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.”
First out of the blocks to fight back against the Council cutbacks are the normally reticent librarians, with a round robin email from 18 school librarians landing in councillors’ in-boxes on the 20th of February. This detailed the effects of the cuts and highlighted the contrast between cutting school library services and the acknowledged need to raise literary standards.
This is just one example of a wide ranging measure being reduced to a bland item in the already sparse full Council budget papers, in this case a two-liner:
27. Library Service
Review support structure for school and community libraries, including deletion of 4 posts
- Saving in 2008–09: 0.098m
- Full year saving: 0.155m
The Administration was sufficiently stung to respond with an email from the Convenor of Education, which notably failed to address the core issue of school library services being drastically cut, and concluded with a plea for “for your support in ensuring that we deliver on our modernising and efficiency agendas”.
It is fair to say that the real effects of the Administration’s cuts are like an iceberg — seven-eights hidden below the water. The next few weeks will no doubt see many more such come to the surface.
Work will start on Monday 18th February on the waterproofing and re-surfacing of the Tomnahurich Swing Bridge and continue until Sunday 30th March.
Theere will be single lane closure on the bridge controlled by temporary traffic lights at peak times and by “vehicle actuated” temporary traffic lights at other times.
The canal bridge will be restricted to two swings per weekday at noon and at 3.30pm and Bught Road will be closed during the works.
During the weekend of Friday 29th February to Monday 3rd March 2008, the bridge will be completely closed to vehicular traffic from midnight on Friday night to 5am on the Monday.
Vehicle traffic on the A82 Fort William road will be diverted by General Booth Road, King Brude Road and Telford Street to the Telford Street Roundabout. Pedestrians and cyclists will be escorted through the site. The bridge will reopen at 5am on the Monday with a single lane closure from then on.
This £250,000 scheme comprise renewal of the waterproofing and road surfacing on the canal swing bridge.
Interesting motion to Highland Council from Aird & Loch Ness Liberal Democrat councillor Hamish Wood calling for a register of attendance for elected Members serving on external public agencies.
Explaining the background to the motion, Hamish said the motion was intended to boost public confidence in how elected Members serve their communities and the wider Highlands.
By requesting a central register of attendance of councillors — nominated by the Highland Council — who serve on external agencies, Hamish hopes that the public will be able to see that elected Members act with integrity and transparency in their dealings with public agencies.
“While many agencies do publish minutes and attendance, I think it would be useful for the public to consult a register of some sort as an example of public accountability — something which can only be welcomed,” said Hamish.
Originally tabled for discussion at full Council on 14th February, this will not happen until a later date as the February meeting is a special meeting.
FOOTNOTE: On the agenda for the meeting of 8th May 2008.
Following the decision not to hold a meeting of the Highland Council on Thursday 7th february, the meeting of Thursday 14th February has been designated a Special Meeting. The main agenda items are:
- Housing Revenue Account (including a proposal to increase Council house rents by an inflation busting 5.3%)
- Budget for 2008–09
- The Council’s reponse to Post Office closures
- A minor re-shuffle of Independent and SNP committee positions
The focus of attention on the budget shifted rapidly from the Independent/SNP Administration’s claims of growth in key services to the loss of teaching jobs, then to the damaging impact on the voluntary sector, after a heated debate opened about a critical report by the Scottish Building Standards Agency on the Council’s building standards service.
It is self-evident that more time for public scrutiny and debate was required and that the Administration — possibly due to inexperience — did not give the budget proces as much time as was required.
As the pressure on the Administration’s proposed budget builds up, the press statement of 7th February which skilfully glossed over the less palatable aspects of their plans has dropped off the Council website front page and now languishes in 13th place in the February releases. In spite of an avalanche of criticism of the budget in the press no further comment has been published on the website.
Mysteriously the January release warning of traffic delays at the installation of the final two lane section on the A830 “Road to the Isles” at Arisaig is still holding on to a front page spot, possibly because it is a totemic item of public works which has a news value well above that of the average road improvement.
Former MP Russell Johnston campaigned for this road for almost the whole of his 33 year term as Inverness-shire MP, and it is remarkable to see it finally being completed.
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The motion to have effective scrutiny implemented at Inverness City Committee came very close to success at the meeting on 4th February, with the Administration holding on by just one vote at one stage. The debate was marked by good co-operation between Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors, and by impressive contributions from Lib Dems David Henderson and Janet Campbell, the always independent Roddy Balfour, and John Ford of Labour.
There was a palpable feeling in the Council Chamber that the Administration was in a weak position by refusing to operate the limited powers already held by the City Committee. Claims that detailed information is already being delivered at ward level do not bear examination — the only report available being an example prepared for Dingwall & Seaforth Ward!
The Provost’s amendment, which scraped through by just one vote, was to bring forward a report to the next meeting on the process of delivering information to wards and to the city committee. Confirmation of the precise terms of the motion has been requested, but the Administration’s response on this day points to a centralised and controlling approach in what is already one of the most centralised councils in Scotland.