The bumper package received the green light this week, with general consensus among administration and opposition councillors.

The four year plan includes:

• £76 million on flood alleviation.
• Improving the condition and suitability of schools to the tune of £16.5 million.
• A £3 million boost for a Moray regional sports centre at Elgin High School.
• £10 million to address traffic management issues in Elgin.
• £2 million to meet demand for small industrial and business units.
• Reduce landfill waste with £10 million for additional waste facilities.

The Independent-Conservative coalition administration heralded the £1 billion investment as "staggering".

"It equates to more than £11,000 for every man, woman and child in our council area," said Councillor Allan Wright, depute convener of the council.

While neighbouring Aberdeen City Council faces a financial crisis, Councillor Wright insisted Moray Council was in good shape.

"Managing a budget of that size is not easy and we must applaud the work of our finance team that has put Moray in a financially sound position, and a much stronger position than many other councils in Scotland, as we go into this four-year period," he said.

"There is always more that could be done but, thanks to prudent use of resources, we will have enough to meet the priorities of this council and the Scottish Government."

It will not all be plain sailing and Councillor Wright admitted the biggest uncertainty remained over the funding of flood alleviation schemes, with the council currently facing a £23 million shortfall in funding from the Scottish Government.

Chief financial officer, Mark Palmer, warned members that the council would have to use its capital fund and increased borrowing to cover the shortfall, caused by a change in local authority arrangements, which posed a "significant problem" for the council.

The council is pinning its hopes on receiving an £80 million settlement for flooding from the Government for the years 2011-2014 to ensure its major Elgin flood scheme is not derailed.

A move by Elgin City North councillor Barry Jarvis to put pressure on the Scottish Government, who he accused of "short changing Moray", to review its funding procedures failed to win support.

Councillor Wright revealed that the authority is targeting a further £3 million in efficiency savings by March, 2012 to balance the books.

No implications for staffing numbers are contained in the plan, although the council says it will consult fully with trade unions on any changes.

The opposition SNP group demanded that detailed reports on all potential savings go back to each service committee for scrutiny and approval.

However, SNP group leader Councillor Pearl Paul said while her party would continue to scrutinise the policies of the administration, it was generally supportive of most of the proposals in the spending plan.

Councillor Wright cautioned that there will be a number of pressures on the authority's budget, one of them being the increasing number of elderly people requiring care.

A £250,000 budget allocation for care of the elderly in 2008-09 is set to rise year on year to £1 million in 2011-2012.

In answer to a question from Elgin City South councillor Lee Bell, joint chair of community services, said social services staff were working closely with health service counterparts to put in place preventative measures to reduce the number of elderly people requiring care in the future.

There will also be an increasing budget for mental health services from £44,000 in 2008-09 to £324,000 in 2010-11.

And inflation increases, particularly on construction and engineering costs on major capital projects, such as the PPP schools project and flood schemes, are other areas of uncertainty, warned Councillor Wright.

The council has a review team looking at "delivering better services" which is due to report in September and could generate further savings.

Another working group is looking at options to rationalise the council's office accommodation. The council currently has over 50 different small office facilities, many of which are not fit for purpose.

And a new procurement process, which has caused some concern among local companies, could also yield savings, Councillor Wright added.

The authority also plans to spend £1 million to establish support centres in all its secondary schools for an increasing number of children with social, emotional and behavioural needs. The hope is this will reduce the need for expensive out of area placements which are currently a major financial burden on the council.

The demand for industrial units across Moray is outstripping supply, and the council has only one vacant unit out of 131 premises it owns on a variety of sites.

Councillor Wright said he hoped the £2 million investment in new sites would trigger a similar capital spend from enterprise company HIE Moray.

New area committees, agreed recently in a change to community planning, will be given a £200,000 annual budget from 2009-10 onwards.

There was a warm welcome for the £3 million support for regional sports facilities at Elgin High School.

The proposal appeared to be shelved following the collapse of the controversial single secondary school for Elgin plan; however, a strong community campaign has put it firmly back on track and the council cash has now signalled the green light for the project.

Pauline Knox, chair of Elgin High Parent Council, said: "That is fantastic and could open the door to opportunities for other funding sources that could make the regional sports facility a reality."

Mr Palmer, under questioning from SNP councillor Gordon McDonald (Buckie), confirmed the council's serviced debt from decades of borrowing on capital projects stood at £120 million, although £90 million of that was inherited from the former Grampian Regional Council following local government reorganisation.

Councillor Wright insisted the finances of Moray Council are in good shape and are well regulated and monitored.

"That does not mean that services can be other than extremely prudent over the next four years and they must live within their annual budgets," he added.

c.saunderson@northern-scot.co.uk

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