Moray Council reserve funds lowest in Scotland
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MORAY Council has less money in reserve than any other council across Scotland, it was revealed at a special meeting to discuss accounts.
On Thursday, September 26, at a meeting of the Moray Council, audit director Mr Brian Howarth, of Audit Scotland, noted some positives but was worried about financial stability.
He said: "Financial management is strong within the council. The council shows a good record of delivering planned savings.
"However, the area I'm less positive about is financial sustainability. The council has been using £5 million of reserves each year to balance the financial position.
"You have just more than three years left until the general fund is dissipated. You're the only Scottish council with less than five years left in their general fund."
Responding to Mr Howarth, Councillor George Alexander (Forres, Independent) said: "It comes as no surprise to quite a few people in this room that we have the least amount of money in our reserves and are going to run out sooner than anybody else in Scotland. Some of us have been making that case for five years. If there is anything you can do to get the message across to the powers that be I would be most grateful."
Councillor Frank Brown (Elgin City North) challenged the report. He said: "What worries me is our constituents that read this document are going to pick out the bit about the general fund lasting three to four years.
"The message which is coming from the council to the public is that we don't have three to four years of reserves to sustain our level of expenditure in order to keep a minimum level of reserves for emergencies.
"That headline gives an inappropriate message to the general public."
Councillors approved the audited annual accounts at the end of the meeting.
