Council sets aside £2m "windfall" for council priorities

MORAY Council has received a funding boost of £2 million, which will be set aside for "council priorities".

The money, described by the council's head of financial services Lorraine Paisey as a "windfall", has come from the business rates incentivisation scheme and will help with one-off pressures and "exit payments".

Speaking at a meeting of the policy and resources committee on Tuesday, Mrs Paisley said the money could not have been predicted or budgeted for and will be a one-off. She recommended the council keep it aside to help fund one-off payments and improve financial stability.

But councillors admitted the public might find the decision to retain the cash difficult to understand, given cuts to services.

Councillor Donald Gatt (Conservative, Keith and Cullen) said: "It's going to be rather difficult for the public to understand when they see grass not getting cut and toilets getting shut, and all other manner of services they have been used to for many, many years."

Councillor Tim Eagle (Buckie) backed up his party-colleague saying he felt the council was doing the public a "disservice".

Council leader Graham Leadbitter (SNP, Elgin City South) agreed it would be difficult to explain, but said reserves cannot be used sustainably year on year. He added: "One of the key messages to the public is that if we are able to make one-off savings with the help of reserves, those are not recurring amounts of money.

"You can only spend reserves once and it is not a sustainable position to continue to off-set large amounts of services with that."

Mrs Paisley said Moray Council's level of earmarked reserves is low and it would be sensible to remedy that – with this cash providing the perfect opportunity to do so.

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