DIGG Archives - Page 2 of 2

Shire Budget: Money Needed For Safer Roads Says DIGG

Nov 102016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

As Aberdeenshire Council embarks on its budget setting process, the Democratic Independent and Green Group of councillors (DIGG) has identified road safety as one its budget priorities.

“Speeding on local roads, and the road safety issues it causes, come up again and again at community council meetings and in individual representations to councillors,” said Cllr Paul Johnston. “It’s an issue that never goes away.”

“Although the Council is facing severe financial pressures, we believe the Council needs to look at increasing the resources put into traffic calming and other road safety provision,” said Cllr Martin Ford (pictured).

“The DIGG is keen to include an increased allocation of up to £250,000 per annum in Aberdeenshire Council’s revenue budget for ‘traffic calming and speeding reduction’ to keep up with the need to put additional measures in place in communities across Aberdeenshire.”

Aberdeenshire Council is expected to have to make significant savings in its revenue budget for 2017/18 and in subsequent years. At this stage, before the Scottish Government grant settlement is known, there is considerable uncertainty about the amount the Council will have to save to balance its budget for next year.

However, based on reasonable assumptions, additional spending cuts or other savings totalling over £10 million are expected to be required, over and above the savings already identified in the draft 2017/18 revenue budget published last February.

“With further significant savings required in next year’s budget, there’s going to be no new or spare money for anything,” said Cllr Paul Johnston.

“So to find increased funding for priorities, the only realistic option is to shift funding from something less important.”

“The DIGG is looking for a way to redirect funding towards helping reduce speeding traffic on our rural roads and in our towns and villages,” said Cllr Ford.

“And we need to do that without cutting some other vital service.

“The DIGG aim to have a range of draft budget proposals ready for the November full council meeting, and will welcome the opportunity to get feedback and comment on these before the Council sets its revenue budget for 2017/18 next February.”

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Council To Improve Meeting Greenhouse Gas Targets

Aberdeenshire, Environment No Responses »

Feb 292016

Aberdeenshire Green Councillor, Martin Ford.

With thanks to Martin Ford.

In 2007, Aberdeenshire Council set itself ambitious targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions – but the Council has not yet managed to achieve consistent year-on-year reductions in the amount of carbon dioxide generated by its activities.

“The Council must do better at meeting targets to cut its carbon emissions,” said Cllr Martin Ford. “And make cutting emissions a higher priority. That means a new approach is needed to when and where the Council takes its decisions about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Aberdeenshire’s Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors – Martin Ford and Paul Johnston – secured agreement last summer that the Council’s new administration would support improvements to decision making about reducing carbon emissions.

The DIGG councillors then wrote to Aberdeenshire Council’s co-leaders last September making a specific proposal that the Council sets a carbon budget each year – detailing how and where it aims to reduce its carbon emissions – and that the carbon budget is agreed by the full council at the meeting which decides the Council’s revenue and capital budgets for the year ahead.

The Council’s co-leaders have now written to Cllr Ford and Cllr Johnston indicating their administration’s support for the DIGG carbon budgeting proposal.

A report from officers on carbon budgeting is now expected at the 10 March Aberdeenshire Council full council meeting.

Cllr Paul Johnston said:

“We are very pleased the administration has agreed with us about the need to improve governance and decision making in respect of the Council’s duty to cut its carbon emissions. The Council has challenging and ambitious targets to meet and it is important every councillor is involved in the decisions needed to deliver on those.”

Cllr Martin Ford said:

“Aberdeenshire Council agrees its overall financial plans for the year ahead on budget day in February each year – the revenue budget, capital plan and housing revenue account budget. But there should really be a fourth budget decided alongside the ‘money budgets’ – the Council’s plans for reducing its carbon emissions resulting from its various activities.

“The carbon budget is interlinked with the money budgets because some measures to reduce carbon emissions will incur capital costs, but also deliver revenue savings. So all the budgets ought to be considered at the same meeting and be consistent with each other.”

Aberdeenshire Council, like all Scottish councils, is required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to exercise its functions ‘in the way best calculated to contribute to delivery of the Act’s emission reduction targets’. At the climate change conference in Paris late last year, 196 countries agreed to ‘hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels’.

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All-Party Backing For Shire Council Budget Process

Articles No Responses »

Feb 192016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

A reformed budget setting process for Aberdeenshire Council was formally agreed at last Thursday’s full council meeting. The new approach to deciding the authority’s annual revenue budget was first proposed last year by Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors Martin Ford and Paul Johnston, who wrote to the Council’s other political groups in March 2015.

“We want to see draft budget proposals coming forward from the various political groups in the autumn so there can be proper public consultation and cross-party dialogue and negotiation before the budget is set in February,” said Cllr Martin Ford.

“This allows for much more scope for public input into budget decisions and creates opportunities for cross-party agreement and sharing of ideas.”

During the 11 February full council meeting, the DIGG plan attracted cross-party support and was praised by Council co-leader Cllr Richard Thomson. The officers’ report on Aberdeenshire’s 2016/17 revenue budget recommended that budget proposals for 2017/18 are initially reported to the full council next autumn, in line with the process put forward by the DIGG.

In his speech to the 11 February meeting, proposing the 2016/17 revenue budget, Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes said:

“Linked to the importance of a budget consultation exercise is the early discussion on future years’ budget proposals. Therefore I propose that all groups prepare draft budget proposals and report these to Council in autumn.”

Said Cllr Paul Johnston:

“I welcome the cross-party agreement on this important reform. Ultimately, we believe this new budget process will lead to better budgets and more say for Aberdeenshire residents on these key decisions.”

In acordance with their own proposed budget process, the DIGG presented detailed draft proposals for Aberdeenshire’s 2016/17 revenue budget to the November 2015 Aberdeenshire full council meeting.

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Shire Schools Plans Raised At Education Committee

Aberdeenshire, News No Responses »

Feb 112016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

East Garioch councillor Martin Ford has welcomed progress towards improvements in school accommodation in the ward he represents.

Item 9 on the agenda at Aberdeenshire Council’s Education, Learning and Leisure Committee last Thursday (4 February) was an update on the Council’s Learning Estates Strategy.

During discussion of the Learning Estates Strategy report, Cllr Ford raised issues relating to local school accommodation including at Newmachar, Kintore, Blackburn and Hatton of Fintray.

Included in the learning estates project plan for 2016 is a Newmachar primary school option appraisal. Said Cllr Ford:

“House building is on-going in Newmachar and planning permissions for housing are in place on sites at Kingseat and on the east side of Newmachar – so the Council does need to move forward with planning for additional capacity at Newmachar.”

Land is reserved for a second primary school in Newmachar within the Newmachar East mixed-use development site.

Cllr Ford welcomed the reported good progress Morrison Construction are making with building the new Kintore Midmill School.

He said:

“After the long delay in getting started, it’s obviously excellent that the actual building work is getting on so well. The new school building is now clearly visible from a number of locations in Kintore.”

On the site choice for the replacement building for the current Kinellar School, Cllr Ford said:

“The choice between rebuilding on the present school site or continuing to try to acquire the replacement school site identified in the local development plan is not an easy decision. There are advantages and disadvantages with both options. Neither choice is risk free.

“On balance, the certainty that comes with the Council already owning the current school site is probably a decisive advantage. But the site identified for the new school in the local development plan is larger and moving the school to it would free up the present school site, potentially for other community facilities. The present site is smaller than ideal for the larger school needed.

“Also, there may be other planning applications for the site allocated in the local development plan for the new school if it is not used for that purpose.”

Cllr Ford raised concerns about the accommodation at Hatton of Fintray School. The Council’s rating of the overall suitability of the Hatton of Fintray school building is ‘C’ (= ‘poor – showing major problems and/or not operating optimally’). Cllr Ford said:

“Hatton of Fintray School Association has contacted the Council in particular about the lack of proper office facilities in the school for the head teacher and administrator, and suggested a way forward. I hope the Council will be able to respond positively.”

Cllr Ford also questioned officers about overall school roll forecasts for Aberdeenshire, which show continuing roll increases are expected in many areas.

“We have become used to ever-rising school rolls in much of Aberdeenshire,” said Cllr Ford.

“The forecasts predict that to continue. But will it? There’s no sector of the north-east economy that’s looking likely generate significant additional employment that will more than compensate for other job losses. So what would be the driver for population increases that would cause on-going rising school rolls?

“Increasing school rolls have been a given in many parts of Aberdeenshire for many years, but that might be going to change – and our planning for school accommodation would then need to change too.”

Officers assured Cllr Ford that school roll forecasts are kept under constant review.

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Right Budget Decisions Can Protect Services

Aberdeenshire, Opinion No Responses »

Feb 042016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

Aberdeenshire Council faces some tough choices when it comes to set its revenue budget for 2016/17 on 11 February – but most of the savings required can be achieved without damaging services.

That is the view of the authority’s Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors Paul Johnston and Martin Ford.

“The Council does have scope to make a range of substantial savings in its budget that will not affect service delivery,” said Cllr Paul Johnston.

“For instance, compared with expectations, the Council will save well over £1 million on borrowing costs in financial year 2016/17, due to continuing low interest rates. Fuel and electricity prices are also lower than had been forecast. Demand for some services has been less than expected in 2015/16, meaning the current budget allocation is more than required.”

Said Cllr Martin Ford:

“The Council’s budget position has also been eased by additional income. New houses have been built and occupied bringing in additional Council Tax. Sales from the Council’s quarries are up by more than £1 million this year and next year’s budget can be adjusted to reflect an expected higher income too. The Council has gone for renewable energy – biomass and photovoltaic panels – to supply some of its buildings and this both saves on fuel or electricity costs and generates an income.”

The DIGG put forward draft budget proposals at the November 2015 Aberdeenshire Council meeting showing how the Council could effect savings of £17.97 million – slightly more than the total savings of £17.561 million then anticipated to be required to balance the 2016/17 revenue budget.

After the November Aberdeenshire full council meeting, officers identified further budget pressures. Then the Scottish Government’s grant settlement to the Council announced before Christmas was less than the ‘flat cash’ funding anticipated, creating a further £6.390 million shortfall for 2016/17. The Council thus now needs to find savings of £28.312 million to balance its 2016/17 revenue budget.

Since November, the DIGG councillors have been working on how further savings could be effected. While the Council will set a one-year budget on 11 February, it will do so in the context of knowing it needs to make at least a further £30 million of savings in the years to 2020.

The DIGG councillors have made clear their opposition to continuation of the Council Tax freeze.

Cllr Martin Ford said:

“Vital public services such as education and social work must be protected from cuts as top priority. To do that, the Council must re-examine everything it does and seek increased efficiency whenever possible.

“There is certainly scope for some genuine efficiency savings.

“The Council could replace stand-alone public toilets with partnership arrangements for public access to toilets in buildings such as hotels, both improving the service and reducing costs.

“We also believe the Council can make further savings by additional investment in energy efficiency, such as LED street lights, and renewable energy.”

The DIGG is a separate and independent group on Aberdeenshire Council that reached a ‘confidence and supply’ agreement with Aberdeenshire’s new administration last year. Some specific budget commitments were included in that agreement.

Said Cllr Paul Johnston:

“The new administration has already accepted our conditions that there are no cuts to the community learning and development budget line, £250,000 is transferred to increase the budget for cycling and walking and £100,000 is redirected to preventative local health and social care services, specifically to fund third-sector organisations in Aberdeenshire to support vulnerable residents achieve or maintain independent living.”

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