Secrecy accusation over council budget
‘Wall of silence’ on plans say opposition
Stirling Council’s administration has been accused of putting up a “wall of silence” over budget plans amid concerns the authority could have to find up to £9million in savings.
The Scottish Government announced its budget last week, with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) calling the local government settlement a cash cut to services.
In previous years proposals put forward by Stirling Council officers to make savings have always been made public before the budget is set by councillors.
However, this has at times led to controversy.
SNP leader Scott Farmer has since said he does not want officers to bring forward options which the administration would find “unpalatable” and would be unlikely to support.
However, council finance bosses have said budget challenges may mean they have no alternative but to suggest proposals which might be deemed unpopular.
Opposition Tory councillors have accused the SNP of suppressing publication of the proposals and of forbidding officers from talking to communities, saying other local authorities are considering actions like charging for garden waste collection and decreasing the frequency of waste collection.
Tory group leader Councillor Neil Benny said: “Scott Farmer and the SNP need to come clean on the budget. What are they planning to cut? How much are they planning to raise taxes by? These are simple questions which they refuse to answer.
“If they have no plan then they are incompetent and should resign. If they have a plan and are keeping it secret then the people of Stirling will lose faith with them.
“It is unacceptable that there has been no public debate. This secrecy flies in the face of how councils should be engaging with the people that pay their salaries and depend on their services.”
Councillor Farmer said: “Let’s not forget that the delay in getting a budget published is due to Councillor Benny’s party playing politics instead of delivering down the road in Westminster and delaying the Chancellor’s budget until March.
“In fact, if we left it to the Tory government’s timetable, this council would miss its legal deadline for settling a budget for the next financial year, causing utter chaos to our local services.
“Councillor Benny sits on the finance and economy committee that agreed the timetable for producing this budget and raised no objection at the time. It will strike people as odd that he is once again playing political games.
“When the Tories were in charge of Stirling’s finances under the previous administration, they used a budget process set by officers that threatened services with cuts, causing deep concern amongst communities during their consultation period. We have abolished this system.
“Councillor Benny will know that the Scottish budget has been published but is not final – there is still some way to go in securing the local authority funding proposed by the SNP government.
“I would encourage Councillor Benny and his colleagues to spend their efforts on lobbying Tory MSPs to back the Scottish budget so that we can get on with delivering high quality local services into the next financial year.”
The council’s chief finance officer Jim Boyle told councillors at the end of January: “Officers have been working on options. When they are ready, they could be released [to councillors] hopefully in advance of the budget papers if that would help, and after the [national] budget settlement is published on February 6 there will be a detailed briefing for elected members as always.”
This secrecy flies in the face of how councils should be engaging with the people...