Moray councillors need to work together if the local authority is to deliver its priorities.
That was the message of a recently published Accounts Commission best value progress report on Moray Council.
While the commission found progress had been made in areas including the local authority’s financial position following a similar report in August 2020, it highlighted the need for elected members to collaborate more – while acknowledging the council’s political make-up.
At the moment the SNP are in a minority administration with seven councillors, following the resignation of Paula Coy in November.
The vacancy she left in the Elgin North ward will not be filled until after the local government elections in May, meaning there are 25 councillors left.
There are nine Conservative councillors in the opposition group, and a total of eight independent councillors with four in the Councillors Open Group, two in the Moray Alliance Group and two unaligned. There is also one Labour councillor.
While members were considered to have come together in responding to the pandemic, since then relationships have deteriorated.
The report said: “It is important that all officers and members work together to create a positive culture in the best interests of the people of Moray.”
Progress has been made to the council’s financial position over the last two years, with the authority no longer at risk of running out of reserves, partly due to £16 million of unspent Covid funding being used for other areas.
A medium and long-term financial strategy has been updated, but the council will still have to find around £20 million to cover spending over the next three years.
Since the previous report £6.4 million has been set aside for transformation projects in the revitalised improvement and modernisation plan, but the local authority still needs to bring in a sustainable financial model for that with staffing issues hampering progress.
Measures have been take to improve attainment for secondary pupils and gain a better understanding of housing tenants’ needs.
A comprehensive training and development plan for councillors has also been introduced.
Moray Council needs to find £20m to cover costs over the next three years
However, the authority has not completed its governance review, with the role of the audit and scrutiny committee left outstanding for the new council to decide following the May elections.
Leader of the council and SNP group co-leader Graham Leadbitter was pleased the report acknowledged the tricky political balance in the council, the challenges facing a minority administration and efforts being made to overcome them.
He said: “Progress on our transformational improvement and modernisation programme has been recognised as have efforts to improve attainment and financial planning.
“Moray Council was previously considered to be insular and is now much more outward looking.
“I view that as a particular success, putting Moray on the map with other councils, national governments and other organisations is key to getting the best knowledge on how to improve our services, as well as sharing our expertise too.”
Conservative councillor for Elgin North Frank Brown felt it was unrealistic for the Accounts Commission to expect members from opposite ends of the political divide to work together, and questioned the findings on the council’s financial position.
He said: “Civil servants completely ignore the fact that we live in a political world.
“If we look at the Scottish Parliament do we see much of Ms Sturgeon and her gang or Mr Harvie and his, actively working with Anas Sarwar and Douglas Ross? No.
“When they have Conservative and SNP at opposite ends of the political spectrum there’s going to be friction.
“Even with the extra £2 million that’s come from Ms Forbes finding money down the back of the sofa, it still leaves the council with a huge deficit to find over the next three years.”
The commission, which scrutinises councils, will report its final conclusions in the next few weeks.
