Aberdeenshire Council staff face the axe in budget proposals
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Aberdeenshire Council will have to consider cuts to jobs and services as it looks to save almost £20 million in its financial budget next week.
Councillors will meet on Thursday, March 9 to agree on a strategy that could help to balance the books.
Council officers have unveiled a range of proposals that aim to save the local authority cash over the year ahead.
They said the budget is being set “against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and significant financial challenges for the council and its residents”.
Councillors previously agreed to rise council tax by 4 per cent last month, a move that will generate an extra £1.649 million for the council over the next year.
Cuts to services and job posts are among the proposals that will be scruitinised at Woodhill House on Wednesday.
The number of deputy head teachers across all schools in Aberdeenshire could be reduced which could save the local authority £646,000.
Meanwhile two Education Support Officer posts within its school support team will be axed, saving £140,000.
It’s Family Information Service is also expected be scrapped that would see the council recover £40,000.
The popular PeterDeen and FraserDeen projects, run in partnership with the Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust, could also be stopped.
Bringing the scholarship to a close would save £287,000.
PeterDeen was initially set up back in 2018, with FraserDeen established the following year.
They offered additional support to academy pupils who struggled with the school curriculum through football coaching sessions.
Youngsters were also encouraged to develop vocational qualifications while completing other subjects at school such as english and maths.
A number of job posts are also due to be axed in IT and customer services.
As the local authority is looking to increase the use of self-service, two full-time customer support analyst posts are up for the chop, saving £61,000.
Two customer service advisor posts are facing the axe along with a risk and resilience manager and change manager programme post.
A review of those claiming single person discounts on their council tax will be carried out to ensure the correct fees are being collected.
The local authority hopes this will bring in an additional £700,000.
Officers have also recommended a funding cut of £50,000 to VisitAberdeenshire.
A similar cut to the tourism agency was ruled out by Aberdeen City Council at their crucial budget meeting on Wednesday.
Extra cleaning processes required during the pandemic will also be stopped, with services returning to pre-covid levels.
This will save the council £220,000.
