Council tax in East Renfrewshire will rise by six per cent as part of plans to plug an £18 million budget black hole, which are likely to see school support staff jobs cut.
Council leader Owen O’Donnell, Labour, pledged there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the 2023 to 2024 budget — adding “fewer than 50” jobs would be lost.
However, savings totalling £4.1 million will be made to help balance the books, with a voluntary redundancy programme for school librarians, bilingual assistants and technicians.
READ MORE: East Renfrewshire council tax set to rise and jobs at risk amid £18 million budget gap
Winter maintenance, roads management and street light replacement budgets will be slashed to save over £500,000.
A large chunk of the budget gap will be covered by the ‘reprofiling’ of PFI payments — deals which saw private sector investment in public projects, including schools and roads. The costs will be spread over 50 years rather than 25.
This approach will see the council use £7.5 million of a “one-off benefit” of £14.8 million this year as well as a £2.7 million recurring saving, reducing the shortfall by £10.2 million.
East Renfrewshire’s SNP group put forward budget plans which kept the council tax rise to 5.5 per cent, used £10.7 million of the reserves available due to the PFI changes and reduced the amount of savings to just over £3 million.
It also planned to use £943,000 to “step back” from some of the worst cuts due to “leeway” provided by East Renfrewshire’s share of the Scottish Government’s recent announcement of an extra £100 million for councils.
Councillor O’Donnell said this money was “ring-fenced” for “pay awards.”
The SNP amendment, supported by councillor David Macdonald, independent, was voted down by 11 votes to seven, with the Conservatives backing Labour’s proposals.
Councillors agreed to invest £60,000 in a fund to support pupils with additional support needs (ASN) at Isobel Mair School, Carlibar Communication Centre and ASN units in Williamwood and Carolside.
Officials had set out £4.7 million of savings, which could be taken, but the minority Labour administration, which includes independent councillor Danny Devlin, chose not to slash the number of behaviour support assistants in secondary schools.
They also held back from removing funding for campus police officers.
Funds will be brought in through an increased garden waste collection charge, which will rise to £50 to collect an estimated extra £230,000.
Burial charges will also increase to bring in £50,000 while new electric vehicle charging fees are set to raise £52,000.
Councillor O’Donnell said outlining cuts as a result of an “unfair funding settlement” from the Scottish Government gave him “no pleasure whatsoever.”
The council is facing “rising energy costs and high inflation” but received “barely any extra cash on a like-for-like basis from the Scottish Government to fund our services”, he said.
It has been awarded £233.1 million for 2023 to 2024, which, Councillor O’Donnell said, after ring-fenced funding for national initiatives and a bigger rates bill for council buildings, works out as just £800,000 more than last year.
He said the council tax rise, which means a Band D household will pay £1415.22 in 2023 to 2024, an annual increase of £80.11, will “reduce the level of cuts required.”
Councillor O'Donnell added: “We do not want to make these cuts, but we must take these difficult decisions to meet the legal requirements to balance our books.”
He warned without more funding from the Scottish Government “further severe cuts” will be needed in future.
The council leader said capital investment will see a £3 million per year road resurfacing programme increased to £3.5 million and extended over another five years. Plans also include a £1 million expansion of Isobel Mair and the opening of a Neilston Learning Campus.
The SNP’s budget would have prevented cuts to school support staff and the roads management budget.
Councillor Tony Buchanan, the SNP group leader, said a lot of the capital investment, including in the Neilston campus and on roads, was “commissioned by the last administration,” which was led by the SNP.
He said his group’s budget took “out all of the staff cuts just about” and proposed a five and a half per cent council tax rise as the cost of living crisis is “an ongoing problem.”
Councillor Buchanan added his budget proposals were “costed” and “deliverable.”
“We listen to our residents, but crucially we also deliver and have a track record of delivering for our residents over the last number of years,” he said.
Councillor Caroline Bamforth, SNP, added council funding issues were due to “underfunding” by the UK Government and “high interest rates mainly driven by the appalling mismanagement of the economy by the Tory Government.”
Councillor Gordon Wallace, Conservative, said he had entered budget talks with “a mindset of responsible opposition.”
He believed the administration plan “clearly shows the concerns we voiced have been listened to” and accused the SNP of “squandering one-off benefits” from the PFI reprofiling.
Councillor O’Donnell had said the Labour group had chosen to “spread the benefit over the following two years”.
Councillor Andrew Morrison, Conservative, said he thought more savings “could be obtained whilst maintaining frontline services” but “compromise is necessary in the situation of minority government.”
Councillor Macdonald, independent, said the council was currently “quite tribal” and urged Councillor O’Donnell to negotiate a “constructive” future for East Renfrewshire with the SNP group.
The council leader said the SNP group had been offered opportunities to talk about the proposals but withdrew from a budget strategy group.
He added the SNP’s proposals had taken a “short-term view” and counting on money “specifically ring-fenced for pay awards” was “reckless and irresponsible.”
Councillors approved future savings of just over £2 million for 2024 to 2025 to allow preparatory work to begin. Work will also be carried out on a number of potential cuts, including to janitorial and cleansing services in schools, with a report brought back to council for approval in October “prior to implementation”.
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