BUDGET CUTS FROM LAB/LIB DEM backed with Tories & independents.

COUNCIL TAX FREEZE - A projected increase of 5% would have raised £7.5m. Funding from Scottish Government for a council tax freeze was £7.869m, giving SLC an additional £369,000 of funding.

KEY SAFES - When an elderly/frail/vulnerable resident is in hospital awaiting discharge, they get a care plan put in place. In order for care staff to access the house, they need access to a key safe. Cuts now mean that there will be a charge of £97 to install these. If the householder can’t afford this then no safe is installed. If no safe is installed, there is no care plan in place. If there is no care plan in place, they aren’t able to be discharged from hospital.

HALLS AND LEISURE - Places like Hollandbush Golf Course ARE NOT saved. The closure has been put back by a year in the hope that the community take it over. The money allocated for this will only be given if communities start a Community Asset Transfer. There will be no funds to “save this” if the community aren’t interested in a CAT.

EARLY YEARS FOOD - Reducing choices available to our youngsters, those who have no say in this.

RENT INCREASE - 6.5% increase this year. 6.5% increase for the following 2 years

WASTE REMOVAL - No longer receive a free uplift. Everyone will be charged £40 per uplift with a maximum of 10 items per uplift.

SCHOOL MEALS - Increase of 20p added to the cost of Secondary School Meals.

ROADS - Borrowing £7.2m to invest in roads. Paying back £480k per year for 40 years. Paying back total of £19.2m

FINANCIAL RESERVES - £6m additional funding to SLC. This council have decided to use only £1.676m and the remaining £4.324m into a reserve account.

Your SNP Council group voted against this but as is becoming the norm in SLC, were outvoted. Not because Labour/LibDem proposed a better budget. Not at all. Our budget was voted against for the simple fact it was an SNP budget.

Side notes:

Some Labour councillors weren’t aware of what was in their budget.

Some Tory councillors didn’t know the nitty gritty of the budget such as paying back £19.2m for a £7.2m roads fund. Nor did they realise that some leisure facilities haven’t been “saved” as alluded to in the budget.

The Unionist Pact within SLC will lay the blame squarely on the SNP governments shoulders for the council tax freeze. As is now known, they didn’t need to accept the freeze AND the funding from the SNP govt was more than would have been raised. So even if your council tax was increased, these cuts would’ve happened. Let’s also remember this; costs of staff wages, energy, fuel, supplies, basically everything we pay for, is more expensive than ever, thus putting a squeeze on budgets. But why is this? 13 years of Tory Austerity. Brexit. Cost of Living. 46 days of a Liz Truss government. The list goes on.