Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cash-strapped Aberdeenshire Council would struggle to cope with even a mild winter

Post Thumbnail

Hard-up infrastructure chiefs could be forced to dip into their reserves to find the cash to prepare and respond to even a mild winter, they have claimed.

Aberdeenshire Council is regularly criticised for its response to severe weather during the winter months.

But the authority has argued its meagre budget means it cannot possibly grit and clear every single road across the vast region.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


And now a new report reveals that even a mild winter would be extremely challenging for the council to deal with.

The current budget for “winter and other emergencies” for 2019-2020 is £4.52 million.

Infrastructure director Stephen Archer, who wrote the report, has said this falls far short of the funds needed for even a mild winter, like the most recent one the region experienced.

Mr Archer, whose report will be discussed by councillors on Thursday, has calculated the average council spend on winter maintenance as £6.68 million over the past decade, and £5.35 million since 2015/16.

His report adds: “Winter funding has increased by just over 3% over the past four year period, whereas real cost increases have outstripped that.

“In essence, the winter budget has reduced in real terms. Based on historic data, current funding levels are some way short of adequately funding a relatively mild winter.”

Moreover, Mr Archer states that around £1.5 million is spent before the season has even started, on fixed expenditures such as depot costs, vehicles and forecasting services.

This means that around £3 million remains from current budget provision for
direct treatment costs such as fuel, salt and overtime.

Because of this, the council has had to use its reserves to ensure there will be adequate funding available to cope with the demands of next winter, particularly if it proves to be a severe season.

The roads service estimates that this upcoming winter could generate costs of more than £6 million, so now the authority has been forced to make an additional £1.5 million available from its coffers on top of its budget to ensure it is ready.

The authority has looked at a number of ways to help bolster its response, including enlisting the public as snow wardens and offering gritting shifts to staff from other departments.