£41.5m budget gap fears at the council
Leader says figures in new savings report are‘sobering’
A budget gap of almost £42 million could force South Lanarkshire Council to abandon its policy of no compulsory redundancies.
Chief executive Lindsay Freeland told the council’s executive committee on Wednesday, June 26, that they may not be able to find the necessary savings without making employees redundant.
Paul Manning, executive director for finance and corporate resources, outlined the 2020/2021 Strategy and Savings Requirement report which council leader John Ross labelled “sobering”.
Mr Manning said: “We are assuming a reduction in grant income. It is an estimate at this point.
“We have described a budget gap of £41.5 million. That is a big figure.”
The council expects a reduction in central government funding of £5 million, with an additional £2.5 million reduction based on population distribution and £800,000 as a result of increased council tax income from new housing developments.
Almost £15.75 million needs to be found to fund pay awards for teachers and other staff while anticipated price increases are set to cost the council almost £4 million.
Other budget pressures include funding the increased cost of kinship care, waste management and community participation as well as making permanent the funding for new initiatives such as breakfast clubs and holiday lunch clubs, the roll-out of Free at 3 and additional IT costs.
Some savings already earmarked – including restructuring of loan charges, selling off assets and dipping into the council’s reserves – could help save £26 million.
This would still leave an outstanding budget gap of £15.5 million.
Mr Manning added: “Officers will seek savings of £11.65 million and bring these back later in the autumn.”
The remainder of the funding gap could be covered by a council tax hike of 4.79 per cent if the Scottish Government again allow councils to increase the tax by up to three per cent in real terms.
Conservative group leader Councillor Alex Allison (Clydesdale East) was curious as to why officers would only look to identify £11.65 million in savings. He said: “Is there any reason for stopping there and not going any further?”
Mr Freeland responded saying: “I could not achieve those savings with our current policy [of no compulsory redundancies]. You would need to change the policy.”
Leader of the Labour group, Cllr Joe Fagan (East Kilbride Central North) slammed the Scottish Government for imposing austerity on local authorities.
He said: “That was a very serious and grave warning that we have just heard.
“Every budget that this authority passes will be an exercise in austerity. Central government are making decisions that are forcing local authorities to cut jobs and services.” People across South Lanarkshire are being asked to nominate their health and social care heroes.
The Scottish Health Awards celebrate the NHS staff, support workers, volunteers and specialist teams who go above and beyond to provide exceptional care and support to their patients.
Patients, families, work colleagues and members of the public can make a nomination for one of 17 diverse categories, ranging from ‘Doctor Award’ for an individual providing excellent NHS care, to the newly-launched ‘Global Citizen Award’ which recognises the individual or team who not only work in a health and social care day job but also volunteer in global health and social care work.
Run by the Daily Record with NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government, the awards celebrate the individuals and teams delivering high quality health care throughout Scotland.
All finalists will be invited to attend the awards ceremony at the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh on Thursday, November 14. To nominate, go to www. scottishhealthawards.com before 5pm on Thursday, August, 29.