Picture: Daniel Forsyth. Image No.
Moray Council wants your views as it strives to find £12 million in savings by next February. a total of £19 million has to be sliced from the budget over the next two years, with financial year 2019/20 likely seeing the local authority having to dip into its reserves to the tune of £4.8 million. The minority SNP administration, who inherited the financial situation when they took over from the previous ruling Tory-Independent coalition earlier this year, have warned that up to 136 redundancies could be required with further tough spending choices required. The council has already given the green light to a package of measures which will trim around £5 million from next year’s budget. In order to get the public’s perspective as to where savings could be made, a series of drop-in sessions are to be held at libraries across Moray, all running from 10am to 7pm. No appointments are necessary to speak to the council officers. The Buckie drop-in session is scheduled for Wednesday, october 17, while Fochabers is due to welcome the consultation team to the village on Monday, october 22. Speaking before the launch of the consultation, council leader Councillor Graham Leadbitter said: “We’ll shortly be launching a programme of engagement so that community groups and
residents can have their say on savings proposals and I urge everyone to take part so we can have an honest dialogue about the financial challenges we’re facing.” Buckie SNP councillor Sonya Warren, who is chairwoman of the council’s children and young people services committee, encouraged people to get involved. “We’ve inherited a dire financial situation from the previous Tory-Independent administration and have been left with some very difficult decisions to make,” she told the advertiser.
“Many internal savings will be implemented immediately, such as reducing fuel costs and operational budgets, with savings also being made from the use of online services. “We want to engage with the public to see how best we can take a number of savings proposals forward.” Possible avenues to save cash include closing Elgin Community Centre, reducing library opening hours, restricting council access points opening times and charging for the collection of garden waste.