Council budget: more cuts ahead

As part of the Council’s controversial four-year ‘Change Strategy’,  a report is being brought to a meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee on Thursday (10 October) detailing year two of the strategy and the first steps of the Council’s annual budget setting process.

Launched last year as a response to the challenges facing the city, the Council’s ‘Change Strategy’ is transforming the way services are delivered by driving council ‘savings’ – or cuts – of £86.7m by 2023.

If the report is approved, work will also begin to identify and deliver specific savings of £36m in the year ahead.

While there remains some confusion as to who is actually in charge of the city council while leader Adam McVey is off on paternity leave, Edinburgh is still run by a SNP and Labour ‘Capital Coalition’ who together will continue to push through a programme of swingeing cuts.

Officially Depute Leader, Labour’s Cammy Day said: “Due to increasingly challenging budget settlements, this Council has been forced to find around £300m savings since 2012 and our Change Strategy is helping us to close our budget gap even further.

“We’ve done this by consistently delivering balanced budgets, successfully improving the way we do things and investing in those services that matter most to our residents.

“We know from our engagement work that we must prioritise front-line services while supporting the most vulnerable in our communities and addressing the impacts of growth on our city.

“That’s why, as we transform our services, we’ll be focusing our energy towards creating a fairer and more inclusive future for all. A way of working which minimises poverty, promotes sustainability and prioritises well-being.”

Forth SNP Councillor Ellie Bird, who is acting as interim leader whilst council leader Adam McVey is away, added: “When we launched our long-term plans for change last year, we embarked on a forward-thinking strategy to meet the future demands of our city and our services. Now, as we enter the second year, we’re drawing on all of the feedback we’ve received to date to identify our city’s key priorities.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that, as we go forward, we’ll continue to face challenging decisions. It’s crucial, then, that we commit early on in this process to protecting our most vulnerable citizens.

“Edinburgh is a hugely successful, growing and prosperous city but, with 80,000 people living in poverty, we must do more. This is our chance to push for a more progressive city, ensuring all residents have the opportunity to share in our city’s success.”

The Westminster government is going on a pre-election spending splurge and, for them, austerity is well and truly over. Seems there’s no such Magic Money Tree for our cash-strapped councils, sadly.