Budget unanimously agreed

NO PUBLIC toilets will close, the roads safety unit will be kept and there will be a £5.5m cash injection for roads this year, in a budget unanimously agreed by Argyll and Bute Council last Thursday.

Councillors also did not accept a £725,000 cut to health and social care services and instead gave an extra £844,000 to address ‘cost pressures’. Staff cuts to environmental health and the council’s central education team were also not implemented.

However, the majority of savings options were passed, including a three per cent rise in council tax, losing two school janitor posts, changes to school meal fees, increasing parking charges from £1 to £1.20 and introducing more in tourist destinations.

Fares will be increased across all council ferry services to Luing, Easdale, Lismore and Jura in three years and their management will be transferred from ASP to ‘in house’ to ‘make the service more sustainable’ by saving £55,000 per year.

Further changes are planned for the Jura to Islay ferry, including only running additional sailings when there is a minimum number of passengers and reviewing its ‘on demand service (currently ferry runs over and above timetable) and the ferry fares to enable cost recovery’.

While the council abandoned plans to close 36 of its 57 public toilets, it would 'progress sustainable models' by adding turnstiles and charges, franchising some as kiosks, or transferring others as community assets.

In the budget, councillors unanimously agreed to bridge a ‘£5 million funding gap in 2018/19’ and build in ‘protection for vital services against funding cuts in future years’.

Councillor Aileen Morton, leader of the Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Group, told the chamber on Thursday February 22 that investment in the council’s roads and footpaths network would more than double over the next two years from £6.6m to £14.9m, with an extra £8m added to the roads capital plan.

Councillor Morton said: ‘The trunk road network in Argyll and Bute has now hit truly appalling levels with the A83, A82 and A85 all needing substantial investment. I call on the Scottish Government to invest in our roads now.

‘We decided to allocate more than £1.5m to the Health and Social Care Partnership to deliver its vital social work services. This is more than was proposed in the budget pack. We’ve done as much as we can this year and over the past few years, and now it is time for the partnership to deliver sustainable change, resource transfer and integration.’

Councillor Gary Mulvaney, depute leader, added: ‘We need to re-shape what we do. An example of this is the one council property initiative agreed today. We will be proactively managing our 1,700 buildings and parcels of land, which will be better for the council and for local communities.’

SNP opposition leader councillor Sandy Taylor thanked the council’s leadership who welcomed their concerns, leading to their unanimous agreement.

Further savings are expected in the years to come, with estimated budget gaps of £4.124m in 2019/20, and £6.249m in 2020/21.

The council’s last round of cuts, the budget report explained, saved £548,000 by reducing bin collections from fortnightly to every three weeks, £319,00 by removing school librarians from secondary schools, £50,000 in the mobile library service, £39,500 by reducing street sweeping by 50 per cent, £100,000 by removing funding for Christmas lights, £120,700 by increasing cremation and burial charges by 20 per cent, £88,000 by removing ‘school crossing patrollers’, £58,000 by increasing piers and harbours berthing charges and £150,000 by increasing car parking charges from 80p to £1 and introducing year-round charges at other car parks, including on Mull.

Further savings have been delivered by reducing funding for events and festivals, arts development and third sector grants and reducing creative arts programmes and grounds maintenance in schools and primary school supply teacher cover.