Dundee is set to freeze council tax for the fifth year in a row, and the city’s SNP administration is hailing that likely achievement in the face of funding cuts by Westminster.
Finance convener Willie Sawers said, “The cuts imposed by the Westminster government have made this a very challenging budget for us in Dundee.
“As an administration, we have still been able to deliver a budget for the city that proposes a council tax freeze for the fifth year in a row, maintains our commitment to no compulsory redundancies and finds the majority of our savings from areas which are not front-line services.
“We have already taken steps to limit the impact on the vulnerable people in our community within the overall budget of Dundee City Council.
“We have achieved this by giving an extra £2.237 million to social work for older people, children and the out of hours service. We have provided an extra £200,000 for residential places for children and also increased spending on winter maintenance by £300,000.
“Unlike previous administrations, we put our budget proposals into the public domain months in advance of the budget setting meeting to allow for open public debate and consultation.”
This afternoon a special meeting of the policy and resources committee will set the budget and the services the council can provide over the coming year.IncreaseIt is based on a provisional revenue budget calculated at £371 million, an increase of £500,000 from the previous year.
Most of this figure comes from the Scottish Government in general revenue funding and non-domestic rates.
After deducting the Dundee budget savings of £14.977 million, the sum left to be met from the council tax will be £56.527 million, which means the Band D council tax should remain at £1211.
The SNP administration’s cuts have been produced through its Changing For The Future board, which wass set up as a multi-party forum but which met in private and as a result was boycotted by opposition councillors.
The major proposals include the creation of a trust to oversee the city’s cultural facilities and controversial plans to slash £4 million from the education department’s budget.
The idea of shuttling pupils around schools for lessons under a city campus scheme has come under fire, while another major money-saver the removal of promoted posts in schools has been adjusted after meeting widespread opposition.
Parents will be asked to pay more for full-time pre-school nursery education and music tuition, happy couples will have to factor in the cost of more expensive wedding venues and the bereaved will be charged more to bury their dead.
The total package will raise £294,000 for the council.
Opposition councillors have suggested cutting back on hospitality and giving up the lease on the lord provost’s car.Service chargeScottish Water’s combined water and waste water service charges will remain steady for households across Scotland during 2011-12.
Annual council tax bills will include combined water and waste water service charges that come into effect from April 2011, and the average water charge for households across Scotland in 2011-12 will stay at around £324 for the third successive year.
The average household charge in Scotland is expected to continue to be less than the average household bill in England and Wales and lower than the average in most of the companies south of the border.
It is also considerably lower than other utility charges.