Published on:
03
February 2006
Next week marks budget week for Clackmannanshire Council as councillors and officers sit down to set the council's spending for the year ahead.
And as in previous years it's a question of making savings to protect services to the most vulnerable members of the community.
A four-page list of savings will be tabled to councillors at next Thursday's full council meeting.
You are invited to send a reporter to Greenfield at 2pm on Monday 6th February for a pre-budget press conference.
Keir Bloomer, Chief Executive of the Council said: "We are looking for around three million pounds worth of savings just to maintain services at current levels. What we have proposed to members are a very large number of mainly minor savings. The cumulative effect is significant. There is no room in the budget for growth."
Council tax levels are also expected to rise next week. The council previously announced it expected a 4% increase on council tax this year but the full decision on the actual figure will be taken at the meeting.
Without the savings and council tax increase the Council will not be able to bring the budget in on target.
Councillor Margaret Paterson said: "We expect our council tax increase will be in line with other Councils across Scotland but the decision will not be made until next week. It is a consequence of the nature of the overall financial settlement that Councils across Scotland are raising council tax levels.
"We share many of the Scottish Executive's commitments, such as supporting vulnerable groups, and we are also committed to working to improve and modernise public services. But the Executive has been very unrealistic in assessing how quickly this can take place and the efficiencies they will realise. "
Councils across Scotland have already said that the Executive's hopes of low council tax increases are unrealistic.
Councillor Paterson added: "Councils have many additional responsibilities, for example we are still feeling the impact of the McCrone pay settlement in education, and the Executive's guidance on food preparation for free personal care was wrong, leaving us with extra costs.
"Councils also face the task of introducing new wage structures which will leave us with more money to find. And quite separately there is the ongoing issue of equal pay, where councils are subject to litigation for back pay, which may bring significant additional costs.
"Thankfully we are in a position where we have reserves which will cover these salary related issues.
"The picture for local government finance is not a happy one and for Clackmannanshire next week's meeting promises to be very difficult indeed."