Published on:
20
December 2013
Clackmannanshire Council is facing some extremely difficult and challenging decisions in the lead up to setting the 2014/15 budget.
Council was updated today (Thursday) on the progress with the preparation of the budget and the need to find £7.5 million of savings for 2014/15 to allow the Council to set a balanced budget.
Council Leader, Councillor Gary Womersley said: "This position presents an unprecedented level of challenge when considered alongside the £14 million of budget savings already made by the Council in the last three years alone.
"It is imperative that the Council focuses its attention on setting a balanced budget for 2014/15.
"There is no doubt that the budget setting process for 2014/15 will be extremely challenging. The Council is facing some extremely difficult decisions and it is clear that there is much work to be undertaken to realise the level of savings required. In the run up to setting the budget, this Administration remains committed to its principles of transparency and openness."
Council was also updated on the ongoing budget consultation process which has included significant levels of publicity and the widespread distribution of an information booklet. There have been two public meetings and the Council Leader has held meetings involving the Third Sector Interface, Parent Councils and Alliance Partners. This has so far led to around 180 responses to the online survey. Significant consultation has also taken place with staff.
The budget consultation has now entered phase two with further awareness raising publicity and an online survey based on a range of specific officer savings proposals. The list of proposals can be accessed on ClacksWeb.
The Council has recently received notification of its individual financial settlement - this was £94.201 million and is in line with what was anticipated and does not result in any material difference in the Council's reported indicative funding gap.
Councillor Womersley added: "With a funding gap to 2017/18 of £25.7m, we need to determine our medium term priorities within the Making Clackmannanshire Better improvement programme. This focus recognises that given the scale of the financial challenges faced by the Council, we have to make extremely difficult choices about where to spend our reducing resources.
"Feedback to date suggests that this recent round of consultation is helping improve awareness, however, further work will be needed to continue to raise awareness of the challenges faced and how that relates to choices with regards local service delivery."