Councillors in Fife will be asked to brace themselves for further bad news on the budget front later this week amid fears the local authority will have to save much more than previously anticipated.
Up until now, estimates have suggested that Fife Council is facing a £21 million budget gap for 2016/17, rising to as much as £77 million over the next three years, while the cost of equal pay settlements is also expected to exacerbate the problem.
However, local authorities across Scotland are now preparing themselves for the worst when finance secretary John Swinney outlines his budget on Wednesday, with councils expected to be hammered.
A motion has been lodged ahead of Thursday’s full council meeting in Glenrothes by Labour councillor Altany Craik, seconded by council leader David Ross, which notes that the council could be faced with making savings of “significantly more” than the previously projected figure of £21 million.
It will also ask the council to “express its concerns” to Mr Swinney about the impact of the financial settlement on council services.
Councillors are likely to debate the issue on Thursday, a day after Mr Swinney is due to make his statement to Holyrood on the financial settlement, although it is not clear whether updated figures or projections in relation to Fife’s spending plans will be available by then.
Ahead of the budget setting process, a spokesperson for the Fife People’s Assembly has urged Fife Council to give a “clear indication of the true nature” of any cuts proposed, although it wants to see an end to what it calls the “regressive” council tax freeze next year.
“We call on you and your colleagues to bring forth a budget that meets the needs of local people,” the spokesperson said.
“To continue blindly accepting a reduction in all our public services is to admit defeat.
“It will not serve in the council’s aims of reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in our local communities.
“It will only serve to continue the downward spiral in the living and working standards of the majority of the population.”