A U-turn on plans to cull Angus Council’s economic development department has reignited the row which cost the Provost his job.
In July, Brian Boyd resigned after a council chamber rant at Arbroath Independent councillor Lois Speed.
He admitted going “over the score” after silencing her when she tried to flag fears over changes to Angus early years provision.
And this week Ms Speed clashed again with the ruling SNP group over plans to reverse a decision to slash economic development spending by £150,000.
Council change programme update
The U-turn came during an update on the council’s change programme.
It aims to deliver £12 million of savings by 2027 to try and plug a £37.5m funding gap.
Communities convener Mark McDonald proposed the £150k investment to try and pull the council off the bottom of Scotland’s economic development league.
But Ms Speed challenged the decision, saying it should not be taken without looking at other service areas as well.
“I can absolutely see the merits in terms of the economic development team and what can be achieved here,” she said.
“However, I wonder if I could have an explanation in terms of this proposal and previous suggestions of other savings – for example our early years practitioners – which didn’t even receive the support to be debated in this chamber.
“Why does this differ?
“I have concerns about supporting this in isolation when we’re unclear on the knock-on implications on other equally important parts of our business and services we provide, particularly to our most vulnerable.”
Angus near bottom of economic investment table
Mr McDonald said the spend could put the area at the front of the race for renewables riches.
“We’re currently 29th out of 32 authorities in terms of delivering investment,” he said.
“We’ve got a renewables boom coming and all we hear about is Aberdeen.
“We don’t hear Angus beating the drum for the renewables revolution.
“If we’re not fit and ready in our economic development department to be delivering the opportunities available in just transition for our oil and gas workers, and everybody else that needs a job, we need to get to that point.
“Angus is in a prime location,” he added.
“We’ve got a cracking port, we’ve got cracking people and we’ve go the services here.
“This is the start of an opportunity to actually back our economic development team in a new guise, in an agile form, and it meets the council’s goals and aspirations.”
‘Clown car’ summer after key resignations
Provost Brian Boyd’s decision to step down was the start of a fraught summer for the SNP administration.
Authority leader Beth Whiteside resigned just weeks later, citing “personal reasons” for the decision.
And it has emerged party chiefs brought former Dundee City Council leader John Alexander as peacemaker for an internal SNP feud.
It is centred on the power struggle around who will be Ms Whiteside’s successor.
Montrose councillor and finance spokesman Bill Duff is thought to be in the running.
Earlier this year he and fellow Montrose councillor Kenny Braes were dropped as SNP group deputies.
And while Mr Boyd has said he will remain a councillor, there are believed to be divisions over him remaining an administration councillor.
Any shift could put the authority’s political balance on a knife edge.
Opposition leader Derek Wann said it had left Angus facing a “clown car” summer.
But a full council meeting scheduled for next week should see the key posts decided.
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