Budget voting record challenge
We issued a challenge through the press to local Independent and SNP councillors to justify their voting record on the recent Council budget cuts, asking them to explain why they did not back moves to save key teaching posts, the Council grants to Age Concern and Princess Royal Carers, the Play Development officer, support for children with special educational needs, building and road maintenance and extra flood prevention measures.
I said I was proud of my colleagues who stood firm against this Administration’s cuts, and who all voted for every single one of 18 amendments to the Administration’s budget last week.
Highlighting that we were 100% against the cuts I calculated that 14 Independent and SNP councillors from Inverness had cast 98% of their votes for the cuts, and that support from even half of the SNP and Independent members of the Council would have made a huge difference with the deep cuts in service delivery being avoided.
We also mentioned the marker down to show our serious concern at the level of Council house rents — the increase of 5.3% cannot be repeated year on year.
The Lib Dems had argued at the budget meeting that the Council could be more efficient and that, if it met the 2% efficiency target set for it by the Scottish Government, these cuts would be unnecessary. No-one in the Council’s Independent/SNP Administration has contradicted this though they only came up with efficiency savings of just 1.6%.
Another Lib Dem councillor (Black Isle rep David Alston) has been featuring strongly in the press and in particular on the deletion of the post of play Development Officer who brought in £100k in extra funding for children last year alone. He said: “To cut this work seems madness. We will continue to campaign to retain the post and to save Age Concern and Princess Royal Carers.”