An SNP-led council has slammed the Scottish Government for a planned £100,000 PR campaign while local authority budgets are being slashed.
Perth and Kinross Council attacked the costs of talking up Community Justice Scotland (CJS) in its submission to Holyrood’s Finance Committee to be heard on Wednesday.
The monetary framework was also criticised as being “vague” by SNP-controlled Angus Council as the two local authorities launched rare attacks on their party-led government.
Perth and Kinross Council said: “Some of the costs do seem a little excessive. £100k for marketing website/branding presents as high as does the accommodation estimate of £188k per annum albeit that this may reflect property costs in Edinburgh.
“Once again, the proposal to engage dedicated HR staff for an organisation with 23 staff presents as excessive. At a time when local authorities are increasingly required to extend the functions of existing staff and the capacity of their built estate it would seem reasonable that this approach is also adopted by central Government.”
The Community Justice Bill would replace the eight regional community justice authorities with a new model.
The plan is to involve communities in devising local strategies and set up the CJS “to provide leadership, enhanced opportunities for innovation, learning and development and assurance on the delivery of improved outcomes.”
The committee’s summary says the total running costs of £2.2 million are slightly lower than the current costs of £2.28 million for the existing model.
Angus Council argued that, although it allows for additional support for transition costs, it makes “little comment on ongoing costs”.
Its submission said: “This seems vague and while we accept it is not possible to anticipate every cost, there is little to suggest that ongoing costs have been given due consideration.”