and claiming benefits, and a new ‘Jobs Guarantee’ that fully subsidises six months of paid employment for 18-21-year-olds who are long-term unemployed on Universal Credit.
Commenting on the announcement, Midlothian MP Kirsty McNeill said:
“I am delighted that the Work and Pensions Secretary has committed hundreds of millions of pounds of investment to the young people of this country.
“Too many in Midlothian are being held back. Hundreds of our young people are stuck on benefits, and this new package of support will provide opportunities for them to turn their lives around after the previous government neglected them.”
This View has been written by Caitlin Scott, Scottish Labour Candidate for the Midlothian North Constituency in the Scottish Elections in May.
In this week’s SNP Government budget, the Finance Secretary boasted of a real-terms increase in funding for local councils. The headlines may seem promising, but they mask the reality of continued cuts for our councils.
In the same week, more than 1,700 people signed a petition against Midlothian Council’s planned bin cuts. I’ve had countless people contact me telling me they just simply can’t manage with their bins being collected every 3 weeks. That impact on family life is what underfunding looks like in every street across Midlothian.
Our Council services have endured cumulative cuts of £7.8bn since 2013 under successive SNP governments. And now, heading into 2026/27, Midlothian faces a budget gap of around £2m just to keep services running. Budgets mean that we are bombarded with figures, but the reality of this deficit is simple. Midlothian Council will yet again ask whether it can still afford the bin collections, care services, or libraries our community depends on.
After a record funding settlement from the UK Government last year, Councils could reasonably have expected for it to be passed on by the SNP Government. Instead, it cut the General Capital Grant for Scottish local authorities by 13.1% in real terms. Capital grants pay for school buildings, roads, streetlighting and parks. At the same time, pressure on revenue budgets means everyday services like bins, care provision and school meals are increasingly under threat.
It’s all very well to promise free swimming lessons for children, but if the pools they are meant to learn in are closing, the promise quickly rings hollow. Warm words and eye-catching announcements mean little when the facilities that make them possible are quietly disappearing.
Despite ministerial assurances, pressure on council budgets remains severe. In Midlothian, it is intensified by the fact that we are the fastest-growing local authority in Scotland. More people mean greater demand for services, yet funding continues to fall short.
Proposals to reform Council Tax, including higher bands for higher-value properties, may have potential. But again, the detail is missing, and any new system would not raise revenue until at least 2028. In the meantime, residents pay more while services are cut.
These decisions are not abstract. Bin collections in Midlothian are being reduced to once every three weeks, and as your MSP I will not stand for it. The cuts need reversed. A Scottish Labour government would take a different approach: a fair funding settlement that allows communities to thrive, and not another year of higher taxes and fewer services.
