Residents of Moray are being warned to prepare for a huge council tax rise and job losses as the local authority tries to balance the books.
Council leader Kathleen Robertson said there are some tough times ahead for the region, with a lack of reserves and little flexibility in government funding.
She believes services will have to be cut, and school class sizes and curriculums assessed to determine what can actually be delivered.
But last night the opposition SNP group accused the Tory councillor of scaremongering – demanding greater urgency and clarity on the administration’s budget plans, which have not yet been tabled.
Last year, Moray Council used Covid reserves to balance the books, but still made £1.6 million of savings while increasing council tax by 3%.
Finance officers warned a further £13 million of savings would need to be found for 2023/24 and £7 million the year after.
Ms Robertson – who took on the sole leadership of the council in August after her co-leader stepped down – warned there are worse times to come, with some “difficult choices” to be made.
‘It’s going to be very difficult for people’
Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, she said: “It is not the only year that we have been having year-on-year issues in Moray, and next year might be even worse.
“We need to settle the budget for 2022/23, but 2023/24 and 2024/25 is going to be really bad.”
Since 2010/11, Moray Council has made £56 million of savings.
Asked how much council tax is likely to be set at for the year ahead, Ms Robertson said: “We haven’t decided yet, as a council, what rate council tax will have to go up, but it is probably realistic to say it will have to be higher than 3%, which is going to be very difficult for people with the cost of living.
“But we are going to have to make extremely difficult choices and for council tax, that rise will basically be the way we are going to keep the lights on at the council.”
The Scottish Government allocated Moray Council £204,800,000 of funding in December’s budget, an increase of £15.9 million on last year.
However, Ms Robertson claimed so much of the cash is ring-fenced that the council’s hands are tied on what it can be used for, although the government says authorities have flexibility with 93% of its spend.
The Forres councillor said: “So much of what we are passed down from government is ring-fenced and we are not given enough money to spend it where we think it is most appropriate for our local communities.
“It causes a real difficulty and if we could get more flexibility it would make a real difference.”
‘Some of our basic services are under threat’
Moray Council has clambered back from the brink of bankruptcy since 2018, with millions being clawed back each year – at the cost of school crossing patrollers, day services, library opening hours and school cleaning staff.
And while external auditors praised the authority for its turnaround during the pandemic, having declared a £9 million surplus for 2019/20 compared to a £19.5 million deficit the previous year, Ms Robertson warned “basic services” are now under threat.
Ms Robertson added: “We have already had quite major cuts over the last four or five years and we are getting to the stage that there really is not much more to cut.
“It will be really challenging and some of our basic services are under threat and there will potentially be job losses just to make the delivery of the most straightforward services such as social care, education possible.
“Class sizes will have to be looked at, as will what curriculum we can actually deliver.
“We don’t have a huge amount in reserve, we don’t have a piggy bank to raid. We are looking at cuts in services and jobs.”
‘Time is running out’ for Tories
Last night, SNP group co-leader Graham Leadbitter accused the administration of being “way behind” in the budget-making process and urged them to share their proposals with other members of the chamber urgently.
He said: “The council leader is making statements on Radio Scotland about job losses and service cuts but has provided no detail to other councillors of what the administration is considering doing.
“That is simply not happening in Moray right now. Time is running out with council budget day rapidly approaching.
“They are way behind where they should be and I fear it will be a messy rush at the last minute. That is no way to run a council.”