Amid the usual grim warnings about “slash and burn” cuts and a “salami slicing festival”, Aberdeenshire councillors found themselves debating an unexpected issue when they met for their annual budget meeting…
Local authority leaders have spent months poring over their finances to decide what to get rid of in order to save the millions needed to keep basic services alive.
School crossing patrollers will be gone from the region’s primaries by this summer.
Funding to help children with special needs learn to speak has been pulled.
And new schools at Fraserburgh and Stonehaven have been shelved.
Those are just some of the changes residents will have to get used to over the year ahead.
Bonus £3m on eve of meeting throws a spanner in the works
So how could it be that councillors were left scratching their heads at what to do with more money than they had bargained for?
Early into the meeting, it emerged that a surprise £3 million sum was thrust upon them just hours before they met.
Amid ongoing ruckus about the Scottish Govenment’s council tax freeze, Shona Robison emailed local authorities last night to tell them about some extra money.
It came after months of fury, with councils arguing being stripped of the power to raise the tax would hammer their already strained finances.
The SNP’s Deputy First Minister advised that an additional £62.7m would be shared among Scottish councils following the UK Government’s spring budget.
The about-face came with an admission that the cash previously pledged to offset the council tax freeze was “not sufficient”.
What did council decide to do with surprise millions?
It was with a note of suspense that council leader Gillian Owen announced the last-minute changes.
After detailing the entire saga, she added: “The worst part was that the Scottish Government has not fully funded the cost of the council tax freeze… Until last night.
“So what does that mean for us today?
“We have already worked out a balanced budget, based on community feedback.”
A big thank you to everyone who told us what they thought, after reading features in @pressjournal on our budget over the past few weeks. As Council Leader Cllr Gillian Owen explains, the feedback really has helped shape considerations so far. pic.twitter.com/d0E5CC33tz
— Aberdeenshire Council (@Aberdeenshire) February 16, 2024
Mrs Owen said she sought professional advice, and was determined not to change the plan they spent months putting together.
Her idea was to “consider how best to use this funding”, while stashing it away in emergency reserves for now.
And the Tory councillor confirmed they would be going along with the freeze, unlike Argyll – which voted to defy it just hours later.
‘None of us wanted to be up until midnight…’
Even members of Mrs Robison’s own party suggested this predicament was far from ideal.
SNP opposition group leader Gwyneth Petrie politely termed the last-minute intervention “late, but welcome”.
But she also joked that it left Aberdeenshire councillors facing the prospect of “staying up to midnight” to redo their sums.
She said: “None of us wanted to be up until midnight last night trying to draw up some resemblance of a plan.”
Calls to get spending Aberdeenshire council tax bonus
But the Huntly councillor argued that the money should not be simply stuffed into the authority’s piggy bank.
She instead wanted it invested in services for children and young people likely to be impacted by the package of cuts later voted through.
Mrs Petrie said: “Work should be undertaken to produce detailed plans for this money.”
Along with the rest of the opposition group’s suggestions, this was later outvoted.
Do you think the council should have done with the money? Let us know in our comments section below
What is true cost of Aberdeenshire council tax freeze?
Inevitably, the tough decisions administration members spent weeks warning us about came to pass.
The £3m lifeline came too late for the lollipop men and women about to disappear from schools, or for the families despairing about their children’s futures.
And while the government’s freeze has spared legions of residents from a council tax hike – they are now facing increased charges sure to hit them in the pockets instead.
Parking charges soar but gritting spared as we reveal full scale of budget cuts across Aberdeenshire
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