Details of £16.57million of cuts proposed by Highland Council in secret budget papers:
Care and Learning
Schools: Saving £319,000 by scaling back music tuition provision, ceasing staff overtime, youth group funding and making cuts to Gaelic development.
Adult services: Save £4million by reducing adult social care funding by 4.3%.
High Life Highland: Reduce budget for services by £560,000.
Family Teams: Reduction of management and other posts to save £500,000.
Childcare/Early Learning: Save £600,000 by closing some centres, reducing childcare partnership grants, training, breakfast club funding, and other funding.
Other children’s services: Save £793,000 by ceasing funding for family nurse partnership, and reduce or cease funding to third sector service level agreements.
Hostels: Redesign to save £41,000.
Resources/Property: Reduction in service information and support, reduce support to schools and management. One job loss, saving £41,000.
Property Maintenance: Save £100,000 by deleting property maintenance budget.
Chief Executive’s Office
Members: Cut number of councillors from 80 to 74 to save £128,000. Reduce travel and accommodation allowances to save £68,000.
Policy and Reform: Save £86,000 through non-staffing budget reductions.
Service-wide: Cut four jobs to save £113,000.
Corporate Development
Customer Services: Review service centre operation to cut budget by 10%, resulting in two job losses and a £57,000 saving.
Service-wide: Merge customer service management, digital service, Digital First teams, resulting in two jobs losses and a £60,000 saving.
Human Resources services: Cut three jobs to save £112,000.
Trading Standards: Reduce service to legal minimum to save £62,000.
Community Services
Street Cleaning: 35% reduction in street cleaning, resulting in £660,000 saving and 24 job losses.
Grounds Maintenance: 30% reduction in grass-cutting services, resulting in £230,000 saving and 28 job losses.
Stores and Depots: £35,000 saving by merging Diriebught and Harbour Road stores in Inverness. Raise £70,000 trhough work with third parties and raising charges for services of Bio Hazard team.
Harbours and Ferries: Increase fares on Corran Ferry by 10% to raise £42,000. Increase harbour dues by 10% to raise £42,000. Increase price of marine fuel sales by 3p-a-litre to raise £240,000.
Car Parks: Increase current charges by 10% to raise £130,000.
Recycling: Introduce £25 charge for green waste collection to raise £500,000, potentially rising to £35 the following year.
Refuse Collection: Raise £250,000 by introducing more commercial approach to collections for services to businesses.
Bulky Uplift: Stop the service, or charge more, to raise £50,000.
Flood Alleviation: Cut £100,000 from budget.
Housing: Stop providing anti-social behaviour resources to save £50,000.
Replacement Bins: Save £500,000 by charging for replacement bins and for collection from charities and churches. Reduce number of recycling points. Rationalise play areas. Charge for environmental health advice.
Development and Infrastructure
Environment: Cut 18.5 jobs and save £861,000 by stopping delivering the Ranger service across the Highlands and shaking up team that delivers Town and Countryside Environmental Capital Projects.
Economy and Regeneration: Cut 12 jobs and £640,000 from European and Tourism teams.
Employability Service: Save £1.08million and axe eight jobs by reducing employability team, creating centralised service, and reducing deprived area fund and other grants by 75%.
Energy and Sustainability: Raise £250,000 in Scottish Energy Efficiency Income by creating Highland-wide programme of works.
Property Asset Management: Reduce number of property assets to save £50,000. Reduce property planned maintenance programme by £250,000.
Service-wide: Measures to save £599,000 and cut one job.
Finance Service
Council Tax: Remove 10% discount for second homes to save £500,000.
Insurance Services: Increased self-insurance to save £500,000.
Debt Management: Cut budget by £200,000.
Revenue and Business Support: Delete seven posts currently vacant to save £164,000. Cut another six posts through “vacancy management” to save £134,000. Accelerate 10% cut to advice services to raise £130,000.
Service-wide: Cut 10 jobs to save £258,000.
Corporate Finance: Save £350,000 on procurement and Treasury management.
