27 January 2012 Last updated at 06:38 ET

Edinburgh City Council to spend £2m budget surplus

Edinburgh City Council said it has a £2m budget surplus

Edinburgh City Council is to spend £2m on community projects after identifying a surplus in its budget.

The money will be used in areas such as road repairs, promotion of the city's west end and helping disadvantaged children and elderly people.

Council leader Jenny Dawe said the money had been found through prudent department spending.

Mrs Dawe said they identified priorities for investment after consulting local people.

Mrs Dawe said: "Prudent financial management is allowing us to make this major investment in many areas which will make a real difference to people's lives.

How some of the money is being spent

• £500,000 for pothole and pavement repairs

• £650,000 for street cleansing

• £250,000 for road safety

• £100,000 for telecare investment

• £100,000 specialist equipment for disabled and elderly people

• £100,000 for open for business programme which includes the West End village

• £35,000 for marketing Edinburgh

• £100,000 to give disadvantaged and disabled children the chance to use sport and outdoor centres

• £100,000 for a youth music and arts innovation fund to ensure no child is held back by lack of money

• £30,000 to expand internet security workshops for S1 pupils covering issues such as online bullying

• £10,000 towards protecting and preserving the City Archives for future generations and allowing them to be displayed for all to see

• £25,000 to develop the 'Whole Place' approach through the Edinburgh Design Initiative.

"This is also being done at a time when organisations all over the country are facing extremely challenging financial decisions resulting in a lot of cuts.

"We talked to people and groups across the city to find out their priorities - where they want to see the council spending money in the future.

"This feedback has meant that we can now invest in areas that matter to people, on things that improve the city and generally improve quality of life."

Robert Aldridge, Edinburgh City Council's environment leader, said: "This administration has turned around the decline in the condition of Edinburgh's roads.

"In 2005/6 over half of the city's roads were in need of repair, that figure is now below one third.

"The additional £500,000 in the current financial year for permanent potholes repairs will be spread fairly across Edinburgh.

"This will deliver approximately 8,000 additional permanent pothole repairs over the next two months."