Aberdeen City Council could be hit with a Brexit deficit of more than £7million, according to a new report.
The local authority’s finance committee will discuss the paper this week which highlights council projects “at risk” of losing funding after the vote to leave the EU.
And now, council members are being urged to consider creating links with other agencies and even crowdfunding to ensure the continuation of some flagship schemes.
However, some people have rubbished the report as “speculative”, arguing that the shape of Brexit has not yet been revealed and that EU funds may still be available even if the country is outside the institution.
Some of the projects identified as being at risk include backing for low-carbon transport, such as the city’s hydrogen buses, and the multi-million pound CIVITAS project for transport and port operations.
A total of £7,053,734 worth of projects could be affected, according to the report.
Last night, north-east business bodies Aberdeen Inspired and the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce declined to comment on the report, in advance of more information emerging next year.
But council hydrogen leader, Barney Crockett, who serves as chair of economic development at the North Sea commission and other prominent EU roles, said the authority had to prepare for “whatever may come”.
He added: “The projects highlighted could be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of funding, because we are still finding out the shape of Brexit.
“But the key point is that we need to plan ahead and can’t wait around and then act like a headless chicken.
“While government agencies in the UK are, of course, important, we will have to keep links with the EU after Brexit.”
SNP finance spokesman Graham Dickson added: “It’s clearly vital that the council assesses its position and the implications [for it] on Brexit.”
Meanwhile, Hannah Martin, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace UK, responded: “Britain didn’t vote to ditch our environmental protections or give up on important new technologies.
“If a UK outside the EU can no longer afford to fund the same research and services, then the decisions on who bears the brunt of the cuts must be made transparently and accountably, with an opportunity for the public to be heard.”
Oblivious to these concerns, prominent supporters of Brexit have dismissed the report and argued much more detail has yet to come from the split from the EU.
North-east MSP Ross Thomson, a city councillor and one of just seven MSPs to back the Leave campaign, maintained: “In reality, this report is essentially licking your finger and sticking it in the air.
“We are in an unprecedented time and the truth is nobody can say we’ll lose any funding.
“This is all speculation and this report has come forward because of political purposes from the councillors.”
Eben Wilson, of the Taxpayer Scotland group, criticised the publication of the report saying the focus on taxes and savings was skewed.
He added: “It is no surprise that Scottish leftist politicians are desperate to spend everyone’s money on their interests.
“It was wealth, based on private enterprise to global markets, that built the city’s wealth and there is nothing that small-minded politicians can do to change that.”