Councillors approve Aberdeenshire Council budget
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Aberdeenshire Council's budget for the coming year has been approved by councillors in a majority vote which outlined that cuts will need to be made to services.
The local authority is facing a budget gap of £66.8 million over the next 12 months which has to be addressed.
Savings of nearly £20 million will be made across the local authority's services, apart from those that support children which will not be affected.
Jobs in the council are expected to go and others will not be filled if they become vacant which will save £1 million. Voluntary redundancy will be offered to workers for a saving of £2 million.
Cuts will also be made to bus services, community projects and to Visit Aberdeenshire's funding.
The council tax rise will provide Aberdeenshire Council with an additional £1.649 million over the next year.
The local authority received £16.660 million from the Scottish Government.
In proposing the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent administration's budget council leader Mark Findlater said: "I will take the opportunity to present the entirety of the administration's budget, recognising that in order to deliver a balanced budget we must consider all aspects of the financial resources available to the council and how they impact on each other and their importance in supporting the delivery of our priorities.
"We are a large and complex organisation that truly delivers cradle to grave services.
"Next year we will spend over £711 million on those services from care, education, roads, waste, leisure, social work, landscaping, street lights and car parks, the list goes on and on.
"We are here in times of difficulty be that storms, pandemics, natural disasters or economic challenges.
"We work with our partners in order to deliver the best outcomes for our communities.
"Our teams work tirelessly to ensure Aberdeenshire remains the wonderful place that we are fortunate enough to call home.
"Aberdeenshire Council like all councils across Scotland is facing unprecedented financial challenges.
"Last year we predicted a budget gap in 2023/24 of £21 million and this has risen dramatically due to challenges outwith our control.
"Recovery from the pandemic and Russia's war against Ukraine have had a global impact driving the cost of living crisis.
"We are seeing volatility in our supply chains and interest rates continue to change as the Bank of England seeks to manage inflation.
"All this means we have a very challenging year ahead of us. Our budgets have been impacted dramatically and to continue to deliver to an acceptable scope and standard of service our out of balance position, as reflected in the revenue budget paper, is now over £66 million.
"Rising costs coupled with increased demand on local services have created a perfect storm.
"Local government must find a way to respond to reducing financial settlements from the Scottish Government whilst meeting the needs and expectations of local communities.
"I believe we have set out a measured, responsible solution to setting our budget for 2023/24 ensuring that core services continue to be delivered to a high standard, that we are able to fund and deliver our council plan, that we continue to support our communities and that we have put in place a mechanism for future transformation that will realise savings for future years."
Other cross-council savings will come from procurement efficiencies from a review of off-contract spend and existing contract arrangements, digital transformation and estate rationalisation across all local authority properties.
The council will also aim to achieve £3 million of savings through a review of its loans fund and will utilise reserves of £900,000.
Directorate savings made within the budget include:
Business services (£2.8 million savings) including:
- £220,000 - Removal of additional cleans of public toilets required due to Covid.
- £700,000 - Review of single person discount for Council Tax.
Infrastructure Services (£6.4 million savings) including:
- £2.66 million - Diverting residual waste from landfill to energy from waste facility.
- £635,000 - Reduce financial support for fixed route subsidised bus services.
Education and Children’s Services (£4.7 million savings) including:
- £500,000 - Under-utilised budgets in support for learning clusters offered as saving.
- £950,000 - Reduction in primary school depute head teacher entitlement through primary staffing formula review.
The local authority's capital plan and its £115 million proposed building projects will focus on improvements to Macduff Marine Aquarium; transforming Peterhead's Arbuthnot House and the creation of a cultural quarter; new offices and community facilities in Ellon; new-build primary schools in Fraserburgh and Stonehaven; and Peterhead Community Campus.
A commitment was given to the expansion of free school meals, additional affordable housing and disabled/elderly housing adaptations.
The SNP and Independent opposition group leader Councillor Gwyneth Petrie lodged an amendment and outlined its budget which included a proposed council tax rise of six per cent.
The amendments proposed included maintaining all fixed route bus services and ensuring full retention of the Pupil Equity Fund.
It also proposed several new schemes including energy generation projects funded by a £837,000 transformation reserve.
She said: "The budget process started with an admittedly daunting out of balance position for the current financial year.
"But the proposals that we've put before you have aimed to close that gap without some of the most worrying potential impacts.
"The opposition group budget proposals show our focus on continuing as much service delivery for our residents as possible, our continued support for our workforce and our absolute commitment to the young people living throughout Aberdeenshire.
"We have minimised saving impacts on our children and young people as much as we can whilst retaining our commitment to key capital projects like the Peterhead Community Campus, new-build schools in Fraserburgh and Stonehaven and an increase in the enhancements budget for other schools.
"I commend the opposition budget and would hope that some of what we have said will lead to continued joint cross-chamber work for the benefit of every person that we represent across Aberdeenshire."
Councillors voted 42-22 in favour of the administration's budget. One no vote was lodged.
Meanwhile, MP Andrew Bowie has called for the reintroduction of Network Support Grants as a possible solution to bus savings in the Aberdeenshire budget.
The Scottish Government has made bus operators aware it will end UK-wide funding on March 31.
And bus giant Stagecoach says this will lead to cuts of up to 10 per cent in bus services, and fare increases of up to 15 per cent.
Mr Bowie, whose West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency is one of Scotland's largest rural patches, said: “Rural areas always feel the impact of declining bus services the most.
"Passenger numbers are lower and costs are higher due to distances between towns and villages.
"At a time when people are struggling financially they simply cannot afford for fares to increase, or to potentially lose their job because the service they use has been cut.
"It’s the worst possible timing for what was already a ridiculous decision.
"The Scottish Government knows this and should be doing more to protect rural services, not less."
