Highland Council budget leader delivers stark warning on future of services

Highland councillor Alister Mackinnon says some services could be stopped as the local authority battles to restore finances to good health.

While other services could be "reconfigured" new forecasts show that “even in the most optimistic scenario” the local authority will be dealing with a budget gap of £50.2 million while the “most pessimistic scenario” forecasts a gap of £77.3 million over the period 2020/21 to 2022/23.

Cllr Mackinnon said the dire prediction means expenditure must be reduced while “increasing productivity, becoming more efficient, [and] by stopping, reducing, or reconfiguring some of our services”.

“The expected reductions in government funding only account for around a third of the budget gap while cost pressures and increases make up the rest,” he said.

“Income generation will not necessarily get us anywhere, it is the profit of that which closes the budget gap. The reality of it is that we cannot now keep doing all the things that we currently do.”

Councillor Ian Cockburn said: “There has been a 7.5 per cent fall in Scottish Government funding to local authorities since 2013. That is the equivalent of 1.25 per cent per year, that amounts to £6 million per year.

“There were savings to be made and savings weren’t met. The crux of the problem is still in the main money – either we are over-spending or we have not gotten things right.”

Councillor Alan Henderson said services provision is being risked: “We need to go to the Scottish Government, the national government as well and impress on them how much they are hurting the Highland Council here.”

Work on engaging the public and council staff on the budget is set to start this month.

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