Reports reveal "harsh reality" ahead as £13.3m gap revealed

In a statement released to the public, the council revealed that reports to the Policy and Resources Committee highlighted a £13.3 million gap in finances.

SNP councillor and council leader, Jim Lynch, spoke following the meeting on February 19.

He said: “Services could be lost. Local jobs could be lost. That’s the harsh reality. Setting the council budget must be about matching resources to greatest needs now and longer term”

The reports made suggestions for balancing the budget based upon a 6 per cent increase in council tax.

These include: 

• Closure, sale or transfer of all public toilets,

• Closure of face-to-face customer service points,

• Reduction in the roads winter maintenance and street sweeping services, 

• The loss of environmental wardens,

• Reduction of funding to Live Argyll resulting in the closure or reduction of some library and leisure services

• Loss of council jobs across different council services, affecting 66 people.

£4.5 million worth of cost pressures are also included in the budget gap. 

These include additional support needs, costs of bus transport, council dams, harbour repair and maintenance, resurfacing Oban Airport, and school clothing grants. 

Growing demands for social care services are also placing pressure on the finances, according to reports. 

Councillor Ross Moreland, Policy Lead for Finance Services, said:

“There is huge and growing demand on the council budget. We all use council services every day in some way. And Argyll and Bute’s geography means that this council delivers significant services that other councils do not.

“Work to set the budget goes on throughout the year, to look at all the options, and how we can deliver every ounce of value from every pound there is.

“If we spend money on one thing it can’t be spent on another. Setting the budget is as simple and as complex as that.”