Council tax in West Dunbartonshire is to increase by 3% as the local authority approved a “no cuts” budget for the fourth year in a row.
During this morning’s budget meeting SNP councillor Ian Dickson laid out his plans to close the budget gap of more than £5 million by raising management and administration fees for the Dumbarton Common Good Fund and the Clydebank Property Fund.
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The local authority will also receive £2 million from the Scottish Government to help cover fees incurred by the covid-19 pandemic while using funding of £1 million from council reserves.
Councillor Dickson said no stone had been left unturned when it came to finding money for West Dunbartonshire Council services.
He said: “I am over the moon today to put before this council, for an extraordinary fourth year in a row, a no cuts budget. What I am presenting today requires no service cuts.
“Many of the costs incurred last year can be attributed to Covid and funding of almost £2 million from the Scottish Government will be applied in this coming year to meet those costs.
“In addition we will use just over £1 million of one off reserves which we often describe as a rainy day fund and as I said last year, it’s not just raining it's a monsoon out there.
“The final piece to close the budget gap was the 3% council tax increase. This modest rise is similar to most other local authorities and allows us to close the budget gap without any service cuts or job losses.”
The 2022/23 council budget will see additional investment to double the current school clothing grant from £150 to £300, creation of a £400,000 grant designed to support residents struggling with the cost-of-living, additional support for local food banks and an enhanced welfare and Working4U service to ensure residents can access financial and employability advice.
The budget also commits to a £1m investment in apprentices over the next 4 years; an additional £2m investment to improve roads and pavements in the area; funding for additional Christmas lights and the introduction of a pothole rapid repair service.
A further £500,000 will be invested for flood prevention, £500,000 will be used to enhance play areas and an additional £50,000 will fund two additional accessible Changing Places toilets.
West Dunbartonshire’s Labour party also proposed a budget which looked to freeze council tax, increase the social welfare fund by £250,000, create a community and business support fund and an additional £5m to improve roads in the local area.
Labour leader councillor Martin Rooney said: “Budgets are about choices. We could have given our staff better pay rises or taken steps towards the £15 per hour for carers.
“Somebody has to be first, why not us. The Labour budget is about our collective values. Most of us have grown up in fairly humble backgrounds.
“People went to work but they were always skint. It looks like those days are coming back with the cost of living crisis and for some people those days never went away.
“That’s why our budget focuses on hard pressed families. We have a shared understanding on what our priority is. We may disagree on how to solve it, but we all agree the biggest problem is the cost of living crisis.
“Labour’s budget wants to tackle this head on. It is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. People need reassurance, they need leadership and practical reassurance. This needs to be done now and the Labour budget has grasped that nettle.”
Following the discussion the majority of councillors approved the SNP budget. Conservative councillors Sally Page and Brian Walker abstained.
