ABERDEENSHIRE Council could be forced to slash nearly £50million from its budget in the next few years.
Residential care for the elderly, rubbish collections and transport are among the services likely to be affected most by the massive spending cuts.
The savings would be spread over four years starting in 2015-16 as the impact of rising costs and a “static” grant from the Scottish Government start to bite.
The full council will meet next week to set its annual revenue budget, which sets out priorities for the provision of key services.
Elected members will be told the government is offering a grant of £395.6million for 2014-15 on condition that council tax is frozen for the next three years, teacher numbers are maintained in line with pupil numbers and places are secured for probationer teachers.
Councillors will also hear that the authority is within budget this year, and that it looks likely to balance the books again in 2014-15. It will be the first time for four years that the council has not had an underspend of about £20million.
Most of that cash has been put into a reserve fund, and has been earmarked for various projects, with £18million going towards broadband services and £19million set aside for the local authority’s share of the bill for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR).
A further £3million was also spent on community initiatives.
The council will be finalising its efforts to find more tenants to rent offices in its large headquarters at Woodhill House in Aberdeen.
But in a report, head of finance Alan Wood gives a bleak forecast for the coming years due to the government grant remaining “largely static”.
He says: “The council is forecasting to be within budget again this year.
“The Woodhill House budget is reliant on securing tenants for vacant space. Should this not be successful, then the loss of rental income will have an adverse effect on this budget page.
“Looking ahead for the next four years to 2018-19, budget savings of around £49million will be required as the grant from the Scottish Government is likely to remain largely the same, while the cost of delivering services is increasing every year.”
The growing popularity of Aberdeenshire as a place to live, the ageing population, road maintenance and the council’s well-documented struggle to attract teachers to the area will all contribute to the predicted budget pressures, the finance boss will tell members.
Mr Wood’s report adds: “Councillors will be aware of the changing demographics of Aberdeenshire, and the increasing age profile of its population, a rise in pupil numbers and changes due to learning disability clients and child placements, together with an increase in overall population numbers.
“This results in rising demand for services without corresponding increases in grant.”
George Thomson, chairman of the Grampian Senior Citizens Forum, said last night it was “absolutely essential” that the authority managed to provide for the elderly.
The cuts to residential care come just five years after the council slashed its budget for sheltered-housing wardens.
Mr Thomson said: “The most essential thing is to keep old people in their own homes. Residential homes should be a last resort.”