East Lothian Courier | News | Budget winners and losers

Tuesday, 6th January, 2009

Published: Thursday, 14th February, 2008 09:00

Budget winners and losers

THERE was no St Valentine’s Day massacre of public services, as East Lothian’s fledgling SNP/Lib-Dem administration stole a march on its peers with early disclosure of a £203.5 million budget that produced winners and losers in equal measure.

Tuesday’s budget ann-ouncement preceded those of other Scottish local authorities by at least 48 hours. Most councils were expected to declare their budgets yesterday (Thursday) – the date originally agreed by COSLA.

The new coalition’s first budget, however, did not catch their political opponents napping. While Labour and the Conservatives also backed the idea of 12-month freeze on Council Tax in their alternative budget proposals there were few other areas that enjoyed cross-party support.

Other main highlights of the budget for 2008/09 include:

• Efficiency savings of 1.5 per cent in education.

• £1 million committed to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

• A 5.2 per cent hike in council house rents.

• Commitment to major community projects, like the £5.5 million John Gray Centre in Haddington.

• Commitment to spend £25 million on building new council homes over the next three years.

• An additional £100,000 investment in matched-funding for adult social services.

• Sums of £4.5 million, £5 million and £5.5 million respectively to be spent on road repairs over the next three years.

Fears that education – by far the largest area of expenditure (42 per cent) – would face drastic cutbacks appeared to have eased slightly, as the administration halved its original savings target of 3 per cent.

Education spokesman, Councillor Peter MacKenzie, insisted: “We are reinvesting a significant proportion of these 1.5 per cent savings back into our schools to support pupils with additional needs, and employing more maths teachers in secondary schools.

“We are placing a very strong emphasis on early years education to ensure that all children get the best possible start.”

The education budget includes provision for four additional members of the council’s child protection team.

Labour Group leader, Councillor Willie Innes, warned that numerous jobs could go within the department as a result of the savings drive.

“Our children’s education is up there with the best in Scotland under Labour, but will have to find savings of more than £3.5 million over the next three years under the SNP and the Liberals,”he claimed.

Conservative Group education spokesman, Councillor Neil Rankin, added: “Closing schools is not an option and neither are staff redundancies in the short-term...This starts to raise wider issues about the job prospects for the trainee teachers already in the pipeline. Education is not a tap that can simply be turned on and off at short notice.”

The Conservatives’ alternative budget had re-allocated £100 per pupil back into schools.

In transportation, £30,000 will be spent on a new transport strategy for the next 10 years to promote a Green Travel Plan.

But Labour and the Conservatives say the overall expenditure on a road network carrying a massive £70 million estimated repair bill does not go far enough.

Both parties’ budgets were rejected. After a lengthy debate, the administration’s budget was passed by a majority vote of 14-7 with the two Conservatives abstaining. Independent John Caldwell sided with the coalition.

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