Another £20million of city council cuts are looming

By Calum Ross

Published:

Sue Bruce: asked for savings to be identified

ABERDEEN City Council could slash spending on services by another £20million later this year, the Press and Journal can reveal today.

Officials have been asked by chief executive Sue Bruce to identify potential savings measures worth 5% of the council’s budget – the equivalent of about £20million.

It would follow £60million of unpopular cuts to services over the last two years.

And the council is on the verge of being dealt another major financial blow which could determine the severity of the next round of cuts.

Finance chiefs from councils across Scotland gathered in Aberdeen yesterday to move a step closer to consigning the city to the foot of the government funding table for at least another year. It is believed the finance committee of council umbrella body Cosla yesterday backed the findings of a taskforce which it is understood recommended “no change” to the distribution formula.

The leaders of Scotland’s councils at Cosla will make a final recommendation to Finance Secretary John Swinney this month. Last night, Mrs Bruce confirmed to the P&J that she had asked officials to put forward the savings measures worth 5%.

She said: “On the basis that we do not yet know the funding settlement, and given the pressures on the economy and the public pound, I have asked all directorates to prepare information on policy options for 5% savings.

“These options will be considered by elected members in due course, when we know the full extent of the budget challenges we face.”

Details of the next round of proposed cuts are expected to be announced within weeks, before councillors make a final decision in December.

News that a further 5% could be slashed from council budgets will concern schools and voluntary sector groups across the city.

The P&J revealed last year the council had budgeted to cut £2million from its school estate between 2010 and 2012, equating to several school closures. Grant Bruce, local secretary of teachers union the EIS, said the city had already lost more than 100 teachers and 200 classroom assistants in the last two years.

“We are aware that significant savings will have to be made next year and possibly in the couple of years thereafter,” he said.

“After two years of extensive cuts in Aberdeen, the EIS cannot see where further cuts can be made in education provision.”

Pay freezes

Mrs Bruce has already called for further efficiency savings from staff, and it is also believed that the council will look to drive down the cost of services currently provided by the voluntary sector and charities, such as homeless group the Cyrenians.

Council leader John Stewart has also already spoken of the possibility of public-sector bodies across the country having to negotiate pay freezes for staff over coming years.

Aberdeen City Council’s grant from the Scottish Government equates to £1,719 per person, compared with £2,507 for every resident of Glasgow.

Yesterday, members of Cosla’s finance committee responded to P&J questions on the future of the funding formula with a chorus of “no comment”.

Outside the meeting at Woodhill House, a finance convener from a central belt council said: “We, as a council, just don’t think it’s the right time to change the formula in the current economic situation.”

A grim-faced Kevin Stewart, Aberdeen’s finance convener, would not be drawn on events at the meeting, which he said had been “private and confidential”.

West Lothian councillor Graeme Morrice was chairman of the taskforce which reviewed the formula. Asked if Aberdeen would receive a fair funding share, the Labour councillor said: “In terms of the content of the report, we can’t say anything about that.”