Residents have until next week to share their views on cost-cutting proposals drawn up to plug an £8.6 million budget black hole facing Inverclyde Council over the next two years.
A public consultation on a series of potential savings, council tax increases and fees and charges is set to run until Monday, February 9.
The local authority needs to find a way to tighten the purse strings and close a gap of £3.359m for 2026/27 and £5.248m for 2027/28 amid an uncertain economic environment.
The ideas put forward include closing libraries, ending free swimming, reducing employability services, stopping civic and community events and cutting back on CCTV, community wardens and street cleaning.
Approximately 70 jobs would be lost if all of the options, which total just over £4m, were to be taken up by the cash-strapped council.
After the launch of the consultation last month, council leader Stephen McCabe said: “In Inverclyde alone, since 2008 we as a council have had to make budget savings of £77m and we still face an estimated total funding gap of £8.6m for the next two years.
“The stark reality is that councils have been starved of fair and sustainable funding for far too long that we are now in an impossible position of being forced to make extremely difficult decisions.
“This is the same for councils and the wider public sector in Scotland and it’s simply unsustainable and unfair on the people and the communities we serve.
“It’s important that the people who could be directly affected by these savings proposals have the opportunity to have their say and I encourage as many people as possible to take part in our public consultation ahead of the budget and council tax meeting in March.”
Feedback will be taken on board by officers and elected members during the budget-setting process, with a special full council meeting due to be held on Thursday, March 5, to formally set the budget and council tax rate for 2026/27.
The consultation and the full list of options can be viewed at inverclyde.gov.uk/news/2026/jan/budget-2026-28-have-your-say-on-council-savings-proposals
