Budget of £131m is approved
Clackmannanshire councillors this week approved a budget of £131.868m for the financial year 2021/2022.
A 20-year capital budget programme of £255m was also agreed at Wednesday’s full council meeting.
The budget, which includes savings of £2.126m, was passed unanimously.
Earlier this month councillors had agreed to freeze Council Tax with Band D remaining at £1,304.63 as well as a one-year rent freeze for tenants.
A net resource transfer for adult social care of £19.875 million to the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership was also passed.
Clackmannanshire Council leader SNP councillor Ellen Forson said this week: “This year Clackmannanshire Council’s revenue budget is £131,868 million an increase of over £3.8 million from last year.
“This funding allows us to provide vital local services and allows us to deliver our policy commitments such as 1140 hours of early years and childcare, free school meals for all children in P1-3 and invest in improving educational outcomes for all our young people.
“In recognition of the pressures on households across Clackmannanshire we have frozen council tax, rents and fees and charges to offer support for many of those who are struggling.
“The last three years have seen considerable investment in creating the conditions which have allowed us to set out our ambitious longer term plans to transform the way we deliver public services locally and more crucially, we work with our community planning partners to improve outcomes for our people and our communities.
“In the weeks and months ahead we have to focus our efforts and investment on recovery - economic recovery, social recovery and educational recovery. Our budget does exactly that, delivering significant investment in skills and inclusion, digital services – including more to tackle digital exclusion, tackling poverty and investing in health and well-being, in particular supporting the mental health of all of our citizens.
“The impact of the pandemic has been enormous and it will continue to provide us with significant challenges for some time as we work to provide services with Covid restrictions and pressures and, beyond that, as we work with our Community Planning Partners and national Governments to support Clackmannanshire’s recovery from the pandemic.”
The council’s Labour group had put forward two amendments, both of which were voted down – one involving the establishment of a £111,000 fabric fund for the repair of public halls including Menstrie’s Dumyat Centre, Alva’s Cochrane Hall and Tillicoultry’s Centenary Hall, and the other regarding the ‘recommissioning’ of Alloa’s Leisure Bowl facility.
Labour group leader Dave Clark said this week: “Clackmannanshire was becoming a place of dereliction and we see this with Tullibody Leisure Centre, the Leisure Bowl, St John’s School (Alloa) and ABC Nursery (Alloa).
“The SNP have invested in Clackmannan Hall and the Bowmar Centre (Alloa).
“We approve of this, but it has not gone far enough. We expect the scoping of our property portfolio to throw up challenges and want to protect the public halls for posterity, hence we included a sum in our submission to do so.”