The latest Highland Council budget review reveals an expected overspend of more than £2.6m this financial year, of which £740,000 is due to a shortfall in income from parking charges.
Councillors niggled each other in the council chamber today over the parking charge shortfall, laying blame with those local area committees who had not yet implemented the charges.
Lochaber councillor Andrew Baxter said: “Yet again we have a lower than anticipated income from car parking.
“We are incapable of sticking to and implementing a budget decision. Many areas have gone ahead and implemented charges on the basis that it was going to apply across the Highlands.”
Last year, Mr Baxter resigned as chairman of the Care, Learning and Housing committee after the council refused Lochaber committee permission to give Fort William town centre customers two weeks free parking in the run up to Christmas.
He argued that other Highland towns were not charging for parking, so the Christmas reprieve was a matter of fairness.
Councillors later allowed the free parking.
Mr Baxter said: “Rather than charade of last Christmas which left Lochaber members so incensed, can we have the same again this year on the basis of no significant movement?”
Committee chairman Alister Mackinnon said he couldn’t agree to a free parking request, given the current budget pressures.
There was further sparring between Inverness South councillor Andrew Jarvie and council leader Margaret Davidson over the budget shortfall.
Mr Jarvie demanded detailed answers to how it was being mitigated.
He said: “If we carry on this overspend, our reserves will drop to £5m, the third worst in the country. Two bad winters would finish the council.”
A furious Margaret Davidson accused Mr Jarvie of seeking alarmist headlines.
She said: “The budget is being carefully monitored. The weekly budget meetings are starting to deliver.
“This is the story of a budget which is being managed much better, we should reflect on that and thank officers and staff for it. Balancing the budget is the most important thing we need to do.”
Afterwards Mr Jarvie said: “I am extraordinarily disappointed that the council leader dismissed not only my concerns of our low reserves, but concern which is held across this chamber.”
More than £500,000 of the projected overspend comes from the cost of looked-after children.
Mr Jarvie said: “Highland Council’s low fostering pay is making fostering unaffordable for many people.
“For two years, I have been trying to get a fully costed pay increase which would keep more kids in Highland and get rid over this overspend – yet progressing it has been like crawling through treacle.”
Chief executive Donna Manson told the meeting officers will come back with a detailed mitigating plan before the next full council next week.
