Council chiefs have unveiled plans to slash a budgetary black hole, just a week after they warned they would have to make £26million in cuts.
Leaders of Aberdeen City Council have drafted up proposals to reduce the deficit down to £6million ahead of its budget meeting next month.
Last night they revealed a raft of proposals that would allow them to “trim the fat” while protecting frontline services.
However, finance convener Willie Young warned that if their plan was rejected at the meeting on February 25, the authority could still find itself in a precarious position.
It comes just a week after Mr Young said the Scottish Government’s local government grant settlement had plunged the authority into a major funding shortfall of £26million.
But although council leader Jenny Laing last night acknowledged the council still faced some “tough decisions”, she said they had attempted to come up with a savings package that would protect key services through “smarter economics”.
She said: “I have instructed officers to find new ways of saving money without impacting upon the crucial services that our citizens rely on such as schools, housing and care homes.
“That does not mean there are not tough decisions still to be made, however.”
Last night, Mr Young said officers had come up with a series of efficiency measures to stave off the budget pressures.
One of the major savings – worth £8million – could be made centrally if the authority pools together left-over cash from each department’s hiring budget.
Mr Young is also proposing to make about £2million in procurement savings through using the same service providers across all of its facilities – for example, there are currently different utility companies contracted across different council buildings.
In addition, Mr Young is proposing £500,000 from bus lane enforcement fines will go towards road maintenance.
There will also be wide-ranging review of energy usage across the city, which Mr Young expects to make savings of about £1million.
And all street lights will be replaced with energy-efficient LED bulbs over the next 12 months, which will reduce the council’s energy bill by £400,000.
The administration is also proposing to transfer homeless services away from bed and breakfasts to its own temporary accommodation – like Victoria House – which would close the funding gap by £200,000.
And council bosses have already put the former housing office Crown House, on Crown Street, up for rent which will mean they are no longer footing the bill for £162,000 of running costs.
However, last night Mr Young stressed these were just proposals at this stage.
He added: “This does not mean this is how the council will mitigate against this £26million gap, anyone can move forward their own proposals.
“What I can’t say at this stage is how we are going to make the other £6million of savings.”
The Scottish Government defended the settlement for the upcoming year.
A spokeswoman said: “The 2016/17 local government funding proposal delivers a strong but challenging financial settlement for local government which will be strengthened by improving education attainment. Furthermore, the Scottish Government intends to invest £250million in integrating health and social care services which will have a positive benefit on local authority budgets.
“We have made £70million available to continue the council tax freeze for a ninth consecutive year which, if continued, will have saved the average band D household around £1,550 in total over the period of the freeze. We are still in discussions with Local Government over the terms and implementation of the local government finance settlement.”