To alarm bells
including a joint campus for St Brigid’s and Newmains Primary schools. However, with the majority of the cuts already confirmed, there is still plenty of pain ahead for residents.
These included a 10p increase in school- meal prices from £1.90 to £2 for primary pupils and £1.95 to £2.05 for secondary pupils, a reduction in grants to voluntary organisations and the closure of the remaining public toilets inlcuding one in Motherwell’s Brandon Parade.
SNP councillors took aim at Labour accusing them of electioneering after they refused to increase the council tax despite attempts to reverse the freeze for a number of years .
SNP finance chief Jim Hume proposed plans to give greater funding to the Citizen Advice Bureau, more money to tackle fly tipping and dog fouling plus £250,000 to fix potholes.
However, despite backing from the Independent Alliance, the SNP’s alternative budget failed with Labour’s scraping through by just seven votes.
The Nationalists deputy leader Tom Johnston denounced Labour’s proposals to use cash from the Pupil Equity Fund to allow headteachers to consider continuing breakfast clubs and providing classroom assistants.
He said: “The Pupil Equity Fund is to help the most vulnerable pupils. You should be ashamed of yourselves!”
The SNP’s budget proposals were also attacked.
Independent Murdostoun councillor John Taggart said: “The SNP budget proposals included a severe cut in the money being allocated to the JIB which would impact immediately on our older residents who rely on homecare and social services and that is unacceptable. Their proposal to increase our social housing rent by only 1.5 per cent would have resulted in a 50 per cent cut in our new-build programme of new house building, which is also unacceptable.”
If I make a mistake, I’m big enough to say so Jim Logue