Aberdeenshire residents will have to fork out an extra 10% on council tax – as they face a grave warning that “bigger cuts than ever will be needed” to cope with a major health crisis.
Councillors met at Woodhill House in Aberdeen earlier today in a desperate bid to slash millions in annual spending.
Local authority leader Gillian Owen was blunt about the area’s soaring elderly population heaping pressure on public funds.
Residents were told that their council tax would be soaring, and services they have come to rely on slashed, as local leaders scramble to find the money to deal with a healthcare crisis that has rocked the region in recent weeks.
Mrs Owen stressed that wholesale changes had to be made to “reflect Aberdeenshire’s changing population”.
“The demography of Aberdeenshire is one where the child and working population is decreasing, in contrast to our pensionable population,” she explained.
“Those living in the region aged over 85 is projected to rise by 37% by 2030.
“That is a huge shift in the ageing population who require different support from the council and care services.”
It was with this in mind, combined with other cost pressures such as increased National Insurance contributions, that she put forth a plan to save £15 million across the next year.
Why is Aberdeenshire Council paying the price for health crisis?
Mrs Owen mentioned explained that social care is funded by both the council and NHS – with the former required to cover 43% of its costs.
If the partnership goes over its allocated budget, the local authority and health board are bound to plug the gap.
And amid the escalating cost of looking after more and more people, the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership has been routinely overspending – while its savings have run dry.
This body is facing a £26m overspend this year, which will see some care services slashed by 70% while community hospitals and care homes come under review.
Mrs Owen conceded this was the “biggest financial risk” facing leading Tory and Lib Dem councillors as they put together a savings plan.
“The need to find additional funding for the health and social care partnership will directly impact on council services,” she said.
“There is simply no way to find the extra money needed for care services in the next few years without going further and deeper into council cuts than ever before.”
The council leader suggested this could be prevented if the Scottish Government gave a much-needed cash injection – or recognised the need to slash spending on schools and devote the cash to the opposite end of the age spectrum instead.
How much will I have to pay in council tax?
This 10% council tax rise will mean those paying the lowest rates get an extra £92.90 added to their annual bill.
Meanwhile, the yearly charge for a Band D property will jump from £1,393.42 to £1,532.76.
Mrs Owen warned the chamber that if no savings were made to balance the books, a shock 17% hike would have been needed.
An 8% rise in council tax next year and the following year was also agreed.
What will be cut as part of the budget?
Meanwhile, the council will press ahead with a number of previously proposed cuts and savings that had created some uproar ahead of the meeting.
This includes axing nursery sessions over holidays while scrapping meals and snacks in them, and hiking the price of school meals for P6 and P7 pupils.
Aberdeenshire Council will also sever ties with Home-Start Garioch and pull all of its funding over the next three years.
This comes despite a last minute plea from charity boss Mhairi Philip who said the move would leave vulnerable families left struggling without help or support.
The P&J later broke the news to an exasperated Ms Phillip, who confirmed that crunch talks over its future offering will be held next week as they come to terms with the blow.
The council will stop providing emergency sandbags and flood defences in communities frequently victim to deluges.
However, this will be phased out over the next three years to allow residents to find their own protection measures.
Streetlights across the region will also be switched off between 1-5am, in a move tipped to save a fortune on power bills.
Infrastructure chairman Alan Turner added: “We will review non-residential streetlights on some of our rural and public roads.
“While the proposal is for an all year round switch-off, we are mindful of circumstances such as night time economies of our busier towns, public CCTV areas and medical facilities.
“These will be taken into consideration as part of the proposal.”
Councillor Alan Turner at the budget meeting. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson
Was there any dispute over the 2025 Aberdeenshire budget?
The opposition SNP group put forward their own alternative plan, that included some new ideas and removing some cuts suggested by the administration.
SNP councillor Gwyneth Petrie read through the proposal that had an alternative 9% council tax increase, despite saying it was “a much higher rise than any of us would have liked.”
The opposition also wanted to see the council create a new policy allowing it to seek sponsorships by promoting local businesses.
They reckon this could raise at least £40,000 in the next year but had the potential to increase “substantially” in the future.
And what cut did opponents brand ‘unthinkable’?
Ms Petrie slammed the shocking cut to Homestart Garioch, saying the removal of the “relatively small” sum of money was “quite astounding”.
“To remove that as we continue to battle a cost of living crisis is unthinkable,” she added.
What do you think of the agreed budget? Share your views in our comments section below
And, they didn’t want to see any cuts to grit bins quite yet.
Instead, members asked for communities to be more prepared before any bins are removed.
This included more residents willing to take on gritting responsibilities through the snow warden scheme.
Ms Petrie added: “This is the crunch year, we either change or we continue to spiral into more and more difficult decisions.”
However, the administration’s budget was approved by 43 to 21, with one no vote recorded.
Read more:
- Council rent to increase by 5% across Aberdeenshire as tenants, Travellers and even allotment owners are forced to pay up
- Aberdeenshire residents WON’T face shock 20% council tax rise – but ‘salami-slicing’ bosses warn cuts will be worse than last year
- Flood defences could be axed and council tax to soar by 10% across Aberdeenshire
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