Cuts Archives - Page 4 of 5

Grim Reality Of Aberdeenshire Budget Cuts

Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Dec 312010

By Cllr Martin Ford, Aberdeenshire Council

Decisions by the Westminster and Scottish governments have left Aberdeenshire Council facing its worst budget cuts ever.

For 2011/12, Aberdeenshire Council has no choice but to make cuts in its budget totalling in excess of £30 million. The Council’s funding from the Scottish Government has been reduced and it has had to agree to freeze the Council Tax. In real terms, allowing for inflation, the Council’s Government grant has been cut by more than five per cent

In fact, Aberdeenshire Council’s position is worse than previously thought.

Unexpectedly, just before Christmas, the Scottish Government advised Aberdeenshire Council that the grant figure it had announced for the Council was wrong. Instead of a grant of £426.988 million for 2011/12, Aberdeenshire would be getting more than half a million pounds less, £426.477 million. The Council will have to cut a further £511,000 from its revenue budget for 2011/12 as a result of the Scottish Government’s revision of its grant funding figures.

There is nothing Aberdeenshire Council can do about the level of funding the Scottish Government decides it is to get, and nothing the Council can do about what will come from its other main source of income, the Council Tax (see: Council Tax freeze and many cuts decided, Aberdeen Voice, 26 November 2010).

The task for Aberdeenshire Council is to minimise the impact of the loss of income it now faces on the public services the Council
provides.

The bulk of the saving required in the 2011/12 revenue budget was decided at the full council meeting on 25 November when cuts and efficiencies totalling almost £27 million were voted through by the Council’s Liberal Democrat/Conservative administration.

I am sure many people do not yet realise how the cuts that have been decided will affect them. Standing in the middle of Newmachar the other day, by the village hall, the breadth of the impact of the cuts really came home to me.

I am appalled at what is being done to really important services – and angry because at least the worst of the cuts could so easily have been avoided

Behind me, in the hall car park, were the recycling skips. A cut of £350,000 in spending on information about and promotion of recycling was one of the administration’s budget cuts voted through on 25 November. Optimistically, the administration’s budget for 2012/13 also includes a £500,000 ‘efficiency saving’ achieved through a reduction in the amount of recyclable material going to landfill.

It seems unlikely, to say the least, that cutting virtually the entire budget dedicated to informing people about the importance of recycling will lead the following year to such a dramatic improvement in the recycling rate.

Newmachar village hall is in School Road, a lit street with, by the village hall, a pavement on one side. In the 2011/12 budget, spending on footway maintenance has been cut by £200,000 and the amount allocated to installing dropped kerbs reduced by 50 per cent. Over £100,000 has been docked from spending on testing and maintaining street lights.

Next to the village hall is New Machar School. Provision of classroom assistants in primary schools is to be significantly reduced over the next two years. Spending on classroom assistants is to be cut by 50 per cent (£1.3 million) during 2011 to 2013 and by a further £0.53 million in later years. Spending on primary visiting specialists will be reduced by £200,000 in 2011/12. School devolved budgets are to be cut.

On the opposite side of the road from the village hall is a grass verge on which is sited a dog-waste bin. The administration’s cuts voted through on 25 November include reducing the funding for dog wardens by a third in 2012/13. In 2011/12, £200,000 is to be saved by reducing grass-verge cutting. The budget for village orderlies – a much appreciated service that certainly helped keep towns and villages tidy through the summer – has been cut completely from next year.

Behind the verge opposite the village hall is the cemetery. Spending on grounds maintenance in burial grounds is to be reduced by £130,000 in 2011/12.

Beyond the cemetery is the play park. Spending on maintenance in parks and open spaces is also to be reduced by £130,000 in 2011/12.

Next to the play park is the library. A saving of £80,000 is to be made in 2011/12 by reducing the opening hours of some Aberdeenshire libraries.

Then there are the cuts that don’t show – unless you are a person who depends on the service that is being cut.

I am appalled at what is being done to really important services – and angry because at least the worst of the cuts could so easily have been avoided, had the Scottish Government allowed councils the freedom to decide on their own Council Tax. A two per cent increase in the Council Tax in Aberdeenshire, that is 44 pence per week for a Band D property, would bring in £2.4 million that could be spent on schools or social work. For the cost of a cheap bar of chocolate, cuts to classroom assistants or social care for children could have been avoided.

The Council still has to find around a further £4 million of savings to balance its budget for 2011/12. I hope the administration will work constructively with opposition councillors through the rest of the budget process to minimise the impact of these further cuts on the most crucial Council services.

Old Susannah’s Dictionary No.17

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Articles, Creative Writing, Opinion, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Dec 192010

Voice’s Old Susannah tackles more tricky terms with a locally topical taste.

The new cuts are well and truly underway. Aberdeen City council met on Wednesday Dec15 and voted to get cracking on the ‘green lighted’ budget cuts, and the rest will follow as night follows day. Old Susannah is certain this round of cuts will bring as much economic stability and prosperity as the last round of budget cuts did.

Cuts are always hard, but are especially unwelcome at this festive time of year. Please then pause to spare a thought for the forgotten victims of these hard times who have been hit hard. I am of course referring to the City Council officials who this year will not be reimbursed for printing their own Christmas cards to send to friends and constituents. Yes, it’s true – you might not get a card this year showing your councillor, their family and the family pet by a fireplace in full technicolour glory, sincerely wishing you and your family the best for 2011. Quite rightly, some of the councillors have complained that this is a cut too far.

Nothing brought quite as much cheer as a Christmas card showing your happy councillor, except perhaps knowing that your tax money helped to pay for it. There is only so much a hardworking councillor can pay for out of their meagre salaries, so if anyone from Future Choices or the Cyrenians is reading this (or anyone else who feels this cut is unfair), please send your councillor a pound or two. Thank you.

By popular demand Old Susannah has been trying to follow up on various animal cruelty stories previously covered in these pages. Our friend the fox batterer, Donald Forbes, is due in the courts early in 2011; he went back on his original confession to clubbing the fox. He then said he was in mortal danger, and merely swung the club near the fox. Now he’s saying nothing. It remains a mystery how the fox was so badly injured it needed to be put down just from having a club swung near it. Maybe Forbes is not a very good golfer.

Coventry’s Mary Bale still can’t explain why she put a cat into a wheelie bin and left it there for some 15 hours

Seagull – shooting Mervyn New of Marine Subsea is making no comment either. Yours truly sent an email to his company and its head office in Norway (asking about its’ guns at work’ policy); both resulted in ‘delivery failure’ messages. I will call them again soon – no doubt they will want to explain why people run around their offices shooting animals.

It’s understood Mr New faces a charge under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. He could also face a charge alleging the reckless discharge of a firearm. It’s really a sad day when a man can’t shoot bird chicks from his office window; whatever are we coming to? Finally, Coventry’s Mary Bale still can’t explain why she put a cat into a wheelie bin and left it there for some 15 hours. We are meant to have some sympathy for her – her father was critically ill. Personally, I find that sending flowers or making soup for the ill person is usually more beneficial to them than the cat-in-the-bin method.

Committee: A committee is a group formed with common goals to promote a certain activity and/or result. It is also said that ‘A camel is a horse designed by a committee’. The reason Aberdeen runs as well as it does is its structure of committees. There are about 20 of these highly efficient committees, and countless sub-committees and action groups under them. Some of these groups of dedicated, far-seeing professionals include the ‘Audit and Risk’, ‘Development Management’, and ‘Corporate Policy’ and ‘Performance ‘ committees. There is an ‘Urgent Business’ committee as well.

We might be about 70 million pounds out of budget, but we do have time, money and resources for a ‘taxi consultation group’. Then again, with the money spent by Kate Dean alone on taxis, it’s probably a good idea this group exists. One of my sources confirms that we are still frequently sending taxis instead of using buses to transport school children and adult groups where buses would be far more economical. I am surprised – I thought most adult groups had been done away with.

Kate Dean is such a genius; her diverse talents enable her to successfully do a host of diverse jobs at one time

It is good that we have a Disability Advisory Group. The best advice I can think of for someone with special needs would be to move to somewhere that won’t slash its disability budget, or at least will clear the pavements in winter so you can leave your home. (PS – do bear in mind that ‘Future Choices’ replaced ‘Choices’ which the Council axed. They could, I’m sure, use a donation or two).

But clearly it is the Audit and Risk Management team that we all owe so much to. We could be in an awful mess if we didn’t have people looking after our budget. Risk managers must have been quite busy ensuring the City resolved its equal pay problems so successfully and swiftly. And when one arm of the city council took another branch to court recently over a housing/services dispute – spending yet more taxpayer money in the process, it was great to know that risk managers somewhere made sure the City didn’t waste money or look like a laughing stock.

Old Susannah will have a look at these wonderful committees in more depth soon.

Diversity, Diversification: Diversity refers to a condition of being composed of different elements. Leonardo daVinci was a genius with a wide ranging diversity of talents – sculptor, designer, painter, scientist. It is often said that we have not seen his like again, but in Aberdeen we have our own example. Our very own Kate Dean is such a genius; her diverse talents enable her to successfully do a host of diverse jobs at one time. She was leader of our Council before becoming head of Planning, and it is clear for all to see what talent she’s brought to those roles. But our Kate finds that her role as councillor and head of planning leave enough free time for various Board of Director roles.

The state of Grampian NHS can be attributed to Ms Dean’s presence on the Board. She was, of course, also on the Board of the successful AECC. Of course a few million pounds were needed to keep the AECC afloat, and the auditors prepared a damning report (which the Council had to discuss in secret this week). And the NHS locally may be in a bleak condition, fighting superbugs and parasites, but this could happen to anyone. It is clear that without Kate Dean having such diverse talents and skills, we would not be where we are today. Let’s give thanks where it is due.

In the old days, a worker or a company had to diversify to stay with the times. You don’t see to many coopers and blacksmiths in town these days. The camera and photographic supply giant Kodak saw the digitial age coming and immediately embraced it. They changed their business model from concentrating on making film-producing cameras and supplies to become an online giant for digital products.

However, we don’t want to have to make everyone diversify. Every week there are glaring headlines pertaining to the nuclear industry and the new home building trade screaming ‘JOB LOSSES COMING. Naturally we don’t ever want to stop making nuclear weapons – someone might lose a job. And as long as there are green fields we can build on, let’s not make the builders diversify into any other lines of work. This should be self evident.

Aberdeenshire Council Budget Update

Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Dec 182010

By Cllr Martin Ford, Aberdeenshire Council

Last week a key decider of Aberdeenshire Council’s 2011/12 revenue budget became known – the level of grant support the Council will be getting from the Scottish Government.

It is important to remember that Scottish councils depend on the Scottish Government for the vast bulk – around 80 per cent – of the money they need to meet the cost of providing public services.

An overall cut in its funding for local government next year of 2.6 per cent has been promised by the Scottish Government provided councils agree to a Council Tax freeze and other measures – otherwise the cut in grant funding for councils is to be 6.4 per cent.

Aberdeenshire Council has already decided that it will freeze the Council Tax and meet the other terms set by the Scottish Government as conditions for a smaller cut in its grant (see: Council Tax Freeze and Many Cuts Decided, Aberdeen Voice, 26 November 2010).

By enforcing a Council Tax freeze, the Scottish Government has removed from councils any real say over the total amount they have to spend.

In fact, within the overall 2.6 per cent reduction in funding for councils, Aberdeenshire Council has done relatively well. It will receive funding of £427 million from the Scottish Government towards the running costs of council services in the financial year 2011/12.
This is a cut of 1.9 per cent in cash terms – not as bad as expected and not as bad as the 2.6 per cent average reduction in funding councils are facing.

A 1.9 per cent cut in cash terms, though, is a cut of more than 5 per cent in real terms – once inflation and other increases in costs are taken into account. This is a severe cut.

Moreover, as a result of the formula used to distribute funding amongst councils, Aberdeenshire is still receiving a much lower grant per head of population than most councils do. Aberdeenshire Council receives more than 12.5 per cent less than the average amount of funding provided to councils per head of population. And unlike many councils, Aberdeenshire also has to cope with the budgetary pressures that result from having a growing population.

Aberdeenshire Council’s Liberal Democrat/Conservative administration voted through budget cuts and savings totalling almost £27 million at the November full council meeting. Efficiencies and cuts were approved right across the range of public services provided by the Council.

However, the extent of further spending reductions – beyond the £27 million of cuts and savings already voted through – required to achieve a balanced revenue budget for 2011/12 could not be worked out until the Council’s grant settlement became known. The 1.9 per cent cut in the Council’s funding from the Scottish Government means additional savings totalling around £3.5 million will now have to be found.

Council finance officers are still seeking clarification from the Scottish Government regarding some of the conditions that the Council has to comply with in order to avoid the threatened funding cut of 6.4 per cent. There is therefore still some uncertainty about the full financial implications of what the Council will have to do in order to have its funding cut by 1.9 per cent.

So while it is now clear that the Council will have to find additional savings of close to £3.5 million, the exact amount still cannot be calculated.

In total, Aberdeenshire Council will have to cut approximately £30.5 million of spending to balance its revenue budget for 2011/12.

That is going to have a serious impact on Council services and on some service users.

The Council is responsible for deciding exactly what it will cut.
However, it has been put in a position where the total saving required has been decided for it – and for that the Scottish Government must take responsibility.

The Funeral for Higher Education

Aberdeen City, Articles, Events, Featured, News No Responses »

Dec 172010

By Simon Gall.

‘The Funeral for Higher Education’ was organised by students at Aberdeen University last Friday. The action followed the vote in the House of Commons to raise tuition fees in England. The students marched through the University campus in silence, dressed in black. The Pallbearers carried a coffin draped in a black sheet. The procession continued on to the student association building where the protestors laid white flowers on the casket and listened to a short speech by student activist, Gordon Maloney, about the potential effects of the vote.

Mr. Maloney said “What happened on Thursday was far more than an increase in tuition fees. The cuts to the Further and Higher Education budgets don’t just mean a savage attack on social mobility, they represent a fundamental assault on the role Education plays in society. The fact that these changes do not mean any immediate increase in revenue also blow the argument that we need cuts now out of the water. This attack on Education – and, indeed, the entire welfare state – is ideological and it is unnecessary.”

Music Service Cuts Protest – Video

Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Information, News No Responses »

Dec 032010

By Simon Gall.

On the 30th of November 2010 a crowd of around 200 protestors gathered in front of the Town House in Aberdeen to demonstrate against the proposed cuts by Aberdeen City Council (ACC) to the City’s Music Service Budget.

There are two proposals outlined in ACC’s Priority Based Budgeting Final Draft Report. The first is “a complete closure of the Music Service” (1) and the second is to effectively privatise it. Under the second option instrumental tutors would lose their jobs and then be re-hired as freelance tutors to ‘deliver instrumental lessons to pupils mainly during school time, as demand requires’.

In the video I speak to some of the attendees and ask them what brought them to the protest.

Update : The Finance and Resource Committee (2nd December 2010) decided yesterday to ‘shelf’ plans to cut the Music Service. The proposals will not go to the Full Council vote on the 15th of December. However, the Committee requested a further report about the service. “Senior councillors said (the Music Service) would continue, potentially with increased charges for all but the poorest families”. (2)

(1) – Letter from David Leng – Head of Schools and Education Establishments

(2) – http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2037018#ixzz173atvKIf

*Permission was sought to film where needed

Council Tax Freeze and Many Cuts Decided

Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 262010

By Councillor Martin Ford.

Yesterday (25th November), Aberdeenshire Council took important decisions about its budget for the financial year 2011/12.

It was one of the worst days I have had as an Aberdeenshire councillor.

First, the Council had to decide whether it would accept Finance Secretary John Swinney’s ‘offer’ of a funding cut of 2.6 per cent (£10.243 million) in return for the Council agreeing to a package of measures including no increase in the Council Tax.

On this the Council was unanimous – because the alternative was so much worse. If the Council refused to comply with the conditions set by Mr Swinney for a 2.6 per cent cut in funding, funding would be cut instead by 6.4 per cent, or £27.093 million.
Faced with losing an additional £16.850 million in grant, the Council effectively had no choice but to agree to meet the requirements for the smaller cut in funding.

Agreeing to freeze the Council Tax is not the same as agreeing with freezing the Council Tax – as several councillors made clear. Enforcing a Council Tax freeze on councils is wrong in principle. The decision as to what balance to strike between raising additional revenue and cutting council services is properly one for councils and not the Scottish Government.

Had Mr Swinney allowed councils to decide on the level of Council Tax next year, some of the cuts to services could have been avoided. In the case of Aberdeenshire, the Band D Council Tax is £1141. A one per cent increase, £11.41 per year or 22 pence per week, would bring in around £1.2 million to help pay for public services.

There is, though, to be no increase in the Council Tax – just a cut in government grant. Although the cut will be 2.6 per cent in cash terms, in real terms, allowing for inflation and cost pressures, the cut is 7.9 per cent. Having made the decision to comply with the conditions set for a 2.6 per cent cut in funding, the second debate at yesterday’s Council meeting was on the cuts that would be required to achieve a balanced budget.

This was a grim experience indeed.

it appears that Aberdeenshire Council has already decided on most of the cuts it will make in next year’s budget

Councillors were provided with a huge list of potential cuts and efficiencies that together were projected to save almost £27 million. The cuts identified ranged from fewer teachers and classroom assistants to reduced opening hours for swimming pools, fewer social work staff, ending grants to voluntary organisations and reducing grounds maintenance.

Councillors were warned that to make these cuts from the start of the 2011/12 financial year, work had to start immediately. Making staff redundant is not something that can be rushed.

While it was certainly necessary to authorise the Council’s management to continue preparation work so the cuts identified could be implemented if agreed when the Council sets its 2011/12 budget on 10 February, the Council’s Liberal Democrat/Conservative administration went further. Summing up the debate on the cuts options, the Council leader, Cllr Anne Robertson, made clear that agreement to proceed with work on the cuts listed was a decision to make them.

The cuts were approved by a large majority.

On this basis, it appears that Aberdeenshire Council has already decided on most of the cuts it will make in next year’s budget. Depending on the exact grant settlement the Council receives from the Scottish Government, some additional savings will need to be found before budget day in February.

We will find out exactly what the Council will get in grant funding in two weeks time.

Aberdeen Students Take Action Against Cuts

Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, News No Responses »

Nov 262010

With Thanks to Gordon Maloney.

Students at Aberdeen University today took part in a national day of action against cuts to the Further and Higher Education budget.

Demonstrations and actions were carried out by groups across the country and in Aberdeen a banner reading “Nae Tory cuts” was dropped from the roof of the Students’ Association building on University Road.

A spokesperson made the following statement before dropping the banner:

“There are some people who would say that our demands are selfish, but we are here today to challenge much more than just cuts to Universities. We are here today to challenge the idea that the entire public sector can be hung, drawn and quartered while the Coalition Government continue to give money to a failed banking system.

“We, and tens of thousands of other students and workers across the country, will not tolerate the savage cuts on the most vulnerable in society while it is business as usual for those at the top.”

Royal Wedding Deception

Creative Writing, Opinion, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Nov 262010

A poem by Rapunzel Wizard, a locally based performance poet who is 96% human and 4% woolly mammoth, and refuses to get a proper job or a haircut.

I’m dreading the royal wedding
As it’s doing my head in
Forget Kate, it’s Cameron
Who’s really in love with William
For his timing in popping the question

What a smart way to bury the cuts
As the mindless media goes off its nut

News on the date, news on the venue
News on the dress, and reception menu
News in nauseating detail
including the design for the commemorative tea-towel

Don’t matter about mangled public services
When you can watch a parade of horse drawn carriages

And I don’t see why taxpayers should contribute any
For my wedding William didn’t give me a penny

All you’ll get out of this is a day off work
… If you’ve still got a job by then…

March on Saturday 27th November

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Events, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 252010

With thanks to Mark Chapman of PCS Union.

On Saturday 27 November at 11.00, Aberdeen Trades Union Council members, trade unionists and representatives of community groups from throughout Aberdeen will march from St Nicholas Church, Union Street, to an anti-racism rally in Castlegate.

A range of speakers will talk about racism, the anti-public sector cuts campaign and the campaign against privatisation of Royal Mail.

Mark Chapman of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) commented:

“We have recently seen activity by the BNP and National Front in Aberdeen. In a number of cases they have distributed racist literature to children outside city schools. There is no place for these beliefs in our society and Saturday’s march and rally is our opportunity to get this message across. Please join us to send out a clear signal – these people are not welcome in our community.

“Public sector cuts will have a huge effect in and around Aberdeen. With the city council set to make cuts of £127 million, there cannot fail to be a detrimental effect on every member of our community.

“Royal Mail privatisation will also lead to huge job cuts. This is a service that we all rely on and can trust. To privatise it would lead to a less-accountable and far more costly service for users”.

No To Music Tuition Cuts

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Community, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 222010

By Margaret Preston.

Many Aberdeen musicians and their colleagues from all over UK are dismayed at the proposed cuts in the instrumental practice in Aberdeen.

While those at home are aware of the many vital services that have been slashed in order to cut the Council Deficit, those outwith Aberdeen are frequently unaware of the context and are wondering how the ‘Oil Capital of Europe’ cannot ensure an enriching and nurturing educational environment for all its children.

The supply of subsidised music tuition is not a statutory requirement in schools and therefore is probably considered a soft target by our cash strapped council.

In defence of the council, they have traditionally provided an instrumental service in schools that was the envy of many, lauded at home and abroad as setting a benchmark for other councils to aspire to.

Over many years the Aberdeen/shire music peripatetic staff have :

provided value for money – most of their time is spent “one on one” or in small groups providing quality time with demonstrable results that are not often seen in many of the other “one on one” situations in schools.
provided top quality musicians – The performing arts in Aberdeen have been well served by the “products” of our instrumental service. Our local theatre/musical societies are top notch and have, over the years, managed to perform at a professional standard. Moreover, Aberdeen’s various orchestras and bands have provided music for many civic and corporate occasions. Can we imagine our Remembrance Sunday without the Bon Accord Band or indeed the recent hit show The Producers (and many others like this) without its pit orchestra?
Star performers from Aberdeen/shire have graced stages all over the world. Annie Lennox, Evelyn Glennie, Lisa Milne (and too many top orchestral players to mention) were products of school instrumental service. Aside from these celebrities there are those who have, because of the discipline, dexterity, intellectual development, spirit, etc required in mastering an instrument, have further honed their abilities and consequently gone on to take top jobs in medicine, engineering, and many other fields.

Of course there are further benefits from this kind of specialised service. For many children in deprived areas this has been the only nurturing “one on one” experience that they were assured of on a weekly basis.

Star performers from Aberdeen/shire have graced stages all over the world

A pupil should not be judged soley by their musical progress, but also by the wider benefits that are evident in their general development and interaction with their peers.

There has been considerable investment in music over the years in Aberdeen, and it shows! Aberdeen is recognised nationally for the excellence of it’s contribution to the music world. If this was removed we could see more than a lack of a musical milieu in Aberdeen.

Music reflects and promotes the health of individuals and society as a whole. Cutting now, with a possible reintroduction at a later date when resources allowed, might work on paper, but in reality, the resulting degradation of that society would make the reintroduction almost impossible as the health of the society would have been irrevocably undermined.

These are difficult times caused by a variety of circumstances countrywide, and within the council. The concern that councillors may act for the “the moment” and not be around or answerable to appreciate the consequences of some of the cuts are understandable. The sacrifice of some of our creative nurturing traditions could leave our society fighting the “rearguard” action that we often see in deprived/urban areas, where increasing amounts of money are being spent to battle drugs, alcohol, obesity and general laxity.

Children should have a chance for a productive and happy future. This is to some extent determined by the quality and breadth of their all round education. Instead of enacting cuts that could have us mopping up the ‘fallout’ for many years to come, our councillors should reconsider their recent proposals to cut a service which has for many years been a beacon in the world of musical education.

Older Entries Newer Entries