Council tax hike is disgraceful
I have to make comment on the 10 per cent council tax increase put in place by the administration of Argyll and Bute Council.
The council is made up of administration and opposition councillors. The breakdown of who is who is available on the Argyll and Bute Council website.
I am part of the opposition group which is made up of SNP, Independent and Scottish Labour councillors, and we were supported by the Scottish Greens councillor and other Independent councillors in our budget.
Our amendment addressed the current cost of living crisis we are facing, and put money where it would do the most good for our communities. I am proud to be a part of the opposition group who stood up for our communities and will continue to do so.
Far from raiding the reserves and robbing the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSPC) of the money they needed, we approved the allocation of the £78 million that they asked for this year and for future years.
The money we were taking was actually money that had been returned to Argyll and Bute Council from Strathclyde
Pension Fund from overpaid employers’ contributions, and was in fact Argyll and Bute Council money to do what it needed to do. So, we proposed to use £3m of the money returned and give it to HSPC, so in fact they would get an extra £3m.
The same with the money we were taking from the general reserves. No jobs were being threatened, no services were being cut and instead we proposed to increase staff by putting a Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands (MAKI) Amenity Ward in place to cover our area which we have been asking for at least five years.
The administration consists of Scottish Conservative and Unionist, Scottish Liberal Democrats and a number of Independent councillors and, as they have the majority – albeit a very small one – they were able to push through the draconian measures they proposed.
Now they have the cheek to ask Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to bail out the very people they have put into this situation. Disgraceful.
If you want to make representation to elected members on this and any other issue please do so.
I picked up the package of food donated by the local Coop for the local food share in Lochgilphead recently.
This is the reality of the situation we are in at the moment, which will only get worse once the 10 per cent council tax increase kicks in.
A big thank you to the Co-op for its continued support, it’s very much appreciated.
The Snowdrop MS Centre’s fundraising campaign is in full swing with Scott MacMillan’s marathon training running full steam ahead. I’d like to wish him all the best. There will be another fun day coming soon which I’m looking forward to.
The Community Shop said a very fond farewell to the shop manager Marina, who retired to spend more time with family and doing the things she loves – Marina, you’ll be missed.
The shop is looking for a new manager to take on the task and move the shop forward to its reconstruction and refurbishment.
A new and very much improved shop with more room, improved access and much more stock will be reopening soon.
But the shop will be open only on Fridays and Saturdays at the moment.
I’ll still be holding my local surgeries in the shop when it reopens, but, in the meantime, I’ll be in the shop helping most weekends. If you need to contact me, my details are on the website or drop me a message.
Or indeed, just speak to me in the street.
It is so good to see the lighter mornings and nights and I’m loving the new colours that appear daily on my travels. Daffodils, crocuses, tulips and the start of the lovely dandelions – the first food for the bees – all starting to appear in gardens and along the roads. It really brightens the day and lightens the heart.