Moray ‘will not be the first bankrupt council in Scotland’, vows leader
Moray Council’s leader has vowed that the local authority “will not be the first bankrupt council in Scotland”.
Speaking ahead of next week when the council are set to vote on increasing several charges for local services across Moray, Kathleen Robertson says she is “very confident” in this year’s budget.
What does this year’s budget look like?
The council have already announced a steady stream of savings over the past couple of months, as they work to recoup a £12.7 million budget gap over the next two years.
Increases in charges to council services have already been announced and will be discussed as part of budget talks.
Council leaders say they will continue to “compromise and collaborate” on the budget this year.
Kathleen Robertson said: “I think it’s really important that we do listen to what the public say and there will be recognition of their stance when it comes to some of the decisions that we are intending to put forward.”
She added the council are “hoping to be able to balance this year without using reserves, and if we do, that’s a massive step forward.”
Are services being protected?
The council are hoping to cover extra costs such as national insurance rises with a council tax increase.
A public consultation on an increase of council tax returned an average acceptable rise of 9%.
Cllr Robertson (Forres, Conservative) said each percentage increase of council tax gives Moray Council an extra £500,000.
She added: “There has to be a balance of being able to preserve services that people recognize and desire to give them an improvement in a quality of life versus rising council tax to be able to do that.”
Where are the budget pressures coming from?
The council leader said funding from the Scottish Government “wasn’t quite going far enough” to cover rising costs.
Cllr Robertson said: “Per head of population we receive less money than other authorities, but coupled with that, the actual delivery of services in Moray costs relatively more because we are rural.
She argues this contrasts with health services and integrated joint boards (IJBs) which put “huge pressure” on the councils.
“Most of them are all overspending, cllr Robertson said.
“The NHS get a lot of money given to them and they don’t really need to balance their budget because they just keep getting given more money, whereas we we’re not.”
Moray council meet next week to discuss this year’s funding proposals.
