£4m cuts spurned as budget agreed
Tackling poverty and business growth are priorities
KATHRYN ANDERSON
Perth and Kinross councillors have rejected around £4 million of cuts as they agreed a three-year budget.
Elected members met on Wednesday, February 28 to set the 2024/25 revenue and capital budgets and provisional budgets for 2025/26 and 2026/27.
The SNP budget – which included a council tax freeze for 2024/25 – was passed containing suggestions from other political groups in what was a relatively amicable meeting.
Tabling the SNP budget, council leader Grant Laing said: “Our motion also prioritises those areas that we consider most important.
“Tackling poverty and protecting the most vulnerable, tackling climate change, supporting our communities to take local action, and creating the infrastructure which will support businesses to grow in Perth and Kinross and attract future investment.”
Seconding the budget, deputy SNP council leader Eric Drysdale described it as a “prudent, pragmatic and priority-driven budget”.
Following several hours of debate and some revisions to the council administration’s budget – incorporating amendments from other political groups – the SNP budget motion was voted through with 22 votes.
The SNP budget was supported by the Independent, Labour and SNP groups. The Conservative budget amendment – which was ultimately pitted against the SNP one – was supported by the 14 Conservative councillors. The four Liberal Democrat councillors – the only group to propose a council tax rise – abstained.
Some of the decisions which were passed include:
• shorter school days in secondary schools with a common 33-period week in all secondary schools in PKC
• reduction of 16 teachers from schools and early learning centres over three years
• council tax freeze in 2024/25 with a 4.9 per cent increase in 2025/26 and 2026/27
• £500,000 investment in
Scottish Welfare Fund and Financial Insecurity Fund
• £70,000 allocated to support The Big Hoose project
• £120,000 to introduce free bus travel on the first Saturday of every month throughout 2024/25
• £325,000 investment over three years to develop a fully-costed business case for new models of public transport delivery
• reinstating £90,000 for waste strategy
• £20,000 to allow free access to grass pitches for another year
• £100,000 revenue funding for the costs of borrowing £2m to develop commercial units to provide opportunities for new and growing businesses
• £80,000 to create a permanent external funding officer role
• £1m, on flood protection schemes at Dunkeld and Buckie Braes, Perth
• £20,000 for parent councils and £20,000 for quiet spaces in schools
• £50,000 to adapt schools and campus buildings to allow more community access
• £60,000 to maintain Live Active Leisure provision in Pitlochry in 2024/25
• adding £300,000 to the Community Investment Fund for 2024/25
• adding £100,000 for Local Action Partnerships
• £190,000 to Culture Perth and Kinross to support work with communities and the council over the next year to find local solutions for library services
• a further £100,000 pounds of cuts through the second phase of PKC’S leadership review with“better workforce planning and reviewing the use of overtime”
• no cuts to £220,000 events budget for 2024/25 which includes the Christmas Lights party
• £145,000 for city and town centre management initiatives in 2024/25 and a pledge to “redouble”efforts to promote Perth and Kinross
• cuts to instrumental music tuition as well as cuts to the customer service centre
• loss of around 10 jobs across the whole of Strategy, People and Performance
• four per cent increase on bereavement services, regulatory services, pitches and park events, road network commercial charges
• more no mow/rewilding areas and reduction in verge cutting but phased in over three years
• five per cent increase on out-of-school club charges from July 1, 2024
• parking charge increases garden waste permits increasing from £40 to £45 in 2025/26
Some of the cuts proposed by council officers which the SNP budget rejected were a £775,000 reduction in local bus service provision and cuts to road maintenance and traffic and road safety budgets resulting in job losses.
Councillors also scrapped plans to lose 12 street cleansing jobs as well as the removal of primary school swimming lessons and closure of lossmaking breakfast clubs
The SNP partially rejected the removal of school crossing patrollers.
The council will withdraw funding from Tayside Contracts for unfilled posts.
Speaking after the meeting Cllr Laing said: “Today hasn’t been easy. We’ve had to accept cuts in places that we would have preferred not to, to increase charges that we would have preferred to remain the same.
“But we have also been able to reject cuts of almost £4m to minimise the impact on the most vulnerable people in our communities.’’