Budget will look one year ahead, not three
Councillors have voted to set a one-year 2022/23 revenue budget in February rather than a three-year plan.
Members were last week asked to approve the move due to several uncertainties caused by the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
But one councillor called the move - brought before a meeting of full council on November 15 -“irresponsible.”
PKC’s head of finance Stewart Mackenzie told elected members:“There are significant challenges in trying to prepare a detailed budget for the following two years.
“However elected members will undoubtedly want to set out their desired direction of travel on council tax - it will be for elected members to articulate that.”
Tabling the motion relating to PKC’s medium-term financial plan, Strathallan Conservative member and council leader Murray Lyle said:“Clearly to all it would have been more favourable to set multi-year budgets.
“However – as the report sets out – we will not have any funding information from the Scottish Government beyond 2022/23.
“Furthermore, the local government elections in May 2022 will return a new set of councillors and, in my view, it is only right that they set the future direction of the council.”
It was seconded by Conservative Highland ward councillor John Duff.
Carse of Gowrie Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey tabled an amendment to set out balanced indicative budgets for years two and three when setting the revenue budget in February.
He said it was“prudent”to leave the incoming administration a balanced budget in“tip-top condition”and allow them to make their adjustments on top of that.
Cllr Bailey added:“I think it would be irresponsible of us to leave the chamber without trying our best to set out balanced budgets for years two and three.
“It’s always been the practice in the past to do that and it’s always been this situation that the Scottish Government has not been able to set us years two and three numbers.”
It was seconded by Independent Highland ward councillor Xander McDade.
Liberal Democrat Perth councillor Willie Wilson said:“Normally the Lib Dem group would support a longer-term budget process but on this occasion it’s very difficult to quantify that at the moment because of the lack of information.”
Cllr Bailey argued there were always unknowns about funding and whether or not there would be a council tax cap, and said PKC had previously set three-year budgets when faced with uncertainty over Brexit and its implications.
Newly-appointed chief executive Thomas Glen highlighted the extra workload outlining a three-year budget would entail and the capacity challenge it would present PKC as a result.
He added:“More importantly any such exercise would include significant unknowns about the level of funding we would have available and potential proposals would be very limited in their detail – in terms of the options officers would have to effectively bridge any gaps there may be in funding years two and three – without the information from government in terms of the settlement available.”
Cllr Lyle said:“I only wish that Cllr Bailey’s amendment was correct and by accepting the amendment we would leave the council’s finances in tip-top condition – unfortunately that’s not at our behest particularly.
“It’s really crystal ball gazing and beyond to accept a three-year financial plan at this point.”