Moray Council group leaders held “positive” talks yesterday to discuss plans for a cross-party group that will help to decide the financial future for the region.
Representatives from the SNP administration, Conservatives, the Moray Alliance Group and the Councillors Open Group met to talk about the possibility of working together on a budget to save the stricken council some money.
Currently, up to £14million needs to be saved in the next two years or the council may face bankruptcy.
Council leader Graham Leadbitter believed the talks went well, and hopes for a positive outcome for the future.
He said: “We held a positive meeting between group leaders and agreed to have a series of talks about financial planning for the future.
“All councillors stand for election to do their best for Moray, and the main challenge comes when no one agrees on what to do.
“Hopefully we can find a consensus and respect each other’s views and I’m hopeful we can find a way forward on the big issues.”
All four council groups have agreed to have further talks in September to look at financial planning for the budget in February.
Labour councillor John Divers, leader of the Moray Alliance Group that consists of him and three independents, said that he was up for further discussions. He said: “No budget was discussed in the meeting, it was all about setting up a group.
“I am up for it but I will have to discuss it with my group and advise them on the discussions before we make our decision to go ahead with this.”
Conservative group leader Tim Eagle welcomed the talks but was still cautious about looking too far ahead into the future.
He said: “I welcome the cross-party chats and welcome all the information we receive from the administration about future plans but we are still slightly cautious.
“Our group has been hurt before in talks like this so we are not going to jump in bed with anyone too soon. We are not acting in opposition to anyone and we will be as constructive as possible.”
This meeting came after an Audit Scotland report recommended that council members should consider creating a cross-party group to discuss and agree budget priorities.