COUNCIL chiefs have been accused of creating a £400,000 black hole in their annual budget by setting income targets they cannot meet.

Calls have been made for an urgent review of East Lothian Council’s budget for the year ahead, after it was revealed the income from music tuition charges and coastal car park fees was forecast well above what either has achieved to date.

Council officers described the income targets which are built into the annual budget as “ambitious” and “aspirational”.

However, at a meeting of the local authority’s policy and performance review committee this week, it was revealed that neither service was coming close to meeting the income predicted.

It revealed that the estimated revenue from coastal car park charges for the current financial year, once costs had been taken off, was £200,000, while the budget expected £350,000 to come in.

Instrumental music tuition fees had brought in £235,000 since being introduced in 2018, below the £357,000 forecast over the same period.

Officials told the committee that they expected the income from music lessons to be estimated at £357,000 for the year ahead, despite bringing in just £169,820 during the current financial year – this figure was later corrected to £240,000 for the year ahead.

Councillor Paul McLennan said that including the income in a budget when it was not going to come in created a massive deficit before the year had even begun.

He said: “The coastal car park income has been included in the budget at £350,000 each year since fees were introduced and has never come close to meeting it.

“To date it has fallen £750,000 behind, creating a gap in the budget where other services have to be cut.

“Now we hear the music tuition fees are also nowhere near meeting the targets.

“It would be a dereliction of duty for this committee not to say something about this.

“These are just two services we have looked at, how many others are not being picked up?”

At a meeting of the full council yesterday (Tuesday), Tom Reid, head of infrastructure, told councillors he believed the coastal car park fees would close the gap and meet the target “by next year”.

However, the policy and performance review committee was told that it could be 2023 before the target, which was described as “aspirational”, was attained.

And chief executive Monica Patterson told the committee: “The point I would stress is that whilst the target is ambitious and has not been fully realised, coastal car parking generates a significant income to the council each year.”

Mr McLennan, SNP, called for the gap of “nearly £400,000” in the budget to be reviewed urgently, as councillors are due to meet to discuss the year’s budget on Tuesday next week, and asked for the issues raised to be brought to the attention of the council’s audit and governance committee for further scrutiny.

His motion was seconded by Conservative Councillor Jeremy Findlay and agreed by the committee.