Western Isles council sets 2010/11 Budget

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has set a balanced budget which will result in a Council Tax at Band D of £1024 for the third year running.

Cllr Angus Campbell, Leader of the Comhairle, said:

“It includes some difficult decisions but this is a budget that shows with prudent management we can position ourselves to deal with the even harder decisions to be made in the next 2 years.

2010/11 is also the last year of the Concordat agreement with the Scottish Government. I think that we have worked well to achieve the joint aims of that agreement, and indeed this budget includes provision for the introduction of free school meals for all our P1 children from this August. An important element of the Concordat is the Council Tax freeze and I am pleased that we are able to retain the average band D tax at the 2007/08 rate of £1,024.

We probably have less certainty about future years’ settlements than we have had since devolution. Our planning assumption of 5% savings for each of the next three years puts some stark figures in front of us and I have recommended that we start work immediately on how we can address this strategically. We will seek to maximise efficiencies, however, with required savings on this scale it is inevitable that we will be faced with service reductions and it is important that the process is managed in a timely and professional way and has the input of service users and our communities as a whole.

These are not easy times to be in local government but I am confident and determined we can meet the challenges that lie ahead.”

Councillors at the Policy and Resources Committee voted 9-2 against an amendment proposing that an additional £404k be found from a reduction in the Ward Priority Fund, a reduction in the contingency budget, a reduction in the industrial promotion and arts grants budgets and the deletion of a vacant post. The unsuccessful amendment also called for a review of senior management.

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