ONE of Argyll and Bute Council’s depute leaders has voiced confidence that the challenge of closing the budget gap will be met.
Councillor Ross Moreland (Liberal Democrat, Dunoon) reported in advance of a full council meeting that the projected gap for 2025/26 had slightly increased to £10.6million.
It is also forecast that the gap could be as high as £33.9m by 2030/31, based on mid-range predictions by council officers.
That led Councillor Alastair Redman (Independent, Kintyre and the Islands) to question Councillor Moreland at the meeting, branding the projected figures “scary numbers”. The council met on Wednesday, November 26.
Councillor Redman said: “Councillor Moreland mentions that the budget gap is raising from £10.5m to £10.6m in 2025/26, then rising again to £33.9m by 2030/31.
“These are scary numbers for not only my constituents, but myself as a councillor, and I am not sure this gap can be filled any more with the resources and service cuts, particularly as there are fewer and fewer services to cut at Argyll and Bute Council.
“What is the administration doing, and what is Councillor Moreland doing, to lobby for more money from central government? It seems year on year, council budgets are slashed, despite money coming from the Barnett Formula.
“Does Councillor Moreland also believe that the Scottish Executive are funding local authorities enough, or do they need to do more?”
Councillor Moreland responded: “It is a challenging number, but I am very confident we will meet that challenge. We are not shying away from the difficulty with that.
“Myself and the leader (Councillor Jim Lynch, SNP, Oban South and the Isles) are constantly lobbying across the country.
“A lot of councils across Scotland are in the same position. There is never enough money; if our budget was doubled I would want it doubled again.
“We will always push for the Scottish Government to provide local authorities with more funding.”
Councillor Moreland previously wrote in a report ahead of the meeting: “There are a number of financial risks, which may impact the financial position of the council in 2025/26 and future years.
“The HSCP (health and social care partnership) financial position in respect of delivery of social work services will be subject to ongoing monitoring and review, including in respect of delivery of the IJB’s (integration joint board) financial recovery plan.
“It is also worth noting that the timescale for the Scottish budget announcement has now been confirmed as January 13. This delays confirmation of our government grant funding (a key planning assumption) and makes our budget process timescale more challenging, reducing the time available for consideration of measures to meet the confirmed budget gap.”
