Criticism and support for budget
Opinions on the budget were split among other parties.
The budget was met with severe criticism from the SNP group who did propose an alternate plan but lost by 14 votes.
Leader of the SNP group, John Ross, said: “Our group are utterly stunned by the damage Joe Fagan’s Labour/ Lib-Dem administration has wrought on South Lanarkshire today. There was no need whatsoever for the scale of the cuts, charges, and austerity they have passed.
“This is utter vandalism, and I don’t see how these councillors can show their faces in their communities.
“The SNP alternative budget would have made no cuts to education or social work, provided greater funding for leisure and culture, and protected funding for third sector organisations such as Rape Crisis, Cancer Care, and Citizens Advice.”
Councillor Margaret Cooper, head of the
Independent group, said: “Although I am chairing this meeting as provost, I have a dual role in the proceedings as leader of the Independent group; I’m now going to speak in that role.
“I’ve been involved in the annual budget-setting process now for more years than I care to remember. In recent years I have tried to do my bit by chairing the cross-party budget working group. That group has taken on different iterations over a period that has spanned two council administrations but the noble aim has always been the same: to seek to find consensus and put party politics aside to find the best solutions for the residents of South Lanarkshire.
“I can tell you that the burden of working towards an agreed budget has never been greater than it was this year, after years of underfunding and different decisions, this year’s budget period has been the toughest yet. Our officers did what had to be done and presented us with options to consider.
“You can play with the figures any way you want but there is no doubt that the money we have available for our key frontline services has been squeezed over a number of years, that is why we have had no option today other than to consider savings proposals that we would never have entertained in the past. None of us came into politics to cut services, but our hands are tied as the chair of the budget working group. I would say that the amendment that has been presented by the council leader does the best possible job in difficult circumstances.
“We have come up with a budget that I commend to you, this is not a perfect budget, but it is a balanced budget and it does everything humanly possible to minimise the impact on our residents.”
And the council’s Conservative group also endorsed the budget.
Their leader Alex Allison, said: “Our priorities in this budget, although we were careful to consider all the different options, we are looking at education, the roads budget and the leisure trust.
“The leisure trust was a much more difficult situation as there is no way we could have increased the funding to them by the amount that would be required to save all of the assets this year, never mind in future years, so therefore it becomes very important, the Community Fightback Fund that was highlighted in the working group paper.
“To be able to keep them operating and encourage local groups to be able to get an asset transfer in place, there are other things that we are going to need to discuss outside the budget to ensure the assets left are really available.
“We will be voting for this budget.”