The stage is set for a heated budget debate at today’s meeting of the Highland Council.
The administration has tabled plans to close a near £50 million budget gap, with a raft of savings they say are crucial to the sustainability of the council.
But opposition leader Alasdair Christie called it a “slash and burn” budget and said his group will try to stop it.
At the heart of his concerns are swingeing cuts across health and social care, and education.
Raymond Bremner, leader of the council, stressed that the administration is doing the best it can, in a “perfect storm”.
He says the budget protects jobs and avoids hitting the public with big increases in council tax.
The budget protects road spending in line with public feedback, but that has meant tough decisions in other areas.
The council will review the budget again in the autumn.
‘Ravaging education budgets’
Some of the biggest budget savings centre on ambitious redesign plans for health and social care and early learning. The council believes it can save £2.4 million by focusing on early interventions in health and social care, preventing higher spend down the line.
It’s increasing the fees it pays to foster carers, kinship carers and adoptive parents, in a bid to avoid paying for expensive out-of-area care.
But the budget papers are scant on detail. The impact assessment states that it’s too soon to tell how the saving will impact frontline services.
Similarly, there’s a £1.5 million cut from early learning and childcare, on the basis that the Highland population is declining. This too has no impact assessment.
“This is a slash and burn budget by the SNP administration,” said Mr Christie. “It’s ravaging educational investment, taking millions out of education. It’s relying on untested investment plans in order to remove money from the most vulnerable areas of children’s services.”
Local charities and arts groups facing closure
Mr Christie said the investments brought forward alongside budget cuts are “all smoke and mirrors”.
While the council is investing £1.3 million in fostering, it’s removing nearly double that from the wider health and social care service.
An extra £6.5 million investment in waste services is coming from the Scottish Government, and Mr Christie fears the public will struggle to accept smaller waste bins and an extra recycling bin.
Other cost-cutting measures, such as £500,000 from schools mental health services, rely on the community to pick up the slack.
“That’s a cracker,” he says. “They say community planning partners are going to do it – do they know that?”
Similarly, Mr Christie says charitable groups across the Highlands – providing respite care, after school clubs, music, culture and sport – had no idea they were about to lose their grant funding.
Yesterday, some told The P&J they will have to shut down.
Mr Bremner expressed his sadness that this couldn’t be avoided.
“Sustaining funding to recover our roads condition has meant making some really tough decisions,” he said. “We have had to concentrate on the council’s core service provision.
“This has meant a reduction of support to some groups and organisations, which is regrettable. Unfortunately, our options have been greatly reduced due to the challenges we are facing.”
Mr Bremner said the council will work with these groups to help them find other sources of support and funding.
Opposition vows to challenge ‘harsh’ Highland Council budget
The council has had its own headaches regarding funding it receives from the Scottish Government.
Mr Bremner said the “considerable lack of clarity” around schools funding and ring-fenced budgets made a difficult situation all the more challenging.
“This is one of the toughest years – if not the toughest year – that many councillors can remember,” said Mr Bremner.
The administration has focused on reducing the impact of the cost-of-living crisis by protecting jobs and keeping council tax as affordable as possible. At 4%, it’s one of the lowest increases in Scotland.
Mr Bremner says the administration plans to undertake a mid-year budget review – part of a diligent approach to keeping spending in check.
However, he acknowledges that the fast-moving situation derailed communication with opposition leaders.
“It has been almost impossible to be as engaging as we may have wanted to be with other groups,” he said.
Mr Christie is not convinced. “That was deliberate,” he says. “They never had any intention to collaborate.”
Mr Christie confirmed that his group will table several amendments to today’s budget proposals. “We’re trying to take away the harshness around the sharp edges of this budget,” he said.
“All in all, it’s going to be catastrophic for the Highlands.”
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