Council taxup bythree percent
A three per cent council tax rise will bring band D properties to £1,233 before water and sewage charges are added.
Officers said £20million worth of savings would still have to be found over the next five years. Council house rents will rise by 1.6 per cent, bringing the weekly average to £70.60.
Suggested cuts to the Smith Art Gallery and the Big Noise Raploch project had already been ruled out and reductions to school menu choice, the educational psychology service, grounds maintenance and grass cutting, as well as increases in parking and charges, were also knocked back.
Some shelved options may brought back later, such as staff reductions in some areas including administration,and reducing staff overtime.
A £1million sum will go to projects such as a ‘holiday hunger’ pilot for schools; making Stirling dementiafriendly; and 20mph zones. SNP councillor Alasdair Macpherson claimed he was threatened with suspension from his group when he took a stand over the lack of investment proposed for the Eastern Villages.
The Bannockburn ward councillor voted with the joint SNP/Labour administration for the revenue budget and council tax proposals at last Thursday’s Stirling Council budget meeting.
But when it came to the general services capital programme he claimed he had been threatened by suspension if he voted against it - and accused council leader Scott Farmer of sighing during his comments to the chambers.
He added:“I’m not going to vote against this but I want my dissent recorded.
“There’s a three line whip on this. I have been forced into voting for this or I would have been suspended, but it’s important someone stands up for the Eastern Villages.”
Councillor Macpherson said he was “extremely unhappy”with the capital programme proposals and read from a letter he said had been sent to him overnight from a constituent saying:“I have read a 240-page report and I am disappointed to see how much capital spend is being allocated to the Eastern Villages. Of £25.9million there’s less than one per cent allocated to the Eastern Villages, which is an absolute insult. The majority is being spent in the town centre and rural areas.”
Councillor Macpherson said:“You drive through Plean and Fallin and you will see a public realm that goes back to the‘50s and ‘60s. I’m really sorry but the SNP group especially really missed the boat on this and I’d like to think going forward we can address it.
“The City Region Deal has hee-haw in it for the Eastern Villages - and yes, I can hear Councillor Farmer sighing.
“I’ll be honest, less than one per cent of the capital programme is less than crumbs. It’s up to me to battle within the SNP group and this council. It’s shameful and I’m sorry but that’s the way it is.”
While Councillor Farmer and fellow SNP councillors remained silent over his comments, finance convener Councillor Margaret Brisley, Labour councillor for Bannockburn ward, said:“I take Councillor Macpherson’s point but there are other things in the capital programme in terms of roads, education, IT, infrastructure etc that will be going through all our communities.”
A three-line whip is a strict instruction to attend and vote, breach of which would normally have serious consequences. Breach of a three-line whip can lead to expulsion from the political group in extreme circumstances and may lead to expulsion from the party.
An SNP spokesperson later declined to publicly react to Councillor Macpherson’s remarks, saying they do not comment on internal party procedures.
In 2011 former SNP group leader Councillor Graham Houston admitted he had disagreed in private at times with Councillor Macpherson’s general“robust” approach in how he represented people in Bannockburn and the Eastern Villages but added that he had“no doubt about his passion for representing his constituents”.