Council set to agree budget - and loss of 42 jobs
Ally McGilvray • Published 7 Feb 2012 09:32
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SBC Leader David Parker is pictured with Finance spokesman Neil Calvert ahead of this week's budget.
AROUND 42 jobs are expected to be cut at the region's largest employer this week.
Scottish Borders Council's ruling administration this week outlined its budget proposals for the coming financial year.
However, despite being forced to find £2.5million of savings, the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent-run authority, which has already agreed to keep council tax frozen, has promised more investment in roads, schools and children's services.
The final budget, totalling around £264million, will be presented by councillors at the full meeting of the council on Thursday, February 9.
Speaking to the Border Telegraph ahead of an official press conference to announce the proposals at council headquarters in Newtown St Boswells on Tuesday, Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker said: "It's been a challenging year as always to ensure that we deliver a balanced budget but we've done that and been able to invest in key frontline services and I think that's quite important.
"We've made around £2.5million of savings across the different parts of the council this year, most of which have been dealt with by efficiences. We have very few budget cuts and actually quite a lot of investment in roads, in our children, where we will be spending an additional £1million, and also the fabric of our school buildings.
"And I think the Borders public will be quite pleased with the results we have been able to deliver."
The Scottish government announced the funding available to councils in September last year. Councillor Parker said at the time that he believed it was a "challenging" but "fair" budget.
Last year, the authority accepted 176 voluntary redundancy requests, as part of its efforts to cut costs. Other measures included reducing cleaning in council offices and schools, trimming the amount in the budget for tourism agency VisitScotland, and switching off all heating in council offices over the summer months.
This year, as well as further reductions in its workforce through the use of early retirement/voluntary severance, the local authority is also counting on savings from the library and contact centre review, the sale of redundant properties and reduced staff training costs to help balance the books.
Councillor Parker said: "Around 42 staff will probably leave the council through voluntary severance and early retirement. We aren't looking at any compulsory redundancies. We have been working with our staff to make sure that doesn't happen."
But he added: "Some people are volunteering now not to be here and if that is the case we won't necessarily fill those roles. And we are managing roles very carefully so when we get vacancies we are asking ourselves the question do we need to fill those roles or could we deliver that job in a different way?"
Highlights of the 2012/13 revenue budget plans include: No council tax increase for the 5th successive year; No compulsory redundancies; Pupil-teacher ratios in P1-3 maintained; Additional support of £1.1m for looked after children through our Integrated Children's Services; Additional investment of £0.4m in the region's road network; Investment of £0.2m in the fabric of school classrooms; and policing levels protected with no reductions in SBC funding to Lothian and Borders Police.
Councillors have largely welcomed the budget. However, one councillor has questioned the need for a £40,000 budget to help local communities stage parties to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations at a time when respite care for some of the region's most vulnerable families is being capped at four weeks to save £48,000.
Galashiels and District Councillor John Mitchell, a member of the SNP opposition at the council, said: "Because this council is putting a lot of things into effect that we would like to see, like the council tax freeze, there may not be too much we can take issue with but we have to look at these figures in more depth."
Another opposition councillor has described the reduction in capital spending as "disastrous", however. And he has called on the local authority to put pressure on the UK Government at Westminster, where the Conservative party is in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, for more money.
Galashiels and District Councillor Sandy Aitchison, of the Borders Party, said: "The most disastrous thing is the reduction in capital spending, which means jobs and infrastructure, and that to me is the most serious reduction but that's being created by Westminster and their massive reduction but it does have implications in the Borders.
"I'd like to see pressure on central Government to increase capital funding but it's such a complicated financial mess we're in at the moment that it's difficult to see where that capital finance from central government will come from."
This article appeared in Border Telegraph 07 Feb 12
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Damla
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Mar 29, 11:54
Report commentI agree if there is true support popele will be prepared to put their hands into their pockets and or give up some time to help. If a trust is successful it will be testament to true conviction, something that is severely lacking in a world where just complaining or joining a face book group is the level of action most are willing to contribute.
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