Aberdeenshire Council Facing £3.5 million in Further Cuts

At that meeting, the Council's administration rejected opposition

suggestions for how savings could be made that would avoid some of the

cuts to front-line services. Said Cllr Martin Ford, "Now we know what further savings have to be made, it's time for the Council's administration to listen. The administration must set-aside it's usual knee-jerk rejection of suggestions made by others and work constructively to minimise the impact on Aberdeenshire residents."

 

The extent of further spending reductions - beyond the £27 million of cuts and savings already voted through - required to achieve a balanced revenue budget for 2011/12 could not be worked out until the Council's grant settlement became known.

 

It is now clear additional savings totalling around £3.5 million will have to be found and approved when the Council sets its revenue budget for

2011/12 on 10 February.

 

Cllr Martin Ford said: "It now seems clear that Aberdeenshire will need to cut spending totalling close to £30.5 million to balance its budget for 2011/12. This is an enormous cut - far in excess of anything experienced previously. It looks as though nearly as much again will have to be cut to balance the budget for 2012/13."

 

Aberdeenshire Council will receive funding of £427 million from the Scottish Government towards the running costs of council services in the financial year 2011/12. This is a cut of 1.9 per cent in cash terms - or a more than 5 per cent cut in real terms - once inflation and other increases in costs are taken into account.

 

As a result of the formula used to distribute funding amongst councils, Aberdeenshire receives a much lower grant per head of population than most councils do. Aberdeenshire Council receives more than 12.5 per cent less than the average amount of funding provided to councils per head of population.

 

Said Cllr Martin Ford: "The Council must do everything possible to

minmise the impact on frontline services.

 

"For example, the Council must look again at what it can do to save

energy and generate energy itself from renewable sources."

 

Cllr Paul Johnston said: "The Council needs to reduce the number of meetings it holds and look at merging committees to reduce the cost of

travel and meetings."

 

Aberdeenshire Council finance officers are still seeking clarification from the Scottish Government regarding some of the conditions set by the

Government that the Council has to comply with.

 

So while it is now clear that the Council will have to find additional savings of close to £3.5 million, the exact amount still cannot be

calculated.

 

Said Cllr Martin Ford: "The Council is responsible for deciding exactly what it will cut. However, it has been put in a position where

the total saving required has been decided for it - and for that the Scottish Government must take responsibility."

 

Cllr Martin Ford is the Scottish Green Party's top list candidate for the north-east region for next May's Scottish Parliament elections.