Council leader delighted with savings

East Renfrewshire Council’s financial affairs were managed within its operational budget last year, a report has revealed.

It found “early action in applying savings measures” helped the council to address the financial difficulties it faces in future years.

Remaining within budget means the council did not require £ 1,355,000 from reserves that had been planned and transfers totalling £ 2,734,000 could be put into reserves.

A budget monitoring report submitted to the council’s cabinet in April this year forecast an underspend of £ 1,654,000 for the year.

However, efforts to re d u c e e x p e n d i t u re continued and “at the year- end the underspend position improved to £4,089,000”.

The report s t at e s : “Reduced expenditure on payroll, procurement and utilities contributed to the underspend, together with increased recoveries of income, lower utilisation of contingency funds and savings on capital financing charges.”

Council leader Tony Buchanan welcomed the report, saying it was testament to the hard work of council staff to ensure respective targets were met.

“The challenges are becoming more and more significant on a yearly basis,” he said, adding that the council needs to be prepared for “unknown aspects” in the future when difficult choices will be made.

The cabinet also agreed the council’s annual efficiency statement for 2018/19, which saw more than £ 3 million saved.

It will be submitted to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

“The council continues to actively review opportunities for applying efficiency savings over the whole range of its services,” the report states, revealing “cash-releasing savings” of £3,374,983.